Ibss creative brief

Christoforidou M. - Jones A.Son S. -Sun Y. - Zhang H. - Zhou Z.

© 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

COMPETITION

SWOT ANALYSIS

TARGET MARKET PROFILE

SECONDARY RESEARCH

PRIMARY RESEARCH

KEY INSIGHTS

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES

CREATIVE STRATEGY

CREATIVE EXECUTION

BUDGET

ROI

BIBLIOGRAPHY

3

4-5

6

7-8

9

10-13

14-15

16

17

18-23

24-25

26

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

International Business School Suzhou is a worldwide pi-oneer in business education and research, established in 2006 as part of Xi’an Jiaotong - Liverpool University. IBSS’ goal is to become a leading international business school with the support of its two founding partners, the University of Liverpool, UK and Xi’an Jiaotong University, China (IBSS, 2014). Internationalism, Innovation, Inspira-tion and Integrity are the four ideals that IBSS believes in which show that IBSS influences the world through teach-ing, research and business engagement. IBSS provides undergraduates an excellent academic environment, unique experiences and an opportunity to interact with business people in China and around the world. Gradu-ates can obtain a dual degree – a British degree from the University of Liverpool and a Chinese degree from XJTLU.

IMPACTThe education and business research of IBSS have an ef-fect on society, focusing on global diverse capabilities of students in all parts of ex-ercises, contributing to the development of internation-al community and revitaliz-ing the international research and knowledge of communi-cation links.

INSPIRATIONIBSS values self supporting thinking, critical analysis, competing energy and syn-ergetic energy that leads to inspiration and ingenuity.

INNOVATIONInnovation is the capacity to transform creativity into new products, services and business models that help to serve society and the econ-omy.

INTEGRITYIBSS emphasizes how to de-velop and apply knowledge which serves the economy, so-ciety and environment.

IBSS MAJORS

- Accounting

- Business Administration

- Economics

- Information Management & Information Systems

- Human Resource Management

- Marketing

- Economics & Finance - International Business with a language

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According to the features of IBSS, the competition analysis focuses on business schools that possess similar features within China.

Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China), located in Ningbo, China, is considered to be a main competitor of IBSS. It offers five majors includ-ing Finance Accounting and Management, Interna-

tional Business with Communication Studies, International Business Eco-nomics, International Business Management and International Business with language. The mission and objectives of NUBS China are: to pursue valuable investigation in business activity, and to offer superb education for undergraduates, postgraduates and executives (Nottingham, 2014). NUBS is an integral part of Nottingham university business school that ranks in the top ten list of leading business school in UK and posseses superb faculty and abundant resources. In addition, it received EQUIS (Europe-an Quality Improvement System) accreditation. Also NUBS is located in Ningbo, a business oriented city in China which assembles massive enter-prises. Furthermore, Ningbo ranks highly in the area of international trade and innovation, which generates a business atmosphere and provides opportunities for business research and study. However, in academic do-mains, it is solely supported by Nottingham University (Ennew and Yang, 2009). Comparatively, IBSS receives academic support from both Liver-pool University in UK and Xi’ an Jiaotong University. Additionally, NUBS China recruits local undergraduate students in 28 provinces, which is less than the recruitment of IBSS (Nottingham, 2014). Last, the tuition fees for bachelor degree are 80,000 RMB per year, making it more expensive than IBSS (Nottingham, 2014).

COMPETITION

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The second main competitor of IBSS is the social sci-ence department of New York University Shanghai, which is jointly founded by the New York University in US and East China Normal University, and is the third campus that has been admitted by global education system of NYU, following NYU in New York and NYU in

Abu Dhabi. Its objectives are to provide a life of discovery, contribution and satisfaction for students. In research, NYU Shanghai is devoted to putting forward original, rigorous and significant perceptions in the aca-demic kingdom. In public service, NYU Shanghai is devoted to showing responsibility for students, teachers and staff, even the habitants around the campus, district, city and nation (NYU Shanghai,2014). With respect to strengths, Shanghai, where the university is situated, is an international city and also the economic and finance center of China, which is con-ducive to business study and research. The popularity and influence is comparatively weak due to recent establishment of the University, which

COMPETITION

Wechat account of NUBS Promo poster by New York University in Shanghai

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SWOT ANALYSIS

- High tuition fees

- Newly established

organization

- Development in Suzhou

- Build on strengths at developing

programsinternationally

- Enhance IBSS brand name through more effective marketing

and communications

- Capitalize on the fact that IBSS gives the opportunity to

obtain dual degrees and also experience

business studies internationally in

China.

- Increased external

competition and emergence of

new approaches to education

- The negative shift in program

rankings

STRENGTHSWEAKNESSES

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

- Dual degree (UK degree from the

University of Liverpool and Chinese degree

from XJTLU)

- Academic reputation and

national ranking of undergraduate pro-

gram

- Attractive location in Suzhou (city and cul-

ture) for students

- Diverse programs offered

- International faculty and staff

- Career opportunities worldwide

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Our target audience consists of male and female, high school graduates aged 18 to 25 from China and around the world. Our core focus is on students in the process of planning their undergraduate college applica-tions, while targeting those seeking opportunities to study abroad, with a preference in English courses, and the deisre to obtain Dual degree (UoL & XJTLU).

However, we take into consideration the important role of the Chinese family when it comes to choosing the right educational organization. Un-like Western societies where the student does most of the research for his future studies on his own, Chinese parents have great influence over their children’s decision about their future. Nevertheless, as Chinese so-ciety evolves and adopts more Western features, Chinese students have started to take their future in their own hands, starting by choosing the university of their preference.

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XJTLU HAS STUDENTS FROM

MORE THAN 20 COUNTRIES

ISRS, XJTLU


INTERNATIONAL STUDENTSGender : Male and FemaleAge: 18-24 years oldOccupation: High school graduatesLocation: Worldwide with a focus on US and UK students

What do they currently think:“I want to be an undergraduate student at an international universi-ty”

What do we want them to think:“I want to study at IBSS because it’s an international university that of-fers great business programs and it’s located in the heart of business, in Suzhou China.”

CHINESE STUDENTSGender : Male and FemaleAge: 18-24 years oldOccupation: High school graduatesLocation: China

What do they currently think:“I want to study in English and live abroad”

What do we want them to think:“I want to study at IBSS because it’s an international university that offers dual degree, English courses and 2+2 program”

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SECONDARY RESEARCH

In order to develop a successful approach toward recruiting future students, we decided to do sec-ondary research to find existing information about the factors high school graduates consider selecting universities for their future studies.

According to a report from Maguire Associates & Fastweb (2011), 22% of US students admitted they would be more positive toward a university with a strong online presence. To reinforce this statement, 51% of them read blog posts from enrolled students and their academic experiences.

Chinese students tend to select international univer-sities based on the country of origin and language, as well as the possibility of traveling abroad. In 2011 and 2012 there were 78,715 Chinese students study-ing in higher education institutions in the UK. Howev-er, as reported by the Times Higher Education report (2012), unlike the students’ criteria, for their Chinese parents the most important thing in helping their uni-versity selection is meeting face to face with a uni-versity counselor who will provide more information about the programs of the school and the tuition fees.

IN 2013 413,900 CHINESE STUDENTS MOVED

ABROAD FOR STUDIES Chinese Education

Online

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PRIMARY RESEARCH

As part of our primary research, we conducted a focus group of 8 stu-dents from different majors in IBSS. We also conducted an online survey among the students of IBSS that received more than 100 responses.

[FOCUS GROUP]

In order to obtain in-depth information about what the students value most in their studies at IBSS, as well as what they would like to be im-proved, we gathered together in a meeting room and asked them 8 questions regarding IBSS while encouraging them to express their honest opinion about the university. The discussion has been recorded and can be provided upon request for further information.

The participants replied and discussed the following questions:

1. How did you hear about IBSS?2 .What do you like about IBSS?3. What made you choose IBSS?4. What do you think is the most unique feature of IBSS?5. What could they do better?6. What have you been the most satisfied with?7. Least satisfied?8. What areas could be improved to help your English learning?

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PRIMARY RESEARCH[FOCUS GROUP]

YIFAN YANG(MOON)

Int. Business

ZONGYAN YUN(ALAN)

Accounting

JIBAI LIU(IAN)Ec. & Fin

YUAN LIU(JUDITH)

IMIS

QIXIN LI(CHRIS)

Economics

KEYIN CHENG(VITO)

HR

SEO(INKYUNG)Marketing

YU PAN(RHEA)

HR

“I am very satisfied with our beautiful campus and on-line resources”

“I’d like to be able to repeat some modules in order to get a higher score and learn even more”

“I believe we need more

foreign teachers in my major”

“I don’t like that students in HR have to change their major when

they go to Liverpool for

2+2”

“My friend graduated from

XJTLU and is now working in Singapore.

He recommended XJTLU, as he was very

satisfied with his studies!”

“I like that we have few lectures and we can manage our own time”

“I believe some of our modules are irrelevant to our major and we should not take them”

“The best part is when we do

projects and learn from the

experience!”

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PRIMARY RESEARCH[SURVEY]

As part of our primary research, a survey was set up online and 124 stu-dents of IBSS responded to 8 questions, such as whether they’re satisfied with their studies and if they would recommend IBSS to others. Part of the results can be seen below. Full results can be provided upon request.

42.74% IMIS16.13% HR management13.71% Economics10.48% Marketing8.87% Economics & Finance5,65% Int. Business with language1,61% Business Administration0,81% Accounting

What is your field of study?

How did you first hear about IBSS?

54.03% XJTLU website27.42% IBSS events25% Recommendation of others9.68% Social media networks4,03% Online application portals (CUCAS)3.23% Print media

Why did you choose to study at IBSS?

30.65% English courses27.42% International staff & facilities26.81% Better Career prospects 25% Dual degree25% Opportunity to study in Liverpool20.16% Family’s recommendations10.48% Accreditation/recognition8.06% Location of IBSS4.03% Cost

Would you recommend IBSS to others?

74.19% YES25.81% NO

How satisfied are you with your studies?

54.84% Satisfied37.9% Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied3.23% Very satisfied2.42% Dissatisfied1.61% Very dissatisfied

Scan here to see the improvements students suggest to IBSS

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PRIMARY RESEARCH[SURVEY]

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54% of the students first heard about IBSS through the XJTLU website

31% English courses

26% Better Career Prospects

27%International

Facilities & Staff

25% Dual Degree

Students chose IBSS

because of the

of the students would recommend IBSS to others

74%

55%of the students are satisfied with their

studies while

65% of the students are satisfied with the IBSS staff

In the question “In what ways can IBSS improve the studying ex-perience and life on campus?” more than 60% of the students made suggestions regarding the staff, such as hiring more inter-national teachers.

KEY INSIGHTS

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KEY INSIGHTS

From our primary research the results suggest that most students during their selection pro-cess, pay attention to the online presence a uni-versity has established and look for information on the university’s official website. The second way of learning about universities is through offi-cial events and the third through other people’s recommendations. In this case, it is important for the university to turn the current students into apostles of word-of-mouth and buzz marketing. Additionally, most of the students focus primarily on the international environment IBSS offers, such as international staff from all around the world, En-glish courses and advanced facilities. Therefore, we suggest building a strong campaign theme around this factor for all the students, despite their nationality or their intention of attending the 2+2 program.

Furthermore, from the primary research we de-tected a correlation between dissatisfaction and majors, with the students from IMIS being the most dissatisfied and not wiling to recommend IBSS to others. We strongly encourage the school to han-dle this situation, in order to avoid having “terrorists” (people that spread negative word-of-mouth).

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CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES

International Business School Suzhou is a unique school in China as all classes and coursework are conducted in English. This gives students a chance to practice English every day in class as well as the opportunity to experience university studies in a for-eign setting while still in China.

Our goals for this project include showing the in-dividual aspects of Chinese and western culture found in IBSS with hopes of bringing in more students and increasing the university’s popularity and rep-utation. We hope to show future students that IBSS is not only a top school that offers a fully accred-ited degree but also has an innovative and excit-ing edge that other schools lack. This fun side stems from the unique combination of students from all over the world studying together in one universi-ty. A student body of this type makes for a distinct study environment that is hard to find elsewhere.

Our focus is on showing to all the future students that IBSS, a business school that combines East and West, is not just another business school. It’s a blend of cultures that brings out the best of both and shows that Chinese students and Western students are unique but similar at the same time. They may live in different places around the world but they come together to embrace knowledge, commu-nicate and gain advantage over the whole world.

They’re International.

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CREATIVE STRATEGY

The campaign strategy is to focus on showing the in-ternational side of the university in order to recruit more students and create a strong brand image. The tag line is “We’re not different. We’re international.” and it puts emphasis on the similarities between China and other international cities but with a twist. Instead of showing how different Chinese people are to the rest of the world, we aim to prove that in fact they have similar habits and even historical monuments, that can be inter-preted as “internationalism” instead of different. The campaign will include a combination of traditional and modern media such as print media (posters on bus stops), online media (social media accounts and cov-ers, videos on youtube and youku, reports by interna-tional students, instagram), mobile marketing (applica-tion) and event marketing all around China.

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CREATIVE EXECUTION

Print media & Outdoor advertisingPosters 61x91cm will be set for two weeks (before and during the Gao Kao examination) at the nearest bus stops outside of high schools in or-der to be seen by high school students that will be applying to universities in the near future. Our goal is to attract the students by the poster’s im-age and then provide contact information about IBSS.

We’re not different. We’re International.

International Business School Suzhou No. 111 Ren’ ai Road, Dushu Lake

Higher Education Town, Suzhou, P.R.China, 215123

British Teapot Traditional Chinese Teapot

Email: [email protected]: +86 (0)512 8816 1700




Tiger Hill Pagoda, China

Email: [email protected]: +86 (0)512 8816 1700

Tower of Pisa, Italy




London Eye, UK Tianjing Ferris Wheel, ChinaEmail: [email protected]

Telephone: +86 (0)512 8816 1700

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CREATIVE EXECUTION

Online mediaReinforce IBSS’ online presence on social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Renren, Weibo, Instagram).

RenrenCreate an official IBSS page, update news every other day and invite current students to like the page.

FacebookUpdate page every other day (in order to not be overexposed).

Also, we will create facebook covers for newly recruited internation-al students, to encourage word-of-mouth and create a strong bond between the new student and IBSS, making him/her a part of the IBSS community.

InstragramWe will create an IBSS official instagram ac-count and an IBSS hashtag (#IBSS) so that students can share pictures from their ac-ademic life and expe-riences on campus.

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CREATIVE EXECUTION

VideoCreate a video of XJTLU students dancing around campus to the theme of ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams. This video will include an eclectic mix of around 15 international and Chinese students but also members of staff, dancing in selected areas on XJTLU campus. The video aims to show-case the fun and exciting atmosphere embodied by XJTLU students and teachers and also display the advanced facilities of IBSS. This will rein-force our campaign theme of internationalism as dancing is considered an international expression of happiness.

Reports by IBSS’ international studentsInternational students will be asked to write a report or blog post describing their life and studies at IBSS. The reports will be written in both English and their native language and will include photos to help illustrate their many activities on campus. These reports will be uploaded to the official website of IBSS and will be made available to current students, fu-ture students and any others that might be interested. Authors of these reports will also be asked to provide their emails on their posts and will be considered “am-bassadors” of their country’s future IBSS students. In this way, students interested in studying at IBSS, will be able to find online posts written by someone from their country and contact them with any questions regarding IBSS. We hope this will create a feeling of familiarity be-tween current and future students and encourage them to move to China and study at IBSS!

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Mobile applicationDevelop a mobile application; a quiz for future students that includes 10 questions associated with the majors of IBSS. The questions are very sim-ple and the participants can choose to respond with yes or no. The results will be calculated according to Holland Codes and his theory of careers and vocational choice based upon personality types. Depending on the participant’s answers, he/she will receive the results with the IBSS major that best suits him/her. The application will be called “Major Matcher” and IBSS will only be “revealed” in the final results in order to reach more students and not only those searching for IBSS. The results will not only suggest the right major for the student but also prompt the participant to visit IBSS’ official website to find out more about the school’s programs.

The application will be promoted in 3 different ways. The first one would be by setting banners with a QR code that can be scanned and will lead to the application. The banners will be set in education fairs and events of IBSS and ISRS around the world. The second way would be by creating facebook ads for the mobile version of facebook and renren, that would direct the participant to the app. The third way would be positioning the app in the right category in the App store such as education, entertain-ment and games -to increase the popularity of the app.

CREATIVE EXECUTION

I keep track of my daily expenses

Major Matcher Major Matcher Major Matcher

I like intellectualgames

Congratulations! You like to use your hands, prefer outdoor activities and like stability. You want to en-gage in activities with clear requirements that need cer-tain skills and can work ac-cordingto certain orders of operation.

The best major for you is In-formation Management and Information Systems (IMS) at IBSS (International Business School Suzhou)!Visit http://ibss.xjtlu.edu.cn/ to find out more!

YES YES

NO NO

Scan the code!

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CREATIVE EXECUTION

Event marketingOne week after the university’s final exams and 2 weeks after Gao Kao is conducted, 15 student representatives that return to their hometowns in China, will visit the town’s high schools to promote IBSS, talk to students and provide informational brochures and leaflets to the students. The university’s students will be trained prior to their speech in order to be fully prepared to answer questions regarding IBSS and prompt the students to contact the school. The students will be awarded certificates for their participation and will also receive 100 rmb for their work.

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CREATIVE EXECUTION

Promotional schedule (frequency)

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Print media (posters)

Social media

Mobile application

Video

Events

Gao Kao

Ads

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BUDGET

In this campaign we have bottom-up budgeting. To advertise IBSS, sev-en media channels including print media (posters), online media (Face-book ads, official pages, video etc.), mobile marketing (application) and event marketing are used to achieve the objectives of the project. To calculate the total cost of the campaign for one year, we use the build-up approach. The costs of each media separately can be seen below.

Print media costs:The posters’ promotion focuses mainly on four tier cities: Beijing, Shang-hai, Guangzhou and Chengdu. In these cities, advertisements displaying our campaign posters will be placed at major bus stops (transit market-ing) nearby high schools, for two weeks (one week before the Gao Kao exams and during it). One advertisement costs 800 yuan per month (400 for two weeks) including the costs of printing the poster and renting the billboard. Depending on the population of the cities, we decided to in-stall posters in 100 stations in Beijing, 50 in Shanghai and 30 stations in both Chengdu and Guangzhou. The overall cost of these advertisements is 168,000 rmb.

FACTORS COSTS (rmb)

-Posters Beijng x 100 40,000 Shanghai x 50 20,000 Guangzhou x 30 12,000 Chengdu x 30 12,000 84,000-Online media Facebook ads x 30 days 3,000

-Mobile marketing Application “Major Matcher” 20,000 -Event marketing x 15 students 1,500

TOTAL COST 108,500 rmb

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BUDGET

Online media costs:As mentioned earlier, part of the campaign’s promotion will be focused on reinforcing the online presence of IBSS with tools such as social media networks and other applications. The cost for uploading posts on the of-ficial Facebook page of IBSS is zero as Facebook doesn’t charge this ser-vice and neither do other social media networks (Renren, Weibo, Twitter,). However, as we have decided to use facebook ads to promote our mo-bile application, we would need to include their costs here. According to the official Facebook page (2014) about the ad costs, the company can choose the budget it wants to spend daily on their ads or set a “lifetime” budget that can be spent in a specific period for example in IBSS can set a budget of 3,000 rmb to be spent in a period of 30 days which means that Facebook will try and spread IBSS’ ads evenly to the target market the company chose and if one day the amount is not spent, it can be used the next day. For this campaign, we suggest a budget of 3,000 for a “lifetime” budget of 30 days to be targetted on international high school students that are visiting official pages of business schools. We have also decided to create facebook covers for the newly recruit-ed international students, reports by the current international students of IBSS and a video (recorder with two Iphones 5s and using Imovie to cut it) that have zero cost of development.

Mobile marketing costs:A mobile application will be developed. According to bluecloud.com (2014), an application like “Major Matcher” could cost approximately from 3,000 (19,000 rmb) to 8,000 dollars (50,000 rmb) but based on the simplicity of our application, we assume that the cost would be 20,000 rmb.

Event marketing costs:The costs for the promotional events include only the daily “salary” (100 rmb) of the 15 student representatives.

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ROI

As a result of this campaign, we expect to attract approximately 50 new undergraduate students, both International and Chinese, for the aca-demic year 2015. With an average tuition fee of 60,000 yuan per student annually, this would generate an initial return of 3 million rmb. Assum-ing the student is happy with his/her studies at IBSS, we can expect this number to be 3 times higher due to the total years of study. Our invest-ment on advertising for one year is 108,500 rmb. From the ROI calculation [(gain-cost)/cost], we get a high ROI annually. However, as mentioned earlier, due to the unique nature of the services IBSS provides, we cannot guarantee the exact number of newly recruited students but we hope to reinforce the positive image of IBSS and turn it into an international edu-cational giant.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Chinese Education (2014) the total number of study abroad at 2013. [Online]Available at: http://liuxue.eol.cn/zong_he_3381/20140224/t20140224_1077307.shtml [Accessed: 14/4/2014]

Ennew, C.T. and Yang, F.J. (2009) “Foreign University in China: a case study”, Euro-pean Journal of Education, Vol.44 No.1, 2009, part I.

Facebook. 2014. Help. [Online]Available at: https://www.facebook.com/help/318171828273417/ [Accessed: 21 April 2014].

IBSS, About. 2014. [Online]. Available at: http://academic.xjtlu.edu.cn/ibss/about [Accessed: 21 April 2014].

Maguire Associates. 2011. Students’ College Preferences and Plans in the 2011 Ad-missions Cycle.[Online]Available at: http://www.fastweb.com/nfs/fastweb/static/PDFs/2011_Maguire_CDIS_Phase_I_Report.pdf[Accessed: 21 April 2014]

Nottingham (2014). Available from: http://www.nottingham.edu.cn/cn/index.aspx [Accessed 01 April 2014]

NYU Shanghai (2014) Academics (online)Available from: http://shanghai.nyu.edu/en/ [Accessed 01 April 2014]