BATH COLLEGE

THE CHALLENGE

Bath College partnered with Forward & Thinking to boost awareness and drive enrolments during the highly competitive summer period, when education advertising is at its most saturated. The challenge was to cut through the noise and connect with prospective students and key influencers at the right moments.

OUR STRATEGY

We delivered an integrated audio and visual campaign designed to maximise attention and strengthen Bath College’s Careers, not Courses positioning. The strategy focused on reaching audiences in high-impact real-world environments, supported by immersive audio placements throughout their daily routines.

Alongside the audio and outdoor activity, the strategy also included a targeted digital campaign designed to drive traffic to Bath College’s website, build brand awareness, and ultimately support enrolments.

Precision targeting

We hand selected six premium 6-sheet locations outside schools and convenience stores to ensure visibility at key decision making points. This was complemented by digital supermarket formats, enabling dynamic creative rotation and multiple messaging opportunities to boost recall.

Maximising attention

Audio played a central role in building frequency and trust. Spotify and AudioXi placements embedded Bath College into everyday moments, while ITVX AdPause added an innovative, high attention format with long dwell times in a brand safe environment.

Live performance tracking and ongoing optimisation ensured the campaign remained aligned with enrolment goals. The result was a cohesive, high-impact campaign delivering sustained visibility, strong message reinforcement, and momentum throughout the summer enrolment window.

Digital activation

We used a multi-platform approach across Google Search, Google Display, and Meta to reach audiences at key points in their decision-making journey.

Target audience

Targeting focused on both prospective students and the key influencers around them, ensuring messaging reached those most likely to impact enrolment decisions.

THE RESULTS

By combining targeted outdoor, immersive audio, and high-attention digital formats, the campaign delivered exceptional visibility, strong engagement, and momentum for enrolments.

• ITVX AdPause delivered 24,812 impressions, outperforming plan, with a frequency of 3.0 and unique reach of 8,220, reinforcing Bath College’s message in a high attention streaming environment.
• DAX audio campaign delivered 142,867 impressions, slightly exceeding the booked. Ads achieved a strong 97.58% listen-through rate, with audiences spending a total of 1,162 cumulative hours engaging with the creative — reinforcing Bath College’s message throughout everyday listening moments.
• The Spotify activity delivered 98,644 impressions, significantly outperforming the 65,700 booked. The campaign reached 33,333 unique listeners, generating an average frequency of 3.15 across the campaign. Engagement remained strong, with a 94.75% completion rate, alongside 64 clicks and a 0.06% CTR, supporting both awareness and traffic objectives.
• The digital Ad Van activity in the target area used sensor tracking to measure the gender split, age and dwell times. The content reached 6,364 people, with viewers spending an average of 3.14 seconds looking at the creative — delivering impactful visibility at key moments.
• Digital roadside 6-sheets delivered targeted advertising in key locations and over-delivered by 21 days, extending visibility beyond the planned campaign period.

Bath College chose Forward & Thinking for our ability to deliver a targeted, multi-channel campaign that cut through the crowded summer enrolment period. Our strategic mix of high-impact outdoor, immersive audio, premium ITVX placements, and performance-led digital activity ensured the college reached both prospective students and key influencers at the moments that mattered most reinforcing the Careers, not Courses message and driving meaningful enrolment momentum.