A new global recruitment campaign to help us attract and select the very best students for study and research at the University of Nottingham commences today.

Normal never changed the world takes a different approach to the sector stereotype for recruitment campaigns, using a consciously challenging message which reflects on the legacy of Covid-19 and its disruption.

The campaign aligns the university’s values with the attitudes of our prospective student audiences and aims to attract students who want to create the ‘new normal’ of the post-pandemic world with us here at Nottingham – studying, researching and belonging to our community.

It is informed by robust insight from prospective students and an awareness of our current position in the competitive global higher education market.

The campaign will be global, with colleagues in China and Malaysia developing the campaign for their domestic and international audiences. In the UK, it will start in digital spaces but as increasing numbers of students, staff and visitors return to our campuses, it will also be reflected across our physical estate, with new photography planned for later in spring as the campuses start to bloom.

It will be spearheaded by a new-look homepage on the university website, designed for mobile access, ensuring that course, application, and submission information is front and centre for both UK and international students – improving the student journey overall and ensuring that all our visitors can find the information they need.

The campaign also includes a video with powerful narrative to appeal to prospective students, new photography which better reflects the diversity of our community, and offers a different take on traditional campus imagery.

It will use a targeted advertising, television and social media campaign to reach prospective students more directly than any previous campaign.