Haringey Sixth Form Centre heroes poster campaign targets students

H6FC uses print advertising activity to reach alumni and students

Campaign name:  #heroes
Brand: Haringey Sixth Form Centre
Audience: Alumni and students
Regions: London, UK
Duration: 15/07/2013 02/09/2013
Channels: Print advertising campaign
Budget: £20,000


Social Media Portal (SMP): Full agency behind the campaign

Haringey Sixth Form Centre (H6FC): EMPRA

SMP: The brand

H6FC: Haringey Sixth Form Centre.  It?s a sixth-form college for post-16 education.

SMP: The campaign name and why was it chosen?

H6FC: Heroes: It focused on alumni of the college who?d gone on to career success, thereby positioning the college as a ?go to? destination for sixth-form studies.

SMP: What was the start and end of the campaign?

H6FC: 15/07/2013 02/09/2013.

SMP: The target audiences of the campaign, who were you trying to reach and why?

H6FC: Rather that targeting local schools, we wanted to reach the potential students themselves and, crucially, their parents, who are key influencers of decisions about post-16 education.

SMP: Briefly, tell us about your campaign

H6FC: Haringey Sixth Form Centre (H6FC) is in Tottenham, an area of north London better known for its riots than the quality of its education. Many of the students come from challenging and disadvantaged backgrounds, but at H6FC they achieve excellent exam results.  This year, the A-level pass rate was a record 98 percent.

Interviews with current students and H6FC alumni confirmed that they had an extremely high opinion of the college, but H6FC was unable to translate this into enrolment rates. The college already had around 400 students progressing within the centre and it had received about 550 applicants, but if the pattern mirrored previous years' figures only about 40 percent of these would convert into enrolments. In order to secure sufficient funding, the centre had to attract c850, leaving a shorfall of around 250.

SMP: What were the goals of the campaign and why was it different?

H6FC: To secure the college's financial future by ensuring that it enrolled the 200-250 additional students it neeeded by the start of the college term in September.
To enhance its local reputation among potential students and their parents in order to build enrolments in future years.

SMP: What were the channels, platforms and methods you used and why did you elect to use them?

H6FC: Print (poster) and social media using the hashtag #heroes and dedicated campaign area on the college website.

SMP: Where was print advertising used and why was this chosen above other approaches (particularly amongst a younger target audience)?

H6FC: We chose areas where young people congregate ? transport hubs and shopping centres ? and used entertaining catch lines: ?The right call? on telephone kiosk exteriors, the ?right stop? at tube stations etc. A postcard based on the poster was sent to local households, timed to land the week before GCSE results were published.

SMP: What did you achieve?

H6FC: Following our campaign, the college recruited an additional 224 students, worth £1.1m in funding income (£5K per student). We delivered within budget and timetable.  Our key deliverable was the number of students the college needed. The target was 220 and we delivered 224.

SMP: What was the budget used for the campaign?

H6FC: £20,000.


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