Marketing spend on undergraduate courses

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Dear University of Liverpool,

Please could you provide me with the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

In each of the financial years from 1998-99 to 2018-19 how much has your institution spent on advertising and marketing of undergraduate degrees? This should exclude open days and publication costs if possible.

If possible please break down this spending by different types of advertising and marketing:

- Print
- Traditional media
- Social media
- Search engine
- Direct advertising

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

W Tanner

foi Uof Liverpool, University of Liverpool

1 Attachment

Dear W Tanner

This is to acknowledge receipt of your request for information from
the University of Liverpool.   Your reference number is FOI/2020/135. We
will review and process your request as soon as possible.

We will respond within 20 working days of the day we received the
request.  You will hear back from us by 6 April at the latest. If for any
reason we are unable to meet this deadline, we will keep you fully
informed of the reasons for this.

If you have any queries about this email or your request or if at any
stage you are unhappy with the way in which your request is being handled
please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Yours sincerely

 

Kirsty Rothwell
Freedom of Information Officer / Data Protection Co-ordinator
Legal & Governance

University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69
7ZX

 

The information in this email and any attachments is confidential. Unless
you are the intended recipient, you must not read, copy, distribute, use
or retain this message or any part of it. If you are not the intended
recipient, please notify the sender immediately.

 

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foi Uof Liverpool, University of Liverpool

1 Attachment

FOI/2020/135

3 April 2020

 

Name:  W Tanner

By email to: [FOI #652902 email]

 

Dear Mr/Ms Tanner,

 

Thank you for your email of 6 March requesting information from the
University of Liverpool.  Colleagues have provided the information
requested below.

 

In each of the financial years from 1998-99 to 2018-19 how much has your
institution spent on advertising and marketing of undergraduate degrees?
This should exclude open days and publication costs if possible.  If
possible please break down this spending by different types of advertising
and marketing:

 

-              Print

-              Traditional media

-              Social media

-              Search engine

-              Direct advertising

 

+----------------------------------------------------+
|Spend (Rounded to nearest £)|2011-12|2012-13|2013-14|
|----------------------------+-------+-------+-------|
|Digital |   |   |£11,935|
|----------------------------+-------+-------+-------|
|Search engine |   |   |£2,479 |
|----------------------------+-------+-------+-------|
|Traditional media |£16,440| £8028 |£10,944|
|----------------------------+-------+-------+-------|
|Traditional media (print) |   |   |£4,464 |
+----------------------------------------------------+

 

Unfortunately, we are unable to access any data prior to 2011. This data
is held in paper form in our archives. We are unable to access our paper
archives in the current circumstances.

 

Spend from 2015-16 has been withheld under Section 43(2). Section 43(2)
states that: “Information is exempt information if its disclosure under
this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests
of any person (including the public authority holding it).”  This spend
covers the period of our currently registered students.

 

Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption and as such a public interest test
must be performed to establish the harm that would occur from disclosure,
and where the balance of interest lies.  We recognise that release of
information concerning how the University spends its money is always
considered to be in the public interest and that the public should be
aware that financial operations of the University are being conducted
appropriately.  

 

However, the UK Higher Education sector is a highly competitive
environment and recent regulatory changes have increased competition. How
a University markets itself to potential students, its success in
recruiting students, and how we do so, directly affects both reputation
and financial position and as such is commercially sensitive. How we
direct funding to create a marketing strategy provides the University with
a possible advantage compared to those competitors who undertake this
activity less effectively. If a competitor institution knew the details of
our advertising and the channels we were advertising on, it would be able
to make decisions regarding the level of expenditure required to compete
per channel, or whether to try and compete at all.   

 

A negative impact on our market position would make it harder for public
money to be utilised prudently and would have the effect of distorting the
marketplace we operate in. It is the view of the University that,
currently, the public interest in withholding the information outweighs
the public interest in disclosing it. 

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request for
information, you have a right under Section 50 of the Freedom of
Information Act to ask the University to review it; however, you must do
so within 40 working days of the date of this response. Your request
should include our reference number and explain the reason for requesting
a review. Email [University of Liverpool request email] or write to the Freedom of Information
Reviewer, Legal & Compliance, University of Liverpool, Foundation
Building, 765 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 7ZX.  We will respond to your
request for an internal review within 20 working days of receipt.

 

Following an internal review, if you remain dissatisfied with the handling
of your request, you have a right to appeal to the Information
Commissioner at The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Telephone:  0303 123 1113
www.ico.org.uk.

 

There is no charge for making an appeal.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Kirsty Rothwell
Freedom of Information Officer  / Data Protection Co-ordinator
Legal & Governance

University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69
7ZX

 

The information in this email and any attachments is confidential. Unless
you are the intended recipient, you must not read, copy, distribute, use
or retain this message or any part of it. If you are not the intended
recipient, please notify the sender immediately.

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