Hearing from the pupils of Borders College to see what works, and what doesn’t?
Marketing workshop helps journalism students focus on college strapline
On the 1st of October 2019, Borders College students were visited by Emily McGowan, owner of McGowan Marketing. McGowan Marketing prides itself on being one of the most reliable and efficient marketing companies in the Borders, being located at Ettrick Riverside Business Centre in Selkirk.
Borders College has collaborated with McGowan Marketing in an attempt to widen its horizon in terms of the people it attracts and how the public perceives it. To do this, Borders College needed to find a brand new strapline, a series of words that best sums up Borders College’s values of integrity, excellence, and success. What better way to do this than to hear from the pupils of Borders College to see what works, and what doesn’t?
Emily McGowan made the journey to Borders College to hear first-hand the straplines that work best, and to see if the students could come up with their own slogan. A workshop was held with a group of students studying NPA Journalism and the results were incredibly positive. The students were asked to split into groups to see if they could create their own strapline. They were also asked their opinion on many different concept ideas for one. There was a wide amount of different responses and the information was incredibly useful to Emily and Borders College.
Scott Milliken, a student studying at Borders College said:
“I thought the workshop was incredibly engaging, and was an excellent way of getting the students opinion on how successful Borders College is at promoting a positive image.”
By the end of the session, the students were fully educated and ready to help Borders College in its endeavour. The workshop was greatly successful at changing Borders College’s marketing strategy, and will hopefully lead to a better and more positive image of Borders College.
Written by Sean Tennant.
Emily McGowan, an independent marketer based in Selkirk, came into our college class to talk to us and involve us in the creation of a strapline – a slogan for the Border’s College. We started the lesson with trying to identify brands from their own strapline. This helped us grasp the idea that a strapline is important in the image of the brand and if people can link the strapline to the brand this means it’s successful.
A strapline must be relevant, short, snappy and it needs to go well together. The idea sounds simple, but it’s harder than it seems. We were split off into groups and given the opportunity to contribute by creating some ideas. We were even told to write down negative ones as well as the positive ones because this gives us an understanding of what to work with as well as how people view the college. We were then able to give our critical opinions on Emily’s ideas; some feedback was quite harsh but, as we learned, this is a part of the process.
Personally, I found the experience interesting; it gave us an insight on what a small fraction of the marketing process is. It also made us feel included, we were able to contribute our own ideas and give our opinion on her ideas. It was easier for us to come up with ideas as we are students at the college. I also found the experience good because she offered a place at her work for work experience and this opens more opportunities for people and builds up interest in new job choices.
Written by Louise Dalgliesh.
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