UCAS joins up with top brands for campaign

The AA, Dell, Topshop and Xbox are among 17 top brands that have linked up with the marketing arm of the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service in an integrated campaign targeting more than 150,000 16- and 17-year-old school pupils.

UCAS is the organisation that processes applications for full-time undergraduate courses at UK universities. It handles more than 450,000 applications a year. UCAS Marketing Services, UCAS’s business arm, already sells marketers opportunities to insert promotional material in its four annual mass mailings.

However, in a new departure, it has launched the “ucascard”, a plastic card that offers applicants a range of discounts via a voucher booklet or a downloadable form. The scheme is run by specialist loyalty and partnership marketing consultancy Pursuit Media.

There are 150,000 registered users of the ucascard, mostly in Year 12, the penultimate school year. They will be targeted with regular e-mails containing links to the downloadable vouchers.

Tim Buttress, marketing manager for UCAS, says the ucascard scheme has been “a phenomenal success and will be repeated next year”.

UCAS is a charity funded by universities and administration fees paid by applicants.