Newsletter #58: University of the Creative Arts takes a leap with its website; Europe is the rock star of data privacy; Oh, it’s Apple’s fault that Meta is crashing right now?
✏️ From the Education Marketer desk
Today on Most Clicked, Plymouth College of Art raises the bar with its course pages. Nathan, Matt and I also stumble across a gem of an “ad school” in Denver that doesn’t pull any punches with its web copy. Plymouth College of Art | Denver Ad School
📰 HE news
The demands of native digitals will transform education over the next 10 years. I’ve heard this uttered on the edges of the sector, as well as in ed-tech circles, but a piece in Forbes means it’s making its way to the centre. In short, you have three disruptors at play: 1) the sharp growth of the creator economy i.e. new low barriers for entry in delivering niche courses, 2) declining student numbers driving up competition and 3) the rise of remote work and Gen-Z’s “digital everything” POV - why attend your local culinary school when you can learn from Gordon Ramsey for £14 a month? And then, there’s the oncoming storm, the ethereal Gen-A: Those who have only ever known on-demand, seen their millennial parents working in their pijamas, and, likely, will start their higher ed journey alongside a more realised version of the metaverse. That’s a radically different kind of student and one that could be as little as 8 years away. Forbes overview | Creator economy growth
📊 Marketing and media news
Meta’s set a new record: The biggest one-day drop in value since the stock market began. $230bn to be exact - for context, that’s the combined value of Starbucks, Twitter, Pinterest and Shopify. Triggered by the company’s (long overdue) first drop in users, it adds to the issues plaguing Meta right now: Newer social platforms have shown that you don’t need to trade in personal information to make a profit; due to new US antitrust legislation, Meta can’t leverage its go-to strategy of acquiring the competition; and its promise land, the metaverse, is ten years out… It ain’t looking good for Zuck. Before you start losing people from your uni’s Facebook, it may be worth moving them over to other channels - ideally those you own. Read
A recent ruling has found that pop-ups asking for consent are unlawful, setting off the equivalent of an atomic bomb in some, including Amazon and Google’s, third-party data strategies. If you are using the “Transparency & Content Framework”, whether you are a publisher or advertiser, you’ll need to review your use of data, as the order is clear: Delete what you have obtained. Europe is fast becoming the “rock star” of data privacy, it even got into a spat with Meta recently over new legislation, the company saying it would withdraw from Europe if new rules were put in place. But Europe just said, “sure, that would work for both of us,” forcing Meta to pen a press release denying the whole thing. Key takeaway: Aside from “Meta Absolutely Not Threatening to Leave Europe”, it’s that concerns for data privacy aren’t going anywhere. So, rather than just focusing on Google’s latest alternative to the cookie, maybe it’s time to think a little more about partnerships and building out our own first-party data strategies. That has to be better (and cheaper) than spending 50% of our ad budgets with big tech. Consent pop-ups | Meta not leaving Europe | Ad spend with big tech
🏫 What unis are doing
University of Kent uses course videos in a way I haven’t seen before. Each time you load a course page, a video slides in from the top right giving you a concise overview. Nothing that special, but what I really like is that it allows these videos to be produced for a specific point in a user’s journey, keeping the content relevant. A simple idea executed well. Look
University for the Creative Arts takes a leap with its homepage, opting for horizontal scrolling. From a UX perspective, this always makes me nervous, but generally, I’m starting to see a shift away from standardisation in UI design. Honestly, I think a lot of it has been spurred on by the web3 movement, but also Gen-Z’s tendency towards memes and creative expression. These things happen in waves. We started with MySpace and the ability to customise profiles then we moved to the uniformity of Facebook. Now, we’re swinging back the other way and landing on “functional creativity?” I’m not sure, but I’m happy to see people getting experimental again. 10/10 to UCA for balancing their creative efforts with an “accessibility” switch that works across every page too. UCA | Digital design trends
I’ve got two TikTok favourites this week: Sheffield and Cambridge. Sheffield nails it right out the gate with 1.1m views of their paternoster lifts, which I can confirm are awesome, terrifying and ideal for TikTok. And Cambridge because I’m in awe - can you imagine how many layers of approval this must have gone through? The content is less chaotic than some, but not everyone has the permission to be unhinged, so take note if your institution is risk-averse. Sheffield | Cambridge
Bonus: If you can’t get enough of uni TikTok, I highly recommend Nonsensical’s (ungated!) Top 30 unis on TikTok report. They know their stuff and have even created a few successful TikTok channels of their own. Read
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“Before the pandemic, I used to be great at communicating with people around me and asking questions, being the go-getter in class and everything. And now, sometimes I just feel like I am not that same person anymore. It’s harder for me to actively seek help from people when I feel like I do need that help.” Students on the long-lasting effects of the pandemic and the need for a new kind of support. Read
👾 Culture shock
Who people spent their time with between 2009 and 2019. Sobering. Cross-reference with a “life calendar” for a healthy dose of existential dread. Time spent | Life calendar
I had a five-minute conversation with a web template. You should too. Look
