The Open University: Dream, Believe, Succeed

To sit in an Open University graduation ceremony is to see just how powerful Further Education is: the joy, the confidence, the tears. But for years, the OU had been struggling to communicate these emotional benefits in an education category that had started to look less ‘inspirational institution’ and more ‘financial institution’. Awareness alone would not overcome some of the deeper-rooted challenges that students face when considering signing up, especially for those without any experience of further education, we were challenged to prove that the OU works for people like them.

The Big Idea

Both the OU and Channel 4 are not for profit organisations who passionately believe in championing social mobility and enabling education opportunities for all. Using C4’s famous ‘fixed-rig’ interview style (think One Born Every Minute), and starring real graduates, we would tell the authentic stories of what studying at the OU is really like, and the opportunities it unlocks.

We knew that Channel 4 was the perfect partner for the OU. As brands, we are united in terms of what we stand for and we were excited to break the mould within the education sector. The campaign exceeded all expectations with fantastic results that really do speak for themselves. - Ella Hall; Head of Acquisition and Brand; Open University

Making it Happen

We selected three graduates from diverse backgrounds who would typically find distance learning to be daunting. Working with out creative approach PL4Y, we designed a range of assets to bring their authentic stories to life, spreading across TV & VOD, Social and on a C4.com microsite. Working with Mediacom we identified key programming that reflected the OU’s core values matching the most relevant copy with each programme on linear TV and VOD. This partnership was more integrated into the fabric of Channel 4 than any other we have produced.

•Social support from key C4 talent – (Jason Fox, Amanda Lamb, Matt Edmondson)

• In a C4 first; The C4 ‘blocks’ featured within the OU’s copy

•Beyond the screen, we organised a launch event and co-hosted a youth conference presented by Rick Edwards promoting apprenticeships to potential students

•The OU campaign also took main billing on the weekly C4 newsletter sent out to All4 registered users – it’s very unusual for a commercial campaign to have this

•We also reunited the stars of C4’s Educating Yorkshire, Mushy and Mr Burton, who discussed the merits of higher education on their lives in a special spot created to coincide with the launch of Educating Manchester.

•This campaign didn’t just involve C4’s commercial team, but also marketing, commissioning and event management were involved on an unprecedented scale. On top of this we had to co-ordinate with three creative agencies (The Outfit, Sassy and LIDA) plus two media agencies (Mediacom and RAPP) as well as various teams at The Open University. Without a very special level of collaboration the project could never have been produced.

The Results

The campaign was an undoubted success!

• 85% of viewers felt more positive towards The OU and 84% more likely to consider them

• Viewers were 34% more likely to feel the campaign was aimed at people like them and 21% more likely to say that the OU would help realise their potential

• 79% of viewers who recalled the advert had carried out an action as a result, significantly above norm of 60%

• We far exceeded the brand awareness target of 60%, reaching 72% (Source: YouGov)

• Most importantly, we delivered business outcomes. The OU predicted a 3% decline in student acquisition during the campaign period. We achieved a 2% uplift. 30,000 additional enquiries were made with a significant conversion to course sign up, meaning the OU achieved 133 students above the registration targets. The campaign has been so successful that the partnership is extending into a second year in 2018 with a new creative to follow.