St Joseph’s College
The Problem
StrategiQ were pleased to sponsor St Joseph’s Rugby Festival, a 3-day August Bank Holiday event in our hometown. As we deepened our engagement with ‘St Jo’s’ it became clear that the value they add to the community really wasn’t being reflected in their websites and their in-house marketing team were finding it difficult to manage. We knew there was something we could do to solve that!
The Solution
St Jo’s two websites (one for the College and another for the rugby festival) were causing user confusion. StrategiQ started the project by gaining an understanding of the User Experience (UX) in order to improve it through unifying the websites with simple and logical navigation, modern technology and best practice search engine optimisation (protecting rankings through the migration process).
As an independent college that inspires learners from 2 – 18 years old, the website had to represent the Nursery, Prep School, Senior School, Sixth Form and EAL (English as an Additional Language) Student Pathway in audience appropriate ways. It also needed to provide priority pathways to information on admissions, boarding, the community and its sporting festivals. By simplifying the user experience, layouts and content journey we can now better direct the user experience, channelling users to the appropriate action, such as to book a visit (at which point St Jo’s basically sells itself!).
Getting a sense of St Jo’s as a community and brand was absolutely critical to the success of this project. Use of photography and videography enables the user to take a peak inside a day in the life of students and helps with relatability and forming a connection with the brand to the point where you want to be part of it. We’re really proud of our partnership with St Jo’s and hope that it inspires young people (and their parents) to be part of a community where they can pursue their ambitions.
St Joseph’s College (St Jo’s) is an independent college that inspires learners from 2 – 18 years old. They have a strong and clear vision of what they want their school to be and want to attract students who can match their ambitions ‘on the pitch, in the classroom and on the stage’. They believe that ‘everyone can become an academic, athlete, artist, or actor. They just need the ambition, confidence and opportunity to be one’.
St Jo’s has a culture of confidence, enablement and ambition. They want their students to ‘love school and to relish the academic education that will allow them to become whoever they want to be’.
St Jo’s target audience is parents of 2 – 18 years old children looking to attend an Independent Nursery, Prep School, Senior School or Sixth Form. Access is either through bursary or payment of fees, so means does not need to dictate as talent can make a way. In addition St Jo’s provides an EAL (English as an Additional Language) Student Pathway which is marketed to geographies where English would be a beneficial second language.
There are a number of independent schools in the Suffolk area including Culford, Ipswich School, Woodbridge School, Framlingham College and Royal Hospital School. St Jo’s looks to differentiate itself by its broad education offering and its sports specialisms and creative and performing arts offering. Those that opt for their children to board are not constrained to the local Suffolk area and may decide for their children to be elsewhere so the field of competition is vast and international.
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