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Project Summary

By shifting the University of Hull’s media strategy from passive reach to high-attention placements, we turned one of the UK’s smallest regional populations of 18-year-olds into a record-breaking Clearing season. Our attention-led campaign captured student focus during a high-anxiety window and converted it into enrollments. The plan surpassed performance targets: CPMs came in 21% below budget, impressions beat targets by 27% and our BeReal campaign achieved a unique CTR five times the UK benchmark.

“We’re all really happy with how result’s day went so thank you everybody for all your efforts because we couldn’t have done it without you”.

University of Hull

The Challenge

The University of Hull doesn’t have the luxury of recruiting from a city of millions. The East Riding of Yorkshire has one of the smallest 18-year-old populations of any UK university catchment area meaning the margin for wasted ad spend was zero. During the high anxiety clearing window higher education competitors usually flood the market with mass media impressions but mass reach doesn’t equal active interest to win in a crowded sector. The University of Hull needed to find prospective students at the precise moment they were actively paying attention and not just passively scrolling past.

Our Solution

Over the past two years we rebuilt the University of Hull’s Clearing strategy around attention quality rather than sheer volume, snagging high-impact placements that competitors either couldn’t access or hadn’t thought to try.

BeReal front Runner strategy: The University of Hull was one of only two UK universities advertising on BeReal. Instead of a long lower tension campaign we executed a high-intensity two day burst across results day and the morning after. Using the platform’s native dual-camera format, we delivered authentic, unfiltered creative that stood out in a feed free from competitors. The ads were delivered to coincide with the time most students received their results. 

TikTok Topfeed and Topview: We placed the University of Hull at the absolute top of the feed the instant users open the app, a premium placement paired with TopFeed and Spark ads to capture audiences all the way through the funnel capitalising on engagement before scroll-fatigue sets in.

Meta and YouTube: We deployed Meta Moments and YouTube Pause Ads to engage prospective students during natural pauses in their viewing sessions capturing them when they were most receptive to dreaming about their next step.

Impact

Focusing on attention quality over impression volume generated immediate commercial return driving record enrollments while delivering significantly more media value from the same budget.

  • +44.3% increase in clearing offers overall.
  • +8% spike in calls on results day between 8am and 1pm with a 12% spike in applications in the same five hour window.
  • 5x UK benchmark for CTR: The two day BeReal activation delivered an astonishing 9.43% unique CTR.
  • 29% more value delivered: BeReal smashed impression targets by 27% while coming in 21% below planned CPM.
  • Maximum efficiency on TikTok: Top view improved across every single metric year- on-year delivering more clicks, focused views and impressions for the same budget.

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At Anything is Possible, we take a different approach. Experienced in all fields of media, we’ll work in partnership with you to shape and execute strategies, campaigns and media plans that propel your brand and resonate with your audience.

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