Universities UK International

#WeAreTransformingLives

We’re incredibly proud to have worked with UUKi and lots of different HE providers across the UK on the exciting new phase of the #WeAreInternational campaign. Together we’re championing and celebrating international students in the UK to show future students that they are very much welcome here and vital to our university communities – despite the negative political and media rhetoric.

Brief

10 years after #WeAreInternational launched, we were asked to help reignite the campaign and show how much international students contribute to the UK’s culture, society and learning experience. Together we aimed to improve perceptions about studying in the UK. To create a positive narrative about the different contributions international students make. And to ultimately increase positive sentiment and applications from students around the world.

Solution

In what we believe is a sector-first, we helped to create and launch the next phase of the campaign that was co-created and co-funded by UUKi and many different Higher Education providers. We worked with 10 amazing international students from countries as diverse as Belize, China, Spain and Nigeria to tell their stories and share their experiences and contributions with the world.

The themes of hope, friendship, support, resilience, making a difference, saving lives, quality education and the future emerged. But ‘transformation’ was the overriding message. Studying in the UK transformed the lives of all of the students, who also helped to transform the lives of people in the UK through their care, volunteering and support. So, the hashtag #WeAreTransformingLives was born.

Touring the UK, we filmed and produced a hero film and curated ten student stories. We also created two shorter social edits for each of the eleven films and a campaign toolkit featuring key messages and assets, so everyone in the sector could amplify the noise and get behind a creative campaign that would benefit all.

Results

Launched on 26th September 2023 with a webinar attended by 71 colleagues from across the Higher Education sector, the campaign got off to a very impressive start. Within the first 6 days, we achieved a 10 million+ reach on social media (15 million+ impressions) and over 150,000 engagements on the campaign Instagram channel. So far more than 80 universities have joined the campaign which has delivered 12 million+ video views (including paid ads) with 56,000+ consuming more than 50% of the content and 16,000+ consuming 100% of the content. Most importantly of all, the campaign has seen a 38% uplift in perceptions of the UK as a welcoming study destination!