Student Marketing Experts

We understand students; with a wide roster of clients and campaigns dedicated to winning over the student market, we know how to get this valuable market interested in your brand.

We deliver strategic digital marketing and advertising direct to students, from strategy and research to creative and branding. Our campaign work targeting students spans paid digital, paid and organic social media, PPC, Display, Public Relations, OOH and creative advertising.

The Student Energy Group, Transport for West Midlands, Umbrella Sexual Health and University College Birmingham are just some of the clients we’ve proudly helped own this space and win over the student target.

Stats about students

Podcasts have high uptake amongst this group. This over indexes by 200 vs all adults in the UK*.

All news sources vary in levels of trust, and the inclusion of social media sites show their effectiveness as a source of information.

Facebook has seen a dramatic decrease in use, whilst Instagram has taken the top spot, and TikTok is used by over half in just two years.

Figure 29. Which social media sites or apps do you use regularly? Please tick all that apply. Source: UCAS Student Lifestyle Report 2023

Almost ¾ of students have given up at least one social media platform due to a concern of some type

  • 38% saying it became a mental health burden
  • 33% saying there was too much advertising
  • 28% saying due to concerns about the platform's privacy policies or handling of personal data
  • 28% saying they were seeing too much misleading information or 'fake news'

Source: UCAS Student Lifestyle Report 2023

We've created action for

Umbrella
University College Birmingham
TFWM 600
The Student Energy Group White Logo

Our Student Marketing Work

GOAT
Reaching students and parents for sustainable, bill-sharing brand — TSEG

Planning, launching, and optimising a multi-channel digital marketing campaign targeting students for The Student Energy Group, raising brand awareness and driving new traffic to their website.

Travel advertising
Transport advertising campaign TfWM

Creative campaign for Transport for West Midlands. Using our knowledge of behavioural science we honed in on the Von Restorff effect – the proven psychological theory that the more something stands out from the crowd the more likely it is to be seen.

Umbrella STI Self Sampling Campaign Case Study 2
Advertising Umbrella Health

Talking about sexual health openly is a key part in reducing the spread of STIs. Our cheeky creative advertising campaign got people talking to their mates about sex without feeling embarrassed, and persuaded them to spread the message. Win-win!

UCB Digital Marketing Campaign
Creative and Digital Marketing University College Birmingham

To drive FE student recruitment for UCB we needed to persuade uncertain teenagers to consider University College Birmingham for their future careers. We developed a single-minded proposition to encourage them to take action: Level Up with UCB.

“We were impressed by Big Cat’s understanding of our target audience and our offer, from the initial pitch, marketing strategy, to optimising the campaign. We invested in high quality, distinctive creative and photography, which we were happy with, and crucially, it drove our college application numbers year on year through a multi-channel marketing approach.”

Steph Gregan, Senior Digital Marketing & Web Content Officer

Sign up for our latest insights, ideas and inspiration