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16/05/12
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Project
Blackburn College is the second largest FE College with a University in the country. They required PR activity which not only highlighted their achievements and enhanced their reputation locally, but also regionally and nationally. Ultimately their PR is centred around encouraging students to enroll at Blackburn College and its University Centre.
Objective
After winning the account, Viva was immediately tasked with promoting A Level Results day. The aim was to highlight the fantastic achievements of the college, firstly through regional press and radio, and secondly to promote their reputation for excellence on a national platform.
Strategy
We set about planning a PR campaign, which involved compiling a list of potential student case studies from all over East Lancashire. These would focus on the various skill sets and achievements as a means of highlighting the diversity of the college and its reputation for being a progressive centre.
We also put together a regional and national TV and radio proposal, which offered live opening of results and interviews of students at the college. We approached all the various regional and national media, including Granada, the BBC and GMTV.
We successfully pitched to GMTV who, in addition to filming on results day, decided to pre-record a series of interveiws with four students at the college to be used during the show.
Viva organised the various students for pre-recording and handled the writing and distribution of pre and post releases. We prepared over 15 case studies and arranged for photographs to be taken. We also set up at 5am on the morning of results day so we could facilitate the live interviews with students for tv and radio.
The day was a great success – tears and all. Blackburn College was the leading college on GMTV. As well as securing their place in the national spotlight, the College appeared on BBC Radio Lancashire, the BBC website, and The Bee and they received 10 further pieces of coverage in the Lancashire Telegraph, Accrington Observer and the Burnley Express, in total earning the college a return on investment of £60,000.
What else
We haven’t stopped there. Over the past year we’ve taken the College’s already solid reputation for value for money and academic excellence and highlighted their work nationally, gaining coverage in the Times Good University Guide and the TES on numerous occasions. We have engineered meetings with the leading education journalists in the UK and built an excellent rapport, ensuring the College is kept in the spotlight.
We have continually shouted about the great students, the investments and the staff, making sure Blackburn College has remained one of the leading Colleges in the region.
They say
“We have just renewed our contract with Viva PR for a number of reasons, the main one being they deliver great value for money.
“Our coverage over the past twelve months has been outstanding, the highlights being GMTV, Radio One and Northwest Tonight at A level results day. Viva continues to deliver fantastic national and regional coverage, reaching around 12.5 million of our target audience.
“The marketing team really like Viva because they are great account managers, they are always on hand and talk in a language that staff across the whole of college understand.
“I particularly like them as Head of Marketing because they make me look good!”
Claire Berry, Head of Marketing at Blackburn College
16/05/12
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Viva PR Manchester: Clayton House, 59 Piccadilly, Manchester, M1 2AQ
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Unit 4, Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, BB4 8EW.