The Campaign

LSBF was to establish its first Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore. However, an overly-saturated market meant that differentiating itself and attracting enough attention to its campus launch would be a challenge. Additionally, media skepticism towards foreign educational institutions made building awareness for the institution through traditional public relations a daunting task. It was therefore essential for LSBF to engage potential students and drive word-of-mouth awareness –through both traditional and social media platforms. At the same time, we needed to create something that people could share with their friends and talk about. The experience must be engaging to a particular audience. We implemented a Facebook engagement program focused on growing LSBF Singapore supporters online starting with creating an LSBF Singapore Facebook tab from scratch. We also focused our efforts on getting media endorsement through targeted media outreach and enlisting support from key business influencers in Singapore. Following a successful launch, media coverage was generated in key international, regional and local media, including the highly-regarded New York Times online and International Herald Tribune. Since its launch one year ago, the number of likes on LSBF’s Facebook page has increased from zero to over 2,400.

The Brief

Our goal was to generate awareness in Singapore and the Asian region about LSBF’s competitive advantages, reliability and global offering, so as to attract students to its Singapore campus. Our target audience comprised of mainly youths in their 20s from Singapore and the region, who were tech-savvy and seeking to attaining a credible tertiary degree. Based on our research, social networking sites, especially Facebook, were fast becoming an important way for people in Singapore and the region to connect with the brands and organizations they liked, as smartphones, 3G and broadband access became more common and affordable. This trend was especially prevalent among the youths in the region.

Results

The cocktail reception was well attended by approximately 100 dignitaries, C-level executives, business partners and media in Singapore. Media coverage of the launch was generated in key international, regional and local media, including the highly regarded New York Times online and International Herald Tribune. Since it was first launched last year, the number of likes on its Facebook page has increased from zero to over 2,400.

Execution

Facebook Engagement Although an LSBF Facebook page was already in place, we recognized the need to create regionally and locally relevant content for our target audience. Hence, we created a new LSBF Facebook Singapore page www.facebook.com/LSBFSingapore from scratch. Local content was generated and uploaded frequently to engage our target audience, including photos and information of the new campus, details of academia and the open house, interviews with current students and alumni, as well as relevant, interesting articles. To generate following, we also encouraged existing students and partners to like the LSBF Singapore page, and share with their friends. Launch Event We organized a press event in conjunction with the official opening of the LSBF Singapore campus, where regional and local media, as well as bloggers were invited. The event was graced by guest-of-honour Prince Michael of Kent, who was also patron of the school. Cocktail Reception A cocktail reception was organized at the residence of the British High Commissioner to introduce the LSBF management to the local business community.

The Situation

London School of Business & Finance (LSBF) is a business and financial education provider headquartered in London. As part of its expansion plans, it set out to open its first Asia-Pacific campus in Singapore in June 2011. However, an overcrowded private education market meant that LSBF had to find ways to differentiate itself among the competition to attract students from Singapore and the region. The high profile exits of a number of foreign universities in Singapore also meant that media and the public were highly skeptical about the credibility of such institutions.

The Strategy

Tapping on the above insights, we devised a communications program driven by both media relations and Facebook engagement. With this approach, we sought to engage the target audiences to create an emotional connection and generate word-of-mouth awareness. Messaging was centered around LSBF’s competitive advantages, its relevance to Asia and potential contribution to Singapore’s vision to become a “Global Schoolhouse”. In addition to this, we also embarked on an influencer program to reach out to the business community in Singapore. Bearing in mind LSBF’s English origins, we engaged with His Excellency Antony Phillipson, British High Commissioner of Singapore to enlist his support for a networking reception key business stakeholders and lend further credibility to LSBF and its tradition of excellence.