Kathryn Jones' marketing experience
Wolverhampton University, Head of External Relations
Using market research with key stakeholders to inform her decision-making, Kathryn developed a clear, corporate identity under the strap line ‘The real choice’, introducing a corporate advertising/publications strategy co-ordinated centrally for the first time within a newly merged department.
The literature strategy Kathryn introduced during her time at the University of Wolverhampton (from 1998) helped double prospective student enquiries and led to a 20% growth in student numbers after six years of decline. As part of a profile raising strategy, she introduced, wrote and edited the University’s first corporate glossy magazine, with subsequent readership surveys proving its contribution to making a positive impression on readers’ perceptions of the University.
Able to quickly spot opportunities to stand out in a crowded marketplace, her innovative award-winning communications included a US-style international ‘Viewbook’, which won a national Communicators in Business Excellence Award, as well as a range of helpful guides targeted at prospective students, parents, schools and colleges. Now commonplace in the Higher Education sector, guides covering topics such as Clearing, Money Matters, the UCAS Tariff and UCAS Extra initiative were unheard of at the time and were subsequently copied by competitors. Taking inspiration from the emerging loyal schemes in retail in the 90s, Kathryn introduced the country’s first university membership scheme for prospective students. The Future Club, which proved a highly successful awareness and conversion tool, won a Gold Heist Student Recruitment Campaign Award in 2000.