Challenge: The company partners with major US Universities to help recruit and retain/build their international student populations, providing consultation and University-specific programs to help drive these initiatives. The company has traditionally marketed directly B2B/to universities, but was looking to expand to include a consumer-driven brand that will directly target students, and drive consideration of the company’s partner colleges/universities.

Objective: Provide key insights and direction for the company’s expansion; specifically information that will guide development of communications material, and promotional campaigns as well as future messaging and programming for directly targeting international students.

Solution: Focus groups among international students from different countries provided key insights into key emotional drivers and pain points of students regarding their education experiences in the US as international students.

Results: The study provided learning on students’ perspectives of their experiences as college students in the US. Insights included information on the students’ sources of information throughout the college search and application process, critical content and criteria for driving a school decision, and perspectives on opportunities for improving the international student experience. Specific recommendations were made for each country where there were nuances. These insights were critical for guiding strategy for the company’s messaging and content as part of its consumer brand expansion.