The Open University of Catalonia -Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, o simply UOC- was founded in 1994 as an the first Spanish online university. 15 years later, UOC is the 6th biggest university in Spain with more than 50,000 students. It is leader in a series of academic research disciplines, like newtorked society, knowledge society and and e-learning techniques, as well as an internationally recognised academic institution for digital networked learning and teaching.

The assignment for Ideas for Change consisted in defining the communications and external relations campaign for 2010 to 2012 that would help the UOC to contribute to the development of the whole university system, generating new models of collaboration while exploiting its competitive advantages in order to grow sustainably outside Catalonia and attracting students and academic professionals not only in Catalonia, but also in the rest of Spain and in other foreign markets.

We analysed the current situation and all relevant emerging tendencies in higher education in Spain and at a global level, as well as new, innovative strategies of relation and communication of leader institutions in each area, which resulted in a national and international benchmark. We acquired an in-depth knowledge of the entire eco-system by studying all relevant user groups and stakeholders (user profiles, current and future needs, behaviour, academic performance), the structural and operative models of the organisation, current study programs and curriculums, the research programs, intenational collaborations and innovation programs.

The comparative analysis allowed us to define the UOC’s competitive position in each one of these activity, the relevant geographic and linguistic markets.

Based on client’s feedback we designed a comprehensive strategic framework and development model, as well as the basics for the communication plan 2010-2021. This included solving some of growth constraints the UOC was facing at that time, designing and implementing new segmentations and positioning strategies for each activity, defining a model for external relations and communication activities. Our key advise was to “open up” as an organization, making it easy to understand the UOC by using its services rather than explaining them to the relevant target groups.

The plan for external relations and communication proposes a series of specific actions based on a six-monthly execution plan. The main objectives of this plan are: improving potential client attraction and conversion outside Catalonia, shape and communicate the image of the UOC as pioneer Internet univerisity and a leader of the new, more open type of higher education. The agency selected who showes responsible for the creative implementation and of the current “Open Mind” campaign is Smäll.