Middlesex University attracts a wide and diverse range of students. The sheer size of the existing and potential student population makes target marketing very difficult. The university wanted to look at the possibility of conducting a segmentation study of both the existing and potential student population to assist in dividing the large, diverse student base into more manageable groups.
Objectives
- To define segments of the university’s current and potential student target group for the development of marketing campaigns and course provision
- To determine a number of segments of the university’s target market and gain an understanding of their motivations and characteristics
- To gain a detailed understanding of attitudes and preferences in university selection
Approach
Prior to conducting the attitudinal segmentation study a number of depth interviews were conducted with both existing and potential students in order to aid construction of the quantitative questionnaire. Upon completion of the depth interviews a quantitative segmentation questionnaire was designed in conjunction with the client.
- 500 Interviews were conducted face to face with existing students across the campuses
- 500 on-street interviews with potential students
- 100 via self completion questionnaires across key potential European countries
Insight
The insight delivered by this project has given Middlesex University the ability to successfully target different student segments with tailored marketing messages. The Turquoise segmentation is still used to this day, which goes to show just how much value can be delivered by a piece of expertly crafted market research. For more information on our work in the education sector please click here