Client Project - BIMM University
Context: BIMM University is a specialist in music, film and performing arts courses, with over 8,000 students across 15 schools in the UK, Ireland and Germany. Management and the Board wanted to better understand the ROI on their marketing activities and assess opportunities for increasing student recruitment.
Solution: In our initial diagnostic phase (approximately 8 weeks), Coppett Hill:
-
Performed a paid and organic search marketing landscape analysis, identifying areas for growth and for efficiency;
-
Built an end-to-end customer journey dataset joining data across many disparate sources to create a holistic view of the student journey across a long and complex multi-channel buying journey; and
-
Performed analysis on the dataset to understand ROI, investigate hypotheses on areas for growth, and make recommendations on opportunities and next steps.
Results: We identified opportunities with the potential for 15% additional enrolments. In the next phase we are working with BIMM to refine, test and implement these recommendations.
Tom Picken
Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer
BIMM University
Hear about the experience from our client’s side:
Q: Can you start by giving us a quick overview of your role at BIMM?
Tom: As the Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer at BIMM University, I oversee all our student recruitment activities from initial awareness through to enrolment. This includes direct management of our central marketing department, central admissions team, and student recruitment function.
Q: What triggered the search for external support?
Tom: The search for external support was prompted by our realisation that we lacked the internal capability to precisely assess the return on investment for our marketing and recruitment activities. Acknowledging the complexity of our industry's long and nonlinear customer journey, we sought a third party with expertise beyond our sector, particularly in areas such as big data analysis. Our goal was to leverage a broader skill set to uncover insights and establish effective metrics for measuring return on investment.
We also identified that some additional input into our search marketing activity was very much in demand because we were seeing diminishing returns through those channels.
Q: How did you find Coppett Hill?
Tom: You were recommended by our capital investors, who were impressed with the exceptional work you had previously undertaken for another business within their portfolio in the travel sector.
Q: Why did you choose Coppett Hill over other options?
Tom: From the initial meeting, it was clear you took the time to understand what we were trying to do and our unique challenges within the sector. You asked all the right questions. You really took the time to understand how we operate and the nuances of our customers and their behaviours.
Q: What has been the impact of the project so far, and what further impact do you expect?
Tom: The immediate impact has given management confidence in our ability to deliver an accurate view of ROI. Additionally, there's been a clear articulation of where we can achieve some quick wins from our growth activities, and whilst it's early stages, we feel confident that we can start to see some results within a short period of time.
Q: Could you describe your overall experience working with Coppett Hill?
Tom: You've really spent the time to understand how we operate as a business. You've taken the time to understand our processes, our systems, our nuances, our strengths, our weaknesses, and that has felt very collaborative. You're not coming in and telling us what we should be doing necessarily. You've come in, understood the challenges, and while you don't claim to have all the answers, you've presented a few key areas where we could be focusing our efforts.
Q: Is there anything Coppett Hill could have done differently or could improve on?
Tom: That's an excellent question, and I appreciate your curiosity. Honestly, at this point, I find it challenging to pinpoint areas for improvement with Coppett Hill. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive for me, and I'm not just saying that because we're recording. Perhaps as we delve deeper into our involvement, more insights will emerge, but as of now, I genuinely have very few, if any, suggestions for improvement.
Q: Any final thoughts on the project with Coppett Hill?
Tom: I'm really happy with the progress. The next couple of months are going to be critical, and I’m looking forward to it. Our current position provides a unique vantage point to discern both the opportunities and the transformative impact of the changes we're implementing. There's a deliberate strategic approach in play, focusing on prioritisation and considering additional investments for further advancement.