The background

The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is one of the UK’s leading conservatoires, shaping the next generation of performers across acting, musical theatre, and classical training. As LAMDA’s long-term marketing partner, we have developed a deep understanding of the unique challenge of marketing arts education: combining brand prestige with performance, inspiring creativity while driving measurable growth.

Working closely with LAMDA’s internal marketing team, we’ve helped translate their world-class reputation into full-funnel marketing strategies that reach the right audiences, generate genuine interest, and convert intent into applications. Through insight-led paid media, creative testing, and continuous optimisation, we’ve consistently exceeded benchmarks and supported LAMDA’s goals — driving meaningful growth in short-course applications while strengthening long-term brand equity.

The goal

In our latest campaign, we set out to increase applications for LAMDA’s portfolio of short courses, from screen acting to Shakespeare Summer School, and reach a broad mix of prospective performers, younger audiences, and parents.

The objectives were clear:

• Increase short-course applications by 20% YOY  (primary KPI: Apply clicks + completed applications)
• Boost visibility of priority courses via Meta and Google
• Acquire new qualified users and drive more high-intent sessions
• Move prospects through the full funnel, from awareness to submission
  

LAMDA also had performance benchmarks in place for Landing Page Views and application clicks, and the goal was to exceed these while maintaining strong cost efficiency.

The audience

We focused on three core segments, each with different needs and behaviours:

• Aspiring performers exploring acting, musical theatre, and screen acting courses
• Parents/influencers – especially crucial for the Shakespeare Summer School, with students being below the age of 18
• Younger teens (awareness only, due to platform restrictions)

Geographically, the campaign skewed towards the UK, with additional reach for international interest in summer programmes.

Full-funnel marketing strategy

We deployed a full-funnel, multi-channel strategy combining the strengths of Meta and Google to meet users at every stage of their journey:

Meta – Awareness & Consideration

To scale traffic and interest, we ran Landing Page View (LPV) campaigns using student-led creatives, audience segmentation, and A/B testing to identify best-performing variants.

Google Search – High-Intent Conversion

Search activity focused on brand terms and short-course keywords to capture motivated users ready to apply.

Channel Synergy

Meta built reach → Google captured intent → together driving applications efficiently.

The execution

Our first step was to drive awareness and consideration at scale, using authentic, student-led static visuals to resonate with prospective applicants. Creative A/B testing by gender allowed us to identify meaningful performance differences and refine our approach accordingly.

We also split-tested key landing page routes, including /short-courses/ versus /introductory-courses/, to understand which journeys drove stronger engagement. Targeting was carefully tailored by course, with interest-based audiences aligned to specific disciplines, while the Shakespeare Summer School required a more intricate approach, running separate campaigns for parents and students. For under-18 audiences, we focused on impression-led targeting to build awareness compliantly, ensuring early brand exposure without sacrificing platform policy or performance.

Conversion (Google Search)

With the LAMDA short courses getting out in front of the right audiences, we shifted our focus to capturing high-intent demand. The first step was to implement a structured Google Search strategy focused on brand and short-course keywords, ensuring LAMDA was visible at the exact moment users were ready to apply. Keyword optimisation centred on proven, high-intent terms, allowing us to capture motivated prospects efficiently. When search volume around “Shakespeare” proved more limited than anticipated, we proactively reallocated budget to higher-performing channels, maintaining momentum and efficiency. Continuous refinement of bids, keywords, and ad copy helped improve CPA while increasing overall application volume, ensuring performance remained strong throughout the campaign.

Relevance & User Experience Improvements

Landing page performance was a key focus throughout the campaign. Through structured A/B testing, we identified URLs that significantly outperformed alternative routes, driving stronger engagement and higher-quality sessions. These insights went beyond paid media; they directly informed site and UX updates that improved clarity, relevance, and on-page experience. As a result, users were able to move more confidently through the application journey, supporting both conversion rates and long-term site performance.

Creative Insight
Creative testing delivered valuable insight into audience behaviour and conversion pathways. Women-focused assets consistently generated higher volumes of Apply clicks, while Men-focused creative drove a greater proportion of completed applications. Rather than treating this as a one-off finding, we used these insights to actively shape future creative direction by aligning messaging, imagery, and calls to action with the behaviours most likely to drive meaningful outcomes at each stage of the funnel.

The challenges

Performance fluctuations were expected, so we proactively managed them. 

• A dip in Meta “Apply clicks” aligned with our LPV optimisation strategy, which prioritised quality traffic over immediate conversions. We resolved this by reframing success around full-funnel KPIs. 
• As part of the target audience were school leavers under 18, we faced platform restrictions around under-18 targeting, which required a more nuanced campaign structure, leading to separate parent and student journeys. 
• Limited search volume for Shakespeare-related terms prompted a strategic budget shift toward Meta, where engagement proved stronger. Landing page underperformance was addressed through URL testing and UX optimisation, while creative performance differences led to a mid-campaign pivot that improved efficiency and results.

 

The results

Strategic thinking paired with timely optimisation, creative testing and tracking resulted in success! Our high-performing, efficient campaign exceeded expectations across all channels, delivering meaningful business uplift for the client.

• 129% Increase in Application Clicks
• 244 Applications Submitted
• +93.4% YoY growth
• 246% ROI

Performance benchmarks were exceeded by 129%, and Arke drove 9% of all new site users, a significant uplift for short-course discovery.

A/B testing directly influenced improvements to LAMDA’s course pages, strengthening on-site engagement. We also conducted a detailed competitor analysis, which uncovered opportunities for future strategic positioning. When running age and gender-relevant ads, we discovered that teen-focused campaigns exceeded impression benchmarks by +17%, contributing to long-term brand equity. These learnings now form a stronger foundation for future campaigns and continued growth.

The outcome

The campaign delivered exceptional full-funnel performance, exceeding targets, unlocking new audiences, and securing an increase in enrollment for LAMDA’s short-course recruitment.

Meta drove sustained awareness and interest, Google captured high-intent prospects, and together they delivered a profitable, scalable, and insight-rich campaign that led to full courses, opening doors to both prospective students and LAMDA alike.

Read more about Arke’s expertise in higher education marketing.

The need for a website redesign

In the fast-paced agency world where we dedicate all of our resources to our clients, we realised that to practice what you preach, you need to lead by example.

Delivering award-winning integrated marketing campaigns for our clients and not using our expertise to our own benefit may sound mad, but it’s the harsh reality of many businesses out there. So, we decided to rebuild our website properly with a sound strategy rather than patching the elements that needed to be fixed.

True to our values, this case study transparently reflects where we were performance-wise, what we achieved and how an ongoing marketing strategy can re-position even a well-established business to reach new audiences, so you can see what we could do for your own organisation.

The baseline

Whilst the old website was ranking really well for best practices and SEO, we had plenty to improve across overall performance and accessibility, both across desktop and mobile.

 

However, even though for SEO we had a 100/100 score, this was not really reflected in our visibility across Google results and AI overviews which not only was anecdotally reported but SEMRush backed up this finding too .

Working with the Elementor CMS presented its own issues: whilst it can certainly be a valid CMS for some organisations, the way it was implemented across our site didn’t allow for good responsiveness across devices, and some elements that were arguably visually attractive didn’t match industry best practices for accessibility and SEO.

As a result of responsibility changes at Arke over the years, internal marketing efforts became misaligned from business goals. As a consequence, the backend had become cluttered with a number of plugins whose purpose and functionality were unclear. This not only increased the need for constant updates and testing to ensure the site remained stable, but also introduced potential security warnings by having several unnecessary third-party applications installed for no apparent reason.

The brief

Arke’s old website had performance issues coming from a convoluted backend, built on WordPress, using Elementor as a CMS and a multitude of plugins, some of which were conflicting with each other.

The brief to our web developer was to create a clean-coded Arke Agency theme, with accessibility, SEO and UX best practices by design across devices to support our aim as an authoritative voice in the agency space leading to demand generation.

Combining custom-made blocks with WordPress’ native ones, we designed a dual brand language, based on the content of the site, with landing page layouts for our service pages and an editorial layout for our case studies and thought leadership articles.

We needed to revamp the entire UX across the site, simplifying the navigation for ease of use and more impactful communication of our services, results and thought-leadership.

Some of the main KPIs we set for the development were:

• Achieving at least a score of 95 on each category on Google’s PageSpeed Insights.
• Be compliant with WCAG 2.2 accessibility requirements.
• Keep the project on time and on budget.

Strategy

Being a fully integrated agency means that we have strategic and creative resources at our disposal. We took the website redesign as an opportunity to refresh our brand, maintaining our values and our personality whilst also showing our professionalism and ability to deliver award-winning marketing work.

We stripped down the graphic noise to focus on substance, combining it with subtle animated elements to drive user engagement where we want it the most.

The project didn’t need just a new website; it included the design of an ongoing SEO strategy, a curated content development plan, precisely targeted lead-gen campaigns and the establishment of new systems for producing web assets.

Results

• Upon launching the site, we achieved 100 points in each of Google’s PageSpeed Insights sections: performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO. This represented an improvement of over 500% for some key pages across the website.

• Our content and digital PR strategy, which started before the new website went live, made us climb quickly on strategic keywords we were not ranking before, taking us to the first page of Google and gaining AI citations to increase our reach. Same as we do with our clients, this strategy is ongoing and will only get stronger with our ongoing optimisations.
• We reduced the backend plugins from 32 to 13 without compromising on any functionality and securing our website against potential vulnerabilities.
• With accessibility being one of the points we stressed the most during the design phase, we ensured to have zero critical issues before launch and 42/42 passed audits under WCAG 2.2 criteria.

Curious to talk about it?

A website is much more than the window display your organisation offers to the world. It has never been more critical to have a technically sound website, both to reach your audiences and remain visible where the conversations begin, especially in a highly competitive landscape, but also from a legal responsibility, as accessibility and privacy by design are requirements for any organisation in the UK with a website.

It’s not always necessary to do a complete website redesign as you may already have solid foundations that need to be strengthened with UX best practices so let us know what you would like to achieve so we can help you get there faster.

Our Brighton-based team of Arkenauts have developed and designed websites and marketing strategies for organisations across over 15 sectors, including ecommerce, travel, entertainment, education, and much more for many years. We’ve got the toolbox of solutions; bring us your unique needs and let’s get your brand in front of the right audience.

With a tailored strategic plan focused on driving sign-ups for the Help to Grow course, we achieved impressive growth and exceeded our goals.

These results enabled us to meet our year targets ahead of schedule.

This strong performance also allowed us to reallocate the remaining budget to future activity, ensuring every penny was used efficiently and delivered maximum value for our client.

The Background

Oxford Brookes Business School’s Help to Grow initiative is a government-backed scheme that empowers leaders in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Oxfordshire to grow professionally and strategically. It is a 12-week programme designed for senior leaders to help them build the skills needed to take them and their business further. The programme includes support from a business mentor and is designed to fit alongside full-time work.

Long Standing Partnership

We have partnered with OBU for several years, gaining deep insight into their priorities and what drives their success. Through consistent collaboration, we have built strong trust with their teams, enabling seamless teamwork and positioning us to deliver impactful, long-term results.

Our Latest Mission

We set out to drive enrolments for the Help-to-Grow programme, empowering more business leaders to take their skills and their businesses further. Our goal: at least 15 sign-ups per cohort, with a stretch target of maximising each group’s full potential. With under 12 months to achieve it, we were ready to deliver exceptional results.

We specifically targeted senior business professionals from SMEs based within a 30-mile radius of Oxford (including Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire). Working with a specific media spend budget to cover a 9-month campaign, we knew we had to be agile and reactive with our optimisations to maximise our budget and get the best results.

Strategy in Action

Achieving our targets required a strategically built marketing funnel.

• • To raise awareness at the top of the funnel, Google Display was utilised to retarget website visitors alongside reaching high-intent prospective audiences who were most likely to convert in specified timeframes.

• • Utilising interest layering, such as demographic targeting and URL targeting, to reach users who had previously interacted with relevant brands further increased the likelihood that our ads would reach the most engaged audience at the right time to convert.

• • Over time, we moved away from retargeting because analysis showed the activity generated limited website traffic, and we wanted to prevent ad fatigue and prioritise fresh audience engagement.

To refine our Google Display targeting, we crafted affinity audiences focused on:

• • Business professionals.

• • News enthusiasts.

• • Frequent business travellers.

• • In-market audiences for business education.

Demographically, we targeted individuals aged 25-65+ who were either planning to start a business or had recently launched one. To maintain precision, we implemented negative placement targets to exclude irrelevant audiences. Specifically, we filtered out users aged 18-24 and retirees, ensuring our focus remained on senior business leaders. We also utilised URL targeting and auction insights to ensure we were reaching users who had previously looked at competitors.

Supporting our lower-funnel strategy required a more targeted approach, which made LinkedIn Ads an ideal channel. We targeted three audiences on LinkedIn:

• • Users at Director and Managerial seniority levels.

• • Users who had “Business Owner” or “Manager” in their job title.

• • Users who listed Management & Leadership in their skills.

To avoid high CPC due to advertising against high-cost audiences, we also set cost caps to allow us to stay on top of budget usage throughout the campaign effectively.

Last (but certainly not least), we primarily utilised Google Search with high-intent keyword targeting for our bottom-funnel strategy to generate conversions.

Our main keywords were:

• • Leadership courses.

• • Management courses.

• • Mentorship.

• • Strategy and planning.

• • Small business growth.

• • Help-to-Grow branded keywords.

By continuously monitoring performance, we reallocated budgets to the highest-performing channels, enabling us to stay agile and user-focused with our optimisations throughout the campaign and deliver impactful results.

Challenges

Our most significant challenge came during the UK general election, when government-backed campaigns such as Help to Grow were paused to comply with restrictions. We had to pause all activity for the entire month of June, which condensed our timeline from 3 months spanning June to August, to only 2. All budget that would’ve otherwise gone towards the June activity was held and redistributed to July and August.

• • Whilst we did experience lower numbers due to having less time to generate momentum for sign-ups, we still surpassed budgetary enrolment targets by 153%!

Another challenge we faced was strong competition from other local business schools delivering the Help to Grow programme, as well as from the Small Business Charter (SBC). The SBC, which accredits UK business schools, runs its own national advertising campaigns. This created overlap with our highest-spending keywords in biddable auctions, meaning our campaigns were effectively competing not only with other local providers under the SBC umbrella but also with national SBC activity itself.

To overcome this, we closely monitored keyword performance, refined our targeting strategy, and focused on high-intent, region-specific terms that aligned more directly with Oxford Brookes University’s offering.

• • This approach reduced unnecessary bidding competition, improved cost efficiency, and ensured our campaigns maintained strong visibility and performance despite the crowded landscape.

Breakthrough Success

Our long-standing partnership with Oxford Brookes University has gone from strength to strength over the years as we saw remarkable growth for Oxford Brookes Business School throughout our campaigns.

• • In the first year of our campaign, enrolments increased by 125% year-on-year.

• • The next year, we exceeded registration targets by 73%, enrolling 164 participants across six cohorts, enabling OBU to support even more business leaders in the region.

• • Our most recent campaign marked a standout milestone, as we filled all 30 seats in the cohort ahead of schedule. With the remaining marketing budget, we focused on building broader awareness of OBU and the Help to Grow scheme, ensuring every penny was used to maximum effect.

Exceptional Results

Google Search was the standout performer, achieving an impressive account average of 11.14% CTR and driving 132 registration clicks in the campaign’s final months, surpassing budgetary enrolment targets by 153%.

This success demonstrates the power of a well-executed strategy, thoughtful targeting, the importance of campaign agility, and our commitment to maximising the marketing campaigns’ full potential.

Ready to achieve your goals?

As a brand and performance marketing agency, our Brighton-based team transforms your unique challenges into tailored strategic solutions that exceed expectations. We deliver award-winning results that help you scale your brand and deepen engagement with your audience.

Are you looking to supercharge your higher education marketing?
Let’s talk through it.

The Brief

Envitia is a software and digital services company that specialises in solving complex data challenges. With work that spans industries such as environmental, maritime, and defence, their work is vital and often complex.

Recognising that it was time for a brand refresh, they reached out to Arke’s Creative Team for help to update their brand guidelines and develop new templates for their presentation decks.

They wanted to modernise their identity, designing something cleaner while holding on to the familiar core elements their key stakeholders recognised.

The goal was to refresh Envitia’s visual identity, which Arke then encapsulated in an updated set of brand guidelines. These were then rolled out and applied to key brand assets, sales and marketing collateral, and were to be applied across their website and social media templates later.

A Strategy for Clarity

Our brand development strategy centred around cutting through complexity. Envitia works in challenging sectors and often tackles highly technical issues, so its brand must communicate a minimalist and confident vision without diluting its expertise.

We collaborated closely with the team to understand their business and ambitions, then delivered a solution that balanced creativity with practicality while meeting both budget and schedule.

Colour Palette Refresh

Our creative team dove in to broaden Envitia’s brand style, starting with the colour palette.

We saw an opportunity to bring more depth and expression to their visual identity by introducing a thoughtful secondary colour palette that complements the core brand while adding flexibility and warmth.

These new tones allow Envitia to tell richer stories, clearly differentiating presentation segments. The secondary warmer, brighter tones provide contrast to the primary Midnight Blue and Envitia Green colours, which would be used to make diagrams, charts, and infographics pop.

We also created muted versions of the primary blue and green, which would be used for overlaying body copy, adding dimension to their presentations.

Imagery Treatment, Ownership, and Modernisation

It was a priority for both Arke and Envitia to “own” their visual narrative, making their brands easily distinguishable and memorable.

To achieve this, we introduced customised imagery treatments: the photography was divided into four visual groupings, and custom overlays, filters, and graphical elements were applied to photographs, creating a distinctive and recognisable aesthetic.

This approach not only enhanced visual appeal but also ensured consistency across all platforms and materials.

One of the biggest challenges we faced came from the technical nature of Envitia’s work. The content demanded a high level of design skill to ensure it was both visually engaging and immediately understandable.

By translating dense and intricate information into clear visualisations, we gave Envitia a way to communicate complex ideas confidently and easily.

The result was a refreshed brand identity that feels both modern, credible and timeless, while staying true to the company’s foundations.

The new guidelines and collateral have empowered the internal team to present a consistent and professional image across all platforms, producing better brand alignment and internal adoption.

Patterns with a Purpose

Continuing to add variation to Envitia’s graphic portfolio, we created patterns inspired by geospatial elements that were integrated into the brand’s visual language.

These patterns served as subtle nods to Envitia’s core services, adding texture and depth to their communications while maintaining a clean and professional look and would be used to introduce visual breaks in documents and presentation decks.

Taking the refresh further

Envitia were thrilled with Arke’s work in providing them with an easy way to communicate their complex ideas and knowledge with simplicity and confidence.

Envitia’s brand, however, isn’t limited to the digital space – it also needs to live and breathe in the physical world, extending beyond the logo to create a unified and adaptable brand experience. From staff materials and event assets to promotional items and social media, Envitia’s brand is designed to grow, evolve, and make an impact wherever it appears.

Your brand refresh is here

As a Creative Marketing Agency, our Brighton-based team takes complex challenges across a range of industries and deliver award-winning results so you can scale your brand and engage with your audience further.

Ready to update your brand? Let’s talk through it.

The Arkenaut’s Assignment

As of the summer of 2025, 20.6 million UK households were subscribed to at least one paid video streaming service. In this crowded market, our long-term client, the British Film Institute (BFI), asked us to help BFI Player broaden its audience and stand out among streaming giants.

The Arkenauts jumped into the director’s seat, crafting a full-funnel digital strategy to drive free trials through a full-funnel digital strategy, nurturing users from awareness to conversion.

With a comprehensive marketing strategy spanning paid media and creative implementation, we combined targeted video and static ad campaigns featuring BFI branding, optimised search advertising, and robust retargeting, enhancing BFI Player’s brand awareness as a streaming service.

Utilising an “always-on” approach for paid search and paid socials, we divided the media plan into priority releases, back-catalogue, and brand-supported campaigns with flighted campaigns during key periods.

Our targets were:

• • Increase average free trialists per month.
  • Increase free trials during the peak January/February period by 100% YoY.
  • Trial to paid conversion rate of 50%.
  • Keep paid subscribers churn in line with -/+ of platform average.

Audience in Focus

BFI Player’s core audience was UK adults aged 25 to 54, interested in independent film and Video on Demand (VoD). Arke’s challenge was to reach a broader UK audience, especially at a time when many people were facing reduced disposable income due to the cost of living crisis.

Our goal was to position BFI Player as a serious competitor to the streaming giants, while growing and diversifying its subscriber base.

To target audiences more effectively throughout the year, we introduced a seasonal strategy shift. With BFI Player typically seeing a spike in January and February, we focused on conversion efforts during this period. In summer, we pivoted to a search-led approach, with plans to scale media spend again in winter when VoD interest naturally increases.

Churn was another key challenge. As is common with subscription models, drop-off rates were expected, so we built in regular promotions to reduce this. An always-on campaign was supported by tactical bursts around key retail moments such as Prime Day and discounted subscription offers, all designed to keep churn low and conversions high.

The Drawing Board – Creative Asset Development

Before we began, Arke’s Head of Creative and Head of Strategy facilitated a Creative Workshop, with the aim, to identify the opportunities available to evolve creative assets, whilst aligned with the eventual evolution of the BFI Player brand. This enabled us to create eye-catching graphics with a clear CTA.

Replacing some of BFI’s creatives would also future-proof the BFI by providing them with innovative tools and templates for sustainable, in-house asset production.

Our creative team changed the previous creatives from a 9:16 to 1:1 dimensions, as previous campaigns showed that 9:16s typically see higher CTR’s and lower CPCs at the video viewer retargeting level.

Clear branding allowed with brand recognition, and a linkable and clickable CTA allowed for trackable and reportable results.

Working with BFI’s creative department, 14-day free trial messaging was split-tested amongst audiences within the creatives to understand if this or the price point led to more trialists becoming long-term subscribers and which message should dominate on landing pages.

Messaging was regularly reviewed and iterated, with pricing transparency emerging as a key conversion driver amongst mid and bottom-funnel segments. Arke then created and templated optimised assets for BFI teams to utilise for the subsequent releases.

Ads needed to work across 12 different formats, requiring significant design flexibility while ensuring consistent branding, messaging and promotions.

The core messages were: “Stream hand-picked cinema” and  “Immerse yourself in indie film“.

The final product: a unified visual identity that enhanced campaign cohesion. Engaging video and static ads effectively communicated subscription benefits, capturing audience attention across segments.

Funnel Stages

The first step was to increase awareness. Arke launched campaigns using YouTube, SkyAdSmart, and Meta, building awareness among targeted audiences and creating high-quality retargeting pools.

Since BFI Player is now available via Amazon, Amazon DSP Ads were our programmatic provider, with exclusive access to IMDB. Arke extended the use of Amazon DSP, TikTok, and Meta to drive engagement and traffic to BFI Player via Amazon Prime, optimising for maximum volume with a target CPA.

We didn’t simply target the core audience: using additional audience segmentation, we were able to customise the strategy based on film-genre interests and mosaic groups through Experian.

At the top of the funnel, we targeted users with a broad interest in indie film, layered with VoD consumption behaviours across Meta and YouTube. We also added title-specific targeting, building custom audiences around film titles.

Mid-funnel, we leveraged rich BFI first-party data to build high-intent lookalikes and niche interest segments, and at the bottom of the funnel, we used highly segmented campaigns targeting high-intent queries, retargeting users who visited the site and didn’t subscribe, or watched <75% of video content.

Performance activity across decision-stage platforms focused on cost-effective trial starts and subscriptions, optimising to a target CPA. Finally, we activated a hyper-targeted Google Search strategy, reaching high-intent users through genre-specific and title-led targeting.

We developed a comprehensive full-funnel strategy to nurture users throughout the customer journey.

• • Prospecting focused on interest and behaviour-based targeting, with creative assets optimised for awareness and discovery.
  • Mid-funnel audiences were reached with engagement-focused creatives, informed by tested audience data (e.g. lookalikes, layered interests).
  • Retargeting was segmented to reflect intent signals, with messaging focused on price and exclusivity of content.

Arke’s Integrated Approach

We understood that the new, broader target audience we wanted to reach spent their time in various communities on the internet, so we placed BFI Player there as well.

We used Reddit to interest groups and subreddits targeting niche audience engagement in specific threads like r/A24 or r/ObscureFilmClub. We used Spotify‘s genre targeting of indie film enthusiasts, and Sky AdSmart for geographic/demographic targeting with viewing passions overlaid.

Results: A Standing Ovation

Despite the complexities of modernising an established brand like BFI Player, Arke successfully revamped assets across six channels to attract a diverse audience and achieved incredible results

Primary Objectives: Increase Free Trials

• Target for the campaign: Increase of free trials per month
• Result: 33% above target achieved
• Target for peak period: During the peak January–February window, we achieved a 20% increase on target and 729% YoY increase

Secondary Objective: Trial-to-Paid 

• Target Conversion Rate: 50%
• Result: Achieved a 52% trial-to-paid conversion rate, a 4% increase on target

Retention Objective: Churn

• Target: Maintain churn in line with the +/- of platform average
• Result: Achieved churn within range

European Agency Awards 2025

The Niche to Known campaign won the European Agency Award for Campaign Effectiveness. Judges noted the campaign’s impressive results achieved through purposeful audience planning and refined delivery.

Feedback received from the judges:

UK Agency Awards 2025

The Niche to Known campaign also won the UK Agency Award for Best Integrated Campaign. It was celebrated as an example of strategic marketing, highlighting its sophisticated grasp of lifecycle management and well-structured use of multiple channels, demonstrating both range and accuracy.

Feedback received from the judges:

Your Audience Is Waiting

As a performance-driven marketing agency, we help platforms like BFI Player grow audiences and drive conversions in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

From shifting consumer behaviours to evolving media habits, we build scalable, full-funnel strategies that turn interest into sign-ups, and sign-ups into loyal subscribers. Whether you’re aiming to boost trials, reduce churn, or cut through the noise, we help you make every impression count.

Got a challenge on your hands? Let’s talk through it.

THE ARKENAUT’S CHALLENGE

Despite being the UK’s best-connected airport by train, London Gatwick has not historically been viewed as London’s airport of choice.

Following their rebrand in April 2023, London Gatwick reached out to Arke for support in establishing themselves as the city’s airport of choice for both leisure and business travellers.

 London Gatwick’s main goal was to shift these perceptions by highlighting the airport’s accessibility and convenience.

Arke set out to promote London Gatwick’s new core messaging through a phased media plan utilising a range of tactics and channels, including OOH, social media, and geo-targeted digital activity to improve brand awareness across key demographics.

STRATEGY

Messaging

To get into the flyer’s mindset and set the tone for London Gatwick’s campaign messaging, they asked 400 recent flyers to rate a series of statements around the theme of convenience, such as speed passing through security, train connectivity and car park to check-in times.

The survey results found that passing through security in less than five minutes was the most appealing statement, with direct train links from local stations, and train frequency statements closely following.

From analysing the top motivators for convenience highlighted in the survey, the key messages were built around how London Gatwick meets these needs:

• • Trains leave on average every 4 minutes to London (every 3 minutes at peak times)

• • Journey times take less than 30 minutes to London Bridge and London Victoria

• • 95% of customers pass through security in 5 minutes or under, with a dedicated family lane also available plus Fast Track for those looking for even more convenience.

Audience

London Gatwick was already a popular choice for those travelling from the South of England, which meant that the biggest growth opportunity lies with our London audience.
Our primary demographic:

• • 22–44 year olds

• • All genders

• • Layered interest in travel

• • Behaviour patterns including frequent flying, culture-seeking, budget holidays, and business travel.

Leaning into the great transport links, Arke cross referenced key routes; direct to Gatwick from London train stations, faster journey times with that of Heathrow and personalised the messaging to those stations (e.g. journey times).

A secondary audience was also identified targeting Greater London excluding the locations above using a more London-wide messaging.

Paid Media

A phased approach to media planning ensured we used the budget effectively throughout the campaign. We increased media spend over key booking times, including January/February and September, and in August, we paused all media spend to retain budget in what was already a busy month for flights, allowing us to use the budget more effectively during those busy booking periods.

Partnering with London Gatwick and O&G, their appointed creative agency, we developed the “Sorry for the Convenience” campaign: a bold, engaging framework designed to shift perceptions.

As London Gatwick’s first brand campaign in five years, we took a multi-channel approach to maximise reach across a broad range of touchpoints.

OOH

We placed ads with JC Decaux and Global in high-impact locations across London, particularly in train stations where we could highlight the short train times to London Gatwick.

TV and Spotify Advertising

To optimise our TV advertising strategy, we utilised Experian data through Sky AdSmart to target high-potential households with our video ads. Focusing on 30-second video completions to maximise audience recall and ensuring the ads align with audience values.

We also A/B tested different interest-based ad placements on Spotify Podcasts and optimised for ad-completion rates to ensure our messages were reaching the right audience on the platform.

https://youtu.be/unqDBZvpy2M

Uber Rides Ads

We wanted to explore new ways of reaching our target audience and were one of the first agencies in the UK to use Uber Rides Ads. These ads drove the highest dwell time on ads, which worked perfectly for local consideration. We delivered sequential messaging to travellers heading to London’s competitor airports across three key moments in the user journey: Dispatch, Enroute, and On-Trip.

 SkyScanner

Skyscanner Display Ads were the perfect opportunity to target audiences already in the holiday mindset.

Arke maintained a consistent presence on key platforms like YouTube, Meta, Google Search & PMax, and Amazon DSP using A/B testing to refine messaging for target locations and audiences.

RESULTS

Business objectives:

London Gatwick’s annual passenger acquisition report found that leisure travellers increased 2%, with the biggest gains in our target locations.

Their brand survey found that association with statements like “good transport links” improved by 5–7% since January 2024, strengthening Gatwick’s positioning against competitors.

Our data-driven approach strengthened core messaging, positioning LGW as the top London-connected airport.

Paid media:

86.35% increase over our target/estimated impressions across all media channels. 193.8M vs. 104M estimated impressions.

1542% increase over estimated clicks on Google Search.

 A/B tests showed:

• • More colour variations in animations boosted view and completion rates.

• • Competing directly with other airports increased engagement at lower costs, requiring tailored strategies for each competitor and channel.

2025 UK PAID MEDIA AWARDS

The “Sorry for the Convenience” campaign was a finalist in two categories at the 2025 UK Paid Media Awards in the best Integrated Campaign & Travel/Leisure Campaign of the Year categories, with Arke’s work recognised as a very creative approach to develop the campaign.

Feedback received from the judges:

LET’S TALK TRAVEL MARKETING

As an integrated marketing agency, we help travel brands navigate the current market dynamics complexities. From adapting to fast-changing behaviour to building scalable strategies that work across channels and markets, we bring clarity, creativity and measurable results. Whether you’re chasing bookings, loyalty, or market share – we help you get there.

Let’s have a chat and share with us the unique challenges your organisation is facing.

In the post-pandemic world, on-demand video reigns king with 19.8 million UK households reporting to have at least one paid video streaming subscription, and this number continues to grow. When the British Film Institute (BFI) approached Arke with the task of expanding audiences for its own streaming service, BFI Player, beyond its current demographic, we were ready to get the cameras rolling. Our objective? To bring hand-picked cinema to untapped markets, leveraging the growing demand for quality streaming content, particularly cult, classic and independent cinema.

Ready to take on the challenge, we outlined the following goals for the campaign:

• • Increase in new users by 10% compared to previous period

• • Increase in average monthly trialist by 10%

• • Trial to paid conversion rate of 50%

• • Paid subscribers churn below 7%

The Challenge

BFI Player was competing in a saturated on-demand streaming space and despite the complexities of modernising an esteemed brand, Arke quickly raised the creative limitations of existing BFI Player assets and recommended a revamp of assets across six channels, using unified messaging to attract a diverse audience.

As diverse as the audiences, the films available on BFI Player have an immense range: dramatic, cinematic, cult, independent, and classic. Arke worked to capture these qualities through brand-new creative materials, ensuring they reflected BFI’s evolving brand identity, enabling us to use them strategically and cohesively through a multi-channel approach.

The mission was to develop a strong brand presence across various ad formats and platforms, especially with frequent new releases and updates to BFI’s homepage and Player design, drawing in a more diverse range of users.

The Strategy

Our critical focus was enhancing BFI Player’s brand awareness as a streaming service. To do this, we combined targeted video and static ad campaigns that featured BFI Player branding, optimised search advertising and rounded off with robust retargeting to reach our target audience effectively.

Our sights were set on 25 – 55-year-olds of all genders, namely, those interested in non-mainstream films and TV, including international and indie films. We aimed to broaden BFI Player’s audience beyond its core demographic, targeting younger viewers, film enthusiasts, and diverse audiences across the UK including the LGBTQ+ audience.

A key focus point for us was BFI Player’s 14-day free trial. Working closely with BFI’s creative department, the 14-day free trial messaging was split-tested amongst audiences within the creative to understand if this versus the £4.99 per month price point led to more trialists becoming long-term subscribers and which message should dominate on the landing pages. Using this data, Arke created and templated optimised assets for the BFI team to utilise for the subsequent releases based on the top-performing formats, messages and pricing strategies.

The extensive media plan encompassed an “Always-on” approach for search and socials, splitting into priority releases, back-catalogue, and brand-supported campaigns with flighted campaigns at key periods across the year. Due to the streaming service now available via Amazon, Amazon DSP Ads was our chosen programmatic provider.

Then, we took the creative assets to the next level. Not only did we design brand new creatives for the many different films BFI Player was featuring, we also created templates utilising Smart Objects designed to vastly improve the efficiency of asset creation for the BFI Creative Studio team, aimed at increasing their capacity to work on other projects. Additionally, we used Smart Objects and fine-tuned templates to automate the scaling and positioning of film stills, enabling quick and consistent rollouts across platforms.

Our approach consisted of using 12 different tactics across three different mediums and our ads needed to work across all of these. This required significant flexibility in design while ensuring consistent branding and messaging. The final product had it all: it was a unified visual identity that enhanced campaign cohesion. By combining a new BFI Showreel and static ads effectively, the subscription benefits were clearly conveyed, capturing audience attention across every segment.

Implementation

With our extensive and exciting creative collection in hand, it was time to say ‘action’! We began by prospecting where lookalike audiences were activated, based on current long-term subscribers of their safe audiences. Focusing on the younger age range with further layered targeting, we created three new segments: the “cult film lovers”, streamers and streams and finally, parents.

By utilising the power of YouTube, SkyAdSmart, and Meta, we began increasing awareness of BFI within targeted audiences. Once a targeting pool was collected, we expanded our efforts by building qualified video-viewer retargeting pools.

It was then time to drive new customer engagement and direct traffic to BFI Player via Amazon Prime, so we extended our use of Amazon DSP, TikTok and Meta. As a multi-pronged approach, we then used Google Search, Google PMax, Google Display, Google Demand Gen, and Meta to cost-effectively drive trial starts and subscriptions. We optimised this by engaging a maximum volume of audiences with a target CPA while employing retargeting strategies.

Once we had eyes on, we deployed a granular Google Search campaign targeting high-intent audiences actively seeking similar streaming services, using specific genres, nations, and popular film titles, solidifying those most interested audience members.

The Results

Our campaign was Oscar-worthy – all results surpassed campaign targets! Free trials exceeded the monthly goal by 25%, and paid subscribers churn achieved target of <7%. We also unlocked more web traffic from new segments, including a 32% increase in users aged 25-34. Existing segments also grew, with users aged 55-64 up by 21% by Q1’s end.

Achieved:

• • Paid Search resulted in a 22.11% increase in new users and 20.99% increase in sessions

• • Paid Social resulted in a 45.54% increase in both new users and sessions

• • An increase of 20.19% in average trialists per month (10% over target)

• • Trial to Paid conversion rate of 60% (10% over target)

• • Paid churn remained below 7% target

New markets:

• • UK 25-34 increase in users by 31.61%

• • UK 45-54 increase in users by 12.46%

• • UK 18-24 increase in users by 11.47%

Existing markets:

• • UK 55-64 increase in users by 21.03%

A Standing Ovation

In a crowded streaming market dominated by streaming giants such as Netflix, MUBI and Amazon Prime, we faced the challenge of reaching a UK audience with diminished disposable income due to the cost of living crisis. However, our strategic integrated campaigns and collaboration saw the BFI Player campaign excel through strong relationship-building, adaptability, and a deep understanding of our client’s needs. This collaboration modernised creatives, evolved brand positioning, attracted new audiences, and increased trial subscriptions, showcasing our ability to thrive in a competitive landscape. We also helped to future-proof the BFI with innovative tools and templates for sustainable, in-house asset production.

Our hard work and detailed strategy are being recognised: we are proud that this campaign is a finalist in the UK Agency Awards for the Best Integrated Campaign category! Check back later this year to find out if Arke and BFI take the title home!

Asset Bank’s journey with Arke began in December 2022, when they approached us to help them end a four-year marketing hiatus for their Digital Asset Management (DAM) product, a solution for storing, managing, sharing, and organising digital assets.

With Arke’s help, Asset Bank were ready to develop a strategy to get DAM in front of their audience. Arke aimed to identify whether focusing on industries would outperform a broader approach targeting mid to large-scale businesses.

After a year of strategic experimentation and market analysis, our efforts paid off. By November 2023, with valuable insights and a robust paid media strategy, Arke and Asset Bank set ambitious KPIs to boost growth, aiming to increase leads by 260% and increase monthly sales.

The Channels

In the targeting stage of the marketing strategy, we knew we wanted to hit several major platforms where the DAM audience would be spending their time, including LinkedIn and Google Search.

To address high CPCs in the B2B DAM space, we layered targeting parameters on LinkedIn, including:

• • Specific job titles in design, communications, media, and marketing with seniority

• • Member interests like marketing software

• • Company size of 201-1000 employees

• • Member age between 25-54

Additionally, we created a secondary audience of lookalikes based on Asset Bank’s current customers for LinkedIn. Here, we utilised lead gen ads to generate Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs), which integrated directly into HubSpot for email campaign nurturing.

Next, we shifted our focus to Google Search. Initially, during the learning phase, the ad groups were divided into ‘brand’ terms, ‘broad DAM’ terms, competitor keywords, and a retargeting group for website visitors. This strategy, however, proved too costly when competing with large, investor-backed rivals and attracted low-intent and spam leads.

Therefore, we devised a detailed and strategic approach to avoid the high CPC keywords, by utilising long-tail, high-intent keywords. We restructured the campaigns from ‘prospecting’ and ‘retargeting’ to four more specific groups:

• • DAM

• • Alternatives

• • Brand

• • Competitor

Implementation

Utilising strategic targeting, we initially focused on maximising impression share across platforms to build awareness and capture market share. Soon, the data accumulated, so we shifted to optimising campaigns for clicks.

During this phase, ad creative and messaging had to be tailored appropriately, so we transitioned from ‘learn more’ to ‘book now’ CTAs to drive website traffic and populate retargeting pools for further optimisation towards conversions.

Keeping An Eye On The Competition

The digital asset management space is a competitive one, and Asset Bank struggled to differentiate its messaging and creative from their many competitors. Uncertain about their market positioning and USP, they needed clarity on what would appeal to their target market and how to communicate it.

We needed to help Asset Bank overcome this with a deep understanding of the market, so we proposed an extensive competitor research project. We developed a matrix to compare competitors’ core positioning, pricing, and customer processes against Asset Bank’s. We measured each of the DAMs’ customer journeys, creating detailed profiling reports on each.

Through this project, we identified particular strengths that Asset Bank had over their competitors, such as a user-friendly sales process and a number of popular features.

Our report also showed that the client needed to reposition their product to better reflect their quality offering in the market. They are now in the process of launching their new brand and positioning (alongside a new website) with our support along the way, further contributing to ad quality and lead generation.

Keyword Competition

We quickly found that we were up against some stiff competition in the DAM keyword space in which Asset Bank was advertising. Given that CPC rates in the B2B sector are typically higher and Asset Bank’s budget was smaller compared to larger competitors, it was difficult to make a significant impact without exhausting the entire budget.

So, we had to get creative. We split the Google Search campaigns from one campaign into multiple, resulting in a refined, more granular account structure. This allowed for much more efficient budget distribution, enabling us to respond to fluctuations in both the bidding environment and the wider industry.

This approach was a success, it significantly impacted conversion rates very quickly. We were able to increase conversions by 154% from the initial test phase of the campaign to Q1. This also helped to increase impression share among competitors. Previously, in the test phase, impression share was 17.21% and grew to 21% in Q1, a 22% increase from the baseline.

Results

Winning high-intent conversions in a B2B advertising space was never going to be easy. However, due to our relentless dedication and re-strategising, we are proud to have supported Asset Bank in achieving their most successful month in the company’s history in January 2024, surpassing our goal of increasing leads by 260% per month and beating the previous monthly lead record.

While Asset Bank was initially reluctant to invest in marketing, partnering with Arke led to record ROAS and valuable business insights that helped them reposition their brand-enhancing competitiveness.

Despite the competitive landscape dominated by established, investor-backed DAM providers, Arke’s innovative and data-driven approach showed that targeting non-industry-specific businesses yielded a greater ROI, positioning Asset Bank to outshine its competition.

Our efforts even garnered international attention! We are so proud to have been announced as finalists for the European Paid Media Awards in the category of Paid Media Led Campaign of the Year and also for Best Use of Search – B2B (PPC) at the UK Search Awards with our ‘DAM Good Campaign’.

Our long-standing partnership with Asset Bank has made us an extension of their team, built on trust and shared success. This campaign showcases the immense value of a dedicated paid media agency, delivering not just more conversions but scalable, long-term growth.

THE CHALLENGE

Once every ten years, the residents of Brighton and Hove are called on to fill out an important community health and wellness survey, the results of which help to inform vital decisions about future health and well-being services that may be required to meet residents’ needs.

Having previously worked with the University of Brighton, the lead stakeholder for the survey, we were entrusted with ensuring that as many residents took part in the survey as possible.

The Health Counts 2024 survey was a quick survey with the potential to make a massive impact by shaping the services Brighton & Hove residents receive. Without it, their voices might go unheard, leaving their needs unmet by decision and policymakers.

As a local, independent agency, it was our duty to lend our expertise to this once-in-a-decade survey.

The main players

The survey was a collaboration of several agencies. The University of Brighton were commissioned by Brighton & Hove City Council to develop and promote the survey, and analyse the findings. In addition, the following organisations were key stakeholders in the campaign, and representatives were involved at each stage:

• • NHS Sussex

• • Healthwatch Brighton & Hove

• • Brighton and Sussex Medical School

• • Brighton & Hove Foundation

• • Brighton & Hove City Council

Our goals started with building awareness through a creative branding project, with the final goal to be survey completions with the following KPI’s:

• • Effectively reach our target segments at scale

• • Achieve 10,000 survey completions

• • Reach our goals within four short weeks

Building the Health Counts brand

The first mission was to create a strong identity for the 2024 survey to ensure it caught the attention of residents. Our Head of Creative met this challenge head-on by meeting with all the involved stakeholders across the campaign landscape in a creative ideation workshop.

Ideas began to come to life in the form of mood boards, which helped us determine an understanding of which illustration-led approach would be best for this campaign. We kept an open line of communication with our clients, constantly getting insightful feedback that allowed us to create assets that had a clear feeling of being for residents and not tourists, so that our campaign was not mistaken for promotional materials aimed at visitors.

Mood boards progressed into Stylescapes and soon, campaign illustration-led visuals were solidified. We landed on a graphic hand-drawn by our Head of Creative which resonated with Brighton & Hove’s bohemian culture whilst giving a nod to well-recognised colours in Brighton, like the blue railings along the seafront.

The Strategy

With an eye-catching creative in hand, we had limited time to make a huge impact. Having only four weeks to run our campaign, we hit the ground running by focusing on reaching our target segments via Facebook, Instagram, and Google Display. We devised a targeting strategy for our audience through interest-based communities, contextual, demographic, lookalike and geographic targeting.

To build up awareness, we utilised the vast targeting power of Google Display and Meta, focusing on interest-based targeting such as; local community news, different social causes, and health and wellness.

However, when we saw that this was restricting potential numbers, we quickly adapted and prioritised the budget to be more in favour of demographic targeting, opening up our search to the wider public.

Driving Survey Completions

Staying constantly in communication with our clients, we were able to share and receive real-time, data-driven result updates. Midway through the campaign, we were informed that the survey completions were heavily skewed towards older residents, not reflecting Brighton & Hove’s median age of 38.

We quickly pivoted to target 18-25-year-olds, using demographic targeting on Google Display and Meta. We also weighed budgets towards mobile devices for better conversion with younger users.

In addition, we optimised the messaging to appeal more to the younger generation and added a raffle for a £100 voucher as a monetary incentive, knowing that this would entice younger residents to participate.

Optimisation

As we continued to track the number of surveys completed, we noticed that certain postcode areas in the city had low survey submission rates. We couldn’t allow this as it was crucial to receive information from every postcode in Brighton & Hove to get an accurate representation of the needs of the cities’ residents. So, we got to work, building a new campaign to target residents within a 1km radius of these high-priority postcodes. Overlaying the map with the postcodes, we ensured our targeting was spot on, and felt confident that our campaign would now be effectively targeting each unique postcode of the city.

Results

Through our multichannel approach, the Health Counts Survey 2024 achieved over 26,014 survey completions – that is over a 940% increase in survey completions compared to the previous survey results.

Via paid media alone we also achieved:

1. 1. Over 1.06 million impressions

1. 1. 4.4k clicks

1. 1. 361 survey competitions

1. 1. A strong conversion rate of 8.21%

1. 1. CPA of £10.52

These 26k survey submissions will allow Brighton & Hove to make informed decisions through data-driven policy-making, improving the overall well-being of residents with long-term benefits, which will continue to be felt by future generations.

Despite a tight budget and just four weeks, we are proud to have contributed to making Brighton & Hove a place where all residents’ needs are addressed, including mental health services and support networks. Through Arke’s diligent and thorough approach, the Health Counts Survey 2024 stakeholders can now make data-driven decisions that will impact residents and future generations.

We were thrilled to be a part of a critical campaign that may influence the well-being of Brighton & Hove residents, and look forward to the potential to bring positive change to our local community.

The challenge

At Arke, we’re more than an agency – we’re an extension of our clients teams. So, when The Abbey School came to us to help spread the word of an exciting offer for their nursery ‘Little Knellies’, we couldn’t have been more excited to get stuck in.

The team at Little Knellies wanted to raise awareness of their government-funded nursery offering, allowing eligible families to take advantage of a funded nursery place, with the ultimate goal of driving eligible families to submit an application. As the nursery often acts as a feeder for students coming into The Abbey, enrollments needed to be strong. Little Knellies is the first step in a young girl’s journey into education with The Abbey, with an incentive offering fully funded government places, allowing more access to private nursery to all eligible families.

Arke are passionate about education marketing at all levels, and this project offered the opportunity to support widening participation for nursery places. So, in order to make sure the project was a success, we were tasked with:

1. 1. Attaining 839,472 impressions on the campaign
   2. A Cost-per-Impression (CPM) of £6.85
   3. 6,340 clicks to the ‘apply now’ landing page
   4. A Cost-Per-Click of £0.91

Building the foundations

One of our main goals was to bring brand awareness to the government-funded places, however to effectively target the correct audience with the ‘free’ nursery places, our targeting had to be executed through a full-funnel strategy.

The wording surrounding “free” raised some concerns about attracting low-intent leads due to ‘free’ offer possibly attracting families who may not fit the requirements for placement at Little Knellies. To combat this, we prioritised high-intent keywords for funding, as they generated more intent leads than simply mentioning “free nursery,” avoiding those that didn’t meet the criteria for conversion.

The campaigns had a broad focus, aiming to connect with two key groups: Young Parents (aged 25-38) and Grandparents (aged 45-65+), all residing within a 10-15 mile radius of Katesgrove. This distance was essential to get right, as marketing to a nursery is incredibly specific due to how far parents can travel to take their children to school, especially if the goal of the nursery is to continue the students through to the partner school The Abbey. Little Knellies supplied us with pre-created ad graphics and we got straight to work. We employed a sophisticated targeting strategy, using a combination of parental, interest, and demographic factors to engage our audiences effectively.

At the initial stage of our marketing efforts, we utilised YouTube and Google Display tactics that leveraged keyword targeting, layered demographic criteria, and interest-based parameters.

We strategically leverage visually dynamic platforms like YouTube and display ads during the awareness and consideration stages. The power of captivating visual content not only grabs attention quickly but also efficiently conveys information, making it a potent tool for boosting brand awareness and recall. After all, a visually appealing presentation sticks in your memory much more effectively than just text-based information. This approach allowed us to reach our target audience on a large scale and create awareness of Little Knellies’ fully funded term-time nursery spaces.

Getting to work

As we moved further down the marketing funnel, our strategies on Google Display, Facebook and Instagram aimed to build on the initial exposure. We focused on maximising engagement within these platforms and driving high-intent traffic to the Little Knellies landing page. Once we had gathered sufficient data, we targeted two key audience segments: the top percentile of Nursery website page visitors, who were most likely to convert, and lookalike audiences based on the Little Knellies CRM data, specifically parents of Nursery/Reception pupils.

In the realm of nursery education, private institutions that are fully funded tend to have less intense competition compared to their counterparts. However, generating applications for specialised, niche-oriented private nurseries often necessitates connecting with the right individuals at precisely the right moment. It was crucial to prioritise interactions with high-intent individuals who met the specific admission criteria, rather than competing on broader competitive keywords, accessing people who may have lower intent and fail to satisfy the necessary requirements.

At the bottom of the funnel, we employed Google Search to nurture these high-intent audiences towards conversion. This involved actions like clicking to ‘Get in Touch,’ submitting a form, downloading the information sheet, and initiating calls. Our approach encompassed various keyword targeting strategies, including Brand, Competitor, and Generic Keywords. Additionally, we implemented dynamic search and retargeting techniques. All of this was backed by the wealth of data accumulated during our top-and-mid-funnel tactics, enabling us to retarget people who were likely to convey but  had yet to make the conversion.

Results

Our full funnel strategy proved incredibly successful, generating a fantastic Return-On-Ad-Spend (ROAS) of 1292.53%. Across all channels, we served a total of 1,247,349 impressions, generating 8,674 clicks through to the Little Knellies landing page, with 20 Nursery Contact Form Submissions being directly attributed to our campaigns.

We conquered targets and most importantly we had a happy client who informed us this was the most applications they had ever received on a single campaign! We achieved:

1. 20 form submissions and contributed 13 registrations to their internal target
2. 1,257,314 impressions, and increase of 50% of the target
3. A Cost per Impression (CPM) of £4.43, a decrease of 35% of the target
4. Generated 8,753 clicks, an increase of 38% of target
5. A Cost-Per-Click of £0.64, a 30% decrease from target

The Challenge

Having previously partnered on record-breaking campaigns, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) reached out to the Arkenauts to support their dual objective campaign to promote both their HE and Short courses and Exams offerings.

We were tasked with:

– Effectively raise awareness of LAMDA’s HE and Short Courses
– Effectively raise awareness of LAMDA’s Exam offerings
– Increase the number of Exam providers and generate Exam bookings

As we helped to smash goals for LAMDA in our previous campaigns together, we knew this was a challenge we would excel in – creating the perfect multi-channel strategy to generate even more record-breaking results for another successful partnership.

The Strategy: how we began

Using our expertise in the industry, data built throughout previous campaigns and audience research, we knew it was essential to iron out the specific audiences we needed to target for each course campaign. As each objective had a slightly different target segment, we needed to adapt our strategies accordingly.

We conducted a detailed analysis for each online channel we wanted to use, suggesting the appropriate messaging, creative and call-to-actions that would excel on each platform. From here, we created a full-funnel media plan enabling us to take action at each stage of the conversion process to drive awareness and applications for their courses and exams.

We designed a diverse range of eye-catching creative templates for social media adverts, providing the creative team at LAMDA with reusable assets that could be refreshed in alignment with our campaign recommendations. This included guidance on crafting animated banners, utilising Photoshop files, and other relevant elements.

The creative team at LAMDA were then able to use these templates in-house to update assets accordingly in line with campaign progress.

 

Implementation

Revving up our Core Courses campaigns, we finely tuned targeting to captivate aspiring students aged 17-27 and their influential parents residing in the UK, particularly zeroing in on the South of England. This was due to our research informing us that this was the area with the highest demand for acting and drama degrees and training.

To execute a killer strategy for this audience, we harnessed the power of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Google Display, Google Discovery, and Google Search. This powerhouse combo aided us in nurturing potential students from initial exposure to LAMDA and their course offerings through to application.

Shifting gears to our Short Courses campaigns, we used targeting to resonate with potential students aged 18-34, and the parents or influencers of the 17-20 age group. But what made this campaign exciting was the ability to also work outside of the UK. We extended targeting to key US cities, including New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. This was due to these areas having high demand for LAMDA’s nature of training, as well as there being a few feeder schools for the university in these locations.

Here, we opted for a more streamlined strategy, gliding through Facebook, Instagram, Google Discovery, and Google Search. This focused approach wasn’t just about awareness – we honed in on generating mid/lower funnel outcomes (ad engagement, CTA button clicks, applications etc.,) as opposed to brand/course awareness.

Gearing Toward Professionals

For their exams offering, we needed to recalibrate our approach and steer our marketing towards educators and seasoned professionals who want to upskill and enhance the opportunities of students interested in the performing arts.

We diversified campaigns across YouTube & LinkedIn, focusing on top-of-funnel outcomes rather than driving immediate action amongst our target segments. With a visually compelling, video-first approach, these campaigns were optimised to reach our refined audiences at scale, while maintaining a cost-effective CPM (Cost-Per-Thousand-Impressions), and informing them of LAMDA’s exams offering.

Moving further down the funnel, we made use of Facebook & Instagram’s efficient interest-based targeting capabilities to drive both in-platform and on-site engagement, which would also support us in building data-driven retargeting pools to be used within our conversion-driven campaigns.

At the very bottom of the funnel, we leveraged Google Discovery and Google Search to drive high-intent action amongst our target audience. To do so, we employed the use of sophisticated remarketing audiences to re-engage those who may have interacted with one of our captivating ads further up the funnel or explored an exams page on the LAMDA website but did not convert.

At each stage of the campaign, we stayed in touch with LAMDA, shifting our budgets in response to the exams and courses that needed more attention. Due to our designed templates and expert guide, the in-house design team at LAMDA were able to quickly and efficiently provide us with up-to-date assets for each dynamic change in the campaign.

Results

HE and Short Courses

Across both campaigns, we captivated a staggering total of 4,676,767 electrifying impressions, sparking an impressive 48,432 clicks through to various course-specific landing pages. Our Click Through Rate (CTR) soared at an exhilarating 1.04%, all achieved at a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) of just £0.57. This achieved our goal of raising awareness of these courses by not only delivering so many eyeballs-on-ads through impressions but also a significant click-through for more information.

Exams

Across all campaigns, we showcased a total of 1,883,017 impressions, igniting 18,262 clicks through to various exam-specific landing pages. Achieving a magnetic Click Through Rate (CTR) of 0.97%, with a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) of just £0.70, ensuring an engaging and cost-effective journey for our audience.

More importantly, we delighted our client with our brand awareness efforts, which played a crucial role in generating applications and helping LAMDA hit its internal enrollment targets. We were also able to utilise the additional budget from this campaign to excel in LAMDA’s Clearing strategy, making the most of the budget we had to accelerate LAMDA’s enrolments.

The Challenge

Kicking off the summer in May, Brighton comes alive with mesmerising art and entertainment around every corner thanks to Brighton Festival; an event that attracts thousands of visitors from across the UK and world to see world class acts in action.

In anticipation of Brighton’s most spectacular summer to date, we received an exciting invitation from the esteemed Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival. Their mission: reignite the fire of festivals to create brand engagement after the challenging years of Covid and sell out more shows than ever before.

Challenge accepted! We executed a comprehensive and impactful campaign, achieving resounding success in hitting our targets and delivering exceptional results, supporting Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival’s efforts to keep the spirit of Brighton alive and transforming the city into a vibrant hub of unforgettable events that ignited the summer in a true essence of what Brighton talent has to offer.

Our goals started with growing brand awareness and using the excitement around Brighton Festival we created to drive ticket sales for the Festival with the following KPIs:

1. Deliver 2.5M impressions, up 17% more from the previous year
2. 26,000 clicks to the website, 187% more from the previous year
3. A click through rate of 1.04%, 147% more from previous year
4. Sell 917 tickets to events within the festival, 627% more from previous year

The Strategy: how we began

Starting with spreading the word of Brighton Festival and all it had to offer, we began at the top of the marketing funnel with a brand level approach.This kicked off with a briefing call with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival where we collaborated on all the eye catching graphics we could use to entice audiences and generate excitement for the event. The client took the brief by the horns, generating engaging creative we could leverage in our campaigns.

To begin this approach, we outlined the audiences to support the bespoke media plan our expert team had created, concentrating on people interested in events across Brighton and surrounding areas. To go alongside this, we strategically matched which platforms would engage this audience best, and where would be most beneficial to get the most out of the budget. We created a personalised data visualisation dashboard for Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, allowing them to track campaign performance live throughout the campaign and for us to demonstrate our tactics as we redistributed budgets reactively. Then, it was time for a three-pronged brand awareness strategy to be launched.

In the first of our platform tactics, we utilised Youtube, serving 15 and 30 second ads using captivating videos teasing the different events and shows, leveraging targeting on the south of England and 10km of Brighton in order to attract those most likely to be able to commute to Brighton for the shows. Initially on Facebook and Instagram, we used a wider brand level targeting approach to target people who were interested in events and going to shows allowing the platforms to gather data and learn from the engaged audiences.

The Making of a Month to Remember

Due to Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival holding a not-for profit charity status, we were able to secure a Google Grant to utilise some free search advertising. We leveraged this to promote the festival at a brand level approach, as well as particular events and shows. We used generic keywords like ‘things to do in Brighton’, ‘events around Brighton’, ‘summer activities’ and ‘family days out’ alongside event specific keywords. Through Google Grants, we were able to secure just over £10,000 of free advertising to generate over 6k clicks, greatly contributing as a driver of revenue for the campaign.

Having the brand awareness side conquered, we moved into consideration tactics. Using Google, we delivered search and display ads across our target audience of event fanatics and general fans of each of the acts. Google Search campaigns were split based upon both event-specific and more generic event keywords.

Keyword targeting was our superpower, which looked to reach and engage those who were actively searching for Brighton Festival terms or more broader ‘Events in Brighton’ terms. Also consistent with Google Display, Google Discovery was optimised heavily towards users on mobile devices, as this is where we saw the highest volume of clicks at the highest CTRs. We also noticed competitors bidding on our brand terms, so got into action early to compete with this.

Implementation

Moving onto high-intent tactics down the funnel to drive ticket sales and fill seats through Brighton Festival’s busy line-up, we took advantage of Meta’s detailed targeting capabilities, employing geo-based targeting tactics.

We used data from our previous brand level campaigns to develop a range of audiences to target, including those interested in events, look-alike audiences to ticket buyers and people with access to easy transport links into Brighton. Hyperfocusing on contextual targeting, we built out audiences to ensure we were only reaching high intent people. We targeted people who had been to an event or a band similar to acts within Brighton Festival, adding a kilometre radius on the time the gigs were happening, filling feeds with the creative and eye-catching graphics. In partnership with the client’s graphics, our creative team produced engaging and interactive copy to accompany ads, enticing prospects to Brighton.

As our event-specific ads were fueled by particularly granular layered interest and geo-based targeting, ad relevance was maximised amongst our target segments, allowing a smooth transition from initial engagement through to conversion with ease. With so many acts, shows and events within the Brighton Festival, matching all of these to audiences was no small task and required hands-on work by the team in order to make sure each event was reaching potentially interested parties.

As we began to implement campaigns, we were met with promising results, and the client wanted to push more shows and utilise the budget. Due to showing how we could be reactive with budget, reallocating depending on popularity and seats sold, we were granted additional cash to push our results even further.

We were as agile as possible, keeping in constant communication with the client to recognise which shows were priorities for them and where we needed to push focus with high intent recall. Being reactive allowed us to take advantage of high-intent audiences, elevating the talent of Brighton Festival through engaging copywriting and striking graphics paired with targeting tactics to upscale campaigns.

Results

In only a short burst, we smashed targets, excelling even further with the additional budget granted to us, as well as utilising our Google Grant. Raising awareness early was a hugely important part of campaign success, and allowed us to create a foundation for conversion, skyrocketing numbers out of this world.

Through our ability to create precision targeting with flexible re-distribution across tactics we achieved:

1.  3,982,619 impressions, up 58% from our target
2. 42,439 clicks to the website, up 62.7% from target
3. 1.07% click-through rate, up 3% from target
4. 1,523 ticket sales, a 66% increase from our original target
5. 1095% more tracked purchases than previous years results

More importantly, due to our reactive decisions and optimisation, the client was super pleased with our work, and we are over the moon to continue our relationship with Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival going forward to implement GA4. As a Brighton based agency, it is invaluable to us to support our local community. We are incredibly proud to have had the chance to enjoy many of the shows ourselves and recognise all the effort Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival put into each event.

The Challenge

We love working with local businesses, so when Brighton i360, a tourist attraction with the best views in Brighton, got in touch to elevate their brand within and beyond the city, we jumped at the chance. With a mission to enhance brand awareness and drive ticket sales within their key target audience segments, we had just the plan to push targets to new heights.

We devised extensive audience research with creative approaches paired with a killer strategy to achieve the following goals:

1.Increase online ticket sales to 50% of total sales
2.Develop a distinctive creative concept with strong visual identity amongst key target audience segments

Approach

Brighton i360 wanted to primarily focus on driving ticket sales around young families, couples, and avid sightseers within Brighton and the surrounding areas. Our goal was to spotlight the attraction’s tailored experience, and we had just the strategy to realise this vision.

We delved into audience exploration, researching their pain points, desires and needs. Our copywriter ventured out into the city to gauge the communal sentiments towards the i360. His one-on-one interactions with local individuals, tourists and day-trippers on the vibrant streets of Brighton provided invaluable insights – a snapshot of public opinion that was essential to our strategy.

Using our expert experience in the attraction industry, we suggested a creative approach using paid media to reach potential adventure seekers and skyrocket i360 to success.

Creative Conceptualisation

Through collaborative ideation, crafting creative concepts and moodboards, three distinct ideas emerged. The chosen concept reimagined the city’s essence from a new vantage point – ‘A Different Perspective’, encapsulating Brighton’s unique charm. Using the sky and clouds, playing on the fact that the i360 takes passengers on a journey 450ft into the clouds, morphed into different shapes that resonated with that audience, we captured the breathtaking views of Brighton and its wonderful, lifeful moments from an elevated standpoint. We focused concepts around each audience, such as, engagements for couples, a day out for families and an immersive experience with memories and unforgettable experiences for sightseers.

We also explored other ideas, including two based around augmented reality. Playing around with AR app possibilities and Snap’s AR glasses, we developed interactive ideas that would consume the customer with a fully integrated digital experience.

After presenting the concepts, the client agreed that  ‘A Different Perspective’ hit their brief and wanted to explore this further for the paid media campaign.

Making the Media Mix

Recognising i360’s core identity and wide audience appeal, we proposed a video-focused strategy for maximum brand impact. We kicked off by storyboarding ads aligned with our creative concept, tailoring segments for each audience.

Working with a local production company, Be The Fox, we wasted no time in starting to shoot content for our campaign. Our conviction in the potency of video ads was strong, and a pivotal element of our creative direction was the film shoot itself. We hired actors and got into action, focusing on the themes of a magical day out for you and your family and tailored this to each audience within the film.

Using different actors for each audience segment, we highlighted the essence of each of their desires we found within our research, showcasing the i360 and the sights of Brighton it has to offer. With us as directors, their cameras rolled as we unveiled the story’s essence, optimising for various platforms by shooting in square and portrait formats. We highlighted classic Brighton themes that resonated with our audience during the research phase, such as ice creams and the beach, showcasing all the i360 had to offer. The result was a captivating two-minute advertisement, a fusion of imagination and possibility, family appeal, and the i360’s charm as a tourist attraction.

From this, the next step was the creation of the adverts to showcase the video. The messaging framework emerged, and we specifically focused on paid copy. Playfully centred on elevation, our language was vibrant, invoking sunsets and breath-taking views. The tagline “Wonder of the World” encapsulated our strategy, adapted for each audience segment.

Launch and Measure

For the launch of our media campaign, the first step was to raise awareness of i360 among the target audience. For this, we led a video-first approach, using Snapchat and TikTok as our amplifiers. The campaign primarily targeted three distinct, non-overlapping audiences, ranging from a hyper-local demographic to those on the outskirts of North London. For engagement, we devised concise Snap and TikTok clips extracted from the initial video. These snippets captured the excitement of couples, families, and sightseers as they anticipated their i360 experience. The initial emphasis was on video for heightened awareness, allowing us to establish video viewer retargeting audiences without relying on third-party cookies.

Moving down the funnel, we generated intent with search and meta. Navigating search proved to be a highly competitive space, contending with formidable local attractions and third-party ticket vendors for i360, including large companies with substantial budgets. However, we identified a strategic gap – our competitors focused heavily on bidding for their own brand terms. To ensure conversions were truly incremental, we orchestrated a significant shift in spending. Our approach pivoted toward broader, generic terms such as “experiences in Brighton,” “family days out,” and “things to do,” thereby enhancing our conversion tactics.

Seeing the initial success of the campaign, Brighton i360 allowed us to expand its scope, focusing on the ‘adventurer sightseers’ audience. Originally launched as an awareness campaign, the campaign’s impressive performance indicated the opportunity for growth and led us to further enhance and develop the “Extreme 360” attraction within i360 when it first launched.

Results

With our boundless creative energy and elevating strategy, we propelled i360 to unprecedented heights of success with a +603% ROAS – a great result for a short campaign in a competitive industry. The campaign yielded remarkable results, culminating in revenue reaching almost a quarter of a million (£225,992.07) – with an impressive average order value of £46.53. This was complemented by a total of 4,857 transactions, a testament to the campaign’s efficacy in driving engagement and conversions.

Due to the success of the campaign, we were also tasked with amplifying its brand further. We crafted a campaign to ensure its appeal as a summer attraction extended seamlessly into the winter months through a captivating Christmas Santa campaign.

By adeptly tailoring our strategy to the changing seasons, we continued to draw in visitors during the festive season. The Santa campaign proved to be a resounding success, achieving an exceptional Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) of +994%. This accomplishment underscored our ability to pivot and engage audiences across different contexts, further solidifying i360’s position as a dynamic and year-round destination.

Here at Arke, we’re big on community, so it’s important to us that we give back to our local areas. Regularly taking on passion projects, we were delighted to work with Allsorts Youth Project supporting their mission of listening to, connecting & supporting children & young people under 26 who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or exploring their sexual orientation and/or gender identity (LGBT+) and their families.

So, when we were asked to redesign their training slides in order to support their message and help create some fresh content and assets that showcase the incredible work that they do, we jumped at the opportunity.

The challenge

Allsorts Youth Project is an LGBT youth charity in East Sussex. The project aims to meet the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and unsure youth in Brighton and Hove and the wider East Sussex area.

With this in mind, Allsorts tasked us with the responsibility of redesigning their entire training material that would be used to inform businesses and enterprises around East Sussex on inclusivity best practice in the workplace.

It was important for us to create a sense of professionalism within the slides whilst also bringing the fun and personal essence Allsorts has to amplify the motivations and pride within the brand.

Our main aims were to:

1. Make the slides a visually appealing & enhancing learning experience.

2. Look professional, slick, bold, to appeal to the consumer and business audiences.

3. Still represent Allsorts key brand essence, its values and services.

From here, we developed a range of ideas based on a Pinterest board Allsorts presented to us to discover shapes, colours and imagery that truly reflected the clients passion and dedication to the Youth Project cause. From this, we then developed three different mood boards featuring a variety of aspects that Allsorts had favoured, and in turn gave each one its unique stylistic approach.

Although Allsorts desired to go with a professional proposition, we didn’t want to lose what they stood for within the design, so decided to include a ‘wildcard’ concept that embraced abstract shapes and eye-catching colours – something we feel represented being proud of who you are, an asset Allsorts so effortlessly teaches to others.

Conducting regular check-ins with the client, we monitored feedback throughout and enhanced each of the three approaches to match. We explained to Allsorts our aim to keep the message of embracing who you are alive within the slides, without having to tone down their proud, aspirational and significant objectives as a company within a more corporate design. The client put their trust in us and we went forward with the concept that shouted Allsorts from the rooftops.

Our approach to design

We wanted the main focus of the design to be the incredible training Allsorts delivers. It was important for both us and the client to create content that enhanced Allsorts messaging whilst remaining eye-catching and engaging to the receiver.

We began by researching image banks to depict a collection of LGBTQ+ friendly images that did not appear too generic or out of touch, but yet aligned with what Allsorts stood for. From here, we collated imagery that represented LGBTQ+ communities from a wide range of backgrounds, yet highlighted Allsorts work with youth across Sussex.

We originated ideas from what it truly means to be different, focusing on curvature within the design to emphasise not staying on one path, embodying non-binary directions. Embracing a mix of pastel colours that aligned with Allsorts logo, we focused on using shapes and overlays to create depth and dimension amongst the slides. We placed these on the borders of slides, using them to utilise white space.

We paired this with sketchbook-esk doodles, based on the idea that they encapsulate the heart of the people the charity helps. Although the topic is series, each person has their own story to tell, portrayed through interactive, seemingly hand drawn doodles you may find in a diary/sketchbook. The doodles interacted with the shapes, adding the essence of fun to the graphics, without going overly youthful.

We developed these shapes to enhance text and statements within the training, focusing the trainee’s eye on important messaging to ensure all educational content could be clearly understood.

As the shapes began to take formality within the slides, we started to harness the collaboration of imagery. Placing the images in unison with the shapes, we evolved the images by including them within the shapes using masks and overlays, combined with the sketched doodles to ensure all assets flowed throughout the presentation.

THE CHALLENGE

As an e-commerce brand, luxury fragrance company Shay & Blue’s goal was to build a new engaged audience for their email marketing activity over the key sales period, Black Friday. But, as a strategic agency, we wanted to elevate this – building up everlasting data-driven targeting lists.

We devised objectives to boost their mailing list, while making Black Friday their best sales period ever:

1. 1. Increase new customer visits by 30% YoY
   2. Increase ROAS by 100% YoY
   3. Decrease cost per acquisition by 50% YoY
   4. Increase number of transactions by 150% YoY
   5. Increase revenue by 150% YoY

THE STRATEGY

The award-winning strategy was possible through the collaboration of each team member bringing their expertise together. A fully integrated campaign through the power of teamwork.

Our approach was two-pronged: lead generation and conversion. With a robust understanding of the market, and Shay & Blue’s wider business goals, our strategy was to:

1. 1. Build up quality data, preparing for high levels of competition
   2. Build trust with the brand, boosting awareness in a saturated market
   3. Amplify branding, increasing recall while bringing something fresh to market
   4. Test and learn to understand the consumer’s appetite

The first tactic was lead generation. After careful consideration and collaboration, the team wanted to convey a playful and exciting campaign that would generate exceptional results, and we had just the idea. We pitched that Shay & Blue offer a free 10ml Blood Oranges fragrance around Halloween to build trust between brand and audience. As 68% of Shay & Blue’s sales come from repeat business, getting the product into the consumer’s hands was vital.

Broad targeting and layered interest tactics maximised budget while attracting those with an affinity with the brand’s promises. From this, we built up Shay & Blue’s data and mailing list, facilitating precise targeting through lookalike audiences.

On Black Friday, we targeted lookalike audiences using data collected through lead generation and the client’s CRM data, alongside layered interest audiences to drill down into niche beauty and fragrance audiences with an affinity for affordable and ethical, yet luxury products.

IMPLEMENTATION

Our messaging framework played on horror movie tropes, combining engaging copywriting, emphasising deals and price-slashing. This helped us to contend with the rising cost of living and competition.

Shay & Blue refresh their aesthetic seasonally, and the brand evolves accordingly. We produced a creative that screamed Shay & Blue from the rooftops, with the design complimenting their autumn aesthetic, ‘Own The Night’.

Our fantastic creative team embodied Halloween and turned their Blood Oranges fragrance into Bloody Oranges; they loved it – they even decided to use it across their web campaign!

We split-tested creative and pushed the boundaries of the brand to stand out on social, where we knew competition would be fierce. Our abundance of creative distinguished us; we retargeted people with fresh ads, increasing brand awareness whilst avoiding ad fatigue.

The Black Friday adverts emphasised the urgency with our copy – “Going, going, gone!”. Copy is limited on social, so we spearheaded creative design to convey the extent of the deal alongside urgency.

RESULTS

With a 1009% ROAS, the campaign resulted in a record-breaking period of online trading for Shay & Blue, revenue attributed to Paid Media increased by 244.59%, generating their biggest month in online revenue in a single week – a huge impact for a small, niche brand.

We also saw high levels of engagement among younger audiences, who left comments on social media. New customer site visits increased by 49.23% and revenue from all sources increased by 159% YoY.

Vital to success, we integrated the campaign into all owned media; first touchpoint to website. Our foreplanning, strategy and execution increased awareness of the niche brand, while competing with major labels and retailers.

The Challenge

We’ve worked with Staffordshire-based institution Keele for three years now, helping them to increase their student intake and build awareness of Britain’s best university, as ranked by students (Student Crowd University Awards 2022). One of the biggest days in the student recruitment calendar is Clearing – the process after Results Day when students are able to apply to different universities. Keele asked us to support them with their Clearing, having been pleased with the results we achieved for them in their previous Clearing campaigns. This year, Keele University tasked us with:

Building awareness of their brand and their courses among prospective undergraduate students
Leveraging their data to drive conversions, making use of Google Analytics 4 and conversion funnel tracking
Increasing the number of students applying through Clearing versus 2021 figures

While we have experience working with over 120 education institutions and creating Clearing campaigns, this year was a bit of an unknown as it was the first year following the Covid-19 crisis that was unaffected by the pandemic. Being aware of the landscape was key to our strategy. For example, as exam results were not impacted this year, we expected demand and competition levels to be high, which helped to inform our foreplanning.

The Strategy

Having a wealth of experience in the education sector, our team knows that the key to a successful Clearing is planning. We devised a series of campaigns, flighted between three distinct stages in the conversion funnel; Learn More & Register for Clearing Updates, Request a Callback, and Apply. These were chosen to reflect key dates throughout the Clearing cycle.

We devised a multi-channel approach, as we know it to be the most effective at engaging prospects at multiple stages of the funnel to build up awareness. Therefore, we chose Google Search, Google Display, Google Discovery, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Sky AdSmart to advertise the university.

Once we had decided on channels, we built out prospect data at scale ahead of key recruitment periods, allowing us to maximise Keele University’s budget and use it at the most effective periods for the lowest costs, rather than funnelling it into periods when CPMs and CPCs were their highest.

Our experts also devised multiple tactics within each channel to target prospects at different stages in the conversion funnel. Each tactic used different bidding strategies, from brand terms to generic terms. This also leant into our overall full-funnel targeting strategy, with the objective of reaching those students in the research phase and those further down in the funnel.

The Strategy Continued

Throughout the three months leading up to Clearing, we used a test-and-learn approach, refining our strategy regarding ad types, our approach to bidding and testing keyword lists. This allowed us to build up a winning combination in time for the busiest time of the Clearing period: Results Day.

Our agility and diversity within this campaign were essential to its success. Throughout, we monitored performance across the various channels and weighted budget towards the best-performing platforms. In particular, we were attentive to trends on the day, monitoring peaks in search activity and optimising the campaign according to that data.

Recent changes to the advertising landscape highlighted the necessity of agility to succeed in this campaign. For example, we were cautious of using Meta due to the reduction in targeting capabilities. As such, we split budgets among the channels with such considerations in mind, reallocating resources into other platforms more likely to achieve the desired outcomes.

This year, we surpassed many of the successes achieved in 2021, with a lifetime CPC 87% lower in 2022 (£0.83 vs. £6.60), and a conversion rate 43% higher (5.35% vs. 3.75%). As a result, we achieved a 260% increase in Apply Now clicks than in 2021 (6,617 vs. 1,837).

What made this year’s campaign more successful than ever was a result of early planning and campaign activation. This enabled us to establish Keele University’s brand ahead of their competition and activate robust retargeting and lookalike segments ahead of Clearing. This allowed us to build up historical data, allowing us to analyse the results and use this to guide smart bid strategies.

Results

1.16% CTR
£0.83 CPC
123,673 link clicks
6,617 apply clicks
164% increase in phone calls
5.37% conversion rate

See Your Success

Want to find out how the right higher education marketing partner can help you surpass your goals? Let’s have a chat.

In the build up to Black Friday, leading luxury fragrance company Shay and Blue wanted to increase their mailing list to enhance their targeting pool (and capabilities) in the lead up to the big day.

Shay and Blue have a loyal customer base with high retention rates, as a result of their excellent customer service and their eclectic mix of fabulous, planet friendly fragrances. As such, they required a campaign that would encourage new customers to sign up to their mailing list so they could build up their invaluable database for retargeting in subsequent campaigns.

To help Shay and Blue with their marketing and sales strategy amid this crucial period in the e-commerce calendar, our Paid Media and Creative teams came together to strategise an innovative campaign that would:

1. 1. Attract and engage new customers to build their database

1. 1. Remind existing customers of their brand and their products

1. 1. Increase brand awareness and sales around this key sales period

THE STRATEGY

Our Paid Media and Creative teams devised a full-service approach that would connect the dots and create a seamless experience between Shay and Blue’s adverts and their website; while creating something that caught their audience’s attention. We took advantage of the season – Halloween – to add a spooky spin on Shay and Blue’s pre-existing adverts.

We developed an awareness campaign across Google Display, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok that would turn Shay and Blue’s signature Blood Oranges fragrance into a seasonal version perfect for the time of year, resulting in ‘Bloody Oranges’!

THE STRATEGY CONTINUED

Our copywriting team worked closely alongside our designers and paid media experts to craft copy that was topical, playful and enticing both within the design of the ad, the headline and the supporting copy. ‘Slash through the sales’, ‘A devilish deal, just for you’ and ‘Frighteningly free fragrance’ are examples of these.

‘At Arke, we take the time to research our client and the strategic aims of the campaign that feed into their wider goals. As such, we aligned the copy with Shay and Blue’s value proposition from product family, to product, to emotional value. This was evident throughout the campaign, from initial response to the advert to their experience when on the website.’

– Jacob Lowery, Copy and Content Executive at Arke

Our creative process was no different; we leaned into Shay and Blue’s branding – crisp, clean lines and their signature colours. However, we were given the creative license to intensify their branding for the season. We used bright, impactful colours to transform their always-on ads into refreshed Halloween versions. This helped to create excitement around the product.

THE STRATEGY CONTINUED

This provided Shay and Blue with an opportunity to follow up with customers and their orders via email and text, enhancing the customer service experience.

Having worked with Shay and Blue on various campaigns throughout the year, we understood their audience, their aims and how to achieve them. As such, our team pulled together a short-burst strategic campaign for Halloween, aware of the challenges that a tight turnaround, a change of creative, and the duration of the campaign (just three days long) would present. However, we planned this campaign with Shay and Blue’s wider objectives in mind.

Despite these factors, we turned around the adverts within two weeks and adapted Shay and Blue’s current creative to reflect seasonal trends. We directed customers to bespoke forms on the brand’s website to ensure Shay and Blue were able to accurately capture user information once people moved from advert to website.

RESULTS

This campaign was highly effective, and the offer was popular among Shay and Blue’s target consumer, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. It also had a wider impact, positively affecting overall sales on the website.

From this campaign alone, Shay and Blue increased their conversions by 470%, leading to a total of 585 product sales during this campaign. They also experienced a 470% increase in transactions – providing a larger customer database for subsequent retargeting campaigns, such as during Black Friday.

The Challenge

London-based performing arts theatre Soho Theatre tasked Arke with delivering an integrated digital media campaign to effectively raise awareness and drive qualified traffic to the Soho Theatre On Demand Film Festival film pages. This followed the success of our work on their always-on campaign in 2021, which achieved a ROAS of 1,252.50%.

To promote the Festival Show, we were tasked to:

1. Construct and deliver an integrated digital media campaign
2. Drive qualified traffic to the Soho Theatre On Demand Film Festival pages
3. Generate ticket bookings

 

The Strategy

We devised a media plan across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Google. We implemented Facebook, Instagram and TikTok at the awareness, consideration and intent phase and reinforced messages at the consideration, intent and decision phases with Google Discovery, Google Display and Google Search.

The Strategy Continued

We optimised the ads every 48 hours to outbid competing film houses and against keywords. TikTok proved to be the most effective platform for driving awareness throughout the duration of the campaign, with an average CTR of 0.98% and an average CPC of £0.21. But we didn’t stop there!

To drive sales, we needed to be clever with our use of channels following on from top of the funnel conversion. That’s where Google Discovery, Display and Search came into play, helping to drive sales. In particular, Google Display was incredibly effective in generating impressions. We then utilised Google Search for bottom-of-the-funnel conversion. The results speak for themselves, generating a total of 9,245,348 impressions.

We served a total of 9,245,348 impressions, generating 39,712 clicks at a CTR of 0.42% and a low CPC of £0.46 overall for both the Awareness campaign and the films. The highest Clicked ads were from Shuck ‘n’ Jive, with 10,638 clicks across all platforms.

Results

With 9.2M impressions and a 0.42% CTR, this campaign brought 39,712 clicks to Soho Theatre

The Challenge

Soho Theatre is a central London venue, producing and offering new theatre, comedy and cabaret.

Following successful campaigns for their on-demand streaming service and shows during the height of the Covid-19 crisis, where Soho Theatre had to diversify their offering to navigate an uncertain and unpredictable market, Arke were enlisted to continue driving sales in an always on capacity. Following the relaxing of COVID restrictions, we needed to mobilise live event goers to book and return to in-person shows through Paid Media.

 

We were tasked with:

• Developing awareness and reach among Soho Theatre’s target audiences
• Increasing ticket sales for a new season of in-person live shows
• Maximising ROAS and increase conversion rates over time

The Strategy

We planned and delivered a full-funnel campaign across Facebook & Instagram and Google Search, promoting the Soho Theatre brand, services (in-person & on demand), and a constantly updating roster of upcoming shows.

Supporting wider brand activity, upcoming show promotion utilised static image and lightweight motion carousel ads across Facebook & Instagram feeds and stories, aided by show-specific sitelinks on Google Search.

We leveraged Spektrix CRM data to fuel campaign success, identifying new high-intent users through lookalikes of past and repeat ticket purchasers. We guided conversion-led bid strategies with data in order to fuel platform machine learning which enabled us to automatically respond to real-time user signals, serving the right ads, at the right time, to the right people.

The Strategy Continued

Arke conducted competitor, keyword, and audience research which informed our approach ahead of breaking into a highly competitive market alongside the many venues and big players within London’s West End. We targeted ABC1 Young Adults (16 – 45) of different audience segments/personas, interested in Theatre, Comedy, Cabaret, Emerging Talent, Fringe Comedy, Stand Up, Live Events, LGBTQ+ Theatre, etc. in key cities around the UK with a firm focus on London.

Competition was the biggest obstacle to overcome, especially for Google Search as we were up against the likes of London Theatre Direct, LondonTheatre.co.uk, and TodayTix, alongside smaller competitors such as the 99 Comedy Club, London Cabaret Club, and Vauxhall Comedy Club – especially at a time when all venues were reopening.

In the spirit of ‘going hard or going home’ and gaining as much insight as possible to navigate this space, we quickly chose to drop brand keyword bidding, focusing only on generic terms which were highly sought after. This approach worked, with CPCs decreasing from £0.47 in our first month to an average of £0.12 in the last four months.

Another project – a custom implementation of Google Analytics 4 – enabled us to segment ecommerce data by show, transaction, user ID and other parameters. This allowed us to make data-led decision making to fuel the campaign’s success. As conversion data grew with performance, we conducted manual optimisation every 48 hours to leverage learnings and improve even further, which we continue to do to this day.

Next Steps

We continue to work with Soho Theatre, with their Always On campaign extended into 2022, alongside an upcoming campaign for the Soho Theatre On Demand Film Festival, launching in January 2022 to March 2022. Watch this space!

Results

• Average ROAS 1,252.50%
• Google Search average CTR 21.79%
• 221,841 users reached on Meta
• Over 600,000 impressions on Meta

The challenge

Arke was enlisted to drive awareness and traffic to support film rental sales for this show, mobilising live event goers to engage and book ahead of its premier on the 27th of May.

The strategy

We put together a simple, results-driven, campaign utilising Facebook and Instagram to identify, reach, and engage granular audience segments with a strong affinity for independent comedy, feminist stand-up, and of course, Jessie Cave and similar artists.

Reaching the audience

Messaging was developed for each audience based upon their prior exposure and awareness of ‘Sunrise’, building up to the premiere and live Q&A with Jessie Cave on the 27th of May 2022.

Mobilising theatre-goers to consume content on premium VOD platforms involved tapping into very new and rapidly developing online behaviours in the height of the Covid-19 crisis. We opted for a video-first approach in order to activate the immersion of live theatre alongside messaging designed to highlight the benefit of intimacy that consuming at home provides.

Results

Through our detailed understanding of the audience and strategic implementation utilising video first ads across multiple channels paid off, and we achieved fantastic results for our client!

• 1.43% CTR, exceeding target by 68%
• £0.43 CPC, exceeding target by 14%
• 2.89 ad frequency
• 116,749 users reached

Are you looking for a arts and culture marketing agency that can take your organisation to the next level? Let’s talk today.

The Challenge

In the Summer of 2021, set in the midst of a global pandemic and amongst increasing competition in the postgraduate recruitment space, Keele University tasked Arke Agency to:

• • Drive applications from typically late-applying international markets

• • Identify new markets to target that were likely to apply for postgraduate education in the UK

• • Establish brand presence quickly and effectively to convert over a two-month period

Collectively, we were tasked with driving applications from new markets that had not been marketed to before. The students from these markets were, at the time, under international travel restrictions due to COVID-19, with no end date in sight, meaning that they might not even be able to access what they were signing up for. How do you market to them and drive applications, given the uncertainty?

Challenge accepted.

The Solution

We identified 21-35 year-olds currently studying at undergraduate level or recent graduates looking to continue their studies as the target audience.

In terms of target markets, countries were chosen to reflect fast-turnaround Visa applications and those whose university applications calendars were more aligned to that
of the UK.

We prospected English-speaking users in key cities within the chosen locations, who were searching for broader ‘postgraduate’ and ‘masters’ terms, as well as those of key competitors.
We broadened our reach country-wide to retarget key page viewers and enquirers with ‘brand’ and ‘study in the uk’ keywords, supported by incremental traffic driven by paid social campaigns.

We implemented traditional ad-types, including Expanded Text Ads and Responsive Search Ads, alongside Dynamic Search Ads, to increase reach and access long-tail and never-searched-before queries.

We leveraged Keele University’s accolades in messaging to cut above the competition in markets with low brand awareness and recognition, and to generate intrigue. We also created a sense of urgency with “there’s still time to apply” messaging, as well as tailored messaging to appeal to those displaying intent for international study.

Sitelinks included links to softer landing pages to encourage users to explore Keele University and generate touchpoints for exploration and consideration. Key course areas for international postgraduate study were listed as structured snippets. Arke utilised the top performing ad extensions and incorporated them into the build, testing various combinations for various markets.

A data-first bid strategy to teach Google what a successful Keele University postgraduate student looks like was used, leveraging Google’s real-time signals to automate bids against the characteristics and traits most likely to convert.

Generic terms generated the majority of conversions, with notably strong performance from broader terms and ‘UK’ specific keywords.

As mobile devices performed best in regards to CPCs, CTRs, conversion volumes and cost per conversions, Bid Adjustments were set to favour these devices and others were set in line with device performance across the campaign:

Throughout the duration of the campaign, we encouraged a greater balance of conversions from all target markets by decreasing bid adjustments for certain countries and increasing bids for other markets to gain greater diversity of international students.

The Outcome

Not only did we achieve a super high ROI of 2,302% for Keele University, but we also boosted their CTR to 7.3% and reduced their CPC to £0.51.

We even won an award to prove we smashed it out the park; our work was recognised in the UK Search Awards and we were awarded first place for Best Use of Search – Third Sector / Not for Profit.

The Challenge

Leading video-on-demand (VOD) platform Curzon Home Cinema tasked us with increasing film sales and expanding the customer base & registrants by innovatively improving campaign relevancy, utilising Google Analytics & outperforming competitors for film releases.

Five objectives:

Ensure Google Analytics is reporting accurately and implement enhanced e-commerce features for reporting and targeting purposes

Increase the number of direct release purchases

Increase purchases across Curzon Home Cinema back-catalogue

Increase the number of customer registrations across the Curzon Home Cinema website

Reduce media spend wastage to improve ROI 20%

The Strategy

One of our Google Analytics IQ Certified Partners audited the Curzon Home Cinema analytics accounts to understand the accuracy of their current reporting; discern whether the data was deep enough to inform marketing decisions and accurately capture relevant audiences.

A detailed measurement framework was created which instructed the implementation across the whole site, meaning detailed performance stats were now available down to film, genre, director and platform.

The Strategy Continued

Analytics was then synced to all ad platforms to enabling smart optimisation techniques, allowing for customer journeys to be analysed to inform campaign strategies. This also informed our SEO and Paid Media strategy to ensure paid supported organic activity.

From this, a variety of remarketing models have been produced, alongside granular new audiences and lookalike segments to vastly improve outcomes against objectives. A/B testing of creative has been critical in not only driving ROI but also improving customer experiences, engagement and brand awareness.

Results

The campaign expanded Curzon’s audience to new regions. Smashed 3 sales records in 2019 making it their highest grossing year.

The number of registrations increased by 200%, with the highest ever number of organic visitors.

Conversion rates improved by 16.3%.

CPC reduced by 29%

The Challenge

Arke was tasked by Brighton Chamber to raise awareness of the Brighton & Hove Living Wage Campaign, and, as a proud Living Wage employer, we accepted the challenge.

The Strategy

The campaign began with a single audience, reaching small and independent business owners, HR professionals within these organisations, and key decision makers. Meanwhile, we collected website data through the Facebook Pixel and gained intelligence through Google Analytics to inform the creation of more advanced audiences. This allowed us to expand our reach to a wider user base who shared the key characteristics of existing Living Wage Campaign website viewers using Lookalike targeting.

Mid-way through the campaign, we also introduced a retargeting audience segment, reaching users who had either visited the Living Wage website or engaged with our ads, but were yet to complete an action.

The addition of these audiences greatly benefitted campaign performance, as we saw that, overall, our 1% Lookalike audience achieved a CTR 39% higher than our Interests audience, whilst our Retargeting audience achieved a CTR 121% higher.

The Strategy Continued

Throughout the campaign, we regularly refreshed creative to avoid serving the same ads to the same users too many times, helping to avoid ad-fatigue which was crucial with such a targeted campaign. This also allowed us continue telling new stories from businesses that had made the pledge and continuously introduce new benefits of paying a living wage.

As we progressed, accumulated data, and introduced new creative variants, we were able to scale up the aspects of the campaign that performed the best. Video ads, in particular, were incredibly effective in engaging our audiences, with a CTR 23% greater than image ads, at a 9% lower CPC. Therefore, video became the campaign focus and continues to be for our next campaign burst.

This campaign won ‘Best Low Budget Campaign’ at the UK Social Media Awards. The judges loved it, saying ‘this was a very detailed campaign that delivered strong results under a limited budget.’ Check out the other results below!

The Results

Our award winning campaign achieved incredible results by optimising the budget.

• 19,506 unique visitors reached,
• 1,432 clicks to the living wage website,
• Average CPC of £0.49.

Limited budget but big goals? Let’s see what we can achieve together. 

The challenge

The strategy

We devised a paid media strategy across Google Search, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Having tested this platform mix for Keele University on previous campaigns, we knew it to be a formula for success.

Keele University’s pride and joy is their campus, and they’ve got good reasons for it. It’s a 600-acre estate in Staffordshire that is breathtaking and filled with wildlife – hence their mascot – a squirrel!

The platforms used

Google Search

We planned campaign and ad-group structures to effectively personalise messaging against Brand, Generic, and Competitor UG Open Events terms. With the addition of our secret weapon (Dynamic Search Ads), we could also maximise coverage and get ahead of the competition. With this strategy in place, we secured low CPCs, maximised high-intent traffic to key landing pages and drove conversion at scale through machine-learning assisted bid strategies.

Facebook & Instagram

Facebook and Instagram was largely used for top-of-funnel awareness and to retarget warm prospects who needed a little nudge to convert.

It’s no longer possible to target under-18s with interest, affinity, demographic, or custom audiences. Instead, we focused the delivery on parents; who we know are supremely engaged in the Meta family of apps.

However, we also ringfenced a percentage of the budget to reach prospective students using broad audiences (such as age and location). This achieved fantastic results and enabled us to secure an exceptionally low CPM of £0.45, alongside a very modest CPC of just £0.54.

Snapchat

Having tested Snapchat substantially among youth audiences within Education and beyond, we activated interest, lookalike, and retargeting audiences for a full-funnel approach.

Results

Our efforts successfully captured the attention of prospective students and optimised budget for our client.

We achieved:

• £0.39 CPC
• 1,568,813 impressions
• 4.03% conversion rate
• 429 open day form submissions
• £9.80 CPA
• 10,645 clicks

The Challenge

• • The old identity was an accumulation of existing assets that were merely functional

• • No set brand guidelines

• • Consistency and cohesion was required

The Solution

• • With the concept approved by all key stakeholders, we moved on to production and the creation of a set of brand guidelines in the form of a style guide and a brand toolkit that allows any member of the EI team to create on brand visuals

• • This toolkit included editable templates for a variety of social platforms, both internal and external comms, as well as a wide variety of widgets, stickers and icons

The Result

• • The result is a brand which maintains a balance between sophistication and playfulness, whilst showcasing the institute’s unique path and expression

• • The tactile and energetic marks bring a dynamism to the visuals, mirroring the institutes stance as disruptors and non-conformists

• • Through modern composition we created a confrontational and engaging identity to inspire the future entrepreneurs of this generation, and beyond

What’s Next?

We’re now working on a new project with the Institute celebrating their first 100 ventures. Watch this space…

The Challenge

Though a smaller intake, the turnaround time and specifics of the courses required meant we had to reach high quality prospects quickly.

The Solution

We began with segmentation. For universities, FY audiences include 18-20-year-old student prospects, but also students aged 25 and above, who have historically had an enrolment rate of 28% compared to the average of 17%. It was therefore vital to reach this segment to achieve a high application and enrolment rate.

The campaign utilised a cross combination of reaching new audiences, whilst capturing those already actively searching. Google Search was the primary media, alongside a Spotify campaign, with Facebook and Instagram included to reach those non active audiences.

With Google, we reached all segments with a single campaign, whilst social advertising was broken down into three campaigns. We ran two campaigns on Facebook – one for Mature Audiences & Parents and one for Younger Prospects (17-22), who were also included in the single Instagram campaign.

All campaigns ran for three months with a creative and messaging refresh occurring part way through, as well a slight expansion in audiences which led to a reduction in frequency of impression and a further 40,000 people reached in the last month of the campaign.

Targeting

On Google, we used observational targeting of audiences similar to visitors of Foundation Year course pages over the last 6 months. This focusing allowed us to expand geographical targeting from the North of England to the whole of England and Wales, and we developed messaging specific for each ad group off the back of this.

On Facebook and Instagram, targeting consisted of lookalike targeting of Foundation Year course page viewers with, interest and demographic based filtering included. Geo targeting extended to a large radius around Keele University, reflecting the catchment that the majority of their students have in the past come from.

SPOTIFY

We also delivered a one-month long Spotify Audio campaign (with companion banners), targeting 17-22-year-olds in key recruitment areas surrounding Keele University. In order to reach as many prospects as possible, we kept targeting fairly broad, restricting delivery only to those with a demonstrated interest in:

• • Education

• • Studying

• • Focusing

• • Podcasts

Through Spotify’s self-serve platform, we wrote a script in-line with Keele University’s tone-of-voice and key messaging, and sourced highly relevant voice-over artists to record an audio advert.

The outcome was a 30 second studio-quality recording, in a friendly, inviting tone-of-voice that matched Keele University perfectly – even down to the localised accent.

Results

Our campaign experienced healthy click-through rates on average, with a Google search CTR of 6.7% and health-related keywords averaging a CTR of 18%. Additionally, 40% of clicks were users aged under 24, showing successful reaching of the target demographic.

We were also able to benefit Keele University’s website, with a 300% increase in traffic, and increased onsite engagement by 40%. This all resulted in an increase in September applications by 22%.

The Challenge

Keele University has offered Foundation Year programmes for over 70 years. The Foundation Year offers September starts across all subjects, and January starts across all science, humanities, social sciences and business routes. Keele University Foundation Year students often outperform their classmates – many go on to gain a first class or upper second class honours degree.

In 2020, as part of wider marketing activity, Keele University tasked Arke to:

Raise awareness to support the university’s recruitment objectives for Foundation Year January 2021 entry and grow the number of enrolled students

Attract additional talented applicants who would benefit from a Keele University education – aiming at those who might like to “trade up” to Keele University or who would prefer the Keele University campus experience

Attract mature students who may be looking for a career change, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic

The Solution

As part of an integrated marketing communications strategy, we delivered a one-month long Spotify Audio campaign (with companion banners), targeting 17-22-year-olds in key recruitment areas surrounding Keele University. In order to reach as many prospects as possible, we kept targeting fairly broad, restricting delivery only to those with a demonstrated interest in:

Education

Studying

Focusing

Podcasts

Audio ads can offer a more personal feel than on-screen text ads, and digital audio is much more targeted than traditional radio, not to mention engaging a younger audience.

Spotify research suggests that users 18-24 spend 2+ hours per day on the platform, and among all UK Gen-Z listeners, there is a high concentration in Northern areas within Keele University’s key recruitment area (Birmingham, 16%; Nottingham, 11%; Manchester, 10%).

The Solution Continued

Through Spotify’s self-serve platform, we wrote a script in-line with Keele University’s tone-of-voice and key messaging, and sourced highly relevant voice-over artists to record an audio advert.

The outcome was a 30 second studio-quality recording, in a friendly, inviting tone-of-voice that matched Keele University perfectly – even down to the localised accent.

Results

90% Ad completion rate

90,522 Impressions

Unique reach of 9,858

Average CTR of 0.14%

The Challenge

UCA underwent a digital transformation project throughout 2019, which was fully supported by a new recruitment campaign concept, designed to inspire, engage and convert students throughout their journey into Summer 2020.

Plateaued UK undergraduate numbers within the creative arts subjects, circa 125,000 per annum

To challenge perceptions & attitudes that creative degrees are only for ‘art types’ whilst, raising awareness of the ‘need for creative thinkers & doers’ across all industries

Develop a campaign concept which accelerates the institution towards their domestic & international student recruitment objectives, for 2020 intakes

The Solution

Produced the THINK AGAIN! recruitment campaign concept & accompanying concept guidelines to cover all digital, social & print channels

Produced custom typography, messaging & digital assets (video, animations, banners, social stories etc.) to allow story-telling throughout the 4 stages of the student recruitment cycle

Put forward a custom content toolkit to allow UCA to develop content further in-house, whilst adhering to all appropriate concept formats & specifications, for various video, social, outdoor & print environments

Results

This campaign left all higher education benchmarks behind, obtaining CTRs of over 120% vs the industry averages, reducing Google’s CPCs by 53% and Instagram’s Cost per Impression down by 76%. With 50,000 students and their families engaging with the content 160,000 times.

The Challenge

• • To increase postgraduate taught degree UK applications & enrolments.

• • Specialist courses within a highly competitive marketplace.

• • Growing uncertainty amongst prospective students, due to switching to virtual learning solutions.

The Solution

Summary of the solution:

• • Examined the audience needs using advanced search intent analysis, across various stages in the student conversion journey.

• • Developed & managed an integrated brand & subject level PPC strategy, using the very latest in Google beta products & best practice.

• • Produced and evolved a custom remarketing model, tailored to different audience segments, including episodic messaging & use of various niche & premium media placements.

• • Carefully monitored, measured & evolved messaging, copy & artwork to reflect the changing needs of the prospective student, throughout COVID-19 lockdown.

Results

Our campaign was seen by over 25,000 prospective students, with over 33,000 clicks through to landing pages and generating over 385,000 impressions across all platforms. We were also able to reduce the cost-per-clicks (CPC) by 62%, averaging at a £0.08 CPC across Google Display.

The Challenge

Arke was appointed creative partners to King’s College London in 2019, providing ongoing creative marketing solutions to its various central and faculty departments, under their 5-year framework. In early 2020 lockdown, The Entrepreneurship Institute tasked Arke with re-imagining and producing a visual identity for the next annual edition of the Start! Magazine, seen by its students, alumni, stakeholders and partners all across the world.

Increase in the magazine’s relevancy and readership on campus, whilst reaching and engaging with new audiences
Inspire the future generations that entrepreneurial thinking is universal, a skill that is beneficial to their career trajectory.
Create an art direction that is suited and designed for its intended audience, that’s stimulating and consistent whilst moving away from its current corporate report style.
Build the statue of King’s Entrepreneurship, portraying its heritage, large network of alumni, annual programmes and events, and their ability to host world class-speakers to educate & upskill the audience.

The Solution

We produced a contemporary magazine that revitalises the Entrepreneurship’s accomplishments and reputable status. The magazine pays deeper homage to Entrepreneurship’s roots of being a place to express, learn, and make a change.
In order to showcase the quality of storytelling and editorial art, Arke designed a flexible framework/typographical grid for the magazine’s layout, allowing articles of widely varying lengths from long-form news articles to short one-page articles.
The redesign is type-driven in the news sections, with dedicated art-focused pages to help keep the content and pacing fresh for the reader. This will keep a stance on the consistency of further issues to come. Illustration and photography are thoughtfully commissioned, and art directed throughout the publication.

What’s Next?

Due to COVID-19, we are now digitising the magazine enabling  King’s to showcase their content and are introducing interactivity through animation. The digital magazine will be optimised for digital environments, giving it the ability to stand out against the noise of the social feeds.
This new magazine style has led the institute to explore their branding and we are excited to reveal that we are leading the re-brand journey with them! Stay tuned!

The Challenge

The Strategy

The strategy that we developed to help Andover College reach its March Open Day targets was constructed in concordance with the analysis and results obtained from their February Open Day campaigns.

Firstly, Google Search Keywords needed to be revised and expanded upon. This included brand, query-based college phrases as well as college open day terms.

Secondly, those findings led to a shift in the campaign message to create urgency and proved to increase conversions. Our creative included 9 animated display banners as well as videos optimised to each social channel, which featured a countdown highlighting the urgency.

This approach, across, Google Search, Display, Instagram and Facebook, guided prospective students throughout their journey leading and generated the following impressive results.

The Results

Our strategic campaign achieved:

• +50% ad relevancy improvement.
• 274% increase in clicks using the same budget.
• 8.22% new CTR obtained, a +42% increase.

Ready to see what the right education marketing partner can do for your organisation? Let’s chat!

The Challenge

With COVID-19 bringing unknowns into the world, the Higher Education & Clearing landscape was volatile and unpredictable. Having started working together in May 2020, & set amongst increasing competition and an increase in the number of students entering Clearing, Keele University tasked Arke with:

Increasing brand awareness and undergraduate recruitment

Reducing the predicted deficit due to COVID-19 through an integrated performance marketing campaign for Clearing 2020

Launching a new creative campaign to improve relatability which truly represents the institution and allays student concerns

The Solution

The first thing Arke did was analyse Keele’s data and paid media platforms, and conducted an in depth CRO audit. Relevant pixels were set up on Keele’s website and landing pages, whilst all advertising platforms were connected with analytics providers, with a strict set of rules created to ensure tagging conventions were adhered to..

We used existing student cohorts, admissions data and web data to create lookalike audiences, which were then split tested based on messaging, content and likelihood of conversion. As a result of this, we were able to identify certain patterns and were able to layer on top of existing campaigns. We also undertook detailed audience segmentation, looking for the geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors that were most indicative of Keele’s enrolled students over the last 3 years.

With all this data behind us, advertising campaigns began in June. This meant that platforms had refined learning behind them, plus specific defined audiences for the niche that we were going for and targeting. It also meant that, on the day of Clearing, campaigns were optimised to their fullest extent, so the tap could be opened & spend could be as aggressive as possible.

The Solution Continued

The creative concepts for this campaign utilised nudge marketing techniques and revolved around safety and reassurance. Content and messaging were split tested to determine what would perform best, and, from this, a messaging framework based upon clear approaches to COVID-19 was developed.

Robust planning and sign off processes were put in place. To provide reassurances in a timely manner, Arke provided multiple creative and messaging options reinforcing Keele’s approach to COVID-19 and Clearing, so that Keele had confidence in choosing their official messaging, which was approved by the Chief Operating Officer within 24 hours.

Media was planned with priority courses in mind, whilst being careful to make sure audiences were large enough to serve content, but avoided overlapping. Robust budgeting plans were also put in place to track spend, with a contingency pot created…just in case!

The Overall Approach

The campaign was an omni-channel approach comprising both paid & organic activity across the following channels:

• Google Search
• Google Display
• Social (TikTok, Instagram & Facebook)
• YouTube
• The Student Room
• UCAS

Results

Arke’s campaign for Keele University brought record number of enquiries, reaching 1.5M prospective students, generating 175,000 clicks and on clearing day a CTR of 3.14% whilst reducing CPC benchmarks by 52%.

If you’re looking for a higher education marketing agency, hit that contact button and let’s discuss your requirements.

The Challenge

Throughout 2017 & 2018, Arke was tasked with assisting Regent’s through their digital transformation. This included auditing and refining Regent’s UX in the form of their website / student journey, Google Analytics, SEO and to combine this with a paid media strategy to increase applications, student enquiries, website visitors and engagement.

Five objectives from the back of the UX, SEO and Paid Media Work:

1. 1. Increase applications (with a 20% UK audience and 80% EU / International split)
   2. Increase enquiries of high-quality students
   3. Increase website traffic which has low bounce rates & higher time on site
   4. Increase engagement across social channels
   5. Increase brand awareness globally

Auditing

One of our Google Analytics IQ Certified Partners audited Regent’s analytics accounts to understand the accuracy of reporting, whether it reported what was needed to make decisions and how audiences were being utilised.

A UX and CRO audit was carried out by our best-selling author and UX & CRO specialist which enabled Regent’s and their Web Development agency to build a new website reflecting the needs of their prospective students, whilst optimising their conversion journey.

Measurement

A detailed measurement framework was created which instructed the implementation across the whole site, meaning detailed performance stats were now available down to programme, subject, student type and platform.

Analytics was then synced to all ad platforms to enabling smart optimisation techniques, allowing for customer journeys to be analysed to inform campaign strategies. This also informed our UX, SEO and Paid Media strategy to ensure paid supported organic activity.

Execution

From this, a variety of remarketing models have been produced, alongside granular new audiences and lookalike segments to vastly improve outcomes against objectives throughout the student recruitment year. A/B testing of creative has been critical in not only driving ROI but also improving customer experiences, engagement and brand awareness. When Regent’s entered into clearing in 2018, this rolled off the back of their ‘Always On’ strategy generating a 200% increase in quality ‘offers made’ in 2 days in comparison to the entire month of August the previous year.

Results

Our campaign successfully increased the click-through-rate (CTR) by 25%, while decreasing cost-per-click CPC by 32%. We also increased enquiries by 44%, increasing conversion rates by 21%, decreased cost-per-conversion by 30%, and were able to directly generate 31% of all new applicant accounts.

The Challenge

Increase Clearing applications by 10% for the September 2017 & 2018 intake.

The University of Kent had five main objectives that were to be achieved during its 2018 Clearing campaign:

Increase the number of quality applications throughout the clearing period

Increase the number of enrolled students

Improve the clearing campaign performance across all channels

Reduce the campaign costs

Provide greater transparency across all metrics

The Strategy

We created 14 individual search campaigns with varying budgets to reflect the needs and unfilled places of each faculty, this was focussed down to individual courses.

A brand campaign was created alongside a Clearing focussed campaign to ensure Kent were protecting their brand during a highly competitive period whilst also appearing for broader Clearing terms.

All activity was enhanced by a brand-level social campaign across Facebook & Instagram, utilising highly engaging video content, which also extended to markets outside of the UK.

The Strategy Continued

Supported by our unique insights of student behaviours as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd party clearing student insights, the clearing specific campaign ran over two days – 18th to 19th August 2018 – highlighting Kent’s USP’s that make them an outstanding choice for prospects who received their a-level results.

The All-School campaign, for the 14 separate schools consisted of 40 different AdGroups containing 120 ads and over 10,000 relevant and negative keywords.

N.B: An ad group contains one or more ads that target a shared set of keywords. Each of your campaigns is made up of one or more ad groups.
All the results are expressed in comparison with the results obtained by the incumbent agency during the 2016 Clearing campaign that they ran.

Results

Arke’s campaign exceeded application targets. Including performance KPIs:

• Cost per impression decreased 63%
• Total costs decreased by 10%
• Impressions increased by 165%
• Clicks increased by 40%
• CPC decreased by 30%
• Increased calls by 500%

The challenge

The ICE Benevolent Fund is a registered charity set up to support current and past members of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and their immediate families. The charity offers financial support and guidance, wellbeing workshops and webinars, career coaching and counselling, as well as specialist support for those facing anxiety or depression and those living with autism. We’re proud to have worked with the charity on multiple design projects over the last year, creating materials to help showcase its work and engage more people to sign up or continue their membership.

This time, the ICE Benevolent Fund tasked us with producing eye-catching exhibition stands to promote the organisation’s important work for use at various events and conferences, showcasing the services and support available to past and present members of the charity and their families.

In particular, the charity wanted to:

1. 1. Raise awareness with designs that would inform people about its services and support

1. 1. Create eye-catching, ‘quirky’ designs to encourage engagement; in line with brand guidelines and tone of voice

So, what did we do to achieve this?

The strategy

The ICE Benevolent Fund’s target audiences are civil engineers who are, or have been, members of ICE and their families. Understanding these key groups enabled our creative team to develop a concept that would attract them and boost engagement with the charity; while aligning designs to the ICE Benevolent Fund’s branding and mission.

Creating eye-catching creatives

To create an eye-catching awareness campaign around the ICE Benevolent Fund’s services, encourage greater engagement with the charity and ever-importantly increase donations to continue its work, we set out to create bright, bold banners. We informed audiences with the motto, ‘we support people like you’ and directed them to the ICE Benevolent Fund website for further information.

An exhibition requires clear creative that can be seen across the room, and that’s exactly what we designed for the charity. We tied in the ICE Benevolent Fund’s branding and style to draw people to their stand and create a lasting impact. The banners turned out to be the star of the show at events, a focal point for all to gravitate towards.

The results

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact results from our creative work with the ICE Benevolent Fund, as they have formed part of wider brand awareness campaigns. However, we can give you an idea of how our creative work for the charity has developed over the course of our partnership.

In December 2021, we created Christmas cards for the ICE Benevolent Fund. Tying in our designs with playful and thematic copy, the Christmas cards were designed to reinforce the organisation’s message while extending Christmas wishes to ICE members and their families.

Continuation of partnership

Our work with the ICE Benevolent Fund has included donation envelopes, a Will services brochure and leaflets for those whose membership has lapsed. Each of these projects required a unique approach to creative, one that was sensitive, informative and engaging to read but also matched the topic. For example, the Will services brochure was a challenging topic to broach, yet we handled it with sensitivity while keeping copy light, so people were encouraged to continue reading.

Our partnership with ICE Benevolent Fund is still in its infancy, and so we continue to work with the charity to further develop and hone a recognisable, cohesive brand identity across platforms and media. We hope that this will form a key objective for our partnership for 2023, working collaboratively with our Client to support them as they continue their important work.

Homelessness: A Growing Issue

Since last year, government figures have shown homelessness has increased by 24%! This has left Brighton and Hove Council with the second highest rate of rough sleepers, second only to London Westminster. The unfortunate reality for young members of the local community aged 13 to 25 is that the main reason for becoming homeless is due to issues at home – Here at Arke we realize we cannot just sit back and let this situation worsen.

Arke’s vast experience in Youth Marketing meant that volunteering our services to the local YMCA Youth Advice Centre (YAC) was a no-brainer. The goal being to prevent this increase by providing guidance on how to raise awareness of their Family Mediation service ‘Talk it Over.’

YAC & Talk It Over

‘Talk it Over’ is a service that allows parents, carers and young people to talk through any difficulties that they are having at home, within a safe environment, in hopes to improve their relationships.

However, YAC needed guidance on how to create specific audience marketing campaigns. “We felt we had a knowledge gap on how to reach our audience that are in need of our services” Emma Brandenburger, Family Support Mediator at Youth Advice Centre.

How Arke Impacted The Campaign

At Arke we used our experience to fill those knowledge gaps by creating different campaigns alongside imagery, messaging and wording tailored to reflect parent and young people audiences. The campaigns reached over 170,000 people locally which raised awareness (60% parents and 40% young people) and generated over 670 referrals to the YAC website, increasing enquiries and appointments.

Arke will provide continued support to gain our ‘Google Grant Scheme’ which will provide free advertising spend to further support ongoing campaign activity. This will continue to raise awareness of the YMCA Youth Advice Centre mediation service ‘Talk it Over’ and give hope to those families that may be at their last resort.

Results

Our campaign generated 640 website referrals and reached 170,000 people, 60% of whom were parents and 40% of whom were young people!