Summary

We helped Elsevier* engage students by creating an updated Student Ambassador Programme of 120 proactive members, which was instrumental in increasing product usage and brand trust amongst the wider medical student community. ‍

The Problem‍

Elsevier were struggling to engage with medical students as messages were outdated and not resonating. There was a climate of suspicion and mistrust of big brands by lecturers and librarians. Creating an authentic and strong bond with the medical student community was therefore difficult.‍

What we did‍

We carried out research with a number of medical student reps to really understand what they wanted to hear about and how they wanted to hear it. We used this fantastic intel to create a new student ambassador programme. A network of students in each university to be our active advocates; share our stories; build relationships with their own network of peers. Ambassadors were rewarded (via a loyalty app) and given the opportunity to contribute to journal articles and research groups which would boost their CV.

We built the programme with scale in mind so it could include any number of students for a global roll out amongst EMEA colleagues, enabling product and internal marketing teams to focus on wider workloads.‍

How it worked‍

Creating this authentic influencer network allowed us to gain direct access to the wider student community, circumnavigating any blocking of key messages. Brand awareness and trust increased exponentially (evidenced by social engagement), reflected in Net Promoter Score results, and ultimately product usage. The Elsevier Education team were delighted with the results and it continues to be an important channel.

*This was during our time as Elsevier FTEs, not in the capacity of Terrier Marketing, albeit completely under our responsibility and ownership.