GA Portfolio Philippe Moreau

Graduation Assignment
Dear international students…

Tailoring Studio Andere Koek’s postcard app to new
Business-to-Business markets
Philippe Moreau
 
Dear international students…

Tailoring Studio Andere Koek’s postcard app to new
Business-to-Business markets
Philippe Moreau (327233)

Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen
International Communication
Client: Studio Andere Koek
Supervisor/ 1st Assessor: Ken Drozd
2nd Assessor: Giuseppe Raudino
NON-CONFIDENTIAL 
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Phase 1: PID 6
Phase 2: Analysis 16
Phase 3: Development 50
Phase 4: Design 58
Phase 5: Evaluation 64
Professional Product 80
Phase 6: Reflection 88
Appendices 93
Appendices
Appendix 1.1: Client Briefings 93
Appendix 2.1: Questionnaire 95
Appendix 2.2: Design Document 97
Appendix 5.1: Testing Hypotheses 1-7 & 18-20 103
Appendix 5.2: Testing Hypotheses 8-17 108
Appendix 5.3: Working Agreements Kaartje2go 111
Appendix 5.4: Testing Hypotheses 21&22 113
Appendix A: Anti Plagiarism Statement 114
Abbreviations
SAK: Studio Andere Koek

B2B: Business to Business
B2C: Business to Consumer
UG: University of Groningen
Hanze UAS: Hanze University of Applied Sciences
DR: Design Requirement
GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation 
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Executive Summary
Phase 1: Project Initiation
The project was implemented for a local web studio called Studio Andere Koek (SAK). In 2014,
SAK created a postcard app, called Omapost, to connect people with their grandparents.
Recently, SAK divided Omapost into a non-profit foundation, organising social initiatives, and a
for-profit postcard business. SAK wants to turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business
(desired situation) without sacrificing time for part-time employers or being overwhelmed by
external complexity. SAK recently explored B2B opportunities, offering postcard campaigns to
organisations. Based on my experience, SAK asked for my advice on how to design a postcard
campaign that helps Groningen’s universities to recruit more international students.
Phase 2: Analysis
A context analysis revealed demographic and economic relevance of international student

recruitment. Universities often join efforts to increase effectiveness. Groningen’s vibrant social life
attracts international students. A functional analysis concluded that Groningen’s universities are
lacking uniqueness. Postcard campaigns can distinguish them from growing competition.
International student ambassadors strongly influence potential international students. Universities
websites are the most popular information source for the target group. A needs analysis
investigated emotional needs of four cultural groups, namely Germans, Southern Europeans,
Asians and Eastern Europeans. A questionnaire derived quantitative data about the target group’s
feelings at different stages of the ‘customer journey’. All three analyses indicated the importance
of cultural sensibility. Phase 2 derived 48 design requirements for postcard campaign supporting
international student recruitment.
Phase 3: Development
Phase 3 presented the idea to implement a ‘Get a postcard’ button in universities websites and
send interested potential international students personalised postcards from international student
ambassadors. This distinguishes Groningen’s universities from competitors while paying attention
to cultural diversity. For the first time, Omapost’s postcard tool is used as a micro marketing tool.
Satisfying a large number of design requirements, the idea was believed to create strong value for
potential international students and Groningen’s universities. A business model canvas
summarised the business case for universities.
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Phase 4: Design
To test the idea, two minimal viable products (MVPs) have been designed. I printed postcard
prototypes, showing what postcards by international student ambassadors could look like. I
created draft screens, visualising the ‘get a postcard’ button on universities’ websites and a
prototyped a portal for student ambassadors to send postcards.
Phase 5: Evaluation
Phase 5 included two test rounds (4 tests), validating 22 hypotheses. Prototypes were shown to
international students, student ambassadors and marketing experts of Groningen’s universities.
Test 1 validated that potential international students perceive receiving postcards as very
personal and indeed improves attitudes towards Groningen’s universities. International students
and student ambassadors gave valuable input about choices for texts and photos of postcards.
Potential international students prefer receiving postcards in their native language. However, the
target group is unlikely to press the envisioned button and even more unlikely to fill in their
addresses to request a postcard.
Test 2 revealed that the University of Groningen (UG) generally sees big potential in sending
postcards to recruit internationals. International Marketing Coordinator Maarten Dikhoff agreed
that postcard campaigns could distinguish the UG from competitors. He considers postcards as a
time- and cost efficient way to target different cultures. However, the interviewee expressed
several concerns about the presented concept and thinks that postcards would be more useful to
trigger already accepted international students to make the final step and enrol at Groningen’s
universities. At this point the university has the home addresses of the target group from the
Studielink application and could truly surprise them with postcards. A major concern was violating
European privacy regulations (GDPR) when universities use Omapost’s postcard tool.
After test round 1, I discarded the button idea and adjusted the campaign to target already
accepted internationals with postcards, convincing them to make Groningen their final choice.
To comply with the GDPR, my adjusted idea was to include a link in universities’ acceptance
emails, leading accepted international students to a landing page of the postcard campaign. To
request a postcard, they only fill in their names and agree to share their address with Omapost.
This way, the target group is more likely to complete the process and no privacy issues occur.
Test round 2 tested a prototyped acceptance email and landing page. Test 3 validated the idea
from the perspective of international students and student ambassadors. Test 4 further validated
the campaign with the marketing department of Hanze UAS. Interviewing international account
manager Anneke Boonstra revealed serious interest in the idea. Postcards fit to Hanze’s current
marketing strategy. To increase Omapost’s chances of success when pitching the idea to Hanze
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UAS, the campaign must save time- and costs, provide a detailed action plan and be
supported by research findings. Anneke proposed to start with a pilot version targeting only
few countries and stated that strong value for Hanze UAS would be if Omapost monitors
effectiveness of the campaign. Anneke further stated that joined initiatives between Hanze UAS
and UG generally take much more time.
Final Advice (Professional Product)

Finally, an implementation plan was created, including five points of advice, which Omapost can
implement to sell postcard campaigns to universities:
1) Convince all future business clients that postcard campaigns comply with GDPR
2) Use adjusted final business model canvas to pitch new campaign concept to universities
3) Sell first postcard campaign for international student recruitment to Hanze UAS
4) Follow the timeline guiding Omapost from first client contact to followup campaigns
5) Monitor the campaign’s success using four key metrics
The advice represents a time efficient, simple and profitable solution, contributing to turn the
postcard app into a steadily growing business.
Phase 6: Reflection
At the end of the project, I reflected on my own personal and professional development. While I
see my own strength in the ability to quickly adopt to changes, I need to improve my preparation
and planning skills. 
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5

Phase 1: PID
Studio Andere Koek

Supervisor: Ken Drozd
Words: 1527
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Table of Contents
1.1 The Project 8
1.2 Problem Description 10
1.3 Measurable Goals 12
1.4 Communication objectives 13
1.5 Agreements & Time plan 14
1.6 References Phase 1 15
Figures of Phase 1
Figure 1.1: Omapost’s postcard app 8

Figure 1.2: Bringing old and young together 9
Figure 1.3: Omapost team 9
Figure 1.4: Goal Tree 11
Tables of Phase 1
Table 1.1: Time Plan 14
Appendices of Phase 1
Appendix 1.1: Client Briefings 93

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1.1 The Project
Studio Andere Koek is a small team of IT developers. Displaying itself as a ‘full-service internet
bureau’, the company creates websites, apps and web designs for a broad range of clients. I have
been hired by the two co-founders Jaring Dijkstra and Tim van der Putten, who have started the
company in 2016 together with Ward Klijzing. While they are currently programming part-time for
large organisations, they also continuously work on improving Studio Andere Koek. Next to
building websites and apps for various clients (e.g. the basketball team Donar), their main focus
currently lies on their postcard app called Omapost (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1: Omapost’s postcard app
Omapost
Omapost is an app created by Studio Andere Koek together with Wilbert van der Kamp in 2014.
The app allows people to easily send real (paper) postcards to friends and family members.
Omapost currently has 19.000 user and a team of 7 people is working on this project. Omapost
has recently experienced a strategical change. While the original market proposition was to send
postcards to grandmas, it now wants to target new markets. Therefore, Omapost has been
divided in a social (non-profit) foundation on one hand and a postcard sending business on the
other hand. The non-profit part has been organising many social events bringing old and young
people together, as can be seen in figure 1.2. The for-profit part of Omapost has recently sold a
postcard campaign to BEN NL, in which over 65.000 postcards were sent to lonely people during
Christmas 2018. The after-video of the campaign can be viewed at http://y2u.be/t3GnYYpT1hg.
Furthermore, Omapost was also hired by an event for international students, called Experience
Groningen, which I organised together with the local municipality (Gemeente Groningen) and
Groningen’s universities in March 2019. During the opening ceremony of Experience Groningen,
over 300 participants took selfies together and sent postcards to their home countries. The
campaign video can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/323511901/4401b685fa.
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Figure 1.2: Bringing old and young together
Vision
Studio Andere Koek sees itself as a young, creative and innovative organisation with a special
interest in contributing to a positive development of the city of Groningen. The company wants to
be recognised as the local web studio that creates innovative, social web solutions that can easily
be integrated in diverse organisations and projects. With Omapost, their vision is to further
increase social impact, while exploring new ways to use the postcard sending tool for B2B
business opportunities and expand to new markets. To the founders, quality is more important
than quantity and they are strong supporters of the concept of circular economy.
Organisational Culture and Style of Omapost

Omapost is a flat and horizontal organisation
Figure 1.3: Omapost team
consisting of 7 team members. There is very little
standardisation which generates creativity and
innovation. There is no top management and each
team member works as a functional experts with
both operational and managerial tasks. Decision
making is based on participation and team
consensus. Because every team member has strong
responsibilities and can openly discuss opinions,
there are high levels of motivation and organisational
identification. According to the team Omapost’s
strongest values are fast adaptation to changes and
connecting people more personally. Figure 1.3 shows
a part of the team. 
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1.2 Problem Description
Current Situation
Studio Andere Koek is satisfied with the development of the non-profit part of Omapost. The team
organises frequent social gatherings between young and old people and receives positive
feedback. However, they feel that the potential of Omapost as a profitable business is not fully
used. At this moment, approximately 200 new customers download the app every month. About
200-300 postcards are being sent each week by the existing user base. Attracting more
organisations like BEN NL and Experience Groningen to use the postcard tool for campaigns
shows to be challenging. Therefore, Studio Andere Koek recently developed a new web tool to
send the postcards without the necessity to download the app and designed a new website
(www.omapost.nl).
Desired Situation
In the future, Studio Andere Koek wants to turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business
by targeting both end users (B2C) and businesses (B2B). Hereby, the Omapost team wants to
focus on three sub-goals:
(1) Sell postcard campaigns to businesses (B2B).
(2) Remind existing clients about the app (B2C)
(3) Attract new consumers to use the app (B2C)
Dilemmas
First of all, the Omapost team has limited time, as all of them are partly employed by other
companies. They cannot neglect those responsibilities (Dilemma 1). Secondly, the small team size
makes it hard to respond to environmental complexity and requires focusing at few business
opportunities at once. There is a risk of getting overwhelmed by too many activities (Dilemma 2).
Furthermore, Studio Andere Koek recently worked for a number of clients with interesting projects
but without financial resources. They prefer not to do any more projects without receiving
adequate payments (Dilemma 3).
Problem Statement
How can the Omapost team turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business,
without sacrificing resources currently used for diverse part-time employers, or being
overwhelmed by external complexity, while maintaining financial performance?
The described situation is based on multiple briefings with Studio Andere Koek and the Omapost
team. The Briefing notes of these sessions can be found in Appendix 1.1. Based on the input, I
have created a goal tree, to unravel the desired situation and create more concrete goals (Figure
1.4):
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Figure 1.4: Goal Tree
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1.3 Measurable Goals
The described situation is based on four briefings with Studio Andere Koek and Omapost
(Appendix 1.1). As figure 1.4 shows, measurable goals have been defined as a base for
communication objectives.
1) Increased awareness of Omapost’s value propositions to business clients.
2) More businesses decide to use the postcard tool for campaigns.
3) More new business clients do follow-up projects with Omapost (long term relation).
4) Existing users send more postcards.
5) Growing user base.
6) The postcard tool is used in more countries.
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1.4 Communication objectives
Considering multiple influencing factors, communication objectives have been derived from these
measurable goals, as depicted in figure 1.4:
1) I believe that the awareness of Omapost’s value propositions to business clients can be
increased, if…
1. … Omapost communicates value propositions for business clients in a separate business
page on its website.
2. … Omapost creates an awareness campaign to target potential business clients.
3. … adequate pricing for postcard campaigns are communicated.
2) I believe that more businesses will decide to use the postcard tool for campaigns, if…
1. … Omapost designs postcard campaigns for different types of businesses.
2. … Omapost communicates different options of campaigns for businesses.
3. … examples of previous postcard campaigns are showcased (e.g. BEN NL & Experience
Groningen).
3) I believe that more new business clients will do follow-up projects with Omapost, if…
1. … there is frequent information exchange with business clients. For instance, clients
should be given updates, be informed about future plans and could receive Christmas
cards.
2. … Omapost communicates mile stones and success stories.
3. … Omapost makes the involvement of all parties for each projects transparent, to create
trust.
4. … business clients are asked for feedback and evaluation.
4) I believe that existing users will send more postcards, if…

1. … frequent push notifications are sent through the app.
2. … news about Omapost are communicated through an email newsletter.
3. … Omapost makes increased use of Social Media campaigns.
5) I believe that the Omapost user base will grow, if…

1. … a communication campaign to attract new potential users is created.
2. … Omapost communicates that postcards can now easily be sent internationally through
the website.
3. … Omapost organises a launch party for the launch of the new website.
6) I believe that the postcard tool will be used in more countries., if…
1. … Omapost obtains information about national and cultural differences.
2. … Omapost translates its website in different languages. 
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1.5 Agreements & Time plan
After learning about Omapost’s desired situation, we agreed to give my graduation assignment a
clear direction. While organising Experience Groningen in March, I discovered that the
municipality wants to attract more internationals to study and stay in Groningen and therefore
closely collaborates with Groningen’s universities (Gemeente Groningen, 2016). Saunders et al.
(2009) claim that research topics should fit to the interest and experience of the researcher.
Therefore, I agreed with Studio Andere Koek to investigate how the Omapost app could help
the University of Groningen (UG) and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences (Hanze UAS)
to attract more international students to study at Groningen’s universities. This links to
Sub-goal 1. Specifically, the team would like to be advised on how Omapost can sell a postcard
campaign to Groningen’s universities.
Therefore, I am going to conduct research to analyse how the envisioned postcard campaign
for universities should be designed (Phase 2). After, I will develop a campaign prototype to
test my research findings (Phase 3 & 4). Finally, I will present Omapost with a final advice on
how they can sell a postcard campaign to Groningen’s universities (Phase 5).
For the graduation project, I am going to apply the Design Research approach, as suggested by
Hanzehogeschool Groningen (2018). Table 1.1 shows important milestones and deadlines that
have been agreed upon with both the client and the coach.
Table 1.1: Time Plan
Date Milestones/Deadlines Agreements
from 04.02.2019 Project start Briefing sessions
18.03.2019 Deadline PID (Phase 1) Go/ No Go from client and coach
18.03. - 29.03. Analysis (Phase 2) A Needs Analysis, Functional Analysis &

Context Analysis will produce design
requirements for a postcard campaign for
universities
29.03. - 18.04. Development (Phase 3) Developing a campaign concept
18.04. - 08.05. Design (Phase 4) Creating a campaign prototype
08.05. - 26.05. Evaluation (Phase 5) Testing the prototype and present final
communication advice to Omapost
26.05. - 03.06. Reflection (Phase 6) Reflecting on my own performance.
03.06.2019 Project end Finalised design research report and

presentation to the client
tba Presentation & Defense Final presentation at Hanze University
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1.6 References Phase 1
Gemeente Groningen (2016) Herijking Internationaliseringsbeleid Groningen 2017-2020.

Retrieved from: https://gemeente.groningen.nl/sites/default/files/
Internationaliseringsbeleid%20Groningen%202017%20-%202020.pdf
Hanzehogeschool Groningen (2018) Design Research Handbook 2018-2019. Retrieved from
https://blackboard.hanze.nl/bbcswebdav/pid-4365108-dt-content-rid-30179465_2/courses/icvt.
1807.4-1en2-pua-1819/Design%20Research%20Handbook%20-
%206%20Phases%2022092018.pdf
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods
for Business Students. (5th edition). UK: Pearson Education Limited
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Phase 2: Analysis
Omapost (by Studio Andere Koek)

Words: 4913
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Table of Contents
2.1 Introduction 19
2.1.1 Problem Statement (PID) 19
2.1.2 Research Objective 19
2.2 Context Analysis 20

2.2.1 Research Questions 21
2.2.2 Research Strategy 21
2.2.3 Results 22
2.2.4 Conclusions 25
2.2.5 Design Requirements 27
2.3 Functional Analysis 28

2.3.3 Results 30
2.4 Needs Analysis 35

2.4.3 Results 39
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Figures of Phase 2
Figure 2.1: DESTEP model 20

Figure 2.2: Key concepts Context Analysis 20
Figure 2.3: Stakeholder Arena 22
Figure 2.4: Buyer Decision Process Model applied to international students 28
Figure 2.5: Key concepts Functional Analysis 28
Figure 2.6: Empathy map potential international students 26
Figure 2.7: Key concepts Needs Analysis 26
Figure 2.8: Extend of chosen emotions 29
Figure 2.9: Positive/Negative Emotions divided by origin 40
Figure 2.10: Emotions when first thinking about studying abroad 41
Figure 2.11: Emotions when considering different options to study abroad 42
Figure 2.12: Emotions when talking to parents 42
Figure 2.13: Emotions when making final decision 43
Figure 2.14: Emotions when getting accepted 43
Tables of Phase 2
Table 2.1: Research Questions Context Analysis 21
Table 2.2: External opportunities and threats to international student recruitment 26
Table 2.3: Context Design Requirements 27
Table 2.4: Research Questions Functional Analysis 29
Table 2.5: Functional Summary 33
Table 2.6: Functional Design Requirements 34
Table 2.7: Research Questions Needs Analysis 37
Table 2.5: Needs Design Requirements 45
Appendix 2.1: Questionnaire 95
Appendix 2.2: Design Document 97
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2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 Problem Statement (PID)
How can the Omapost team turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business, without
sacrificing resources currently used for diverse part-time employers, or being overwhelmed by
external complexity, while maintaining financial performance?
The PID indicated that Studio Andere Koek wants to turn the postcard app into a steadily growing
business by…
(1) …selling postcard campaigns to businesses (B2B).

(2) …reminding existing clients about the app (B2C)
(3) …attracting new consumers to use the app (B2C)
Narrowing the scope of my graduation project, Studio Andere Koek specifically asked me for an
advice on how to design a postcard campaign that Groningen’s universities will use to
recruit more international students.
2.1.2 Research Objective

The research objective is to produce design requirements for a postcard campaign that
Groningen’s universities will use to recruit more international students…
… by investigating relevant external opportunities and threats, by scanning theoretic literature,

news articles, organisational reports and corporate websites. (context analysis).
… by investigating how other universities currently try to attract international students to study
abroad, by scanning research papers and best practice cases (functional analysis).
… by exploring the emotional needs of potential international students while deciding where to
study abroad by means of a questionnaire (Needs Analysis).
Verschuren & Doorewaard (2010) state that a research objective must be useful, realistic and
feasible. The objective is useful, since selling a postcard campaign to universities will contribute
to business growth. The objective is realistic, since it focusses on the PID’s first sub-goal and a
specific business client (universities). The objective is feasible, because I have previous
knowledge and networks from projects with important stakeholders of international student
recruitment.
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2.2 Context Analysis
Van Dam & Marcus (2015) suggests that effective situational analyses include an internal audit to
identify organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, and an external audit, to identify external
threats and opportunities. The following context analysis focuses on the external context, in order
to identify threats and opportunities for the design of a postcard campaign.
For the external analysis, Kotler & Armstrong (2017) Figure 2.1: DESTEP model
suggest to include a micro- and a macro-
environmental analysis. On the micro level, important
stakeholders of international student recruitment will
be investigated. The Macro analysis scans external
trends using the DESTEP model (Figure 2.1) suggested
by Van Dam & Marcus (2015). Ecologic forces are not
investigated, since environmental trends appear less
relevant for international student recruitment.
Figure 2.2 depicts the unravelled concepts

investigated in the context analysis.
Figure 2.2: Key concepts Context Analysis
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2.2.1 Research Questions
Table 2.1 includes research questions derived from figure 2.2.
Table 2.1: Research Questions Context Analysis
Central Research Question

Which external opportunities and threats are likely to affect a postcard campaign that
universities will use to recruit more international students?
Sub-Question 1 Which stakeholders are influencing

international student recruitment in
Groningen?
Sub-Question 1.1 Which stakeholders have a positive influence
on international student recruitment
(opportunity)?
Sub-Question 1.2 Which stakeholders have a negative influence
on international student recruitment (threat)
Sub-Question 2 Which external forces are likely to effect

the postcard campaign?
Sub-Question 2.1 Which demographic forces are likely to affect
the campaign?
Sub-Question 2.2 Which economic forces are likely to affect the
campaign?
Sub-Question 2.3 Which social forces are likely to affect the
campaign?
Sub-Question 2.4 Which technological forces are likely to affect
the campaign?
Sub-Question 2.5 Which political forces are likely to affect the
campaign?
2.2.2 Research Strategy

A desk research approach has been chosen. The analysis uses secondary sources, including
news article, research papers, organisational reports and corporate websites.
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2.2.3 Results
Stakeholder Analysis
Figure 2.3: Stakeholder Arena
Figure 2.3 visualises most involved stakeholders of international student recruitment. Potential
international students, as the target group of universities’ international student recruitment
attempts, are obviously highly involved. The needs analysis below analyses specific
characteristics of this group. The two big universities of Groningen (UG and Hanze UAS) often
work together on projects to increase effectiveness. Hereby, Groningen’s universities are no
competitors, since the UG is a research university and the Hanze is a university of applied
sciences (Hoogeschool). They also closely collaborate with the local municipality (Gemeente
Groningen). The agreement between these three players is called ‘Akkoord van Groningen’ (City of
Talent, n.d.). The previously mentioned event ‘Experience Groningen’ is a good example of their
joined efforts. The postcard campaign to recruit international students would likely be more
effective when implemented by both universities together. Involving the municipality as supporter
or sponsor would further benefit the campaign, because Gemeente Groningen has
internationalisation on its agenda since 2013 (Gemeente Groningen, 2016).
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Also important for the universities are international partner schools, promoting the UG and Hanze
UAS in foreign countries. A participation in the campaign by these partners would create
additional value. Due to growing competition of international student recruitment (Nghia, 2015),
the campaign should help Groningen’s universities to stand out. Next to these main players, there
is a number of influencers, impacting international student recruitment. For instance, potential
international students are influenced by their parents at home, as well as friends who are already
in Groningen (current international students). Student networks such as KEI (Kommissie
Eerstejaars Introduktie) and ESN (Erasmus Student Network) also trigger internationals to come to
Groningen through events and activities (KEI, n.d.; ESN, n.d.). Groningen’s local citizens are
especially important for integration of foreigners. The campaign should therefore consider to
involve these influencers.
DESTP Analysis
Demographic:
Internationalisation is important because the decreasing and ageing population in the surrounding
provinces no longer provides enough experts for knowledge occupations in Groningen (Counihan
et al, 2017). The number of international students studying in tertiary education has been rising
from 3 Million in 2010 (Clark, 2010) to 4,5 Million in 2016 (UNESCO, 2016). According to DUO
(2019), the Netherlands hosted roughly 86.000 international students in 2016, making up a global
share of 1,5%. In Groningen, the international student population rapidly grew from 3400 in 2009
(Counihan et al, 2017) to about 9300 in 2019 (DUO, 2019). 15,3% of Groningen’s students are
now international. These demographic developments show that international student recruitment
is a highly relevant topic which is an opportunity for the campaign to find support.
According the University of Groningen (2019), over 120 different nationalities are currently enrolled
in Groningen. Huberts (2017) describes that most international students in the Netherlands come
from Germany (>22.000). Furthermore he groups students from Southern Europe (> 7600), Asia (>
7300) and Eastern Europe (> 6000). He claims that each group has different preferences for study
field and programmes:
- Germans most often register for Bachelors in Economy, Business and Social Sciences.
- Southern Europeans prefer research universities and mostly apply for Bachelors in Fine Arts
(especially Music) and Psychology.
- Asians are more often applying at research universities, especially for the Bachelor of
International Business and Master of Electrical Engineering.
- Eastern Europeans mostly apply to Management and ICT programmes at universities of applied
sciences.
The differences among international student groups are a threat because the campaign must
take diverse preferences into account.
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Economic:
Clark (2010) highlights that improved worldwide human mobility increased the economical
importance of cities’ internationalisation strategies. Globalisation not only resulted in "increasingly
global intercultural work requirements” (Young, 2014), but also boosts local economies directly:
Huberts (2017) estimates the economic value produced by international students who stay and
work in the Netherlands after graduating at €1.57 billion per year. Counihan et al (2017) calculate
that the average international student spends €11.400 yearly, which sums to over €106 Million
annually considering the approximately 9300 international students enrolled in Groningen. As a
result, educational institutions increasingly see students as consumers (Gomes & Murphy, 2003)
and the competition between universities to attract internationals constantly grows (Nghia, 2015).
These economic trends again show that international student recruitment is a highly relevant
topic, which is an opportunity for the campaign to find support.
Social:
Huberts (2017) suggests that many international students have problems to adopt to new
cultures. According to Hofstede Insights (2019) “culture is defined as the collective mental
programming of the human mind which distinguishes one group of people from another.”
Groningen is highly multicultural due to 120 represented nationalities, which facilitates cultural
integration of internationals. To recruit more international students, the postcard campaign could
communicate that cultural adaptation in Groningen is easy.
An important part of cultural adaptation are introduction periods. Groningen offers a variety of
introduction events, including introduction weeks of both universities, the famous KEI-week and
the ESN introduction week. More international students might choose to study in Groningen if the
campaign promotes these introduction events. Generally, social life plays an important role for
international students in Groningen. There are hundreds of social events every week (Here&Now,
n.d.). The campaign could address the vibrant social life in Groningen, to attract more
internationals.
Finally, housing is important for internationals (Verbik & Lasanowski, 2007; Debray & Spencer-
Oatey, 2017). In Groningen specifically, a housing crisis occurred due to the rapid increase of
students (Embry, 2018). The shortage of student rooms drives international students away which
is threatening internationalisation. Elderman Roeland van der Schaaf stated in September 2018,
that Groningen’s universities and municipality collaborate to improve the housing system (Click’t,
2018). The campaign could communicate the steadily improving housing situation.
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Technological:
Gomes & Murphy (2003) realised that online marketing is the main tool to attract potential
international students. Melissa & Dongkoo (2017) claim that universities websites are used most
often by internationals. Looking at Groningen, it appears that the online performance can be
improved. Counihan et al (2017) argue that currently no website includes all necessary facts
that potential international students require, which is a threat for internationalisation.
Political:
Due to globalisation cities must increasingly function internationally (Clark, 2010). The Gemeente’s
internationalisation policies focus on international students as well as international knowledge
workers. According to Counihan et al (2017) the four focus aspects of internationalisation are
housing, work, city living and communication. The campaign should be linked to these focus
aspects. The Gemeente often sponsors events for internationals, like Experience Groningen,
aiming to convince more international graduates to stay in Groningen. The municipality also wants
to trigger international students to recommend Groningen to potential students in their home
country. The campaign could adopt this goal.
2.2.4 Conclusions
The analysis showed that several stakeholders can positively influence international student
recruitment, including the municipality, partner schools and influencers of potential international
students. Gaining the participation and support of these players is likely to benefit the postcard
campaign. On the other side, the growing number of competitors has negative influence. The
campaign must therefore distinguish Groningen’s universities. While the high demographic and
economic relevance of international student recruitment was proven, several external
opportunities and threats were revealed. Table 2.2 summarises which findings represent
opportunities and threats.
25
Table 2.2: External opportunities and threats to international student recruitment
Opportunities Threats
Demographic Demographic
- high importance of internationalisation due - different preferences among international
to shrinking and ageing population in student groups (e.g. Germany, Southern
Groningen province
Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe) = different
Economic approaches needed
- high economic relevance Social

(Internationalisation = economic growth)
- cultural adaptation is generally challenging
Social - shortage of student rooms drives

- multicultural city makes cultural adaptation internationals away from Groningen (bad
easy, which is a reason for internationals to reputation)
choose Groningen
Technological
- broad variety of introduction events - Information gap: currently no website
facilitates integration, which is a reason for includes all needed facts for potential
internationals to choose Groningen
international students
Technological
- university websites are main information
source for potential international students
Political
- internationalisation has a stable place on the
governmental agenda
- Gemeente Groningen actively supports

projects and campaigns on
internationalisation
- Four focus aspects of Gemeente: housing,

work, city living and communication =
student recruitment effort should be linked
- more international students would come if

current international students recommend
Groningen in their home countries
26
2.2.5 Design Requirements
Table 2.3 summarises the contextual design requirements. A full list of design
requirements with explanations can be found in Appendix 2.2.
Table 2.3: Context Design Requirements
I believe that the postcard campaign will help Groningen’s universities to

No.
recruit more international students, if…
1 … the University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences
collaborate.
2 … it is supported and sponsored by the Gemeente Groningen.
3 … international partners (like schools and universities) are recruited to participate.
4 … it makes Groningen’s universities stand out from growing international
competition.
5 … it involves important influencers, namely student networks, parents, current
international students and/or the local population.
6 … it separately targets distinct international student groups, including Germans,
Southern Europeans, Asians and Eastern Europeans.
7 … it takes the varying preferences of different international groups into account.
8 … it takes advantage of the demographic and economic relevance of the issue.
9 … it communicates that cultural adaptation in Groningen is easy.
10 … it addresses the vibrant social life in Groningen.
11 … it promotes the many introduction events for internationals in Groningen.
12 … it communicates the expected improvement of Groningen’s housing shortage.
13 … communicates through the university websites.
14 … supports creating a website with all important facts for potential international
students.
15 … it is linked to one or more of the Gemeente’s focus aspects of
internationalisation, namely housing, work, city living and communication.
16 … it triggers current international students to recommend Groningen to their
friends at home.
27
2.3 Functional Analysis
The following functional analysis investigates three phases of international student recruitment. It
will be analysed how universities…
(1) … create awareness among potential international students.
(2) … shape favourable attitudes.
(3) … trigger internationals to study abroad.
Finding out how other universities currently recruit international students will derive valuable input
on how to design the intended postcard campaign for Groningen’s universities. Because students
are increasingly treated as consumers (Gomes & Murphy, 2003), the buyer decision process
model, suggested by Kotler & Armstrong (2017), appears relevant. Figure 2.4 shows the five steps
of the model, applied to the customer journey of international students.
Figure 2.4: Buyer Decision Process Model applied to international students
The following research covers steps 2,3 and 4 of the model above. As suggested by the Design
Research Handbook (Hanzehogeschool Groningen, 2018) the functional analysis investigates
effective messages, communication channels and opportunities for the intended postcard
campaign. Figure 2.5 shows the unravelled functional concepts.
Figure 2.5: Key concepts Functional Analysis
28
Table 2.4 includes the research questions derived from figure 2.5.
Table 2.4: Research Questions Functional Analysis

Which are currently most common practices of international student recruitment by
universities?
Sub-Question 1 How do they create awareness among

potential international students?
Sub-Question 1.1 Which messages are effective to create
awareness?
Sub-Question 1.2 Which communication channels are effective
to create awareness?
Sub-Question 1.3 What are opportunities for the intended
postcard campaign at the stage of creating
awareness?
Sub-Question 2 How do they create favourable attitudes

among potential international students?
Sub-Question 2.1 Which messages are effective to create
favourable attitudes?
to create favourable attitudes?
postcard campaign at the stage of creating
favourable attitudes?
Sub-Question 3 How do they trigger internationals

behaviour to actually study abroad?
Sub-Question 3.1 Which messages are effective to trigger
internationals to actually study abroad?
to trigger internationals to actually study
abroad?
postcard campaign at the stage of triggering
internationals to actually study abroad?
29
The analysis used best practice examples of universities worldwide. Additionally, research
literature about international student recruitment was consulted to explore how the campaign
must be designed. Current international student recruitment strategies of Groningen’s universities
are also showcased.
2.3.3 Results
Awareness
According to Guthrie (2018), universities name ‘creating awareness’ the top challenge of
international student recruitment. The University of Leicester wants to meet potential international
students personally and sends student recruitment teams abroad to promote on fairs and
events (Brown, 2018). After, they stay in touch through emails and calls. The UG similarly
promotes itself at international events (Meet us in, 2019). The international student report 2018
(Guthrie, 2018) names fairs and exhibitions the most common channel for universities to reach
potential international students. Being a personal way of connecting with people, postcards fit
well with this strategy. At study abroad fairs, representatives of Groningen’s universities could stay
in touch with potential international students by sending personal postcards. However, Brown
(2018) calls study abroad fairs too time and cost consuming. The postcard campaign may also
serve as a more time and cost efficient way to create awareness.
The second most common channel used to attract international students is Social Media
(Guthrie, 2018). According to Hobsons (2017), students mostly use Social Media when searching
for options. Campus France Paris (2018) recently launched a communication campaign with
videos and images on diverse Social Media channels, highlighting cultural characteristics and
rational arguments like costs and quality education. According to a press release of the French
government (A strategy for, 2018) the campaign focusses on digital tools and Social Media.
Consequently, a postcard campaign may be more effective when linked to a Social Media
strategy.
Attitude
Van Winden (2017) suggests that universities must define strong unique selling points to
distinguish from global competitors. For instance, he names Parma University branding itself as
the best institution for food and nutrition studies. Since personal approaches show to have
impact, the postcard campaign could present Groningen’s universities as ‘the most personal
university’ to create uniqueness.
30
Many universities use predominately rational arguments to distinguish themselves (Nghia, 2015;
Jianvittayakit, 2012; Gomes & Murphy, 2003) which is possibly because potential students make
decisions after extensive considerations (Blackburn, 2011). Research indicates that potential
international students mostly make rational decisions based on the reputation of universities,
quality of education, career opportunities and costs of studying and living (Melissa &
Dongkoo, 2017; Abdolalizadeh, 2014; Integration of, 2014; Jianvittayakit, 2012; Blackburn, 2011).
The postcard campaign could therefore include rational advantages of Groningen’s universities.
Abdolalizadeh (2014) also names the quality of contact between students and universities as a
crucial factor. University of Amsterdam (n.d.) provides the opportunity to chat with international
student ambassadors on its website. Wilkins & Huisman (2015) support such role model
strategies, claiming that personal relationships, such as peer recommendations and feedback,
are crucial for universities to be selected. UG and Hanze UAS similarly provide to opportunity to
contact international ambassadors on their websites (International Alumni, 2019; Hanze
International, 2019). The campaign could therefore use international student ambassadors to send
postcards to potential international students to attract the target group.
Furthermore, Van Winden (2017) suggests that successful student recruitment campaigns should
be tailored to specific market segments. He states that students can be segmented in
nationalities, study fields, study level or motivations. He mentions Aalborg University which
specifically targets highly ambitious students and Tartu University specifically targeting Latvia,
China and Belarus. This supports the findings of the demographic context analysis and must be
regarded by the postcard campaign.
Higher Education Marketing (2017) recommends addressing potential students in their native
language. The Chinese version of Georgia University’s website and the Spanish platform of
University of Michigan are named as successful examples. Similarly, Hanze UAS has a German
website (Kontakt, 2019). For the campaign, postcards could be written in the native languages of
receivers.
Finally, universities increasingly publish content showing what it’s like at their institution (Higher
Education Marketing, 2017). This includes for instance video tours, pictures and sample
lectures. The UG published a similar video on its website (What’s studying, 2019). Additionally,
virtual campus tours become more common, for example at Lakeland College (Welcome to our,
n.d.) and Texas University (Texas A&M, n.d.). The postcard campaign could build on this trend and
show what it’s like to study in Groningen with pictures on postcards.
31
Behaviour
Commonly, internationals apply at multiple universities to increase their chances to get a study
placement. In the Netherlands, potential students must apply through Studielink. Often, students
get accepted at multiple universities and then decide between their options. Clark (2009)
explains that after accepting potential students, universities provide applicants with proceeding
information. To be the final choice of the potential students, universities apply various strategies to
stand out. As an example, Elon University sends accepted students an epic music video of
cheering people and St. Bonaventure University sends T-Shirts. Brock University adds a bag of
confetti to acceptance letters for students to celebrate (Terminalfour, 2015). Again postcards suit
this strategy, because they draw attention. The campaign could send postcards to accepted
internationals pushing them to chose Groningen’s universities over competitors.
2.3.4 Conclusions
The analysis showed that creating awareness is the top challenge for universities. Most commonly
universities promote at international fairs which is time and cost consuming. Social Media is
therefore a valuable (cost efficient) channel. When trying to shape favourable attitudes,
universities’ strategies balance between rational and personal (emotional) approaches. When
trying to trigger the final behaviour (potential students enrol) universities try to follow up on
accepted students by sending out marketing content to drive attention and stand out. The
strategies of Groningen’s universities showed to be identical with others, which points to a
missing unique selling point. A campaign with postcards seems well suited to create a personal
(emotional) USP at the 3 stages. Table 2.5 summarises messages, channels and opportunities for
each step.
32
Table 2.5: Functional Summary
Step 2: Awareness Step 3: Attitudes Step 4: Behaviour

Making potential Making potential Trigger potential
international students international students international students to
aware of Groningen’s prefer Groningen’s enrol at Groningen’s
universities, so that they universities after universities
consider to study here evaluating all study
abroad options
Messages - personal messages

- communicate - acceptance messages
- rational advantages of uniqueness

- drawing attention
country/ university
- mostly rational - universities stand out
- cultural benefits
arguments: reputation - “choose our
- study benefits
of universities, quality university”
- challenge to design of education, career - time to celebrate

right message! opportunities, costs
- personal
communication
- should be tailored to
target segment (e.g.
nationality or
motivation)
- native language
- ‘what it’s like’

examples
Channels - fairs & events

- university website
- email/ letters
- emails & calls

- live chats to answer - videos
- Social Media
questions
- T-shirts
- digital tools - student ambassadors

- confetti bag
- video tours, pictures
- sample lectures
- virtual campus tours

Opportunities for - creating awareness - still few emotional - use postcards after
Omapost is still biggest approaches
international students
challenge for - Groningen universities have been accepted
universities do not stand out = to trigger them to
- joining international opportunity to create make Groningen their
fairs is time uniqueness
final decision
consuming and costly

- showing what - Postcards draw
- personal approach Groningen is like with attention
shows to matter postcards
33
Table 2.6 summarises the functional design requirements. A full list of design requirements with
explanations can be found in Appendix 2.2.
Table 2.6: Functional Design Requirements

No.
17 … it contributes to solve universities main challenge to create awareness abroad.
18 … it takes place at international study abroad fairs and events.
19 … it applies a personal approach to communicate with potential international
students.
20 … it is time and cost efficient for universities.
21 … it integrates a Social Media strategy.
22 … it supports the universities with creating unique selling points, for example ‘The
most personal university’.
23 … it communicates rational arguments such as reputation of universities, quality of
education, career opportunities and costs of living.
24 … it makes use of international student ambassadors.
25 … it is tailored to specific market segments, such as nationalities, study fields or
motivations.
26 … it addresses potential international students in their native languages.
27 … visualises what it’s like to study and live in Groningen.
28 … personal postcards are sent after potential international students are accepted.
34
2.4 Needs Analysis
After investigating universities’ strategies for international student recruitment, the following needs
analysis focuses on characteristics of potential international students, representing the target
group of the intended postcard campaign. The analysis is based on the findings of the previous
context and functional analyses, showing that universities try to stand out by personal (emotional)
student recruitment approaches. Therefore, the needs analysis researches the emotional needs of
the target group.
The described rational and emotional student recruitment strategies in the functional analysis link
to the Elaboration Likelihood Model of Cacioppo & Petty (1984). According to the theory, people
can be persuaded in two ways (routes). If receivers of messages are highly involved and
intensively consider decisions, they are likely to be persuaded by rational arguments. This is
called ‘Central Route’. If message receivers show low involvement and focus, they are likely to be
persuaded by emotional messages. This is called the ‘Peripheral Route’.
Universities’ predominately rational approaches to persuade internationals seem logical, since

most students intensively consider study decisions. However, emotional approaches might be
useful to distinguish from competitors at different stages of the customer journey and create a
unique selling point. The strong personal factor of postcards as a communication tool further
contributed to the decision to focus the campaign on the emotional route, rather than the rational
one.
In order to make informed decisions on how to approach potential international students by

emotional messages, the following investigates their emotional needs during different stages of
the decision making process (Figure 2.4). As suggested by Kelly & Kelley (2014), an empathy map
was created to derive emotions from the perspective of the target group. Figure 2.6 shows my
assumptions of students’ most pressing positive and negative emotions at different moments of
decision making. These assumptions derived from my own experiences as an international
student and multiple brainstorm sessions with befriended international students. The target group
is extremely heterogeneous and different cultural groups are likely to show different emotional
reactions at each stage. Therefore, the research will explore cultural differences between the four
most represented international student groups in the Netherlands, namely Germans, Southern
Europeans, Asians and Eastern Europeans (Huberts, 2017). Figure 2.7 shows the the unravelled
key concepts.
35
Figure 2.6: Empathy map potential international students
Figure 2.7: Key concepts Needs Analysis
36
Table 2.7 includes the research questions derived from figure 2.6 & 2.7.
Table 2.7: Research Questions Needs Analysis

Which are the emotional needs of potential international students while considering
where to study abroad?
Sub-Question 1 Which positive emotions dominate when

considering where to study abroad?
Sub-Question 1.1 To what extend do they feel hopeful?
Sub-Question 1.2 To what extend do they feel excited?
Sub-Question 1.3 To what extend do they feel independent?
Sub-Question 1.4 To what extend do they feel inspired?
Sub-Question 1.5 To what extend do they feel confident?
Sub-Question 2 Which negative emotions dominate when

considering where to study abroad?
Sub-Question 2.1 To what extend do they feel pressured?
Sub-Question 2.2 To what extend do they feel stressed?
Sub-Question 2.3 To what extend do they feel overwhelmed?
Sub-Question 2.4 To what extend do they feel doubtful?
Sub-Question 2.5 To what extend do they feel guilty?
Sub-Question 3 How do emotional needs differ between

origins?
Sub-Question 3.1 What are the emotional needs of Germans?
Sub-Question 3.2 What are the emotional needs of Southern

Europeans?
Sub-Question 3.3 What are the emotional needs of Asians?
Sub-Question 3.4 What are the emotional needs of Eastern

Europeans?
37
Sub-Question 4 Which emotions do they feel at different
stages of decision making?
Sub-Question 4.1 Which emotions do they feel when first
thinking about studying abroad?
Sub-Question 4.2 Which emotions do they feel when comparing
different options?
Sub-Question 4.3 Which emotions do they feel when talking to
their parents?
Sub-Question 4.4 Which emotions do they feel when making
their final decision?
Sub-Question 4.5 Which emotions do they feel when getting
accepted?

A quantitative research approach to derive numerical data was chosen, in order to test my
assumptions and compare the extend to which the target group feels the emotions derived from
the empathy map. A self-administered questionnaire (Appendix 2.1) with multiple choice
questions was created to produce standardised insights. The research is cross-sectional, as it
investigates the current situation. To answer research sub-questions 1-4, three essential survey
questions ensure content validity.
1) Participants were asked about their nationality, to be able to compare between origins.
2) Participants were asked to what extend they felt the derived emotions when considering
where to study abroad.
3) Participants were asked which emotions they connect to different stages of decision making.
Reaching out to actual potential international students showed to be unrealistic, because not
many internationals were actively considering study abroad options anymore by the time of the
research, since the application deadlines of most international universities had passed in May. In
addition, time constraints and missing access to actual potential international students leaded to
the decision to conduct the research with current international students. Their answers are likely
to be reliable, as they were in the explained situation before. To ensure further reliability and
internal validity, the questionnaire starts with a text explaining how participants are expected to
interpret the questions. A pilot test with a Chinese and a German student indicated that both
understood the context and questions. The research is exploratory and a non-probability
sampling was chosen. I have shared the questionnaire with international students in Groningen,
Lima and Berlin (convenience sampling).
38
Limitations:
While the chosen research strategy is the most applicable approach to derive results under the
given circumstances, it is likely to produce some reliability constraints. First of all, choosing
current international students as test objects may decrease reliability, because they might not
remember their feelings correctly. Furthermore, a small number of participants (N=67) makes
findings less representative. Therefore, the results of the needs analysis should be seen as a first
exploratory indication of the target group’s emotional needs, rather than a validated outcome.
2.4.3 Results
Positive/ Negative emotions
The survey derived 67 answers, including 30 Germans, 13 Eastern Europeans (Czech, Bulgarian,
Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian & Slovenian), 13 Southern Europeans (French,
Greek, Italian & Spanish) and 11 Asians (Chinese, South Korean, Indonesian & Japanese). Asking
to what extend they felt the chosen emotions while considering where to study abroad, it showed
that internationals generally feel positive emotions to a higher extend. Figure 2.8 shows, that
‘excited’ is the most dominant feeling, followed by ‘independent’. Among the five negative
emotions, ‘stressed’ and ‘overwhelmed’ are dominating. It is also noticeable that these two
emotions have the highest variation among answers, which concludes that these emotions are
especially sensitive.
Figure 2.8: Extend of chosen emotions
Number of
participants
Number of
participants
39
 
Figure 2.9: Positive/Negative Emotions divided by origin
40
Differences between origins:
Figure 2.9 shows how many percent of each cultural group felt the chosen emotions to a high or
very high extend. All of them show the highest percentage at ‘excited’. Examining differences, the
following results can be observed:
Next to ‘excited’, Eastern Europeans feel ‘inspired’ and ‘hopeful’ to a high extend. Their
dominating negative emotions are ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘stressed’.
Southern Europeans appeared to be the group that feels the most emotions to a high extend.
While feeling highly ‘excited’, ’inspired’, ’hopeful’ and ‘independent’, they also experience a
strong feeling of being ‘stressed’ and ‘overwhelmed’.
Asians feel to a high extend ‘excited’ and ‘independent’. Noticeably, none of the Asian
respondents has experienced high extends of the negative feelings.
Germans feel to a high extend ‘excited’ and ‘independent’. The strongest negative feeling for
them is ‘stressed’ .
Figure 2.10: Emotions when first thinking about studying abroad
Different stages of decision making
When asking which of the five chosen stages the participants connect to which emotions, it
showed that the dominant feeling of excitement mainly occurs ‘when first thinking about studying
abroad’ and ‘when getting accepted’.
As figure 2.10 shows, internationals have generally more positive feelings ‘when first thinking
about studying abroad’. Eastern Europeans show the highest level of hope, Southern
Europeans feel most ‘inspired’, most Asians feel confident and Germans feel most
‘independent’. Asians especially show high levels of doubt and stress at this stage.
41
Figure 2.11: Emotions when considering different options to study
Figure 2.11 shows which feelings internationals experience ‘when considering different options to
study abroad’. This stage shows the broadest variation and highest percentage of negative
emotions. Generally, the most dominant feelings at this stage are ‘doubtful’ and ‘overwhelmed’.
Furthermore, Germans and Southern Europeans feel overwhelmed. Asians again have the
highest percentage of negative emotions, feeling ‘pressured’, ‘stressed’ and ‘doubtful’.
When talking to their parents, internationals feel mostly positive. Figure 2.12 depicts that the
dominating answers are ‘hopeful’, ‘excited’, ‘independent’ and ‘confident’. Hereby, Eastern
Europeans feel mostly ‘excited’, Southern European feel mostly ‘confident’, most Asian
participants felt ‘hopeful’ and most Germans felt ‘independent’.
Figure 2.12: Emotions when talking to parents
%
42
Figure 2.13: Emotions when making final decision
At the stage of making the final decision of where to apply, respondents answers again vary
(Figure 2.13). While Germans mostly associate this moment with positive feelings, the other three
groups also name negative emotions, with ‘doubtful’ as the most dominant. Especially Asians
connect the final decision with negative emotions and a high percentage of them felt guilty.
Figure 2.14: Emotions when getting accepted
Finally, figure 2.14 indicates the emotions of internationals when getting accepted. While the
excitement of Eastern Europeans, Asians and Germans is very high at this stage, Southern
Europeans feel the other positive emotions more often. Asians feel especially independent.
43
2.4.4 Conclusions
The analysis of figure 2.8 concludes that the postcard campaign should predominately tap into
positive emotions to attract the target group, for example by applying a positive tone of voice.
Especially effective would be stimulating their excitement about studying abroad, because it is
the most dominant feeling. Furthermore, communicating that studying in Groningen guarantees
the internationals’ independence may be successful. On the other side the campaign could
attempt to trigger for example stress relief to address the most dominant negative emotions.
Additionally, the campaign should clearly structure information and simplify communication,
to counter the feeling of being ‘overwhelmed’.
Figure 2.9 indicated differences between the four examined international student groups. While all
groups feel excited to a high extend, the results indicate that the campaign should be sensitive to
different emotional needs of cultural groups. When targeting Eastern Europeans, the postcard
campaign should assure them that studying in Groningen is inspiring. It could also stimulate the
target groups hope by addressing for example the promising future of Groningen’s international
students. Since Southern Europeans expressed overall higher extends of the diverse feelings,
the campaign should target them by showing compassion for the emotionally overwhelming
situation. Furthermore, the results suggest that Germans and Asians feel highly independent.
Therefore the campaign should especially communicate to them that studying in Groningen
contributes to their independence. The results also imply that addressing negative feelings
towards Asians might be counterproductive. When targeting Germans, stress relief may be an
especially strong argument.
Analysing the different stages of the customer journey (Figure 2.10 - 2.14) concludes that the
campaign should mainly stimulate excitement at two stages:
(1) …when internationals are first thinking about studying abroad, which links to the step of
creating awareness.
(2) … when internationals got accepted, which links to the step of triggering behaviour.
Besides, when potential international students first think about studying abroad, the campaign
may create awareness for Groningen’s universities by
(1) … further stimulating Eastern Europeans hope.
(2) … further stimulating Southern Europeans inspiration, for example by showcasing previous
achievements of international alumni.
(3) … further stimulating confidence and reduce doubt among Asians, for example by
communicating that choosing Groningen’s universities is the right step.
(4) … showing Germans that studying in Groningen guarantees independence.
44
Furthermore, the results indicate that the broadest variations of feelings occur ‘when comparing
different study options’, which links to the step of shaping favourable attitudes. This is an
opportunity for the postcard campaign, since the target group shows to be emotionally sensitive
at this stage. The campaign could shape favourable attitudes, by showing compassion for the
overwhelming situation of potential international students when they compare different study
options.
Because talking to parents showed to be a mainly positive step of decision making.

Consequently, the postcard campaign does not necessarily need to interfere at this stage.
However, the campaign should be also attractive to parents. Their attitudes are likely to
influence their children, which was also supported by the previous stakeholder analysis.
When making the final decision where to apply, which is linked to the step of triggering behaviour,
again cultural variations occurred. The campaign could approve positive feelings towards
Germans or reduce doubt of the other groups, for example by showing examples of other
international students who applied and never regretted it.
As explained earlier, universities use different followup strategies after accepting potential
international students, in order to trigger the final behaviour of enrolling at their university. The
results of the needs analysis (Figure 2.14) indicate that the campaign should mainly stimulate
excitement of Eastern Europeans and Germans at this stage. To target Southern Europeans,
the campaign could stimulate a variety of positive emotions, including hope, independence,
confidence and inspiration. Targeting Asians, the campaign may communicate that enrolling at
one of Groningen’s universities is the ultimate step to feel truly independent.
As already indicated, the previous conclusions are based on a small number of responses. To
ensure that the campaign is culturally sensitive, it is recommended to gain more representative
data from further research. Alternatively, the campaign could also recruit cultural experts to
participate.

Table 2.5 summarises the need design requirements. A full list of Design Requirements with
explanations can be found in Appendix 2.2.
Table 2.5: Needs Design Requirements
I believe that the postcard campaign will help Groningen’s universities to recruit
No.
more international students, if…
29 … it addresses mainly positive emotions, especially towards Asians.
45
30 … it communicates in a positive tone of voice.
31 … stimulates the target groups excitement about studying abroad, especially when they
first think about studying abroad and after they got accepted.
32 … it communicates that studying in Groningen guarantees the target group’s
independence, especially towards Germans and Asians.
33 … it focusses on relieving stress among the target group, especially towards Germans and
Southern Europeans.
34 … it counters the feeling of being overwhelmed by providing clearly structured and simply
information, especially towards Southern Europeans.
35 … it assures Eastern Europeans that studying in Groningen is inspiring.
36 … it addresses the promising future of Groningen’s international students towards Eastern

Europeans, especially when they first think about studying abroad.
37 … it shows compassion for the emotionally overwhelming situation to Southern
Europeans.
38 … it stimulates Southern Europeans inspiration when they first think about studying
abroad, for example by showcasing previous achievements of international alumni.
39 … it stimulates Asians confidence and reduces doubt when they first think about studying
abroad, for example by communicating that choosing Groningen’s universities is the right
step.
40 … it shows compassion for the overwhelming situation of potential international students
when they compare different study options.
41 … it is attractive to the target groups parents.
42 … it approves positive emotions when potential international students make their final
decision where to apply, especially towards Germans.
43 … it reduces doubt when potential international students make their final decision where
to apply, for example by showing examples of other international students who applied
and never regretted it.
44 … it stimulates excitement of Eastern Europeans and Germans after they have been
accepted.
45 … it stimulates a variety of positive emotions towards Southern Europeans after they have
been accepted, including hope, independence, confidence and inspiration
46 … it communicates towards Asians that enrolling at one of Groningen’s universities is the
ultimate step to feel independent, after they have been accepted.
47 … it acts culturally sensitive using knowledge conducted from further research.
48 … it acts culturally sensitive by working together with cultural experts.
46
A strategy for attracting international students (2018) Republique Français Le Gouvernement.

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49

Phase 3: Development

Words: 1480
Table of Contents
3.1 Introduction 51
3.2 Creative Concept 51
3.2.1 Idea 51
3.2.2 Strategy 51
3.3 Campaign Canvas 53

3.3.1 Value Propositions 53
3.3.2 Key activities & success metrics 54
3.3.3 Channels & messages 54
3.3.4 Costs & Return on Investment (ROI) 55
Figures of Phase 3
Figure 3.1: Button 52
Figure 3.2: Canvas 53
50
3.1 Introduction
Three analyses (context, functional, needs) derived 48 design requirements for a postcard
campaign helping Groningen’s universities to recruit international students, which links to the
PID’s Communication Objective 2.1. The functional analysis concluded that Groningen’s
universities lack uniqueness. Especially when shaping attitudes, they fail to stand out from
growing international competitors. Furthermore, all three analyses indicated the importance of
cultural sensibility (Design Requirements 6, 7, 25, 47 & 48). The following creative concept,
derived from brainstorm sessions with the Omapost team, makes Groningen’s universities stand
out from competitors while taking cultural diversity into account.
Figure 3.1: Button

3.2 Creative Concept
Get a postcard
3.2.1 Idea
My idea is to include a ‘Get a postcard’ button on the websites of Groningen’s universities to
stand out from competitors (Figure 3.1). Potential international students can click the button and
fill in their home address to receive a real postcard from an international student ambassador
in Groningen. Each postcard contains a personal story of an international student ambassador
showing potential international students what it’s like to study in Groningen. This is likely to grab
the attention of the target group, as no other university currently sends real postcards to
internationals. It shows that Groningen’s universities really care, taking the effort to send
personalised postcards. Postcards represent a unique way to target diverse cultural groups with
one single strategy, because the content of the cards can be tailored to cultural values and
national preferences. They can also be written in the native languages of receivers. The idea can
be seen as a form of micro marketing, since potential students can receive personalised
postcards. For Omapost, this idea represents a new way to use the app, as it will connect
potential international students to universities (represented by international student ambassadors).
3.2.2 Strategy
Omapost wants to sell more postcard campaigns to businesses (see PID Sub-goal 1). Groningen’s
universities will be more likely to pay Omapost, if the campaign creates strong values to both
potential international students and universities. Therefore, I visualised my idea from a business
perspective, using a canvas (Figure 3.2). I used the Marketing Campaign Model Canvas (GetIT
comms, n.d.) and integrated the element “key partners” from Osterwalder & Pigneur (2010). This
way, value propositions for both universities and potential international students can be
showcased. The canvas can serve Omapost to communicate value propositions to Groningen’s
universities, which links to the PID’s Communication Objective 1.1.
51
Figure 3.2: Canvas
52
3.3 Campaign Canvas
In order to persuade Groningen’s universities that a postcard campaign will benefit international
student recruitment, Omapost must tell a convincing story of how the right mix of messages,
channels and key activities will create strong value for both universities and potential international
students. Furthermore, it must convincingly argue how the the campaign will generate return on
investment (ROI) for universities.
3.3.1 Value Propositions

The described concept creates the following values for Groningen’s universities and potential
international students.
Value for potential international students:
1) Receiving postcards creates a personal feeling and first bond with an international student
who is already in Groningen (Design Requirement 19)
2) They receive recommendations from other international students, which increases confidence
and decreases doubt (Design Requirement 39 &43)
3) The photo visualises what it’s like in Groningen (Design Requirement 27).
4) The text can be written in the receivers native language, which feels personal and creates trust
(Design Requirement 26).
5) The text can communicate rational arguments important for potential international students
(Design Requirement 23).
6) Postcards are tailored to emotional needs of potential international students with different
origins (Design Requirements 29 - 46):
A. The picture and text can stimulate their positive emotions (Design Requirement 29 & 30).
B. A picture of happy students and a text that describes the advantages of student life can
contribute to their excitement (Design Requirement 31).
C. A text from an international student who feels truly independent in Groningen can attract
internationals who are looking for independence. (Design Requirement 32)
D. A picture showing students having fun and a joyful text can relief stress (Design
Requirement 33).
E. A clearly structured text that clarifies questions can counters the feeling of being
overwhelmed (Design Requirement 34).
Value for Groningen’s universities:
1) It shapes favourable attitudes of the target group by creating a personal image of Groningen’s
universities (Design Requirement 19).
53
2) It makes Groningen’s universities stand out from international competitors (Design
Requirement 4).
3) Sending postcards is more time and cost efficient than sending representatives to fairs and
events abroad (Design Requirement 20).
4) Sending real (personal) postcards creates a unique selling point (USP) for Groningen’s
universities (Design Requirement 22).
5) It improves the user experience of universities’ websites, which is the main information source
of potential international students (Design Requirement 13).
6) It involves international student ambassadors as role models, who are likely to influence
potential international students (Design Requirement 5 & 24)
7) Micro marketing approach: Sending potential international students from different countries
tailored messages from international student ambassadors regards cultural diversity. (Design
Requirements 6, 7, 25, 47).
8) It is a culturally sensitive approach. Each international student ambassador can be seen as an

expert on their own culture and will be able to send tailored postcards to potential
international students from their cultures. (Design Requirement 48).
3.3.2 Key activities & success metrics

As the canvas in figure 3.1 shows, a number of key activities are necessary to implement the idea.
If the universities see the value of the idea, they must first implement the postcard button on their
websites. Therefore, the ICT department must get in touch with Studio Andere Koek to link the
postcard web tool to its website. The easiest way would be an iFrame. After that, the university
must involve international student ambassadors to upload appropriate pictures and write
postcards. Therefore, they could organise a workshop to show international ambassadors the
campaign idea. After potential international student have requested postcards and international
student ambassadors have sent them, the university would have to check if the cards are
appropriate. Omapost will then send them. After sending the cards, the effectiveness of the
campaign should be evaluated by measuring a number of success metrics.
The success of the campaign can be measured in two steps. First of all, the number of potential
international student clicking the button and requesting a postcard will indicate how many people
are curious about the campaign. Secondly, measuring how many postcard receivers actually
applied at Groningen’s universities will indicate if the campaign truly contributed to international
student recruitment.
3.3.3 Channels & messages

The canvas shows that the campaign involves two channels, namely the universities websites
(online) and the postcards (offline). Each channel communicates a number of messages (content/
promotion), in order to explain how it works and communicate value towards potential
54
The “Get a postcard” button (Figure 3.1) is an important part of the content. Together with the
button, an explanation text can promote the campaign, by communicating messages such as:
“receive a postcard from one of our international students” or “Get a personal surprise”. To trigger
the target group to fill in their addresses, messages could include a slogan, such as: “Make
Groningen your personal experience”. Since some people might hesitate to fill in their address
due to privacy concerns, an additional message should be that their data will not be stored.
As stated earlier, the postcards can include a broad variety of personalised messages, depending
on characteristics of the receiver. Hereby, Design Requirements 29 - 46 indicate appropriate
messages for different cultural groups (Appendix 2.2). Considering findings of the previous
functional analysis, rational messages could be: “At Hanze University, we are working in
international teams for real clients.” or “University of Groningen provides high quality education
and research in a broad range of disciplines.”. Considering the findings of the previous needs
analysis emotional messages could be: “I know it’s overwhelming to choose between all those
options out there.” or “In Groningen I feel truly independent!”. The pictures at the front will show
the receiver what it’s like to live and study in Groningen (Design Requirement 27). Furthermore,
the postcards will include the university’s logo and a slogan: “Make Groningen your personal
experience”, which emphasises the link to the university and city.
3.3.4 Costs & Return on Investment (ROI)

The campaign would cost universities a fixed price of € 4000 for a custom webpage (portal) to
send cards. Furthermore, the cost for printing and sending the cards internationally is between
€1-€2 per card, depending on the amount of postcards. This is likely to be much cheaper than
sending representatives to international study abroad fairs.
The ROI includes for example tuition fees, which are currently € 2083 for EU students and € 8900
for Non-EU students. The previous economic analysis also proved the economic value of
international students, spending on average € 11.400 per year, which indirectly benefits
Groningen’s universities. Next to financial returns, it is also likely that the campaign improves the
universities' image and reputation, for instance when the receivers show the card to their family
and friends.
55
GetIT Comms (n.d.) Marketing campaign model canvas. Retrieved from http://
www.b2bento.com/marketing-campaign-model-canvas-free-and-exclusive-download/
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation. Hoboken: John Wiley and
Sons
56
57

Phase 4: Design

Supervisors: Ken Drozd
Words: 598
Table of Contents
4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Professional Product Prototypes 59
4.3.1 Postcard prototypes 59
4.3.2 Website screens 61
Figures of Phase 4
Figure 4.1: Postcard prototype fronts 60
Figure 4.2: Postcard prototype backs 61
Figure 4.3: website screenshots 62
58
4.1 Introduction
Phase 3 showed how Omapost should communicate business value for universities to sell the
postcard campaign. The following design phase includes two prototypes that serve as minimal
viable products (MVP’s) which are used to validate the campaign idea with target groups
(Osterwalder et al, 2014).
4.2 Professional Product Prototypes

To visualise the idea, the first prototype round consists of 2 products:
1) I designed and printed two example postcards to show what the cards could look (and feel)
like (Figure 4.1 & Figure 4.2).
2) I created a presentation including draft screens that visualise how the postcard button could
be implemented in universities’ websites (step 1) and how student ambassadors could send
postcards through a portal (step 2). (See Figure 4.3)
4.3.1 Postcard prototypes

In order to show how postcards from international student ambassadors cold look like, I printed
two examples. As figure 4.1 shows, the first postcard shows a large group of international
students in front of typical dutch buildings and the second one depicts a smaller group of friends
sitting in a park. Figure 4.2 shows the backsides of the postcards. The first one is written in
German, to show that the cards could be written in the students native languages (link to Design
Requirement 26). The second one is in English, to give an example of the content. In both cards,
the senders provide their contact information for the receiver to get in touch.
Content 1st postcard (translated from German):

Hello Moritz,
My name is Tom. I study International Business at the Hanze University of Applied Science. Te
university is super modern and we work a lot in international groups. Since the first year we have
been doing projects for real clients.
Besides the university, Groningen has a lot to offer. I recently joined a theatre group and we spend
a lot of time together. The photo shows us at a canal in Groningen. I am the guy in the red T-shirt.
I know it’s hard to choose a university abroad. If you need any infos or tips you can send me an
email: t.d.seifert@st.hanze.nl
59
Content 2nd postcard:
Dear Tomas,
Greetings from Groningen. My name is Betka and I study Human Movement
Science at the University of Groningen.
You are thinking about coming to Groningen? I know it is difficult to decide with all these options
out there.
Groningen is an amazing place to study and I never regretted to come here. The summer is now
starting and I spend all my free time in the park. The photo shows me and my friends. We are a
very international group: Czech, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Israel, Turkey and USA.
If you need any help or tips, feel free to contact me on Whatsapp: +420 785 347
Maybe see you in Groningen!
Figure 4.1: Postcard prototype fronts
60
Figure 4.2: Postcard prototype backs
4.3.2 Website screens

I created a Keynote presentation consisting of 2 parts. Part 1 visualises how the button could be
integrated in the previously mentioned ‘Alumni Ambassador’ page of UG’s website. This part
shows what potential international students would see and do (Screenshots 1-4 of figure 4.3). Part
2 visualises how international student ambassadors can send postcards through an Omapost
portal (Screenshots 4-8 of figure 4.3). I have adjusted screens of the portal used during
Experience Groningen. I have screen recorded the presentation to give readers of this portfolio a
full understanding of the prototype presentation. The video can be accessed through the following
link: https://youtu.be/IlUjeRCRgFk
61
Figure 4.3: website screenshots 
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
62
%206%20Phases%2022092018.pdf
Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Gregory, B., & Smith, A. (2014). Value Proposition Design. Hoboken:
John Wiley and Sons
63

Phase 5: Evaluation

Words: 3844 
64
Table of Contents
5.1 Introduction 66
5.1.1 Hypotheses 1-7 66
5.1.2 Hypotheses 8-17 67
5.2 Test Round 1 67

5.2.1 Test 1: Plan 67
5.2.2 Test 1: Results 68
5.2.3 Test 2: Plan 69
5.2.3 Evaluation Round 1 71
5.3 Prototype Adjustments 72

5.4 Test Round 2 74
5.4.1 Test 3: Plan 74
5.4.3 Test 4: Plan 74
5.4.5 Evaluation Round 2 76
5.5 Implementation plan 77

Figures of Phase 5
Figure 5.1: Acceptance E-mail 73
Figure 5.2: Landing page 73
Figure 5.3: Booklet Hanze UAS 75
Tables of Phase 5
Table 5.1: Hypotheses 1-7 66
Appendix 5.1: Testing Hypotheses 1-7 & 18-20 103
Appendix 5.2: Testing Hypotheses 8-17 108
Appendix 5.3: Working Agreements Kaartje2go 111
Appendix 5.4: Testing Hypotheses 21&22 113
65
5.1 Introduction
In phase 3 and 4, I have made a number of hypotheses based on design requirements derived
from the analysis phase. According to Osterwalder et al (2014), a (business) hypothesis is an
assumption “that needs to be true for your idea to work partially or fully but that hasn’t been
validated yet.” The following evaluation phase will make use of the prototypes of phase 4 to probe
the implemented design requirements and test the following hypotheses:
5.1.1 Hypotheses 1-7

Table 5.1 shows the hypotheses made about potential international students:
Table 5.1: Hypotheses 1-7

1 Potential international students find postcards personal.
Potential international students are going to click the button on the website and are willing
2 to fill in their address.
Potential international students are going to have a favourable attitude about studying in
3 Groningen after receiving a postcard.
Potential international students are going to apply at the Groningen university after
4 receiving the postcard.
Potential international students would contact the sender, if he/she has included contact
5 information.
The photo and text have the potential to trigger interest and/or emotions among potential
6 international students.
Potential international students would like to receive postcards from students with the
7 same nationality in their native language.
66
5.1.2 Hypotheses 8-17
Table 5.2 shows the hypotheses made about Groningen’s universities:

8 Groningen’s universities are looking for new ways to attract more international students.
Groningen’s universities are looking for more time- and cost efficient ways to attract
9 international students.
10 Groningen’s universities are trying to create a stronger USP.
11 Groningen’s universities want to improve the user experience of their websites.
12 Groningen’s universities are willing to implement a postcard sending tool in their websites.
13 Groningen’s universities are okay with doing a joined campaign (Hanze UAS & UG)
14 Groningen’s universities are looking for ways to target different cultures more effectively.
Groningen’s universities are willing to put responsibility in the hands of international

15 student ambassadors.
Groningen’s universities feel identified with the slogan “Make Groningen you personal
16 experience.”
17 Groningen’s universities are willing to pay for the campaign.
5.2 Test Round 1

5.2.1 Test 1: Plan
The objective of test 1 is to test the viability of Hypotheses 1-7. Similarly to my research strategy
during the needs analysis of Phase 2, I tested hypotheses 1-7 with current international students
in Groningen, asking them to think back to the time when they were considering different study
abroad options. In order to get in-depth results, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 5
international students (2 Germans, 2 Italians & 1 Chinese) and 2 international student
ambassadors (1 UG & 1 Hanze UAS). Appendix 5.1 shows all interview notes from my
conversations with these students. I explained each test person the idea and showed them the
postcard prototype (Figure 4.1 & 4.2) and the website screen presentation (Figure 4.3). To get
more realistic results, I have continuously asked them to think back to the time wen they made the
decision to study abroad. Since the tested participants have decided for Groningen in their past, I
have often asked them to imagine what would have happened if another university (e.g.
Amsterdam University) would have sent them a postcard back then. I have used the following list
of questions, derived from the hypotheses, to guide the interviews. I asked followup questions
when necessary.
67
Test Questions
1) What are your first thought about the campaign idea?
2) Do you think postcards are personal?
3) Do you think potential international students are going to fill in their address? Would you have
done it when you were looking for different study abroad options?
4) Do you think this campaign creates a favourable attitude about studying in Groningen among
potential international students. Would it have affected your attitude when you were looking
for different study abroad options?
5) Do you think more potential international students are going to apply at the Groningen
university after receiving the postcard?
6) Do you think potential international students will contact the sender, if he/she has included
contact information? Would you have done that after receiving a postcard?
7) Do you think the photo on the front triggers interest among potential international students?
8) Do you think the photo on the front triggers emotions among potential international students?
Which ones?
9) What should the photo show in your opinion? What would have attracted you when your were
looking for different study abroad options?
10) Do you think the text on the back triggers interest among potential international students?
11) Do you think the text on the back triggers emotions among potential international students?
Which ones?
12) What should the text include in your opinion? What would have attracted you when your were
looking for different study abroad options?
13) Do you think potential international students would like to receive postcards from students
with the same or different nationality? Why? Should it be in their native language? What would
you have preferred when your were looking for different study abroad options?
5.2.2 Test 1: Results
Validated hypotheses about potential international students
Talking to the international students and ambassadors Hypothesis 1 has been validated. All
interviewees indicated that they would have seen this as very personal and caring. After receiving
a postcard, the majority of interviewees would expect the receivers to have a more favourable
attitude (Hypothesis 3 validated) and indeed would be more likely to apply (Hypothesis 4
validated). When asking them if potential international students would contact the sender,
answers varied (Hypothesis 5 partially validated). Most interviewees would have possibly
contacted the sender, if they have a specific question or something in common (e.g. same study
field or nationality). Furthermore, interviewees confirmed Hypothesis 6 and gave valuable
68
feedback about choices for texts and photos. For most students, the photo should include typical
dutch landmarks, popular places and buildings. Small groups of people are perceived as more
authentic, because they look like real friends. The Chinese participant highlighted that it should
look professional and reliable, because parents will also see it. Text preferences varied again.
Some interviewees would expect more information about life style and student life in Groningen.
Some expect postcards to mention the country’s characteristics, culture and weather. Other
interviewees (e.g. China) want to read more about the university. Especially interesting for
internationals would be to read about someone from the same country or same study field. Finally,
when asking if senders should have the same nationality, most answered yes (Hypothesis 7
validated). 6 of 7 interviewees would have felt more comfortable seeing someone else from their
country who made the step before. The student preferring international senders chose to study
abroad mainly to meet internationals.
Disproved hypotheses about potential international students
The main problem of the idea appeared to be Hypothesis 2. Most interviewees do not expect
many potential international students to click the button and fill in addresses. For some it seemed
not believable, others did not want to fill in their details due to privacy issues. While all of them
stated that they would appreciate getting a postcard by surprise, they would not have requested a
postcard by themselves. It shows to be too big of a step to fill in their address. Also, the
International Student Ambassadors pointed out that everyone could press this button and it
would be hard to find out if the person asking for a postcard is really a potential international
student. This is a valid point and should be adjusted.
5.2.3 Test 2: Plan

The objective of test 2 is to test the viability of Hypotheses 8-17. Therefore, I presented the idea to
Maarten Dikhoff, the International Marketing Coordinator of the UG. Our meeting took place on
May 24th and lasted 45 minutes. I showed him both prototypes (the screens and postcards) and
conducted a semi-structured interview to receive in-depth information. I have used the following
list of questions to guide the interview and asked followup questions when necessary. Appendix
5.2 shows my interview notes from the conversation.
Test Questions:
1) What are your first thoughts about this idea?
2) Is your university currently looking for ways to attract international students? Why?
3) Do you consider this campaign suited to attract international students? Why?
4) Would you consider this solution time- and cost efficient?
5) Is your universities trying to create a stronger USP? Why?
6) Do you consider this campaign suited to create a stronger USP? Why?
7) Is your universities trying to improve the user experience of the website? Why?
8) Do you consider this campaign suited to improve the user experience of the website? Why?
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9) Would you implement a postcard sending tool in your university’s website? Why?
10) Would you see it as a problem if the other Groningen university also implements this
campaign?
11) Is your universities trying to target different cultures more effectively? Why?
12) Do you consider this campaign suited to target different cultures more effectively? Why?
13) Are you willing to put responsibility in the hands of international student ambassadors? Why?
14) What is your opinion about the slogan: “Make Groningen you personal experience.”. Does it fit
to the university’s identity?
15) Would you be willing to pay for the campaign? How much?
16) Do you think international student ambassadors are willing to send postcards, including their
personal photos?
17) Do you think international student ambassadors are willing to include their personal
information on the postcards?
18) Do you think international student ambassadors know how to interact with others from their
culture?
Validated hypotheses about Groningen’s Universities
Talking to Maarten Dikhoff derived many valuable insights about the needs of universities. He
generally sees a big potential in the idea and the communication department was already
considering to implement postcards some time ago. He agrees that sending potential
international students such postcards would be perceived as very personal and certainly create a
strong USP. He confirmed the UG’s interest to save time and costs (Hypothesis 9 validated) and to
create a stronger USP (Hypothesis 10 validated). He also likes the idea because the postcards
can be tailored to the needs of different nationalities and market segments. He confirmed that the
UG wants to target different cultures more effectively (Hypothesis 14 validated). Generally the UG
doesn’t see a problem doing a shared campaign with the Hanze UAS (Hypothesis 13 validated).
However, he mentioned that joined initiatives by UG, Hanze UAS and Gemeente Groningen
(Akkoord van Groningen) generally take much more time. In fact, he assumes that implementing
such a campaign would take at least one year. He also said that the UG is willing to put
responsibility in the hands of student ambassadors, but in a controlled way (Hypothesis 15
validated). When talking about budget, he said that costs are probably not an issue if the
campaign generates enough value (Hypothesis 16 validated).
Disproved hypotheses about Groningen’s Universities
Maarten Dikhoff disproved Hypothesis 8 by saying that the UG is currently looking to attract
better international students instead of more international students. He also disproved Hypothesis
16, saying that the UG is not going to change its current slogan “Open, academic community”.
However, he still sees strong value in sending postcards to potential international students in
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order to convince them to chose the UG over competitors. Despite his enthusiasm for a postcard
campaign, he thinks that the presented idea is not suitable. His main concern is that potential
international students are not willing to request a postcard and fill in their address, which confirms
the tests results of international students. Maarten also sees the problem that anybody could
request a postcard and that it is hard to track who is really interested in studying in Groningen. By
saying this, he disproved Hypotheses 11 and 12. He stated that making such changes to the
university website is a long process and highly unlikely. He therefore suggested to cease the
button idea and use the postcard approach at a later stage of the student journey. He proposed to
send postcards after internationals got accepted to make the UG stand out from competitors,
pushing accepted students to enrol. At this stage, the university would also already have the
home addresses of these students from their Studielink application. He described that the UG
accepts 6000 international students each year, but only about 3000 end up studying in Groningen.
Noticeably, this idea links to Design Requirement 28. Maarten further brainstormed ideas to
minimise the effort and maximise results of the campaign. He suggested to standardise the
postcards, since sending truly personal cards to each individual international is too time
consuming. He proposed to create a standard postcard for each country in different languages.
This way the content can be still culturally sensitive, but time and effort is spared once the
postcards are prepared. Furthermore, he sees a mayor issue in working together with third parties
(e.g. Omapost). When using Omapost’s service, the UG might be violating the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR). The consent of the postcard receivers would be necessary, which
represents a challenge. Therefore, he assumes that the UG would only pay Omapost for this
campaign, if the privacy regulation issues are fixed.
5.2.3 Evaluation Round 1

Interviews with international students, student ambassadors and Maarten Dikhoff validated added
value of a postcard campaign to potential international students and universities. However, the
envisioned postcard button on universities’ websites appears impracticable. A better option
shows to be sending postcards to internationals after being accepted to Groningen’s universities.
This agrees with Design Requirement 28. At this stage, the university has the applicants’ home
addresses from Studielink and personal postcard is likely to convince them to make Groningen
their final choice. The main issue appears to be privacy regulations (GDPR). To avoid violating
these regulations, the university has to ask for the receivers’ consents or avoid working with third
parties (like Omapost). Consequently, Omapost could deal with this issue in two ways:
1) Omapost finds a way to work around GDPR.
2) Omapost finds a way to obtain the consent of potential international students that their
addresses can be shared to send postcards.
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5.3 Prototype Adjustments
Client Feedback
After discussing the feedback from the first test round with the Omapost team, we started to look
into ways around the GDPR regulation. Therefore, one of Omapost’s competitors (Kaartje2go) was
consulted. Appendix 5.3 shows a standard working agreement of Kaartje2go, including
paragraphs about privacy regulations. While they commit to delete postal addresses within 8
weeks and take measures to comply with GDPR obligations, they put the responsibility of data
sharing towards customers. In other words, if customers use their service to send postcards they
have to pay attention to privacy regulations themselves. As the first test round showed,
universities are unlikely to take any risk of violating the GDPR. While Omapost continues to look
into other options to solve the issue, they asked me to explore how the consent of potential
international students’ could be obtained.
Prototype 2
After internationals get accepted, universities usually send them a first email including important
information and procedures. These information include for instance details about the
programme’s modules, important dates and FAQ’s. The receivers of these emails are expected to
read information carefully, because it is perceived as important for their final decision. My idea is
to also include the postcard campaign in this email. A short paragraph could explain the idea and
provide a link to request a postcard (See Figure 5.1). The link leads accepted international
students to a landing page of the university (Figure 5.2). Since the universities already have their
addresses from Studielink, they only need to fill in their full names. This way students are more
likely to complete the process, since the first test round showed that they don’t want to fill in their
address. Besides, they must agree to terms and conditions, stating that their address is shared
with Omapost. This way, no privacy issues occur. I have prepared a second presentation showing
the adjusted process to request a postcard. To realistically prototype the envisioned email, I have
used the acceptance email I received myself from Hanze UAS in 2014 and added the following
paragraph:
Receive a postcard from one of our international students!

Hanze is connecting international students on a personal level. If you want to receive a real
postcard from one of our international students, get a first impression of the city and be surprised,
you can click here.
Furthermore, I have designed a landing page (figure 5.2) and matched the design of the postcard
sending portal with it. I have again screen recorded prototype 2 to give readers of this portfolio a
full understanding of the second presentation. The video can be accessed at:
http://y2u.be/nTKuxCVHIeU .
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Figure 5.1: Acceptance E-mail
Figure 5.2: Landing page 
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5.4 Test Round 2
The adjusted campaign idea generated four additional hypotheses (Table 5.3).

18 Potential international students will open the link in the email.
19 Potential international students will fill in their names.
20 Potential international students will agree to the Terms and Conditions.
Groningen’s universities see the adjusted postcard campaign as a useful option for
21 followup marketing towards accepted international students.
Groningen’s universities are willing to implement a postcard sending link in their
22 acceptance emails.
5.4.1 Test 3: Plan

The objective of test 3 is to test the viability of Hypotheses 18-20. Therefore, I have again
conducted short semi-structured interviews with participants from test 1. I have asked them the
following questions:
1) What are your first thoughts about the adjusted idea?
2) Do you think accepted international students will click the link? Would you have done it?
3) Do you think accepted international students will fill in their name? Would you have done it?
4) Do you think accepted international students will agree to the Terms and Conditions? Would
you have done it?
The bottom rows of the table in Appendix 5.2 show my notes of their answers.

All interviewees see the adjusted prototype as an improvement. The majority confirmed that
accepted international students are likely to click every link of the acceptance email (Hypothesis
18 validated). The landing page where internationals fill in their names was perceived as well
designed and easy. The interviewees expect most accepted international students to fill in their
names (Hypothesis 19 validated). Responses also indicated that the portal is now perceived as
more official and personal, since it was communicated via Email and is only for them. Suggestions
for improvement were that the email could mention that it only takes a few seconds to request a
postcard and that the universities has the home addresses already from Studielink. Asking about
the Terms and Conditions, the respondents consistently stated that accepted international
students would agree to the terms and conditions without hesitation (Hypothesis 20 validated).
5.4.3 Test 4: Plan

The objective of test 4 is to test the viability of Hypotheses 21 & 22. Therefore, I have met Anneke
Boonstra, the international account manager at Hanze UAS. Gabija Petrauskaitė, a Marketing
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Management intern, also joined the meeting. I showed them the postcard prototypes, the
adjusted screens and explained key findings of test round 1. Being more confident and
knowledgeable about the topic at this stage, I decided to conduct an unstructured (in-depth)
interview to give the interviewees room to freely express thoughts and opinions. I have started the
interview with a general question (‘What are your first thoughts about the idea?’) and asked
followup questions. The interview took place on May 27th and lasted 60 minutes. Appendix 5.4
shows my interview notes.
Figure 5.3: Booklet Hanze UAS

Talking to Anneke Boonstra revealed that the
envisioned postcard campaign fits well with the
current marketing strategy of Hanze UAS, as they are
moving towards more culturally tailored approaches
(Hypothesis 14 further validated). She mentioned that
personal contact is crucial to trigger the target group
to enrol. Currently, Hanze UAS does call sessions
with internationals to create a personal bound, which
showed to be effective. Furthermore, the Marketing
Department of Hanze UAS recently created a city
guide booklet together with the student association
Groningen Life (Figure 5.3). The booklet will be send
to accepted international students to give them a
better understanding of what it’s like in Groningen
(link to Design Requirement 27). However, printing
and sending the books is very expensive.
While Anneke expressed that the Marketing Department would like to see more detailed research
results proofing added value for the target group, she sees the concept as a good solution for
followup marketing towards accepted students (Hypothesis 21 validated). Anneke does not see
problems to include the postcard sending link in acceptance emails (Hypothesis 22 validated).
The marketing department will have to ask the student administration to include the link, which is
common practice. However, she thinks that the effect of the postcards would be even stronger, if
students receive them completely by surprise. Generally, the Hanze UAS appears to have less
concerns about the privacy regulations, making them an attractive potential client for Omapost.
Discussing the implementation of the campaign, Anneke said that the next application period
would be a good moment to start discussing it. The marketing team sits together every year in
September to decide on strategic directions. Since postcards would fit in the current strategy, she
expects that the Hanze UAS is likely to consider the campaign idea. A decision could for example
be, if the marketing department prints the expensive city guide booklets again or sends more cost
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efficient, personal postcards instead. She explained that Omapost would have to talk to the
campaign coordinator Kim Sips and present strong value propositions. She confirmed Hypothesis
9, stating that the most important value for Hanze UAS would be to save work load and costs.
The less the Hanze UAS has to do, the more likely they are to purchase Omapost’s services. To be
approved, the campaign has to be planned step by step, including a detailed timeline and key
activities. An especially strong argument would be test results with international students, that
prove value for the target group. When implementing the Omapost campaign, she proposed to
start with a pilot version with only few countries to increase feasibility and simplify the
measurement of effects. She further stated that a strong value for Hanze UAS would be if
Omapost measures the success of the campaign and provides them with these insights.
Importantly, Anneke would not recommend to make this campaign a joined initiative of both
universities, since this would slow decision making processes enormously. This confirms the
feedback of Maarten Dikhoff.
Anneke additionally made some practical comments about the campaign, which shows that she
seriously considers to implement the postcard campaign. Like Maarten Dikhoff, she said that the
slogan on the prototype postcards does not add value to Hanze UAS (Hypothesis 16 further
disproved). Also, the call to action on the postcard should say ‘enrol’ instead of ‘apply’. She also
warned to carefully write the text in a way that leaves no room for confusion, because the target
group is already overwhelmed and often quite insecure about their decisions. She also thinks it
would be important to mention that the addresses from the Studielink application will be used, in
order to create trust. This linked to the feedback of test 3. Furthermore, she advised me to think
about what happens if students applied with wrong addresses or agencies handled their
applications.
5.4.5 Evaluation Round 2

Test 3 with international students and student ambassadors validated the adjusted campaign
concept from the perspective of the target group. Accepted international students are more likely
to request a postcard through a link in the acceptance email, which is perceived as more official
and personal. Besides increase user friendliness, it solves the GDPR issue for Omapost.
Furthermore, test 4 exposed promising opportunities to sell a postcard campaign to the Hanze
UAS. It showed that sending personal postcards to accepted international students fits well into
the Hanze’s current marketing strategy. Anneke Boonstra's enthusiasm and comments showed
that the Hanze UAS would seriously consider the idea, if Omapost pitches a convincing story to
the campaign coordinator. Booth interviews of test 2 and 4 conclude that realising a joined
campaign between UG and Hanze UAS is not recommendable, since it takes much more time.
Also, Hanze UAS clearly shows to have less concerns about the GDPR, which is a good reason to
focus the campaign on the Hanze UAS.
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5.5 Implementation plan
The two test rounds validated the postcard campaign to a large extend. International students
and student ambassadors approved the postcard prototypes and are likely to follow the link of the
acceptance email. Both universities see potential in a postcard campaign, whereby Hanze UAS
clearly showed the biggest interest. Therefore, the adjusted campaign to target already accepted
international students shows sufficient to be implemented. The following communication advice
tells Omapost how to sell postcard campaigns to universities and includes a detailed
implementation plan. 
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Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Gregory, B., & Smith, A. (2014). Value Proposition Design. Hoboken:
John Wiley and Sons
Watson, M. (2016) Comparison of 18 APM & Application Monitoring Tools. Stackify. Retrieved
from https://stackify.com/application-performance-management-tools/
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Professional Product

Words: 1416
80
Table of Contents
Final Advice 82
GDPR issues 82
Business Case for Groningen’s universities 82
Postcard campaign for Hanze UAS 84
Time plan 85
Evaluation plan 85
Limitations & Risks: 86
References Professional Product 87
Figures Professional Product
Figure A: Adjusted (Final) Canvas 83
Tables Professional Product
Table A: Time plan 85
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Final Advice
The PID (Phase 1) stated the following problem:

How can the Omapost team turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business, without
sacrificing resources currently used for diverse part-time employers, or being overwhelmed by
external complexity, while maintaining financial performance?
The following implementation plan includes five points of advice, which Omapost can implement
to sell postcard campaigns to universities. It will offer a time efficient, simple and profitable
solution, contributing to turn the postcard app into a steadily growing business.
The advice is based on the previously adjusted campaign concept for Groningen’s universities to
target already accepted internationals with postcards, convincing them to make Groningen
their final choice and enrol. A prototyped acceptance email and landing page can be viewed at
http://y2u.be/nTKuxCVHIeU
GDPR issues
First of all, the prototype tests revealed universities’ concerns about privacy regulations. The EU's
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) prohibits sharing personal data with third parties if
individuals did not give their explicit consent. Organisations violating the regulation risk penalties
of €20 million (GDPR EU, n.d.). This problem does not only apply to universities, but is likely to
effect all potential business clients. When designing postcard campaigns for organisations in the
future (PID’s sub-goal 1), Omapost must convince them that its campaigns fully comply with the
GDPR. I therefore advice Omapost to always apply one of the following two options:
1) Obtain the consent of postcard receivers to share their data with Omapost.
2) Integrate the postcard tool in clients websites, to avoid saving any addresses on Omapost
servers.
Omapost should also ensure that its working agreements with clients include appropriate
paragraphs that legally protect Omapost (similar to the working agreements of Kaartje2go in
Appendix 5.3).
Business Case for Groningen’s universities

After testing the 22 business hypotheses, the initial business model canvas (figure 3.2) needed
revision. Figure A below shows the adjusted (final) business model canvas. I have highlighted all
changes in green.
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Figure A: Adjusted (Final) Canvas
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I advice Omapost to use the canvas to pitch the campaign concept of the adjusted prototype
(chapter 5.3) towards universities. In order to prove added value for accepted international
students, Omapost should present my findings from Phase 2 and Phase 5 (Tests 1 & 3). Next to
the already explained initial value propositions for universities (Chapter 3.3.1), I advice Omapost
to also offer them to measure the effect of the campaign, which creates an additional selling
point. This would also contribute to financial performance, because Omapost can charge for
success monitoring. Common prices for performance monitoring tools are between €75-€600 /
month (Watson, 2016), therefore I suggest to charge €1000 /year. The adjustment of the
campaign also resulted in new key activities. Omapost should discuss with universities to include
a postcard link to acceptance emails, in order to meet privacy regulations (GDPR). Furthermore,
Omapost should guarantee universities that they can include their own slogan on the postcards.
Postcard campaign for Hanze UAS

Since tests 2 & 4 suggested that cooperations between UG and Hanze UAS are generally very
time consuming, the original idea to promote a joined campaign was discarded. Phase 5
concluded that both universities see value in a postcard campaign to convince accepted
international students to enrol. However, the concept appeared to fit more closely with current
marketing strategies of Hanze UAS. I therefore advice Omapost to sell the first postcard
campaign for international student recruitment to Hanze UAS. Since narrowing the focus to only
one university reduces time and complexity, Omapost avoids sacrificing resources for part-time
employers or being overwhelmed by external complexity (PID’s problem statement).
More specifically, I advice Omapost to approach Kim Sips, the campaign coordinator of Hanze’s
Marketing Department, to pitch the campaign idea using the final business model canvas (Figure
A). Since Hanze UAS is interested in culturally sensitive approaches, I advice Omapost to pitch
the idea as a time and cost efficient micro marketing approach, tailored to cultural needs and
written in the receivers native languages. While my Design Requirements 29-46 indicate which
content will attract various cultural groups, Omapost should communicate that Hanze UAS can
freely decide what the exact content of the postcards should be.
Since time and cost efficiency showed to be highly important for Hanze UAS, I recommend
Omapost to discuss a pilot test with Hanze’s Marketing Department and start with targeting only
few countries to create a more controlled setting. This further reduces complexity, which suits
Omapost’s organisational situation. Since Germans form the biggest international group and most
data of my research covers Germans, I suggest to target Germans first. After the pilot test
indicates success, more countries can be included in the campaign. Furthermore, my interview
with Anneke Boonstra revealed that Hanze’s Marketing Department pays limited attention to
privacy regulations. In order to avoid negative surprises or damage of their business relationship, I
advice Omapost and Hanze UAS to discuss relevant GDPR considerations.
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Time plan
While the final business model canvas already includes key activities for the campaign itself, the
following time plan guides Omapost from first contact with the new business client (Milestone 1)
to followup campaigns with a broader target group (Milestone 7). I advice Omapost to follow the
timeline of table A.
Table A: Time plan

Time Milestones/Key Activities
Immediately (June 2019) 1) Reach out to Kim Sips (campaign coordinator) and schedule a
meeting.
June/ July 2019 2) Meet with Kim Sips and pitch the campaign idea using the final
business model canvas and findings from Phases 2 and 5.
July-October 2019 3) Develop a step-by-step campaign plan and discuss relevant
details with the Hanze marketing team (also discuss GDPR).
October 2019 (Start of 4) Create a postcard version, written by a German student
application period) ambassador.
October 2019 - August 5) Implement pilot campaign targeting Germans. Send accepted
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German students a postcard link in their acceptance email.
September 2020 6) Provide Hanze UAS with evaluation report (measuring effects) (e.g.
measure number of postcard receivers who eventually enrolled)
from September 2020 7) Discuss followup campaigns with Hanze UAS and increase target
group to more nationalities (Links to PID’s measurable goal 3).
Evaluation plan
As the final business model canvas shows, a advice Omapost to monitor the success of the
campaign using four key metrics:
(1) The number of accepted international students clicking the link i the email.
This will tell Omapost, if the email is effective. Should the data show that only few accepted
international students click the link, Omapost should request the student administration to make
adjustments to the email (e.g. changing the text or highlighting the paragraph).
(2) The number of accepted international students asking to receive a postcard.

This will show Omapost the performance of the landing page. If the data indicates that few people
who clicked the link eventually requested a postcard, Omapost should make adjustments to the
landing page (e.g. changing the text, change Terms and Conditions or changing the design).
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(3) The number of receivers who contact the sender.
This will tell about the performance of the postcards and gives insights in the target group's
reaction to postcards. If there is a high number of contacts, Omapost should analyse how
receivers reacted to the cards and what topics they address when approaching the senders. If
there is a low number of contact, adjustments to the postcards should be made (e.g. emphasise
the contact option or change contact information to other channel).
4) The number of postcard receivers who decide to enrol.

This will show to what extend the campaign contributed to international student recruitment.
Obviously, it is difficult to measure the real effect of postcards, since accepted international
students make their final decisions based on many factors. However, enrolment numbers of
postcard receivers could be compared with enrolment numbers of people who didn’t get a
postcard. It could also be compared with enrolment numbers of internationals who received the
current booklet. Dependent on the success of the postcard campaign will be if Hanze UAS
continues to use the Omapost service, which is linked to the PID’s measurable goal 3.
Limitations & Risks:

The advice is based on five phases of design research and represents my findings of four months
of work. While I am convinced that it provides Omapost with many useful insights, it comes with
some limitations risking Omapost’s success.
First of all, the small number of test participants make findings less representative. Omapost
should be aware that other members of universities (e.g. Kim Sips) might react differently to the
developed postcard campaign. Therefore, Omapost should prepare to face unexpected changes
(which is one of Omapost’s strengths).
Secondly, several sources indicate that working together with a large and slow organisation like a
university will take time. Due to the vertical structure and slow decision making processes,
Omapost must prepare for long negotiations and slow progresses. That means if Omapost
decides to implement my advice, there is a risk for loosing motivation along the way.
Finally, my advice comes with certain scalability restrictions. If the campaign shows to be effective
for Hanze’s international student recruitment, Omapost might want to look into selling the
campaign to other universities. However, one of the concept’s selling points is that it creates
uniqueness for universities. If Omapost would sell the campaign to a large number of universities,
uniqueness would suffer. If all universities send postcards to accepted students, they would not
perceive it as special anymore. Therefore, Omapost must be aware that the campaign is only
scalable to a certain extend. 
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References Professional Product
GDPR EU (n.d.) Fines and Penalties. Retrieved from https://www.gdpreu.org/compliance/fines-
and-penalties/
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Phase 6: Reflection

Words: 1084
Table of Contents
6.1 Introduction 89
6.2 Execution of Research 89
6.3 Collaboration & Communication 89
6.4 Advisory Role 90
6.5 Conclusion 91
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6.1 Introduction
In the following phase, I reflect on my personal and professional development during the 4 month
period of the project. As suggested by the Design Research Handbook (Hanzehogeschool
Groningen, 2018), I will describe my learnings about the execution of research, communication
with supervisor and client and my own advisory role.
6.2 Execution of Research

The execution of the research phase (Phase 2) was the main challenge for me. The entire project
encountered many ups and downs and therefore was highly iterative. After going through the
entire design research process alone for the first time, I now appreciate the power of group work
much more. After 4 months of many conflicting emotions, I now better understand the value of
having team members who give constant feedback and look at the project from other
perspectives. In the future, I plan to pay more attention to realise each team members strengths
and express my appreciation more often.
Furthermore, I have to admit that I underestimated the scope of the graduation assignment at the
beginning. Something that the final portfolio does not show is that I originally focused my
research analysis on social impact. However, I realised after a while that my approach did not
have any international context and therefore no sufficient direction. After changing the scope of
the project to international student recruitment, it felt much more useful and concrete. However, I
had only about four more weeks the finish the project at this point. In the future, I should prepare
better and take the project’s initiation phase more serious.
Regarding phases 3 - 5, I felt more comfortable as it was linked to a real business case. Mostly, I
enjoyed talking to students and marketing experts of Groningen’s universities to validate my
ideas. In the future, I want to do more activities, that involve networking and talking to different
people.
6.3 Collaboration & Communication

At the beginning of the year, I had several options for internships to write my graduation
assignment. I can now say that I made the right choice with Studio Andere Koek and Omapost. I
am extremely thankful for all the dedicated time and energy of the Omapost team (especially Tim,
Jaring and Wilbert) to support me with my project. I learned, that I feel very comfortable working
with an innovative organisation like Studio Andere Koek and Omapost. The flat structure and open
culture triggered my creativity. Besides, I also learned to value the direct dutch culture. getting
direct and honest feedback helped me to improve and feel clear about my clients expectations.
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The communication with my supervisor Ken Drozd was similarly positive. I highly appreciated the
balance between professional supervision and personal contact. While I was rather insecure
about my work at the beginning, I felt increased ownership for my project at the end, which is
thanks to Ken. Regarding the feedback, I realised that I get much more valuable input if I ask
concrete questions. Therefore, I should better prepare for such feedback sessions in the future.
During the assignment, I have dealt with internationals from various cultures. The four cultural
groups I investigated were Germans, Southern Europeans, Asians and Eastern Europeans.
Obviously, these groups entail more culturally diverse subgroups (e.g. countries, states). Having
experienced interactions with people from different cultures during the past 4 years, I felt
comfortable and did not encounter any barriers.
6.4 Advisory Role

Looking back at the project initiation, I now think that I was not critical enough about briefing
sessions and the clients assignment. Asking more critical, in-depth questions about what Studio
Andere Koek really wants would have saved me a lot of time and energy, which I now used to
explore the assignments direction. Next time, I would prepare briefing interviews with clients
much better by creating an overview of my own expectations and preparing more concrete
questions. Looking at my final advice, I am confident with the progress I made in the short period
of time. I can proudly say that I have never worked harder on any assignment before.
Something that facilitated my role immensely, was that my client did not restrict me in any way
and never showed any resistance to my approaches. However, I did encounter resistance when
testing my prototypes in Phase 5. While I saw critics about my ideas as most valuable to prove
the campaign, it was sometimes challenging to implement feedback. I would say that the
graduation period proved that one of my strengths is the ability to deal with changes and adjust
my behaviour accordingly (sometimes even by discarding an entire idea and starting all over).
Business ethics and CSR

What impressed me the most when I was introduced to the company was the fair and respectful
organisational culture. Studio Andere Koek treats each team member equally and puts much
responsibility in their hands. In the future, I want to continue working in similar organisational
environments.
Furthermore, being involved in Omapost was especially rewarding due to the social focus of the
organisation. The company originated from a strong desire to connect young and old generations.
Since the beginning, the Omapost team realised that postcards represent a unique way to
connect people on a personal level, which serves many peoples social interest. In my opinion, the
main reasons why the universities expressed interest in the campaign is that postcards are the
best way to create something that feels truly personal.
90
However, the decision to split Omapost in a social foundation and a profitable business also
comes with the risk to loose focus for social responsibility. Discussing this with Studio Andere
Koek, they said that they will pay attentional to responsible business practices, including
respectful client treatment and fair pricing.
Personally, I had the feeling that my work for Omapost contributed to ethical considerations.
Especially at towards the end, when I shared my test findings, I asked many critical questions.
The best example is EU privacy regulations (GDPR). My work made Omapost more aware of
these policies and they now pay increased attention to offer postcard campaigns that comply with
the law, making Omapost both more ethical and professional.
6.5 Conclusion
Over a period of four months, I developed both personally and professionally. Writing the
graduation assignment, I learned to appreciate group work and I discovered a number of personal
weaknesses (preparation & planning) and strengths (testing & adjusting). Working for Studio
Andere Koek, I discovered my preferences for working environments and improved my
professional skills (e.g. in the fields of networking and business ethics). I am looking forward to
further cooperation with Omapost. 
91
%206%20Phases%2022092018.pdf
92
Appendices
Appendices
Appendix 1.1: Client Briefings
When starting the internship, there were 3 face-to-face meetings between Jaring, Tim and
me. Each meeting took between 30 and 45 minutes. The goal of those briefing sessions
was to agree on a direction and starting point for my graduation project. While we first
considered to work on Social Impact campaigns, the focus has changed after Omapost
was hired by Experience Groningen. The Omapost meeting notes include the final
agreement of the project.
Meeting 1 (04.02.2019)
About Studio Andere Koek:
⁃ founded 2016 with Waard
⁃ full service web studio: apps, websides, designs, consult
⁃ Part Time employment: Tim = spider programming, Jaring = INDI
⁃ Projects: Donar website, Swipe’n’Trade, Bar finder
⁃ LetsCollect: library of local knowledge… best places, events, people etc —> missing
niche… idea to create network collection for businesses or social groups
⁃ Omapost original idea for omas but now splitting company in social foundation and
business: alternative name to attract students, tourists etc?! —> recently campaign
for ben.nl to send postcards to lonely people (63.000 post cards)
Desired situation:
⁃ create social image of studio andere koek (CSR?)
⁃ established…. connected to groningen… interactive solutions… cutting edge

technology…
⁃ which channel for which TG? —> research
Meeting 2 (08.04.2019)
How do you want to be seen?
⁃ young, creative, innovative, quality, enthusiastic
⁃ social good!!… connect to all social initiatives of groningen
⁃ who do potential clients go to right now? (Gemeente, ESN, RUG, Hanze, Here&Now)
—> studio plakband, others
⁃ TG youth
⁃ city/ area Groningen… showing what city is capable of: connecting talents, local
pride… (e.g. Basketball team)
⁃ be recognised as local web studio with easy web solutions for social initiatives
⁃ we wanna be studio that does nice projects to local society
⁃ doesn’t wanna be biggest studio/ company… more focused on impact/ quality than
growth
⁃ does things that can be easily integrated… connecting
93
⁃ increasing image while do awesome projects
⁃ B2B!
Dilemas:
⁃ what stops you: time! part time jobs responsibilities, business going well —> many
clients but all diverse
⁃ we usually don’t go out there… communication missing, need more social

connections, feel comfortable how we work…. change is risk
⁃ LetsCollect is too broad… not many people use it actively
Meeting 3 (14.02.2019)
- goals: contact social initiatives
- better use apps (LetsCollect niche?)
- make yourself a name.
- companies use omapost and LetsCollect for campaigns
- Agreement: 6 Phases of Design Research… prototyping idea: do something, test it,

learn from it and redo it better!
- first prototype: Omapost campaign Experience Groningen
Meeting 4 with the entire Omapost team (10.04.19)

- Jaring&Tim: programming
- Elke: graphic design
- Susan: social media
- Wilbert: public speaking
- Fritz: accounting
- Vladi: Intern for German market…
- everyone happy with social foundation work…. next initiative bingo in Student hotel
- how can we sell more campaigns?
- web app almost ready…
- Social media marketing required!
- Fritz financial update…
- Vladi has problem to reach Deutsch Post
- 3 goals: sell campaigns to businesses, remind existing clients and get new users
- What about push notifications?
- Email list of 17000 people… must do something with it…
- maybe hire promo agency?.. Team: no
- What’s the value for businesses
- Phil had meeting with BEN NL, they are super happy and wanna do again
- need more follow up projects
- Problem: sending international
- expensive… put stamps ourselves
94
Appendix 2.1: Questionnaire
Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/
1FAIpQLScQt6Vfwa1Eo4i4AjAKccBDv4L7DJccxHVcMT2Curs8UCTKJQ/viewform
Emotions while considering where to study abroad
Dear participant,
You are joining this survey because you have made the decision to study abroad in your past. With
the following questionnaire, we want to understand which emotions you experienced while making
this decision. The questionnaire will take you approximately 5 minutes.
General Information
1) Where are you from?

______________________
2) What is your gender?

Male
Female
Other
Please read the following text before answering.
You once made the decision to study abroad. Most likely, you decided after searching information
and comparing multiple options. In the following, we would like to understand the feelings you
experienced at this period of your life.
Therefore, please think back to the time when you decided to study abroad. Think about the place
you were, your age, your life situation and your thoughts about the future back then. Think about
how you searched for information and whom you talked to before making your decision.
When you are ready, please answer the following questions.
3) How old were you when you decided to study abroad?

Below 18
18-22
23-26
27-30
Above 30
4) While considering where to study abroad, to what extend did you feel the following
emotions?
95
5) Which emotions do you mostly associate with the following situations? (Multiple answers
possible)
96
Appendix 2.2: Design Document

No. Design Requirement Explanation Source
1 … the University of Groningen and Joined efforts of both universities are Context
the Hanze University of Applied common and likely to increase Analysis
Sciences collaborate. effectiveness of the campaign. (page 17)
2 … it is supported and sponsored Collaboration between UG, Hanze Context

by the Gemeente Groningen. UAS and Gemeente Groningen are Analysis
part of the Akkoord van Groningen (page 17)
agreement and likely to benefit the
campaign.
3 … international partners (like These partner schools are an Context
schools and universities) are important channel to promote Analysis
recruited to participate. Groningen’s universities to potential (page 18)

4 … it makes Groningen’s Growing international competition is Context
universities stand out from threatening internationalisation in Analysis
growing international competition. Groningen and requires outstanding (page 18)

communication strategies (e.g.
campaigns)
5 … it involves important These influencer all impact the Context
influencers, namely student decision of potential international Analysis
networks, parents, current students to study in Groningen. (page 18)
international students and/or local

citizens.
6 … it separately targets distinct The target group is highly Context
international student groups, heterogeneous and effective Analysis
including Germans, Southern communication requires (page 18)
Europeans, Asians and Eastern segmentation. Most international

students in the Netherlands come
Europeans.
from these four groups.
7 … it takes the varying preferences Diverse international student groups Context
of different international groups have different preferences for study Analysis
into account. field and programmes (see page 9 (page 18)

below for details).
97
8 … it takes advantage of the The analysed external relevance can Context
demographic and economic be a strong argument when trying to Analysis
relevance of the issue. find support for the campaign. (page

18&19)
9 … it communicates that cultural Cultural adaptation often is a Context
adaptation in Groningen is easy. challenge for international students. Analysis
Due to the multicultural environment, (page 19)
it is relatively easy in Groningen.
10 … it addresses the vibrant social The social context of Groningen may Context
life in Groningen. be a reason for potential international Analysis
students to decide for Groningen. (page 19)
11 … it promotes the high number of Groningen has many introduction Context
introduction events for events, organised be universities and Analysis
internationals in Groningen. student associations, facilitating the (page 19)

integration of internationals. These
events may be a reason for
internationals to choose Groningen.
12 … it communicates the expected The recent housing crisis damaged Context
improvement of Groningen’s the image of Groningen and made Analysis
housing shortage. internationals decide against (page 19)

Groningen.
13 … communicates through the Universities’ websites are most often Context
university websites. used by potential international Analysis
students to find information. (page 20)
14 … supports creating a website Currently no website includes all Context
with all important facts for necessary facts that potential Analysis
potential international students. international students require. (page 20)
15 … it is linked to one or more of the If the campaign is linked to these Context

Gemeente’s focus aspects of aspects, the chances for gaining Analysis
internationalisation, namely support of the Gemeente increase, (page 20)

due to shared vision.
housing, work, city living and
communication.
16 … it triggers current international This is another objective of the Context
students to recommend Groningen municipality. When internationals Analysis
to their friends at home. recommend Groningen in their home (page 20)

country, more potential international
students might become aware.
98
17 … it contributes to solve Creating awareness is universities Functional
universities main challenge to main challenge and solving this Analysis
create awareness abroad. would create strong value. (page 16)
18 … it takes place at international Study abroad fairs are important Functional

study abroad fairs and events. information sources for potential Analysis
international students and a way for (page 25)
universities to make personal contact
19 … it applies a personal approach Universities are trying to stand out Functional
to communicate with potential from global competitors by personal Analysis
international students. communication strategies. (page 25)
20 … it is time and cost efficient for This would be of strong value for Functional
universities. universities. Current international Analysis
student recruitment strategies, (page 25)
especially sending representatives to
international fairs, is time and cost
consuming.
21 … it integrates a Social Media Social Media is a very popular Functional
strategy. information source for potential Analysis
international students. (page 25)
22 … it supports the universities with Considering the endless study Functional
creating unique selling points, for abroad options, creating uniqueness Analysis
example ‘The most personal is crucial to gain the attention of (page 25)
potential international students.
university’.
23 … it communicates rational Research shows that potential Functional
arguments such as reputation of international students make Analysis
universities, quality of education, decisions after extensive (page 25)
considerations and base final
career opportunities and costs of
decisions on rational facts.
living.
24 … it makes use of international These ambassadors serve as role Functional
student ambassadors. models for potential international Analysis
students. (page 26)
25 … it is tailored to specific market The target group is highly Functional
segments, such as nationalities, heterogeneous and requires Analysis
study fields or motivations. segmentation. (page 26)
26 … it addresses potential This creates trust and a more Functional

international students in their personal image. Analysis
native languages. (page 26)
99
27 … visualises what it’s like to study Potential international students are Functional
and live in Groningen. outside Groningen and want to get Analysis
an idea of what it’s like to study and (page 26)
live here, before they choose to enrol.
28 … personal postcards are sent Often, international students get Functional
after potential international accepted by multiple universities and Analysis
students are accepted. the postcard campaign could drive (page

them to choose Groningen over their 26&27)
other options.
29 … it addresses mainly positive Potential International students Needs
emotions, especially towards generally feel more positive emotions Analysis
Asians. while considering where to study (page 34)

abroad.
30 … it communicates in a positive Potential International students are Needs
tone of voice. more likely to be attracted by Analysis
positivity. (page 34)
31 … stimulates the target groups 'Excitement’ is the most dominant Needs
excitement about studying abroad, positive feeling while considering Analysis
especially when they first think where to study abroad. (page 34,
about studying abroad and after figure 2.8)
they got accepted.

32 … it communicates that studying The target group feels independent Needs
in Groningen guarantees the target to a high extend while considering Analysis
group’s independence, especially where to study abroad. (page 34,

figure 2.8 &
towards Germans and Asians.
page 36,
figure 2.9)
33 … it focusses on relieving stress 'Stressed’ is the most dominant Needs
among the target group, especially negative feeling while considering Analysis
towards Germans and Southern where to study abroad. (page 34,
figure 2.8 &
Europeans.
page 36,
figure 2.9)
34 … it counters the feeling of being The target group often feels Needs
overwhelmed by providing clearly overwhelmed to a high extend while Analysis
structured and simply information, considering where to study abroad. (page 34,
figure 2.8 &
especially towards Southern
page 36,
Europeans.
figure 2.9)
100
35 … it assures Eastern Europeans Eastern Europeans feel especially Needs
that studying in Groningen is inspired while considering where to Analysis
inspiring. study abroad. (page 36,

figure 2.9)
36 … it addresses the promising Eastern Europeans feel especially Needs
future of Groningen’s international hopeful while considering where to Analysis
students towards Eastern study abroad. (page 36,

figure 2.9)
Europeans, especially when they
first think about studying abroad.
37 … it shows compassion for the Southern Europeans expressed Needs
emotionally overwhelming overall higher extends of many Analysis
situation to Southern Europeans. diverse feelings. (page 36,

figure 2.9)
38 … it stimulates Southern Southern Europeans feel especially Needs
Europeans inspiration when they inspired when they first think about Analysis
first think about studying abroad, studying abroad. (page 36,
figure 2.10)
for example by showcasing
previous achievements of
international alumni.
39 … it stimulates Asians confidence Asians feel high extends of both Needs
and reduces doubt when they first confidence and doubt when they first Analysis
think about studying abroad, for think about studying abroad. (page 36,
example by communicating that figure 2.10)
choosing Groningen’s universities

is the right step.
40 … it shows compassion for the This stage shows the broadest Needs
overwhelming situation of potential variation and highest percentage of Analysis
international students when they negative emotions among all cultural (page 37,
groups. figure 2.11)
compare different study options.
41 … it is attractive to the target The parents attitudes are likely to Needs
groups parents. influence their children’s decision. Analysis
(page 37 &
40)
101
42 … it approves positive emotions Potential International students feel Needs
when potential international multiple positive emotions at this Analysis
students make their final decision stage. (page 38,
where to apply, especially towards figure 2.13)
Germans.
43 … it reduces doubt when potential Potential International students feel Needs
international students make their doubtful to a high extend when Analysis
final decision where to apply, for making their final decision where to (page 38,
apply. figure 2.13)
example by showing examples of
other international students who
applied and never regretted it.
44 … it stimulates excitement of Eastern Europeans and Germans feel Needs
Eastern Europeans and Germans especially excited when getting Analysis
after they have been accepted. accepted. (page 38,

figure 2.14)
45 … it stimulates a variety of positive Southern Europeans expressed high Needs
emotions towards Southern extends of multiple positive emotions Analysis
Europeans after they have been after getting accepted. (page 38,
figure 2.14)
accepted, including hope,
independence, confidence and
inspiration
46 … it communicates towards Asians feel especially independent Needs
Asians that enrolling at one of when getting accepted. Analysis
Groningen’s universities is the (page 38,
ultimate step to feel independent, figure 2.14)
after they have been accepted.

47 … it acts culturally sensitive using The conclusions are based on a Needs
knowledge conducted from further small number of answers and Analysis
research. therefore less representative. (page 40)
48 … it acts culturally sensitive by The conclusions are based on a Needs

working together with cultural small number of answers and Analysis
experts. therefore less representative. (page 40)
102
Appendix 5.1: Testing Hypotheses 1-7 & 18-20
Prototype test 1 with international students and International Student Ambassadors (ISA)
Question Claudio Tanja (Italy) & Nancia Rob (UK) = Celia (UK) = Victoria (Italy)
(Germany) Levke (China) ISA ISA
(Germany)
What are - ansprechend

- rational
- from - text - cute, like - really nice
your first - ungewohnt

- spelling university different: the picture
- more
thoughts - “main Name mistakes…
side strong
needs to be - put name at personal
about this ist” / Ich bin!!

- Betka is too - not very more the end… - when
campaign - Deutsch fehlt much personal…
excited…
more deciding
idea? Persönlichkei marketing - more vivid.. - more personal
which uni to
t..
like
decorations
enthusiastic
- feel like you go…
- antworts - idea: ask for - very cold - overly already - i would like
Postkarte…
specific design
friendly…
made a to receive
- “cool das du information - not boring…
- people will friend
and see that
den button about - should be feel like they i have
geklickt hast!
specific timely!
are forced - new friends over
- Greetings fields… - why not to do it…
buddysytem there
from include - picture: at Hanze: 8 - maybe i

Groningen its memes? houses.. key would have
mega gut!
(haring with Groningen countries chosen
- praxis statt dutch flag)
athmospher have their paris if
nur theory!
- if you do e!
own - shows that
- postkarte ist surprise - few people facebook…
university
sehr instead of (3) infront of - problem: actually
persöhnlich! postcard its landmarks personal cares to
braucht to … more names/ make
gesicht!
intimidating closed contact info people
- beispiel … surprise friends
is not choose
Rückruf
has bad - people wanted
- hürde sich zu image expect to (weirdo
melden…
make few example)
- Problem: friends…
- idea to send
Unis verlieren postcard
viele - talk to right when they
Studenten die people at already
sich schon RUG… applied…
angemeldet bureaucracy
push to
hatten
- department Groningen
- “würde mich s are - Problem:

freuen wenn separated How do you
du mir and slow know if the
antwortest!”
processes
person
- sollte von - directly!
requesting a
Profis - people have card is really
geschrieben soo many a potential
werden: stupid international
international questions
student?
student - send it after
ambassadors studielink!
!! - budget for
recruitment
big
especially
for NON-EU
Do you think - selling point - yes - emotional Yes Yes Yes

postcards information
are - yes
personal? personal
103
Do you think - depends on - not to get - yes i would - no.
- instead of - yes why not
potential person!
information
have done it
- would not red button - they may be
international - große Hürde!
- levke - don’t think expect to like curious
students are - Daten werden wouldn’t do many others get a everything

- its free
going to fill sofort it

would
postcard - should have - i would do it
in their gelöscht!
- surprise… - i asked for because its omapost - probably I
address? - willst keine extra… feel customer far
style picture
am different
Would you email valued
service
- “we will - i might not and others I
have done it abgeben… - I wouldn’t - information
send notice it
know
when you gib Adresse
have - interactive… postcard - would have wouldn’t do
were - MAYBE JUST reached out before I anywhere”
been it
looking for SAY to ask for come…
- privacy
interested…
different SURPRISE infos
- depends on would click
study INSTEAD OF - now i do culture
on it and
abroad POSTCARD!
over - addendum: maybe do it
options? - Email linkedin

information - seems not
signup… - I would will not be believable
value more saved
as surprise!
(Q: how to
get
address?)
Do you think - viele Leute - shows extra - yes would - yes!

- Yes stands - University
this fragen: effort..
increase - personal out really cares
campaign Warum gehst - should fit in motivation touch but can also
creates a du ins current to accept be seen as
favourable Ausland? workflow
the offer
fake
attitude Riesen - if I applied - they literally
about Schritt…
already its care!
studying in - haupt stronger
Groningen argument:
multicultural
… Angst
addressieren
Do you think - yes definitely!

- no
- no - email better!
ISA - no i would
potential - strong point!
- big step
whatsapp/ - yes people experience:
not do it
international - anrufen! je - maybe if i facebook in would get in - email is - i don’t know

students will persönlicher have a China
touch
better
why
contact the desto besser!

specific - Wechat!
- the more - would - to big of a
sender, if - information question
- email works they know contact
step
he/she has richness! je - if we have as well

about the - depends - if i have
included mehr infos something sender the where you question
contact desto besser
in common
more likely
from: most maybe
information? - Testimonial! - i don’t know - whatsapp people who
Would you this person too personal
message on
have done - couldn’t be WhatsApp
that after anywhere…
(african,
receiving a - Netherlands asian) … +
postcard? ! Groningen parents
specific
104
Do you think - unsympathisc
the photo on her typ fletzt
the front rum
triggers - hübsche
interest personen!
among - community
potential sit
international einschüchter
students? n
- man sieht
Groningen
nicht
- Frauen zu
Männern…
Männer zu
Frauen!
- Studentenleb
en… weniger
Personen
sind weniger
einschüchter
n…
Do you think - creepy! How - surprised
the photo on did they get - special
the front my address
triggers - Levke would

emotions decide
among against it!
potential - Tanja likes it
international - depends on
students? culture!!
Italy likes it
What should - passbild on - should be - farms, - what they - relaxed, chill - people
the photo back
general
windmills
do in that atmosphere
smiling in a
show in your - sonst - random - groningen picture…
park was
opinion? realisiert man people
province
- lifestyle
nice
What would das man die - too intimate

- small city
- name of - i was trying
have person nicht - Tanja - group of student
to find out
attracted kennt…
doesn’t people - postcards who is from
you when - scheinheilig think so.. 8more than with photos where
your were persönlich

5)
of friends - not too
looking for - GRACHTEN!!
- typical rather like to many
different - Hausboote
dutch read about people =
study - Dutch Dream!
landscape, student life confusing
abroad - Target Group houses, instead of - not like a

options? kennt das something study
class photo
Studentenleb recognisabl - how its easy
en noch e of to integrate
nicht! Die Groningen
träumen - preferred
noch! style of
photograph
y in china is
very
compact
- think about
parents.. no
beach bikini
thing…
decency
105
What should - acknowledge - emotions! - should be - exclamation - yes
- it’s big step
the text resistance: we are balance marks
- should also especially
include in “ich weiß das happy
formal and - seems say more for Bachelor
your es schwer ist, - more informal…
fake?
about what students
opinion? aber ist cool personal,

- not too - why people the student - nice that
What would hier!” - push people cheesy
came is studying she put her
have to make - not too here…
and what phone
attracted final casual
- what made year.
number
you when decision = - for chinese: her decide? - what do we - personalise

your were RUG high quality
have in d!
looking for - most common? - empathy…

different students difficult to
study look at make
abroad websites decision
options? 1000 times!

- it’s fine like
- combination that
of rational - should not

and be serious…
personal
- experience
- DATE! (If
you look at
it after some
time,
nostalgic
feeling)
Do you think - als - Same - international - people like - Yes same…

- more
potential Deutscher: nationality!
!
same - when i was personal
international lieber - if chinese nationalities!
here i from same
students international! message - buddy?
wanted to nationality
would like to they think it - people like talk to - greeting at

receive is full of to talk to british least in
postcards chinese
someone people Italian
from - most from their - english is

students chinese country… also nice…
with the come to similar
same or experience issues…
different international same
nationality? … culture
- same
language
feels more
comfortable
Test Round 2:
What are - yes viel - easy

- Chinese - makes more - there is soo - many emails
your first besser

- nicer design
will do it
sense
much - good idea..
thoughts - voll easy - creepy? - - cool design
information more likely
about the maybe add - i didn’t read when you to do it
adjusted how you got the email get - easy and

idea? addresses? closely but accepted
fast
most people - nice - not for

do
touch… exchange
- i only had cute students
one option
so i didn’t
need to be
convinced
106
Do you think - ich habe - emails very - more people Sure, why not
- people are - Yes now its
accepted jeden link important… will do it
- acceptance likely to official
international geklickt, war now master - after you are is important

click all links - no reason
students will voll aufgeregt
study accepted, - it’s more not to do it
click the - is einfach..
application you do personal as
link? Would - vielleicht same… i everything they already
you have schreib das read they want
accepted
done it? es nur 10 everything - more official you
Sekunden twice feeling - “We want

dauert you!”
Do you think - ist einfach… - people more - not - if they click - not sure
yes, most
accepted viele werden likely to do everyone link they also - if it would be people
international neugierig sein
it
but many
fill in name seen as a
students will - ja - more official - it’s free and terms and requirement?
fill in their and they conditions
name? already
Would you gave infos
have done
it?
Do you think - ja da achtet Yes - yes don’t - nobody - people will yes
accepted doch keiner read it haha cares definitely
international mehr drauf..
agree to
students will - wenn link terms and
agree to the dann auch conditions
Terms and AGBs
Conditions?
Would you
have done
it?
107
Appendix 5.2: Testing Hypotheses 8-17
INTERVIEW with Maarten Dikhoff
1) What do you think in general about this idea?

- generally like it…
- but sooner do it when students get accepted
- don’t see why students would request it…
- getting it is nice
- when student have been accepted
- same programme!
- after being applied to studielink
- nice gesture!
- we have been thinking about it ourselves
- GDTR problem!
- how does Ben do it
- as RUG: there has to be a check in student link to give permission
- issues with integrating in Studielink! slow organisation!
- business with Uni is mayor problem privacy
- fine 50 MIO Euros!
- Goal: better prepare students
2) Is your university currently looking for ways to attract international students? Why?
- we want to attract talented good students!
- focus for coming years: Quality over Quantity..
- not grow but improve!
- no delays…
- customer journey: registrations open in october… deadline 1st of May.. students who have
signed up at beginning of october must wait for long time… KEEP PEOPLE INTERESTED
- Quality through NC programmes! selection procedures
3) Do you consider this campaign suited to attract international students? Why?

- keep leads warm!
- make student
4) Would you consider this solution time- and cost efficient?

- university is super slow: if it is made in a year
- trick is to sell idea to right people… have the right sales pitch
- budget approve
- university is not very flexible!
- if it would be done… then by themselves…
- doing it themselves saves money….
5) Is your universities trying to create a stronger USP? Why?

- yes interested!
- sales pitch: cost certain amount of money
- least amount of work
- all we want to do is write a text… translate… Omapost takes care of the rest!
- concept works! hard to sell because of privacy issue!
108
- talk to head of communications: Holger Bakker to sell…
- universities do it: send envelope with glitter to party! (american )
6) Do you consider this campaign suited to create a stronger USP? Why?

- yes its definitely unique
7) Is your universities trying to improve the user experience of the website? Why?
- no, making changes to university website is seldom and takes long time
- we are a quite boring university
8) Do you consider this campaign suited to improve the user experience of the website?
Why?
- not needed
- maybe other universities would appreciate it
9) Would you implement a postcard sending tool in your university’s website? Why?
- not a good idea
- I think nobody would care
- why should they put in their address?
10) Would you see it as a problem if the other Groningen university also implements this
campaign?
- Akkord van Groningen
- agreement between Uni + Hanze + Gemente
- if UG and Hanze are both doing it, Gemeente would automatically be part of it
- no problem in general
11) Is your universities trying to target different cultures more effectively? Why?
- would have to find person for each nationality.
- same text for each country
- chinese to chinese student ambassador
- OR should it be text from university
- technical issues: 120 countries … only one from island!
- native language ideally
- time and cost balance!!
12) Do you consider this campaign suited to target different cultures more effectively? Why?
- yes.
- question is if it is worth the effort to write individual postcards
109
- maybe better to have standardised postcard in different languages and tailored approaches for
each country
13) Are you willing to put responsibility in the hands of international student ambassadors?
Why?
- yes but we will check it
- maybe better to send postcard as university
14) What is your opinion about the slogan: “Make Groningen you personal experience.”.
Does it fit to the university’s identity?
- boring university
- official slogan right now: open, academic community.
- slogan will not be changed
- make it more sexy…
15) Would you be willing to pay for the campaign? How much?
- don’t know
- money not an issue
- 6000 student are admitted in average
- 2,50 x 6000 = 13.000 €
- must have strong selling point
110
Appendix 5.3: Working Agreements Kaartje2go
111
 
112
Appendix 5.4: Testing Hypotheses 21&22
INTERVIEW with Anneke Booster & Gabija Petrauskaité (27.05.19)
1) After hearing the idea, what are your first thoughts about it?
- did send cards for open day invitations to dutch students

- new campaign idea: Groningen map
- booklet about Groningen…
- enroll instead of apply

- student administration does letter of acceptance!
- marketing department sends books
- personal contact is best way
- not convinced if this is what the target group want
- right now: call sessions
- newsletters
- practical information
- follow up system
- postcard = different attention?
- book is expensive!
- really do it personalised
- be careful with text… can be confusing because people made the decision and might think
they are not accepted
- person from each country
- personalise is super difficult = time consuming!!
- keep in touch! good to send something every once in a while
- long time ago sending email to high school students… (postcard) … creepy where they have
address from? = mention how you got emails/ addresses
- there is some question to agree to get information from Hanze on Studielink
- use it at open day… when visitors are coming… welcoming day…
- depends on cost and work load = who, when, how… hard to organise!
- Problem: Agencies fill in forms! not having addresses
- randomise picture bad idea…
- biggest value: surprise
- too much spamming? many approaches
- should be discussed with Kim Sips (Campaign Coordinator)
- research to convince
- City of Talent/ Groningen Life… no problem to work with UG
- Groningen Life = campaign of City of Talent…
- Groningen based campaign!
- think about why exactly about city and student life!
- slow discussion Decision… team meets/ discusses with campaign coordinator
- took long time to come up with book
- next year you will make decision again
- joined campaign would be much longer!
- could be decision: call session or postcards!
- postcards is not new…
- if pitching: important what does Hanze have to do? (Time!) What do we have to organise…
- pilot version: focus on one or two countries
- how you measure…
- the more personalised the more work…
- Hanze is moving on to little more personalised per country.. fits
- What Hanze like to know: How can we measure effect? Follow up from campaign
- Omapost should offer meassurment/ evaluation/ effect
- when sending envelopes… sometimes hanze gets it back… Where would it come back?
Omapost/ Hanze…
- we have own slogan…rug as well… no added value
113
Appendix A: Anti Plagiarism Statement
114
I acknowledge Jonas for acknowledging me
in his acknowledgements.
115

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Graduation Assignment

Dear international students…

Dear international students…

Philippe Moreau (327233)

Client: Studio Andere Koek

Supervisor/ 1st Assessor: Ken Drozd

2nd Assessor: Giuseppe Raudino

Appendix 1.1: Client Briefings 93

Appendix 2.1: Questionnaire 95

Appendix 2.2: Design Document 97

Appendix 5.1: Testing Hypotheses 1-7 & 18-20 103

Appendix 5.2: Testing Hypotheses 8-17 108

Appendix 5.3: Working Agreements Kaartje2go 111

Appendix 5.4: Testing Hypotheses 21&22 113

Appendix A: Anti Plagiarism Statement 114

SAK: Studio Andere Koek

B2C: Business to Consumer

UG: University of Groningen

Hanze UAS: Hanze University of Applied Sciences

DR: Design Requirement

GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation

Phase 1: Project Initiation

A context analysis revealed demographic and economic relevance of international student

Final Advice (Professional Product)

5) Monitor the campaign’s success using four key metrics

Philippe Moreau (327233)

Supervisor: Ken Drozd

Figure 1.1: Omapost’s postcard app 8

Table 1.1: Time Plan 14

Appendix 1.1: Client Briefings 93

Figure 1.1: Omapost’s postcard app

Organisational Culture and Style of Omapost

(1) Sell postcard campaigns to businesses (B2B).

(2) Remind existing clients about the app (B2C)

(3) Attract new consumers to use the app (B2C)

Figure 1.4: Goal Tree

1) Increased awareness of Omapost’s value propositions to business clients.

2) More businesses decide to use the postcard tool for campaigns.

4) Existing users send more postcards.

5) Growing user base.

6) The postcard tool is used in more countries.

2. … Omapost creates an awareness campaign to target potential business clients.

3. … adequate pricing for postcard campaigns are communicated.

2. … Omapost communicates diﬀerent options of campaigns for businesses.

2. … Omapost communicates mile stones and success stories.

4. … business clients are asked for feedback and evaluation.

4) I believe that existing users will send more postcards, if…

2. … news about Omapost are communicated through an email newsletter.

3. … Omapost makes increased use of Social Media campaigns.

5) I believe that the Omapost user base will grow, if…

2. … Omapost translates its website in diﬀerent languages.

Table 1.1: Time Plan

Date Milestones/Deadlines Agreements

from 04.02.2019 Project start Briefing sessions

18.03.2019 Deadline PID (Phase 1) Go/ No Go from client and coach

18.03. - 29.03. Analysis (Phase 2) A Needs Analysis, Functional Analysis &

29.03. - 18.04. Development (Phase 3) Developing a campaign concept

18.04. - 08.05. Design (Phase 4) Creating a campaign prototype

GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation 

2. … Omapost translates its website in diﬀerent languages. 