The Language Business

You've got the video - but who's watching?

The cost of a video can be anything between almost nothing (if you have the equipment and the time) to many thousands of pounds – typically in this industry a four figure sum is payable anyway. I can think of an agenda for those who don’t have any video and a pretty powerful rationale for making a commitment, but let’s set all that aside and consider how best to exploit the video you have. I take it as axiomatic that an institution that invests in video will want people to watch it and so get clear and positive messages about the institution.  But when, as is often the case, you see that a given institution has posted a video on YouTube, and embedded it on their website, but that after one year it has been viewed only a few hundred times, you have to conclude that – perhaps because they think it’s marginal - someone is missing a trick.

Like most things in marketing it’s not so much a “trick” as applying the little grey cells and then doing something about it. We are begging quite a few questions here (Who was the video for? What, if any, is the call to action? Is it actually worth watching? etc.) but if we – generously perhaps – assume that those angles are covered, what’s next? Here are a few tips:

1. Google likes video. Google owns YouTube of course but that’s not all. If you Google the name of a given school, and if that school has a video that carries the name of the school in the title, you are very likely to find it prominent in the results. Google, for example, English Language Centre Bristol, Hampstead School of English, Cambridge Academy of English, TTI School of English and in all cases – and many more – the first page of results includes TWO records offering video links.
2. YouTube is also a search engine. In fact YouTube serves up 2 billion (sic) searches per day. So while uploading to YouTube is a good idea, it is also a good idea to make sure that, once done, what you have uploaded can be found there. Search on YouTube for, for example, “French language courses in Montpellier” and you’ll find a video I made for ILA Montpellier last year (embedded above). Now search for “French language courses in France”, and you’ll find it again. And that instance of the video has already been watched 28,000 times – no coincidence.
3. If you have a video (that’s worth watching) on your website, make sure it is signposted. And if it’s long, shorten it! And get your agents to embed it or at least link to it. There is no doubt, really none, that there are students and agents out there who prefer to research schools using available video to reading mainly English text on websites (and if you were researching an Arabic or Chinese language course venue you might do the same mutatis mutandis).  
4. Use sites such as our UKschoolvideos.com and our internationalschoolvideos.com. Why? Because students do. For example, a video we made year ago in Edinburgh for Global School has been watched 2400 times on our site alone, while the Abbey College Academic Courses video has been watched over 7000 times. And the King’s Bruton video over 10000 times likewise. Google “language school videos” and I am pleased to say that this company’s sites enjoy 4 slots in the top ten results – 5 if you count the record of the agent that uses our videos too. Marginal? I don’t think so.

If you’ve made the investment, exploit it to the max. If you haven’t, then take a fresh look.

British Council finds fault with British youth. Maybe.

The British Council has produced a report which warns that the UK risks losing global competitiveness, and reportedly concludes that the failure of its young people to adopt “a global outlook”, to have “wider horizons”, and develop "international awareness” means that many will be condemned to unemployment or low-paid jobs. Reading this news item on the BBC we ordinary folk might be tempted to conclude that the younger generation just doesn’t do foreign and in consequence will be stuck doing “mcjobs” for all eternity.

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? The BBC report goes on to say:

Jo Beall, British Council director of education and society, said "This research shows that while British students are extremely keen to gain international experiences, there aren't enough of the right opportunities for them to gain the professional skills that British employers really value”.

which, with its clear implication that there is nothing at all wrong with young people’s attitudes, since they are “extremely keen to gain international experiences”, would appear to be a rather different conclusion. The British Council has apparently succeeded – in a way a bit like their much vaunted claims to increased efficiency - in producing a report which says one thing and proves another.

British Council soft pedal on IELTS fraud

The important thing is to be seen to be doing something. For a salary of £25K let’s face it, they are not going to get James Bond. In fact they are most unlikely to get anybody who can get to the root of fraud investigation when IELTS is so big, and fraud so entrenched.And given how much money IELTS is worth the appointment would seem to lack conviction. It's not just fraud either; plain managerial incompetence has resulted in any number of distortions and false results. What exactly is the job? The ad says:

We are currently looking for an Investigations Manager who would be responsible for managing and co-ordination the verification of IELTS test scores.

Try reading that twice. Yes, that’s right: the UK’s self-styled cultural relations organisation famed, they claim, for expertise in English language, can’t even get a sentence like that right. But sure, we can work out what they are trying to say, although it’s less clear what they are likely to get with required qualifications being only a degree and experience of IELTS operations.

Not seen before is the document entitled “British Council Behaviours” which our putative 007 is obliged to consult.  If there is any doubt about the seriousness of BC intentions in recruiting a head of the IELTS Fraud Squad, this nauseating document shows how the dreadful org actually takes the p*ss. Lord knows what consultancy was brought in or how much we taxpayers shelled out for its production. Some of the aspirations might be noble, but if you know the British Council, whether from the outside or the inside, you will recognise the contents of this document as cynical and vacant posturing, and the worst kind of hypocrisy. This is an organisation which is above all out for itself, which does not attempt to resolve conflict, which does not listen or respond to others’ overtures, which seizes contracts and money for itself even when totally ignorant of how to fulfil the designated requirements, which is scheming, secretive and whose arrogance is matched only by its incompetence.

If you plan to read it, ask Alice for the sickbag first.