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] }, "title": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "Engagement and Marketing Activities" } ], "description": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "Summary of Requirement\nThe University of Kent has appointed a single strategic media agency partner to deliver an integrated programme of search and social activity, media planning, marketing optimisation, and insight services to support Clearing and in‑cycle recruitment activity. The contract will run from mid/end April 2026 through to the end of April 2027, covering the full recruitment cycle including Clearing, ECD deadlines, and the lates period.\nBackground and Context\nThis is additional advertising spend to that already committed as part of the contract, now in two phases. The first is for us to purchase additional out of home advertising in South London and Kent, additional Google pay per click advertising, and some other additional media, including Sky TV streaming, a presence on the Guardian's education website and a pilot of Chat GPT advertising. The second, following budget approval at EG on 6 July 2026, is for a further round of additional advertising investment, to spend more on out of home advertising in London and secure additional presence on TV streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+ and All4. This uplift also enable sus to promote our Kent Business School in the London area, with specific funding to focus on this specific institutional strength. This will improve:\nIntegration\nAgility\nPerformance\nFragmentation across planning, optimisation, and reporting has reduced our ability to respond quickly to market shifts and has limited the impact of our media investment. This challenge has been intensified by external factors affecting applicant behaviour and market confidence:\nThe meningitis outbreak in the Kent region and associated high‑profile press coverage, which may have negatively influenced local applicant sentiment during a critical recruitment window.\nIncreasing volatility in international recruitment, driven by visa uncertainty, policy changes, and heightened global competition.\nShifting behaviours among domestic students, particularly those from widening participation backgrounds, who are increasingly choosing to study closer to home due to cost‑of‑living pressures and a desire for stability.\nGiven these conditions, a fragmented media approach presents a material risk to achieving recruitment targets.\nA continuation of services iwth the incumbent supplier will enable:\nFaster decision‑making and more agile in‑cycle optimisation\nReduced duplication across planning and reporting\nClear accountability for performance\nGreater efficiency in budget deployment\nImproved strategic coherence across domestic, postgraduate, and international markets\nThe time‑sensitive nature of Clearing and the need for continuity from April onward mean that running a full competitive procurement process at this stage would introduce unacceptable operational and recruitment risk.\nObjectives for the Supplier\nOur media agency will support the University in delivering against ambitious targets across undergraduate, postgraduate, and international markets. Key objectives include:\nIncreasing awareness and consideration among priority audiences\nDriving high‑quality traffic to key landing pages\nGenerating enquiries, event registrations, and applications\nSupporting conversion from Offer Holder to enrolment\nThis direct award is for additional funding." } ], "status": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "complete" } ], "procurementMethod": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "direct" } ], "procurementMethodDetails": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "Direct award" } ], "procurementMethodRationale": [ { "releaseID": "064319-2026", "releaseDate": "2026-07-08T15:20:19+01:00", "releaseTag": [ "award", "contract" ], "value": "Successful marketing is predicated on a lot of factors but crucial to all of them is integrated campaign development, execution and analysis. The use of a reliable and consistent single partner across a cycle is imperative to this effectiveness, and using a different provider would pose an existential threat to integration and alignment. Hybrid has deployed all of our advertising since we moved to a single supplier, they are accountable for their work and are providing us with regular reports on impact, allowing us to review campaign effectiveness before, in turn, assessing and refining them in partnership. There would be significant technical differences and challenges from using another provider at this stage of the cycle - and trying to align their work with Hybrid's - and there would be an inevitable duplication of activity and cost, which the use of a stable partner can avert. \nWe are entering a new cycle with ambitious targets across undergraduate, postgraduate, and international markets. 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