Harper Adams shortlisted for Heist Awards

Posted 2 April 2012

Harper Adams University College is delighted to have been short-listed for two higher education marketing awards. 

The University College was announced on Friday as a finalist in both the Marketing Department of the Year and Best Use of Digital Marketing categories of the Heist Awards 2012. 

Higher education marketing has gone through a perfect storm over the last twelve months. The uncertainty and then significant changes to student fees meant that universities were faced with the challenge of communicating complex and rapidly changing messages to anxious students and parents. For Harper Adams this challenge was increased by a major restructure of the marketing and communications department. Despite all of this the university college was able to secure a near 2% increase in applications for 2012 entry whilst the rest of the university sector saw a fall in applications of 8%. This is an outstanding achievement, making Harper Adams a clear contender for the title of Marketing Department of the Year.

The digital marketing shortlisting was for the new Harper Adams Open Day App “and beyond”. This success was made possible by the high quality and innovative marketing activities undertaken by the team, such as the development of a market leading smart phone app for use by visitors to Harper Adams open days. Launched at the open day last September, the app gives users the opportunity to get the most out of their visits. 

Lorraine Westwood, Director of Marketing and Communications, said: “The team at Harper Adams are proving that you don’t have to be the biggest to be the best. The professionals we now have in place at Harper Adams are delivering sector leading, innovative communications activities which are helping us to reach more people than ever before. Our primary purpose is to help students understand their higher education options and make the best choice for them – our results show that we achieving this aim.”  

The award winners will be announced on May 31. For more information about the awards, visit www.heistawards.co.uk