The British Council would like to invite UK institutions to participate in the 2018 China media campaign. The campaign will allow UK institutions to leverage key Chinese digital and radio platforms to reach a wide-ranging audience for recruitment and brand building purposes.

The British Council has partnered with NetEase, one of China’s leading net portals and mobile apps, to develop a landing page on the NetEase mobile app Education column. The landing page will provide a platform for UK institutions to showcase their offerings to a Chinese audience of prospective students, parents and members of the public. Institutions will feature on the landing page of the Education column for 24 hours before being moved further into the app where the page will remain.

The NetEase Education column receives on average five million views per day, across their website and mobile app. The landing page will showcase the institution’s strengths through a series of articles, photos and videos of the institution’s choosing.  Landing pages will be initiated in September at the start of the new recruitment cycle, when the student decision making process is beginning. This is an ideal time for UK institutions to be pushing for ‘top of mind’ presence on digital platforms.

The package will also include two promotional opportunities on Chinese radio. The British Council has partnered with the “Study Abroad” programme on Radio Beijing International, Beijing’s state radio channel, and “Study Abroad Plan A” programme on Chongqing Economic Radio. Both interviews will provide an opportunity to showcase institutions’ offerings through respected radio channels to reach listeners in both North and West China.

The package

UK institutions will take part in three programmes:

1. An institution themed landing page on the NetEase mobile app Education column. The landing page will showcase the institution’s profile through five to six promotional articles, more than 20 images and one video.
2. A twenty-minute promotional interview on “Study Abroad” channel at Radio Beijing International.
3. A one-hour interview on “Study Abroad Plan A” channel at Chongqing Economic Radio

The Platforms

NetEase
NetEase is one of China’s most popular social media news platforms and has a combined reach across its web portal and mobile app of 400 million netizens. The NetEase Education column covers information on study abroad, immigration, foreign language learning, campus life, etc.

Radio Beijing International (RBI)
Radio Beijing International is China’s first and only city-level multilingual radio station. The station is similar in style to BBC radio in the UK. “Study Abroad” provides study abroad information to students and parents through interviews with educational organisations, institutions, alumni and agents. RBI covers 470 million audiences nationally of whom 74% audiences are aged between 15 and 24 years old.

Chongqing Economic Radio
Chongqing Economic Radio “Study Abroad Plan A” targets the Southwest market and conducts live interactive communications between guest speakers and audiences about study abroad.

Responsibilities for participating universities

Participating UK institutions are encouraged to provide the below content and support for the three programmes:

1. NetEase landing page:  promotional materials including academic and student interviews, admission information, alumni stories, employability and career development information etc.  (Please see the attached PDF document for a detailed introduction)
2. Radio Beijing International: a fluent Chinese speaker to give a short presentation about the institution and answer questions by the host broadcaster. The interview will be conducted in Beijing and is pre-recorded.
3. Chongqing Economic Radio: a fluent Chinese speaker to give a short presentation about the institution and answer questions by the host, or parents or students who may phone in. The programme is recorded live and can be conducted in either Beijing or Chongqing.

Participation Fee

The British Council will charge a £3,000 participation fee* for the China Media Campaign. The fee will cover promotion, co-ordination, support on content development and organisation of the radio interviews, as well as comprehensive briefings before the campaign and a post campaign report detailing reach and impact.

*Not including VAT

Timeline*

*Timeline subject to change