Cambria and LDA unveil complete digital overhaul

COLEG Cambria, one of the highest performing colleges in Wales, has partnered with digital agency Lda to launch an all new website that the college is billing as “perhaps its most important piece of real estate”.

Coleg Cambria, which serves North East Wales, Cheshire and Wirral, required its digital properties to work significantly harder to reflect its offering for Further Education, Higher Education, apprenticeships and employers.

The strategy, content, creative and tech teams at MediaCityUK-based agency Lda created the site from scratch over a six-month period. It incorporates not only a refreshed brand and new user experience but also a rich mix of content including video, 3D tours and transactional technology – to drive applications, learner engagement and employer engagement.

Jayne Unalkat, Head of Marketing and Recruitment at the college, led the project alongside Lda Chief Executive Lucy Perkins. Jayne comments:

“This undertaking was far more than a marketing project – it has been a fundamental milestone in the history and future of the college. It involves every department including IT, student records and importantly diversity: it not only addresses the cultural and linguistic requirements of our local area by being fully bilingual, it is also fully accessible to all users.”

Lucy Perkins of Lda continues: “Coleg Cambria’s new website is a massive step forward for a number of reasons. First, it reflects the wants and needs of learners, which our research identified: it speaks to them in their language. It was designed mobile-first, given that the majority of users will now use mobile devices before desktop to access it. It presents information in formats today’s user demands, so to complement established offline assets such as prospectuses and open days we offer 3D tours, bite-size information and video content throughout.

“Also, its employer-facing sections are tailored to the employer community that the college serves, from the region’s manufacturing giants to independent high street businesses. This gives them the training and learning resources they need to tackle skills gaps and ensure that their specific workforce requirements are being met by the college.”

Jayne Unalkat concludes: “Our new website gives exactly the same supportive, inclusive community feel that you get from our bricks-and-mortar sites. Users can access what they want with as few clicks as possible, and what they find online is as close as can be to the experience we deliver at the college itself.

“The success of this project was a direct result of our strong collaborative partnership with Lda. The agency team knows the FE sector inside and out, and is truly embedded within our college. We look forward to continuing to work with Lda on the ongoing development, evolving content and future iterations of our website.”

Coleg Cambria is driven by the four principles of its Vision 2020: people, customer, society and performance. These four principles are at the heart of its new website.