Vivid studied hard to come up with a radical new design for Derby University’s prospectus, which would excite potential students – not lecture them. Keen to produce a first-class prospectus without eating into the overdraft, we stayed in, did our homework and found a more personal solution...
The Brief:
The University of Derby wanted to challenge the traditional view that prospectuses ought to be like dictionaries: several hundred pages long, text heavy and uninspiring. To stand out from their competitors and catch the attention of potential students, Derby set out to produce an original Undergraduate Prospectus, that really sold the University and reflected its modern and down to earth brand qualities. The University also wanted to be more efficient with its resources. It was mass printing 80,000 copies each year, throwing away several thousand at the end of the year, and giving away over 20,000 copies at events, without collecting data from these potential students.
The Process:
Having been the University of Derby’s chosen design agency for two years already, Vivid had a good understanding of the target audience and the brand. We came up with the idea of an eye catching folder with personalised, quirky greetings stickers that would really make an impact when it dropped through the letterbox. It contained two compartments, for information about the two sides of university: the course and the broader student life.
Teaming up with Proco who specialise in personalised printing and fulfilment, we established a process that converted the information inputted by potential students on an existing online order form, into a database sent directly to the supplier. This told them which course leaflets needed to be printed and included in the pack – based on the person’s subject preferences – as well as their name and address. The personalised pack was then put together and posted, including only course information relevant to the potential student, and fun stickers that addressed the student by name: “Hi Lucy. Open me!”
Only including relevant course information left more space to make the design much more visually appealing. We wanted to showcase the best aspects of the University and the city using large colourful photos, and inspire people to apply.
The Result:
The prospectus has been well-received by peers and marketing experts, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Best Undergraduate Prospectus category at the HEIST Awards 2011 – the Oscars of the higher education marketing world.
Student response to the prospectus was overwhelmingly positive..
89% of students surveyed had a positive impression of the prospectus, and made comments like “the University of Derby has THE coolest prospectus ever!”
The University printed 30,000 fewer copies than in 2009 – a 57% reduction – and used 85% less paper.
They also made a saving of £14,000, making this their most cost effective and environmentally friendly prospectus ever.
Better still, by asking people to order the prospectus online at events, over 9,000 additional, high quality leads were collected and then followed up with targeted CRM activity. This meant that the prospectus worked harder as a marketing tool and the University could demonstrate the return on its investment.
You can view the Derby prospectus here.
