Business Consulting Assignment: Developing an Effective Digital Campaign for Regent Group

Question

Task:
The scenario to be examined in this business consulting assignment is that you have been instructed by your client to produce a report demonstrating your understanding of the client project through the use of secondary research. You are not required to provide a set of solutions to the client’s problem at this stage.

Using the client project brief which you have been allocated, answer all three of the questions below.

Ensure work is supported with evidence from research (academic theory and company research)

A brief introduction and conclusion is also required which is included in the word count.

Further guidance on research sources will be provided in Week 8’s class.

Word count is 1,500 (+/- 10%) from 1350 and 1650 and 10 References plus In-text Citations

Clarify who your client is, and what is the problem they are facing
Using research, break the problem down by critically analysing and presenting areas of importance to the client such as competitors, target customer market and influencing factors from the external environment ( PESTEL)
From your above analysis, what are the top three issues that the client is facing?

Answer

Executive Summary
The entire business consulting assignment has focused on the analysis of digital campaign for the Regent Group for promoting brand for Regent College. The entire analysis has been made based on the background of client organization and client problems are analysed properly. Furthermore, critical analysis has been done and external analysis is also made based on PESTLE model.

Project For Regent College
Introduction
This project focuses on developing an effective digital campaign for Regent Group to promote the Brand for REGENT COLLEGE. In order to build a viable campaign that attracts students towards the college the contribution of the college towards the economy and efficiency strategies require to be analysed precisely. Digital marketing is an important and popular phenomenon gaining prominence in the field of global marketing due to its capability of attracting a large audience and helping organizations to boost their overall performance in the market (MANUCHARYAN, 2021, p. 107).

Client Background
The client organization is REGENT COLLEGE and the main contact person is RasikaUmamahesh who is a marketing expert with sizeable experience in the field. Rasika joined Regent Group in 2015 and directs branding, digital marketing, website development efforts, strategic marketing efforts, and social media marketing. Furthermore, she’s also in charge of managing internal communications, events, PR, award entries, and various other activities within the college. Rasika holds 18years of experience in her respective field including 13 years in education marketing within both domestic and global markets. Additionally, she is highly qualified for the position of marketing professional in Regent Group. Hence, Rasika is the in-person client while REGENT COLLEGE is the client organization. REGENT COLLEGE is a technology-enabled education institution that offers learning programs to students from different parts of the globe. The college primarily invites students between the age of 18 t and 35 with courses strategically designed for enhancing career opportunities and employability of the students. The college aspires to excel in supporting and delivering high-quality education for the student community in the United Kingdom. The company has campuses in five prominent locations across the UK including Wembley, London, Southall, Kingsbury, and Harrow. The company beliefs in continuous improvement and hence it has been undergoing a robust technological transformation to improve its technical capacities in order to make its learning environment more effective and efficient for students. REGENT COLLEGE London earned revenues worth £3.18 million and it has more than 200 employees as of now (Regent's University London, 2021).

Client’s problems
REGENT COLLEGE has been experiencing steady growth as it continues to attract students across the globe. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the college has started the arrangement of remote learning that has required a substantial number of changes in the processes and operations of the institution due to quick digital transformation. However, the educational institution has been undergoing the process of digitalization as the academic organizations have not started in full force as there are still some concerns related to students’ and employees’ health and safety. However, the pandemic has caused several problems for the college as students’ confidence has reduced after the tragic pandemic leading to a decrease in student admission in 2020 as 40% of the educational year was affected severely (Report, 2021). Moreover, the college has been facing difficulties while collecting fees from individuals paying privately due to income drop because of the pandemic. There is a considerable increase in expenses as the college has been restructuring the overall system after the pandemic. Additionally, the new remote environment has been difficult for the organization to manage due to the low level of communication with teachers and students that can potentially affect the performance of the overall institution. Hence the problems faced by the organization are dynamic involving financial issues, teachers’ and students’ motivational issues, students’ capacity, and digital capabilities of the institution. As per the view of Karakozov and Ryzhova, (2019, 1637), technological transformation is a critical process as it can create both advantages and disadvantages for an organization. Therefore, REGENT COLLEGE must adopt the right technologies to implement in its systems and processes to address both financial and management issues.

Critical analysis of the important areas
Competitors
Competitors for a business refers to similar organizations that offer almost similar services within the same market (Lee and Lee, 2017, p. 171). REGENT COLLEGE is a private university in London and there are a few other private colleges including The University of Buckingham, The University of Law, The London Institute of Banking and Finance, and BPP University College. However, REGENT COLLEGE offers a wide range of courses and skill programs that are not offered by most of its competitors. Furthermore, the college is the largest private university in London that offers it a greater scope of acceptance among students. The average fee of REGENT COLLEGE is reasonable in comparison to government-funded universities. While the largest population of the UK and globe are attracted towards public colleges such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London, and many others, REGENT COLLEGE has created values by keeping the fee within a reasonable range. The annual fee of a full-time undergraduate course at University College London is £9000, the annual fees for the same course are £14,000 in REGENT COLLEGE (The Guardian, 2020). The higher price is justified by the luxurious experience offered by the college to its students.

Target customer market
Target customer in business addresses the consumers that are likely to buy a service or product from the brand so the brand’s strategies are aligned to the needs of these potential customers (Keiningham et al., 2020, p. 437). REGENT COLLEGE is a private educational institution that charges higher fees from students than public colleges in London. Therefore, the college targets students with strong financial backgrounds. Moreover, the college presents academic opportunities and supports for students from diverse academic backgrounds and capabilities. The students with ages ranging from 18 to 35 are targeted by this college. REGENT COLLEGE in its digital campaign should highlight the value created through luxurious brand management to attract customers from these backgrounds. The digital campaign must promote the idea of an exclusive and attractive educational environment so students from high-income family backgrounds perceive the value correctly and become interested to join the college.

PESTEL factors

Political factors	The United Kingdom’s separation from the EU has led to a conflicting relationship between the two markets. The free movement policy has been uplifted after Brexit and hence students need to pay taxes to pursue education in the UK. It has been dissuading many students from the EU regions to join colleges in the UK (Broc, 2020, p. 37). The Brexit issue has created difficulties regarding recruitment in the UK and it has deteriorated the quality of study within the university.
Economic factors	Due to huge unemployment resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic households' spending capacity has been reduced (Safonov and Mayakovskaya, 2020, p.92). Therefore, it has become difficult for families to bear the expenditure of private education such as in REGENT COLLEGE. The inflation is the major issue in the case of economic development in the UK and it has increased the fees of students in the UK.
Social factors	After the pandemic students’ confidence has reduced regarding traveling abroad. Hence it can affect the percentage of international students in REGENT COLLEGE. On the positive side, awareness about education has been on the rise and there is increased importance on women’s education (Mian and Khan, 2020, p. 2). Therefore, it creates the scope for a higher number of admissions in colleges. Additionally, students have been found to search about colleges and universities more online in recent times that creating opportunities for digital marketing by REGENT COLLEGE to attract students. The social culture has been changed under the Covid 19 situation in the schools and colleges of London.
Technological factors	After the pandemic, the importance of technology in educational institutions has increased tenfold. As many students may feel indecisive while traveling abroad for educational purposes after the pandemic remote learning technique addresses this challenge proactively (Safonov and Mayakovskaya, 2020, p. 91). Furthermore, there are diverse tools available for digital marketing that can be used by private educational institutions like REGENT COLLEGE to create awareness about the brand. The contactless payment solution, mobile banking, UPI banking, and other net banking facilities have made the process of making payment easier. Under the Covid situation technology-based study has been increased in the school, college and universities
Environmental factors	It is important for educational institutions to concentrate on sustainability while providing education (Khan and Terason, 2021). REGENT COLLEGE should add more green spaces and plants within its campuses as it also enhances the aesthetic and attractiveness of the places. Additionally, REGENT COLLEGE should focus on reducing carbon footprint while delivering luxury experiences to students. Regent college Authority has focused on the wastage recycling process for ensuring the quality of performance
Legal factors	Educational institutions should comply with copyright acts in terms of making modules and syllabuses. REGENT COLLEGE must ensure that its modules and lessons are not directly copied from other institutions. Furthermore, the college should also enhance its data security and protection, especially in the digital environment. Environment Protection Act has been considered by the College authority strictly

The PESTEL analysis presented above presents threats and opportunities for REGENT COLLEGE in its external environment. As REGENT COLLEGE aims to attract both domestic and international students hence Brexit can affect foreign students’ admission rate in the college. REGENT COLLEGE as a private educational institution charges fees that are higher than public colleges. However, the reduced spending capacity of people indicates a threat for the academic organization as it is difficult for people to bear the costs of education in private institutions. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the confidence level of students regarding foreign education has declined to a certain extent (K?n?ko?lu and Can, 2021, p. 827). On the other hand, students have been searching increasingly on the internet about colleges that increase the potential of digital marketing to attract students. The technological advancements create an opportunity to create a digitally efficient learning environment for students.

Three top priorities
The top priorities are the top three issues that REGENT COLLEGE needs to address at the earliest. The foremost issue is of implementation of technologies for digital transformation. It is of the greatest importance as in the remote learning era digital efficiency determines the quality of education within an institution. Next, the college must incorporate a more competitive price strategy so students undergoing financial crises can pursue education in the college. In the digital campaign, the college should highlight its technological capacities, positive performances, and promises of luxury to attract targeted students to enhance their admission rate. The third issue that has been identified is funding which is important in order to enhance the digital transformation process within the Regent College.

Conclusion
In the above study REGENT COLLEGE’s external environment has been analysed to develop the right digital campaign and provide strategic solutions. To conclude in order to attract customers through an effective digital campaign the organization must uphold and promote its values.

References
Broc, K.G., 2020. Brexit and its impact on the UK Higher Education sector and the rights of scholars and students. UNIO–EU Law Journal, 6(1), pp.31-50.

Karakozov, S.D. and Ryzhova, N.I., 2019. Information and education systems in the context of digitalization of education. ????????????????????????????????????????. ?????: ?????????????????, 12(9), pp.1635-1647.

Keiningham, T., Aksoy, L., Bruce, H.L., Cadet, F., Clennell, N., Hodgkinson, I.R. and Kearney, T., 2020. Customer experience driven business model innovation. Journal of Business Research, 116, pp.431-440.

Khan, M.S. and Terason, S., 2021. Encouraging pro?environmental behavior in university employees: An approach toward environmental sustainability as moderated by green organizational culture. Journal of Community Psychology.

K?n?ko?lu, C.N. and Can, A., 2021. Negotiating the different degrees of precarity in the UK academia during the Covid-19 pandemic. European Societies, 23(sup1), pp.S817-S830.

Lee, M. and Lee, S., 2017. Identifying new business opportunities from competitor intelligence: An integrated use of patent and trademark databases. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 119, pp.170-183.

MANUCHARYAN, M.G., 2021. The importance of digital marketing, benefits and development prospects. Business consulting assignment In world science: problems and innovations (pp. 105-109).

Mian, A. and Khan, S., 2020. Medical education during pandemics: a UK perspective. BMC medicine, 18(1), pp.1-2.

Regent's University London, 2021. Exceptional and practical education for. Regent's University London. Available at: https://www.regents.ac.uk/ [Accessed December 16, 2021].

Report, R.C.L., 2021. HND, foundation year, Bachelor's, top-up and masters degrees. Regent College London Report. Available at: https://www.rcl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/annual-report-and-financial-statements-year-ended-31July-2020.pdf [Accessed December 16, 2021].

Safonov, A.S. and Mayakovskaya, A.V., 2020. Post-Digital World, Pandemic and Higher Education. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(8), pp.90-94.

The Guardian, 2020. Regent's College in London to become UK's Second Private University. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/mar/25/regents-college-private-university [Accessed December 16, 2021].

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