University 'Tinder' app wins European award
Friday 30 September 2016
An innovative Tinder-style app which helps students navigate through clearing has won an international award.
Conceived by the marketing team at the University of Salford, ‘Match Made in Salford’ won in the Mobile and App category at the Europe-wide Digital Communication Awards held in Berlin. The team at Salford beat submissions from international brands such as Vodafone, Red Bull and Yamaha to claim the prize.
The ‘Match Made in Salford’ app was launched in 2015, aiming to help potential students make informed decisions throughout the clearing process, and to recruit those students to the right course at the University of Salford. The app was designed with a Tinder-style interface, providing personalised course recommendations based on grades achieved, desired subject area and career of interest.
Users swipe right or left when the course appeared and that way they could narrow down their choices and ultimately find the right course to give them the best chance of a great start at a career.
Hannah Burchell, Associate Director of Marketing at the University of Salford said: “Ask a student who’s been through the clearing system and they’ll tell you that it can be a hugely stressful time. Match Made in Salford is designed to help people make informed decisions about where to study, whether they’ve changed their mind, are late to the process, or things have changed while applying. As well as being fun and engaging, it aims to boost student recruitment at the University of Salford.”
Thanks to the campaign, website engagement increased by over 250%, offers made through clearing increased by 28% and registrations for 2015 increased by 13%. Comments on social media were enthusiastic, highlighting student satisfaction and the impact the app and campaign had.
Hannah added: “We researched competitors and recognised that a pattern of repetitive and unimaginative content was being served to people going through clearing. Understanding that our demographic was similar to Tinder, our digital team developed a ‘matchmaker’, where students swiped left or right to find the perfect course. This award recognises the hard work of the whole marketing team at Salford who helped make the project so successful.”
Find out more
Sam Wood
0161 295 5361
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