Drawn to the web

A new campaign was launched this week to lift Western Australia’s share of the lucrative international education sector.

A joint industry-government initiative, Perth Education City’s new web marketing campaign and course search function targets what has become the second largest service industry in Western Australia, contributing about $1.18 billion to the state economy in 2005.

In order to improve access to potential markets overseas, a report completed in 2004, titled The Western Australian International Education Brand Feasibility Study, found destination is one of the key factors for international students in determining their study destination.

“Since then, Perth Education City has done a number of things to position itself in the world marketplace to grow WA’s reputation as a world-class destination,” PEC executive director Mike Ryan said.

“We know from research being done elsewhere that the use of the internet is becoming more predominant.

“The same cohorts we are targeting are heavy users of the internet.”

The new website marketing campaign is designed to drive traffic to the PEC site by establishing links to the website on international internet directories.

PEC has entered into an arrangement with Brisbane based company StudyLink, which owns the rights to several directories on the Yahoo search engine, including Yahoo directories in India, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and the UK.

A link has also been established on the Guardian newspaper website in the UK, which is used by many post-graduate students, and on a directory belonging to the Bank of Communication in China.

A course search function is also being established, whereby students searching for a particular course on the PEC website will complete a course enquiry form, which generates an email directly to the educational institution of interest.

The PEC website is currently being translated into 11 languages, due to be completed at the end of November, to facilitate access to markets overseas and improve communication with potential students and their families.

The new website marketing campaign is part of a rebranding exercise undertaken by PEC 14 months ago, in conjunction with advertising agency 303, which has included a redesigned brochure and logo.

The website was launched this week to coincide with the 2006 Australian International Education Conference, jointly hosted by IDP Education and the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), being held at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre.