Student Finance
Background
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) had a remit to create a comprehensive website which would be a one-stop source of information on financial support for further and higher education. Studentfinance.ie was -launched in 2008.
The Challenge
The HEA wanted studentfinance.ie to appeal to its target audience of young & mature students, parents and anyone with a direct interest in further education. In addition, the navigation was incredibly important. They wanted the information on the site to be found easily and with as little extra clicks as possible.
Our Approach
We began with our standard discovery phase and realised that the information on the site would be aimed primarily at the student audience and their parents - of all ages and all walks of life.
Our first step was to create a new branding and tagline for studentfinance.ie. We examined the target audience and decided a strong and positive message was in order. ' It's Your Future' became the call to action for the campaign. A clean fresh identity was created based on the website URL studentfinance.ie to improve recognition and increase direct traffic to the new site.
Once the branding was completed, we created a visually strong website with fresh colours that appealed to all ages. The mixture of blue and green gives a bright, positive feel to the site and the design was kept clean and crisp for easy of use. We used images of students of all age groups and circumstances to show that third level education is accessible to all.
Using the main navigation menu, text menus and dedicated search box, visitors to the site can quickly and conveniently identify the various sources of financial support for which they are eligible and how they can apply. The website also features text resising and low vision options and its structure reflects established best practice in maximising accessibility.
To launch the new initiative we created a mix on offline and online marketing media including posters, flyers, bookmarks, and various flash banners.
Results
The award-winning studentfinance.ie launched in February 2008. It is a positive source of information that is easily read and found. This is reflected in the high numbers of visitors coming to the site, in particular international students from 132 different countries. In the first six months of the year, visitors surpassed the target set by 50% and continues to grow.
"We have had fantastic feedback on our new website, which very creatively reflects the high standards we have worked so hard to achieve over the past 40 years and the website has become a key marketing tool, which will attract clients and increase sales well into the future."
Mr. Peter Browne, Programme Manager, National Office for Access to Higher Education
"Tens of thousands of students and their families have turned to a new website for advice on grant applications and other college finance issues."
Irish Examiner, 22 August 2008.
Studentfinance.ie has already won an eGovernment award in 2009 and was nominated in the Digital Media Awards 2009 and Golden Spider Awards 2008.
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