At the recent National Student Television Association (NaSTA) Awards, the University of Kent’s student TV station, KTV, picked up the award for best Station Marketing. Spearheading the station’s marketing push which led to the award victory was MSc Marketing student, Maisie Golding.
Each year the National Student Television Association holds its conference and awards which are billed as a celebration of the best student TV produced during the previous academic cycle. This year the conference and awards were hosted by Forge TV at Sheffield University with the prize ceremony taking place on the evening of April 14.
Over 40 student TV societies from universities all over the UK were pitched against one another in 20 categories ranging from the best animation to the best writing. In the category for Station Marketing each entrant had to produce a 10-minute video detailing their achievements in marketing, for example demonstrating how they’ve built an audience across their campus. An additional 500-word supporting statement was also required.
At the awards ceremony it was the University of Kent’s KTV that was awarded the top prize for Station Marketing, a moment which can be seen via a video on KTV’s Facebook page. It was the work of Kent Business School student and KTV Communications Manager, Maisie Golding, which helped secure the victory.
Maisie said; “This year, to improve my marketing skills, I took on the role of the Communications Manager at KTV, Kent’s Student Television Society and entered the channel into the National Student Television Awards for Station Marketing. I’m very proud to have helped the station beat all of the other entrants to the victory!
“Putting the teaching I have had over this year into practice positively impacted upon my strategy, leadership and management of the station’s communications and marketing efforts, which ultimately led to this win for KTV.”
By way of putting learning into practice, Maisie undertook focus groups and audience research and as a result implemented three key initiatives to increase the station’s reach and relevance to University of Kent students:
- Become part of the student community and cover more events on campus
- Increase presence on relevant platforms – especially social media – and develop a robust digital marketing strategy
- Advertise more, using new branding in print, on University social media, Canterbury Student Radio and face-to-face events.
A notable increase in Facebook likes, from 4,503 to over 6,000 in less than a year, as well as a concerted push to put more content on Instagram and Snapchat has increased cross-campus engagement with KTV and as a result its viewing figures on all channels.
“I’m so very excited about what is to come for both me in my studies, and KTV, and am also extremely grateful to KBS for the skills I have learned and continue to learn within the MSc Marketing programme.”
As well as winning the Best Station Marketing title, KTV was also highly commended in the Light Entertainment category.
Find out more and apply for Kent Business School’s MSc Marketing programme. You can also connect with KTV on Facebook and Twitter.