Facing the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing sector, the UK’s ELT sector was encouraged to step out of the shadows and get proactive about its brands at the English UK Marketing conference last week.
One hundred and sixty-five delegates attended the sellout event at London’s Butchers’ hall, where they were treated to keynote speeches from two marketing impresarios; nine expert-led workshops; and a host of key market insight and networking opportunities.
Setting the tone was the boisterous Nigel Risner, formerly one of the youngest CEOs in the City of London, who explained why most people failed to network effectively. “Some people are listening and some people are waiting to respond,” he told the crowd, before showing them how identify and communicate different types of people by breaking them down into animal categories – lions, monkeys, dolphins and elephants; a subsequent talking point for the day.
Other standout talks included a panel discussion on emerging marketing trends, chaired by The PIE’s editor Amy Baker. Experts including Tony Millns, chief executive of English UK, and Andrew Mangion, executive chairman of the EC Group, talked about how schools can thrive in a competitive market.
The panel agreed “Brand UK” remained strong but said it could not rest on its laurels. Schools needed to readjust to the seismic shift of social media, said Mangion, now that “the age of lying” in marketing was over. “It’s an age when we start to become honest with ourselves and our clients,” he said.
“Forming a good partnership with a Turkish agent is essential”
Head of products development & purchase at major agency chain, ESL, Krister Weidenhielm, said that Corporate Social Responsibility would also become an important differentiator. “It is important that we speak our customers’ language… Statistics show that more or less 30% of people Western Europe make purchases based on [a product’s] green credentials.”
There were also talks on the burgeoning industry opportunities in Central Asia. The head of Turkey’s Atlas Private Educational Service, Mesud Yilmaz, spoke about the the country’s “huge recruitment opportunities” and gave tips to those entering the market. “Forming a good partnership with a Turkish agent is essential,” he said. “Operators also need to be flexible. Turkey is a very ‘last minute market’ – if an operator is very strict with the timings of bookings they may have a problem.”
Sedat Eren, of a2 International Education Fairs, pointed out the rapidly rising demand for English in the oil-rich Azerbaijani and Kazakh markets. He said that while the agency sector was un-professionalised in both countries, face-to-face contact with agents, the prevalence of scholarships and availability of cheap advertising channels augured excellent market penetration for those with persistence.
News announced in the Kurdistan seminar that 3,000 HCDP scholarship students were already studying in the UK further evidenced the Central Asian ascendancy. Other talks came from The Training Gateway and Business English UK, on the growing corporate training market; Peter Swain on apps; and Jon Aizlewood of Carbon Graffiti spoke on digital marketing.
The day ended on a high with entrepreneur BJ Cunningham talking about his iconic and controversial “Death” cigarette brand, which was marketed with the unique selling point of honesty – and slogans such as “the grim reaper don’t come cheaper”.
Cunningham served up an unlikely mantra of Buddhism, risk-taking and sheer self belief
Cunningham served up an unlikely mantra of Buddhism, risk-taking and sheer self belief to show delegates how far branding could really go. “What matters most is what people believe,” he said. “A brand is a promise. Logos, pantone colours – they’re all a vehicle to get your promotion into the eyes of your customer.”
Jodie Gray, English UK’s senior international manager who organised the conference, said it had been a great day. “We filled all 165 places for the event and had a waiting list of more people who wanted to come. The speakers made a real impression with all the delegates, and lots of people were very complimentary about the new venue.”
