Newsletter #76: Birmingham City University went to Karen’s Diner; What higher ed can learn from YouTube Shorts creators; Gen Z is bringing back Indie Sleaze
✏️ From the Education Marketer desk
The Telegraph thinks a blackout will knock Gen Z into shape. Read
Anglo-American University drove 62 applications from one student TikTok creator. Look
More evidence that we are reaching the end of the influencer age. Read
What higher ed can learn from this YouTube Shorts creator. Read
📰 HE news
After back-of-a-napkin higher ed policies were discussed at the Conservative Party conference (not that they matter now) it was refreshing to read Susan Orr’s measured review of blended learning. Remember that? Quick recap: In 2020, the entirety of the HE sector pivoted to online learning within days. Since then we’ve tried to take the best of digital education forward. But The Telegraph, The Mail (and about 80% of the UK press) didn’t like that, and despite a lot of signals that students enjoyed the flexibility of online learning - headlines said otherwise. Well, Orr’s report removes all the ideology and (surprise) reveals that blended learning is actually pretty good. In fact, student feedback on the mode of delivery was in many ways SECONDARY to the quality of their teaching. So, in short, it doesn’t matter if you’re in-person or remote, students care most about the quality of the content. Report | Summary
📊 Marketing and media news
YouTube continues to prioritise its podcast land grab. It’s just rolled out “audio ads” which sounds hilarious in 2022 but this is where we are. You’ll now be able to purchase 30-second audio ad spots on videos - good for the multi-tasking listener, but maybe lacking for someone actually watching a show. There’s A LOT of movement in audio at the moment. TikTok’s just launched a new feature: StemDrop. Essentially, TikTok releases an original song and aspiring musicians can take any element of the track (vocals, drums etc) and rework it as their own. Universities offering music: Rejoice! It’s an intriguing concept and joins the many innovations TikTok has made in audio. There are even rumours of it working on a podcasting platform. YouTube Audio Ads | StemDrop | TikTok Podcasts
If 2021 was about NFTs then 2022 is all about AI. AI’s been around for quite some time but only now has it started to encroach on what humans hold very, very dear: Creation. In the last month, I’ve seen free tools that can create videos and images that 95% of the human race cannot. Then, on Sunday, I learned that a Twitter thread with over 1.5K retweets and 7,100 likes was created entirely by AI. Astonishing. In fairness though, the thread includes highly generic content about “productivity” - so it’s hardly a red alert for thought leaders (like academics) with a highly defined niche. But that day will come. If you’re a content creator in HE, consider which work you can outsource to an AI. I tried out Jasper.ai the other day and I was surprised at how well it could handle content about student life in any given city. Thread written by AI | Jasper.ai
Bonus: Signs that the creator economy is reaching its peak: Walmart Creators. Look
🏫 What unis are doing
Nottingham Trent University launched its first video podcast: Research Reimagined. I discovered it via TikTok with an academic talking (quite seriously) about exorcisms - which is pretty cool, right? The uni also has a decent repurposing strategy in place. The series lives on YouTube, but you get Shorts and TikToks acting as the on-ramp to the long-form podcast. I hope they keep this up. A lot of university podcasts go the way of the “one-off” series, but I think this has more potential. TikTok repurpose | YouTube Podcast
Birmingham City University went to Karen’s Diner. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a place you go for lunch and have relentless abuse thrown at you for fun. It’s not for me, but it’s an intriguing idea for a business which generates its own social media marketing. That said - I never thought I’d see a university attend and share its experience. It worked out. 384K views, 20K likes and 312 comments. It pays to publish controversial content but be sure to triple-check your tone - sometimes viewers miss irony. BCU’s take on the experience as “a bit relentless” was taken by their audience for meaning “we’re offended” - which clearly wasn’t the case. I mean, the University swears in its own review. Look
London Metropolitan University caught the perfect graduation moment between two sisters. One walks across the stage while the other (waiting in line for her degree) whoops and cheers. The name reader then asks the sister (who’s just graduated) if she’d like to do the same. Heartfelt, yes. But also to the tune of millions of views on TikTok, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Whenever you have big events, have content producers ready to clip this stuff. It’s worth its weight in gold. Read
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“It’s the perfect PhD for me. Since I saw my first electron microscope, I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life. [But] I was shocked to see how bad [the cost of living] is… When you live below the minimum wage, you are grateful for every extra penny.” PhD students on stipends being below the national minimum wage in Ireland. Read
👾 Culture shock
Gen Z is reviving “Indie Sleaze” (although it isn’t quite how I remember it.) Look
Apparently, the shiny bubble aesthetic from the early 2000s has a name - Frutiger Aero. Look
