BE. Benfield. Benfield School
It’s great how a good advertising campaign can grow legs. And, how a direct competitor can take advantage of it. It’s happened to Blumilk client Benfield School in Newcastle, North East England with their successful ‘BE’ campaign, which has been running since 2013. Now the basis of a student recruitment campaign being run by a large College operating in Benfield’s catchment area.
Benfield School is a fully inclusive 11-18 school in the heart of Newcastle’s East End. In the most recent inspection, the school was commended for the “exemplary behaviour” of the pupils. Educational achievement was considered good.
The School faced a major challenge in 2013 – in terms of attracting students, it was losing out to larger, higher-profile neighbouring schools.
Benfield School’s management team and governors decided to meet this challenge head-on. They commissioned Blumilk in 2013 to develop a campaign that would aim to improve the school’s image and reposition it. Increasing intake was the key business target.
Examination of the issues by Blumilk it was clear a carefully planned, focussed marketing and engagement campaign was necessary. Details of the proposed campaign were presented to and agreed with the school’s management team.
A highly creative and fun campaign, directly targeted at local parents and potential students was created.
It aimed to position Benfield School in a more positive and vibrant way so that parents and potential students would review their opinions, think twice, and consider Benfield as a first choice.
The campaign was built on a “BE” campaign (BE proud, BE part of it, BE happy, BE inspired, BE ambitious, BE motivated, BE involved). A dedicated BE microsite was created to promote an ambitious and fun Open Evening for parents and potential students. The Open Evening was held in September 2013 and showcased the achievements of the school and its pupils, past and present. Teachers, as well as current and past students, were available to discuss any aspect of the school.
Weeks prior to this event, we designed a special two-page microsite to support the BE campaign and the Open Evening. This clever site incorporated data capture including sign up facilities for the Open Evening, email confirmation to guests, and further signup facilities for newsletters and prospectuses. It also included in-built evaluation of the BE Campaign so the school could see for themselves the great results it was generating.
Large, bright outdoor banners and roll up banners were created to engage the attention of all who passed the school.
Blumilk also created an attractive 16-page prospectus for the school which was sent out to all who enquired and which was also available for all to take away on the Open Day. A professional photo shoot at the school was arranged so that the prospectus images were all 100% authentically Benfield. The ‘traditional’ school badge was used in a more upbeat way and popular competitions were launched to win iPads.
The “BE” campaign challenges old perceptions and significantly raises the profile of Benfield School by showcasing its achievements. And, the ‘business’ result? Benfield School pupil numbers are up and the school is now positioned as a frontline educational player in Newcastle.
