British Council USA will run a digital campaign featuring student profiles to promote undergraduate and postgraduate fashion and design courses in the UK. Each participating university will have one student profile featuring either a current American student or recent alumni who have graduated within the last five years who have studied on a fashion and design course.

The profiles will be hosted on a landing page on the British Council USA’s website (https://www.britishcouncil.us/). The profiles will be promoted through boosted social media posts on Facebook and Instagram, e- newsletters to British Council USA’s counselor and student databases between October – December 2017 and advertisements on Spindle Magazine’s website (http://spindlemagazine.com/).

Please note: A maximum of 10 universities may participate in the campaign. 5 undergraduate and 5 postgraduate student profiles are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Background

The UK and the US are global leaders in the Creative Industries and the creative sectors are growing, making them an attractive field for students to pursue. In the UK, the creative economy is growing three times faster than any other sector and in the US, the creative industries create more than 1 million jobs and generate over $433.5 billion for the US economy. In the US, Film & TV and Design & Fashion make up the vast majority of economic activity in the creative industry sectors. Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City and Minneapolis – St. Paul are leading US cities in the fashion and design sectors (British Council and Nordicity, Top Creative Cities in North America: a summary report, 2015).

Creative arts and design is one of the top three subject areas for undergraduate and postgraduate taught US students who choose to study in the UK. Design studies ranks in the top 15 primary subjects among postgraduate taught and top 10 primary subjects among undergraduate US students in the UK (HESA Student record 2002/03 - 2015/16).

This campaign aims to grow the number of applications from the US to the UK for undergraduate and postgraduate fashion and design courses and strengthen the online brand profile of UK institutions among prospective US students and counsellors.

About the student profiles

Each participating university will nominate either a current student or recent alumni (must have graduated within last five years) who are American undergraduate or postgraduate students on a fashion or design course who will be featured in a student profile on the British Council USA website (https://www.britishcouncil.us/).

The student profiles will include:

•Written interview questions answered by the student about topics including why they chose the UK and their particular university and course, what they enjoy most about their university and course, the most valuable thing they’ve learned during their course, and what they hope to do after they graduate or are working on currently.

•High-resolution photos to accompany the interview. One photo must be of the student. Other photos may include: photos of the campus, photos of the student’s work, photos that promote the fashion and design courses such as photos of the classrooms and facilities, student projects, etc. The university will be responsible for providing photos to accompany the interview. The university may send up to 5 photos.

•(1) video with content on the student’s work, Graduate Fashion Week, or otherwise highlighting fashion and design courses at the university may also be included in the student profile at the university’s discretion.

Please note: the British Council will select suitable content for the profiles based on the content submitted by the universities, and in line with media trends and interests. Not all submitted content will be featured in the profiles. Profiles will be submitted to the university for approval before publication.

Promotion

The student profiles will be promoted via:

•(1) e-newsletter per university featuring bespoke university content to the USA counselor database of 4,255 independent and school counselors. The e-newsletters will highlight the university’s student profile and can also include content about the university’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses, resources for counselors and students and upcoming US visits. E-newsletter content will be provided by the university.

•(1) feature per university in British Council USA’s Study UK monthly e-newsletter that is distributed to over 5,000 prospective students in the US. Each university’s student profile will be highlighted in one of the Study UK monthly e-newsletters

•(1) boosted Facebook post and (1) boosted Instagram post highlighting each universities’ student profile. The boosted posts will target prospective undergraduate and graduate students interested in fashion and design in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Minneapolis – St. Paul during January – March 2018.

•Advertisements on Spindle Magazine’s website (http://spindlemagazine.com/), an online lifestyle guide for fashion, music and the arts featuring up-and-coming artists with 50% American readership. Spindle Magazine has a track record of supporting students’ work from UK university courses. Advertisements will drive traffic to the British Council USA landing page that hosts the student profiles.

Participation fee

The British Council will charge a £1,500* participation fee per webinar/Facebook Live event and wraparound digital campaign. The fee will cover overall media management and editing, distribution and promotion and a report at the end of the campaign.

*Not including VAT

Benefit to UK institutions

•Creation of student profile that will live on the British Council USA website under the Study in the UK section

•Increased online brand visibility among prospective US students and US college counselling sector

Responsibilities of participating universities

Participating UK universities are encouraged to provide the below:

•Nominate a current undergraduate or postgraduate American student on a fashion or design course to represent the university in the student profile. The university will be responsible for liaising between the student and British Council USA to ensure the timely completion of the written interview questions.

•High-resolution photos to accompany the student profile.

•Content for the university’s bespoke e-newsletter to counsellors with information about undergraduate and postgraduate courses, resources for counsellors and students and upcoming US visits

Timeline

3 November 2017 - Deadline for applications
3 – 30 November 2017 - Student profile and wraparound media creation
January – March 2018 - Student profiles launched and wraparound digital campaign

Cancellation policy:

Cancellation fees will be charged for withdrawal from this event, as of the date of receipt of notice of withdrawal:

At 50 per cent of the full cost for withdrawals received on or after Friday, 3 November 2017

At 100 per cent of the full cost for withdrawals received on or after Friday, 17 November 2017

Registration

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R6HLZSR