Year after year universities UK-wide vie for students' attention to secure applications for their September intakes. But applications are not a guarantee of student numbers.

After a successful pilot test the previous year, Lancaster University was keen to develop a campaign to convert their UCAS applicants into 'first-choicers' — those who go on to select Lancaster University as their first choice should they achieve their anticipated grades.

With the target market firmly in mind we developed an e-campaign — a series of emails to highlight the other side of studying at Lancaster: the social, friendly, campus life. The results were better than expected — the emails were read by over half the recipients and Lancaster University met all its recruitment targets for the new academic year.