In order to enhance awareness of New Zealand as an education destination and build a database of students to connect with institutions and/or agents, Education New Zealand has initiated new marketing campaigns in three key markets.
The campaigns were launched last month in China and India with the ‘Think New’ brand, to be followed by similar initiatives in Japan this month.
Sector approach
Education New Zealand has adopted a sector-focused approach, targeting universities in China, tertiary education providers in India and English language schools in Japan.
Education New Zealand General Manager (Marketing & Channel Development) Kathryn McCarrison said that the campaigns also aimed to provide information to people interested in studying here to support their decision-making and acquire contact details.
She said that the decision to choose China, India and Japan as the initial target markets was made in pursuance of market research conducted by Education New Zealand as well as suggestions from the industry.
“Our research shows that New Zealand is close to halfway behind the awareness levels of key competitor countries. We are not on top of the minds of students overseas when they are considering their options,” she said.
According to Migration and Trends outlook 2012-2013, China remains the largest source of international students (27%) followed by India (13%) and South Korea (8%).
Export earner
International education is New Zealand’s fifth largest export earner, contributing $2.6 billion to the economy every year and supporting 28,000 jobs. The Government aims to more than double the value of export education from $2.3 billion to $5 billion by 2025.
International students have become an important source of skilled migrants for New Zealand and other countries. Over the last decade, 22% of international students gained permanent residence in New Zealand within five years of being issued their first student visa.
In 2012-2013, about 42% of skilled principal migrants were former international students.
Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) Chief Executive Mark Flowers said that about 1000 international students are enrolled every year at his institution from 52 countries, many of who are from China and India.
“The Education New Zealand marketing campaign is a great opportunity for New Zealand to gain further exposure in China, India and Japan. India in particular is a very important market for us and it is great to see the campaign support this growth.
“International education is important to the New Zealand economy while bringing with it huge potential benefits around enabling our students, employers and the wider community to become more globally aware and connected,” Mr Flowers said.
Jaspreet Singh, an International student from India, said, “Sector-focused marketing is a good approach to raise awareness of New Zealand as a place to study. A strong and targeted marketing campaign can have tremendous influence for social good. Raising awareness can cover an extensive range of activities; anything that involves people understanding, learning or doing something new; visioning the future and working out how to change something in their lives.”
Amandeep Kaur is a journalist based in Hamilton.
