The Honest Marketer

Kathryn Jones' marketing experience


Birmingham City University, Director of Marketing and Communications


Appointed as Director of Marketing and Communications at Birmingham City University (BCU) in 2008, one of Kathryn’s first tasks was to develop a focused, credible brand identity following the institution’s name change six months earlier and targeted marketing to reverse a declining trend in student recruitment. The University achieved the highest rise in UCAS applications in 2009 - up 38% compared to a national average of 9% - and won the first 2009 THE Leadership and Management Award for Outstanding Recruitment Campaign.


The University's popularity continued to grow and, in 2012, despite higher fees, BCU was one of only two Million+ institutions to see a rise in UCAS accepted applicants of 2% and, in 2013, it enjoyed the ninth largest increase by volume of student numbers with 750 more than in 2012.


Concern about over-dependency on Clearing led Kathryn to instigate a collaborative review of the University’s undergraduate applicant engagement strategy with a view to increasing early conversion and acceptance for 2014 entry. The University implemented a number of her key recommendations, such as reverse modelling to determine required offer numbers, unconditional offers for high performing students and centrally-managed expanded Applicant Visit Days. These initiatives complemented a comprehensive CRM communications plan Kathryn had already developed, which aligned the formal communications from Admissions with the nurturing and ‘keep warm’ messages from the Marketing and Communications Department, together with Academic Schools. By June 2014, the University had witnessed a 12% rise in applications, over 67% more unconditional and 6% more conditional acceptances. The UCAS End of Cycle report showed that BCU was one of the top 10 UK universities for the biggest rise in the volume of undergraduate students since the introduction of tuition fees. Though small, postgraduate numbers had also grown and despite 3% less applications for 2014, by June the accepts represented a 14% increase.