Teesside University
Becoming a UK flagship
apprenticeship provider

Teesside University was one of the first UK institutions to recognise the opportunities degree apprenticeships provide for employers and individuals.

We were tasked by the University in 2023 to help define a new positioning and creative strategy that would emphasise the University’s unique combination of academic research informed by industry needs. Against a backdrop of cookie cutter, uninspiring offerings from UK educational institutions across the country, we devised “Enriched by research, informed by industry”.

To bring this to life, we established an iconic, strategic visual identity that was lightyears from anything produced by any other UK institution. The critical importance and impact of bringing together academia and industry was translated visually throughout the campaign to create exceptional apprenticeships which deliver on the workforce development needs of employers.

A targeted national digital marketing campaign was then devised displaying a series of impactful advertisements and video case studies to create the conditions for new partnerships with prospective employers.

After a 12-month run, the campaign was heralded as the ‘most successful B2B marketing campaign the University has ever run’, by the University’s executive director of communications and development, Jo Heaton-Marriott.

The campaign generated a phenomenal 22 professional apprenticeship programmes, worth a prospective £2.06m to the University, with some of the UK’s largest brands, all set to launch in the next academic year.