“It feels like we’ve been working towards something for two years and it’s suddenly been taken away from us. It’s devastating.”

JC, 18, A Level Student, Kent

This is our new audience.

All creative strategies we had in place to help guide prospective students to university need to be revised as our audience has changed. This new audience aren’t disappointed or upset, they are devastated.

Therefore, the first and most important thing we need to do, is simply be human. We need to be the antithesis of a marketeer and show genuine empathy and support. It’s as if we’re writing to a family member where we’d tell them that they’re not alone and everything will work out ok. It’s advice we’ve all given hundreds of times, so we know what to do and how to play it. The big irony of all this, is that by using this approach it will be unexpected and greatly received therefore giving us the emotional connection and creative standout we all crave.

Moving forward, it is essential that we take this new mindset into consideration when looking at our HE comms for the year. As there now needs to be a bridging piece that delivers an empathetic and supportive message before we begin to talk about what exciting things that our University offers. If there isn’t, your comms may do more harm than good.

George Bell, Creative Lead