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W h o i s C a m p u s M e d i a ? R e p o r t b a c k g r o u n d

Let’s be honest, 2016 was eventful. From Bowie to Brexit, and Trump to the Calais Jungle, last year really did rock the nation. While a lot of these historic moments may have started in 2016, they’re still having an impact on us today and will continue to do so in the future. We wanted to know how these events had affected the current student market (in comparison to the generation before them) and whether these occurrences had influenced their attitudes and opinions towards other aspects of life. With that, we conducted a snap-shot survey with 150 students from universities across the UK to find out what the state of the student market is like today.

Campus Media work with brands, employers and education providers to help them make a connection with the student market through on-campus experiential marketing campaigns. As part of our service, we manage a network of student brand ambassadors who promote to their peers in-person while on campus as well as digitally through their personal social media accounts. To sum us up, we get students because we speak to these young people on a daily basis and really do have a genuine relationship with them.

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The State of Students research was carried out by Campus Media in January 2017. One crucial finding to note is that students are still remarkably positive. This is surprising when considering university fees continue to increase yet graduates are earning lower wages than their predecessors*. Despite these occurrences and the widespread negative media coverage around recent global events, students appear to have a huge amount of confidence in their abilities to make a difference and achieve something good. How this will translate into their consumer habits remains to be seen, but early indications suggest that they don’t react to recessions and global political chaos in the same way as their parents.

*https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/13/quarter-of-graduates-are-low-earners

So, we would like you to meet the generation of young people that have ripped apart the stereotype that ‘all students are lazy’ in favour of being politically-active, unapologetically vocal about their opinions and empathetic for others.

I n t r o d u c t i o n

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I n s p i r a t i o n i n d e x

This year, Barack Obama, (along with several other political figures and activists) triumphed. Emma Watson, J.K Rowling and Jeremy Corbyn were crowned the winners in 2016.

While the inspiration index may have altered since last year, the youth market remain passionate about politics and value public figures who drive positive change.

T h e I n s p i r a t i o n I n d e x a s k s y o u n g

p e o p l e w h o t h e y f i n d m o s t

i n s p i r a t i o n a l i n t h e p u b l i c e y e

CampusMedia

Barack Obama

Michelle Obama

Emma Watson

Malala Yousafzai

Richard Branson

J.K Rowling

Elon Musk

Leonardo DiCaprio

Mark Zuckerberg

Steve Jobs

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2017Position

Inspiration Index

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I n s p i r a t i o n i n d e x

This year’s Inspiration Index was carried out just before the inauguration of the US President, Donald Trump – an unpopular Presidential choice among our audience. This, combined with other factors, is likely to have influenced Barack and Michelle Obama taking the winning spots in the Inspiration Index.

While Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity dropped from 6th place to 18th place since the Inspiration Index 2016, Emma Watson & J.K. Rowling remained firmly in the top 10.

When broken down into gender preferences, male students tended to feel inspired by other men, unlike female students who selected an even balance of both male and female inspirations.

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E d u c a t i o n

Do young people feel they’ve had good value from their degree?

How useful do young people rate the education options available to them?

A degree:

Post school course:

Apprenticeships:

Work experience:

55% yesof young people said

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E d u c a t i o n

E x P E R T Q & A

Luke Turnell Managing Director of International Student Admissions Service

International StudentADMISSIONS SERVICE

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CampusMediaStudents graduating this year are the first to have started after the tuition fee rise. Does this change their attitude to education

“We fully expected student perceptions to education to change. However, this research shows students are still getting good value from a degree. This could mean one of two things:

1. Universities are delivering a better service to justify the fee increase, or at least communicate the services they offer to students better so that students know exactly what they can expect to gain from a degree before enrolling.

2. Alternatively, fees may not have any impact on the amount of value students place on a degree because it is paid for through loans rather than out of a bank account. Are we therefore teaching a generation to live on credit?”

Is studying abroad set to become a mainstream option for this year’s A-level crew?

“I still don’t think it will be a mainstream option - however it will certainly increase. We’ve just had a full cohort of graduates who have paid full rates and are now experiencing the pain of student debts. It’s likely this generation will influence future students to look for alternative options, such as studying abroad. It won’t happen overnight, but it will become more normal and so future students will consider it. Right now it is just the early adopters who are venturing abroad.”

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A s p i r a t i o n s

What is important to students with regards to their future career?

I want to be my own boss:

I value a career as an employee:

I value work/life balance:

T h e s t a r t - u p

c u l t u r e * m a y

s t i l l e x i s t i n o u r

s t u d e n t m a r k e t

b u t i t ’ s l a z y t o

s t e r e o t y p e e v e r y

s t u d e n t t o f e e l l i k e

t h i s .

“

*http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/11765609/Start-up-culture-is-corrupting-our-youth-and-killing-real-entrepreneurship.html1 4 /

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A s p i r a t i o n s

What stood out to you about the research?

“Perceptions of apprenticeships have improved but ultimately, despite the Government’s huge efforts (and investments), they are still lagging behind. It is a very interesting time in the world of early-careers recruitment. The investment in apprenticeships has the potential to revolutionise the way we educate and employ young people - it just isn’t happening as quickly as the Government would like.

More broadly, I think there is a stereotype that every young person wants to build their own tech start-up and isn’t concerned with being an employee. The fact that students value life as an employee more than wanting to be their own boss is telling here. Yes, there are fewer barriers to becoming an entrepreneur now but I think it is lazy to stereotype students on this.

Finally, recognition that work experience is of paramount importance to future career opportunities shows that the message from employers, careers guidance professionals and schools is getting through.”

E x P E R T Q & A CampusMedia

Stephen DiversHead of Education & Recruitment atTheBigChoice.com

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How many times a week do young people exercise?

11% of students exercise 5 times or more per week

23% of students exercise 3-5 times per week

54% of students exercise 1-3 times per week

12% of students never exercise

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The assumption that all students are

lazy is now outdated with 88% of

students fitting at least one session of

exercise in every week.

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of young people feel they spend too much time on their phone.

This indicates that while students are hyper-connected and love being online, they still value offline experiences. With this in mind, marketers who are focusing their activity solely on digital are limiting their opportunities to engage with this consumer group.

82%

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13%yes

58%no

29%maybe

Do young people believe this government has improved life prospects for them?

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Daniel Heyes, University of Manchester

Why don’t student’s believe this government has improved prospects for them?

“As a young person living in Britain I feel completely under-represented and disillusioned with the current government. Although the youth of today are more accepting, politically engaged and globally minded than generations before us, the government continues to promote a myopic, outdated view of the world that is only shared by the aging population who votes for it. With recent developments concerning student loans, the Tories seem intent on punishing young people to aid a broken system that they created. Students’ prospects used to be a promising, now they’re ominous.”

CampusMedia

“I have a passion for travel and aim for this to be a part of my future career. However, with so many new obstacles to get a visa to work in the United States since Trump’s election, and the fact that we don’t know what will happen with regards to Britain leaving the EU, it doesn’t make me feel confident that my future career prospects along with what other young people want are being supported by our government in any way.”

“I’m an international student and I believe that the government currently in power has not done much, or anything (to be honest!), that would benefit or even improve our standards of living here in the UK. The immigration laws have changed since last year November, which makes everything harder for students willing to study in the UK. Even the English requirements have changed. The home office, according to The Guardian, is considering cutting international student numbers at UK universities by nearly half and making it much harder to get visas, and because of that many have been getting visa refusals on spurious grounds.”

Isaura Satata, Manchester Metropolitan University

Maddy Carminke, Bournemouth University

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Did students agree with this statement? ‘I don’t think I will ever be able to buy a property.’

Our 2016 report showed

of young people agreeing with this statement.

30% 70%yes nosaid

said

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CampusMediaWhat stood out to you about the research?

“Despite students expressing that this government is not doing anything to improve their life prospects, more of them have indicated that they’ll be affluent enough to buy properties within the next 5 years. This indicates the two things are less related than ever before.”

Lucy Miller,Senior Editor of The National Student

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How can brands ensure they market authentically?

Authenticity may be the marketing buzzword of the decade. However, it has become clear the millions of post-millennials in the UK do not like being advertised to so every marketer worth their salt has found some sort of story to tell. Are brands doing it properly though? Well, not often enough.

Simon Lucey,Head of Youth Engagement at Campus Media

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Here are Campus Media’s tips to ensure you do it properly:

1. Test your ideas on actual young people. It costs nothing to fill a room with some students, just buy them some pizza and give them a chance to give you honest feedback. Remember this is the generation who want to create, connect and have a say in what’s important to them.

2. Content comes first - and by ‘content’ we don’t mean another list, we mean a genuine story. Whatever marketing you are executing (be it social, digital or experiential), think of the story first and then decide how you’ll tell it.

3. Don’t just buy influencer posts without having any justification for doing so! Pay them yes, but make sure you get value and they’re in line with your messaging. Students can smell dishonesty a mile off.

4. Partner up with niche media. For example, we love the partnership Co-op has with SORTEDfood. The two brands share incredible, easy-to-cook recipes through social media in order to provide young people with the scratch-cooking skills they may have missed out on as a result of being part of the ‘microwave generation’. It fits in with their ethos; helps a small publisher and they are buying reach to ensure that enough of their target market sees it.

CampusMedia

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34%male

1%gender

fluid

D e m o g r a p h i c

gender

65%female

age

location

16 - 18 years old

under 16 years old

over 30 years old

19 - 21 years old

26 - 30 years old

22 - 25 years old

9%

17%

2%

1%

66%

5%

The State of Student 2017 Report was based upon the feedback of 150 students that are currently studying at a British university. Further information about the respondent demographic is displayed here:

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For more information or to discuss The State of Students report and its findings, please contact Anna Hammond, Head of B2B Marketing.

Email: anna@campusmedia.co.ukTelephone: 0207 840 2982

A b o u t u s

CampusMediaB I G C H O I C E G R O U P U K

ADDRESS44-46 Offley RoadSW9 0LS, LondonUnited Kingdom

PHONETel: 0207 840 2960Fax: 0207 378 8197

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