Bournemouth
& Poole
College
- Case Study
The College
Bournemouth & Poole College serves over 9,000 learners per year, with courses leading to careers in virtually every sector of the economy. Rated Good by Ofsted, its “Strategy to 2030” is based on eight key strands, including delivering high-quality education; shaping curriculum to meet employer needs; educating more people; and working in strategic partnerships to increase the opportunities for students and contribute to society and economy.
The Challenge
Following student recruitment issues and other
marketing-related challenges, the College asked GMP
to audit its marketing strategy to establish a number of
key points, including: how well it aligned to the overall strategy; how well it incorporated curriculum planning and course promotion; how fit-for-purpose was the marketing team structure; and how well did the brand reflect the direction, personality and ambition of the College.
What Did
GMP Do?
GMP kicked off the Discovery audit by engaging with the College’s Principal,
Phil Sayles, to understand the context to the challenges.
This was followed by a review of the marketing strategy, which was undertaken through a combination of desk-based research, meetings with staff, site visits, and student focus groups. The student focus groups were a particularly critical part of the process, as it was vitally important to understand why they had applied, given the recruitment issues that prompted the need for an audit.
The Discovery audit concluded with a presentation to the College’s executive team, which included a series of key recommendations. However, since then, ongoing support has been given to the management and marketing team to support the implementation of these recommendations.
“The GMP team brought expertise and experience in different marketing fields to bear in helping us review our marketing operation. The consultants engaged with our team and internal stakeholders in a way that was supportive and thorough: listening to, and then synthesising views and other information to put together a clear and detailed picture. The team then developed a clear strategic response for us to take forward, which we believe will greatly assist our business."
Phil Sayles
Principal & Chief Executive
Bournemouth & Poole College
How Did GMP Solve
The Challenge?
GMP’s Discovery audit identified several areas of improvement from
short-term quick wins, to longer term strategic developments, including:
A complete rebrand including a new website
Mentoring of the College’s new marketing manager
Strategic support to improve student recruitment
In terms of addressing the challenge of student recruitment, GMP offered tactical support in planning and executing campaigns aimed at driving awareness for open days and enrolment, including:
Google pay-per-click
Advertising on Facebook and Instagram
Out-of-home advertising such as bus shelters
“As a marketing team in a college, we’re constantly
juggling multiple projects. Having the team at
GMP support in both large projects and smaller
day-to-day marketing activity makes a real
difference in lots of ways – the internal team can
remain focussed on keeping those connections
with curriculum, sharing the excellent
achievements of our students and planning
student recruitment events, knowing that GMP
have our digital advertising, rebrand and new
website projects all under control.”
Joe Colegrove
Marketing & Communications Manager
Bournemouth & Poole College