Insight into the student market drives everything we do at Magpie – our knowledge and expertise about the student world informs and inspires all of our ideas and innovations. That’s why we employ five students at universities around the country that make up our Insight Team. They are our eyes and ears on campus. They report to us about what’s engaging students right now, they comment on designs and campaigns to ensure we’re effectively communicating with our target audience, and they keep us constantly connected with and inspired by the student world. So we’d better introduce them!
Katie, 2nd year History, University of Birmingham
When she’s not writing a ridiculously long essay, Katie volunteers with Guild TV to develop her skills in filming and media. Always happy to help friends out, she recently landed herself on a five-aside football team, having never played before. Katie impressed us in her application writing about H&M’s ‘Close The Loop’ campaign that promotes using recycled clothes to make new lines of fashion to reduce waste in the fashion industry, and about making her own marketing campaign for a short film she wrote and produced. Super skilled and socially savvy, Katie will bring us the views of University of Birmingham students and help with filming content around campus.
Ali, 1st year Finance & Mandarin, University of Hertfordshire
Ali is hoping to get a degree that could earn him big money in China. To fuel his love of travelling, Ali worked on a building site for 2 months and then spent his earnings on a month’s trip to Japan. Ali grabbed our attention by talking about the way free giveaways engage with students and create an opening to brand loyalty, and about his blog where he writes about the latest trends. He’ll be keeping his ear to the ground for us at Herts and will be helping us think about strategy for business schools.
Kristina, 2nd year English Language & Literature, University of Leeds
Kristina is aiming towards a career in marketing and is in the process of gathering experience to boost her CV, including working at The Tab, volunteering at Leeds Light Festival and joining our Insight Team. Kristina’s enthusiasm really came across in her application especially when talking about how big YouTube has grown. She observed that YouTube has almost become a search engine like Google in its own right and loved the fact that the platform gives normal people the opportunity to become a star. Kristina will help us collect insight from all Leeds universities including Leeds Beckett and Leeds Trinity.
Amy, 1st year Marketing & Management, University of Leeds
Amy has 3,000 followers on YouTube having perfected the skills of filming and editing over her teenage years. You may not recognise Amy next time you see her because her hair changes colour almost every month! As well as the credentials she already has to her name, Amy impressed us in her application with her passion about ambient, creative and interactive marketing campaigns claiming that this is the best way to grab a student’s attention. Her outgoing nature, knowledge of marketing and videography skills will be put to good use this year as she shows us life through the eyes of students in Leeds.
Pedro, 2nd year IT & Management, University College London
Pedro is passionate about sport and music. As 1st team tennis captain, he spends a lot of his time training and playing matches and inspired by his love of hip hop, he writes and performs his own songs. Pedro stood out in the application process when he talked about his excitement surrounding ‘phablets’ (big phones such as iPhone 6) – he said it felt incredible for students to have their whole life on one device at their fingertips. Pedro is in a strategic position at UCL to collect the opinions of international students as well as represent the views of students in sports.