ABOUT

Siobhan planned and wrote six double page spreads for Middlesex University's 2015 course magazines, plus several staff and student profiles.

There were eight separate magazines – one for each degree school – aimed at helping potential students find out more about Middlesex University and its available courses after receiving an offer to study there.

The brief was to create an aspirational brand positioning publication that set Middlesex apart as a first class university, with tailored content and a strong call to action. It needed to bring the university student experience to life through case studies, giving readers a taste of their future student life, and showcase academic expertise and its impact.

How we answered the brief: Sticking to the house tone of voice – ‘engaging, friendly, accessible’ – we ensured all copy was warm, informal and quick and easy to read. Although the magazine was similar to a prospectus in terms of goals and audience, it needed to be far more casual and engaging, focusing more on the career and lifestyle benefits of Middlesex rather than specific course details. So as not to lose sight of the target audience’s persona, we regularly visited student message boards and kept an eye on all social media activity around UK universities in general and Middlesex in particular. This helped us understand the specific questions and worries prospective students had.

Middlesex University research and focus groups highlighted that their students are heavily influenced by personal contact with peers, friends, parents or staff when making their final university decision. The content therefore needed to replicate that personal, one-to-one approach, with prospects feeling as though they were receiving honest advice from previous students, not just a hard sell from the university. Lots of in-depth, relaxed phone interviews with students and alumni lent this authenticity to the prospectus, with as much information as possible framed as first-person accounts.

Feedback: Client feedback was very positive and a student focus group last year determined that the magazine had been well received by prospective undergraduates, and that ‘the publication contributed to strengthening our reputation as students felt that the magazine represented Middlesex as a first class university’. We were hired to write the 2016 magazine soon after the project finished.