16 April 2024 at 10:30 am
ENZ Agent Seminars in China make a strong impact for rebuilding connections
Four Agent Seminars were held across China from 19 to 27 March to support 51 education providers connect with over 400 agents. According to the post-event survey of attendees, 94% of agents said that as a result of their attendance at the ENZ Agent Seminars, they are “more likely” to recommend Aotearoa New Zealand as a country to study with to a prospective student.
China is the largest source of international students for New Zealand with agents being the leading channel for student recruitment in this market. Building strong connections between providers and agents in China is critical to recovering student mobility, improving awareness of New Zealand as a study destination and strengthening New Zealand's market position. ENZ's Agent Seminars in China are a well-recognised and impactful way of building relationships with a range of key agents.
Education Counsellor and ENZ’s Regional Director Greater China, Michael Zhang, (far left) at the Beijing Agent Seminar with representatives from New Oriental Education Agency and H.E. Grahame Morton, New Zealand Ambassador to People’s Republic of China.
In addition, Agent Seminars also help to keep agents informed with the latest official information and is an important tool that Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) and other NZ Inc agencies use to share such information. According to recent Immigration New Zealand (INZ) data, agents in China have a high approval rate for student visa processing.
Currently, ENZ runs its Agent Seminar series twice a year in this region and this latest series of events held in Chengdu, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Beijing were supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and INZ. INZ’s China-based representatives gave in-person presentations, an initiative which was well received with 88% of agents reporting its inclusion as “very or extremely important to their attendance” in a post-event survey.
Participants at the Hong Kong Agent Seminar discuss New Zealand education offerings.
Kevin Wang from the International College of Auckland presenting at the Shanghai Agent Seminar.
To leverage the visibility of New Zealand education providers in the China market, ENZ facilitated media interviews and social media recordings for participants at the Shanghai and Chendgu Seminars. New Zealand providers and ENZ representatives in Chengdu conducted interviews with 13 journalists, the highest response rate for media attending Agent Seminars to date. As a result, three million views were achieved from 58 stories published by 27 local media outlets, with New Zealand university representatives quoted in a media story and an exclusive interview and story for Te Pūkenga on the uniqueness of New Zealand's vocational education in a separate article.
Joyce Zhang, University of Otago, is interviewed by a journalist from local media in Chengdu at the ENZ Agent Seminar.
In Shanghai, the ENZ Shanghai team delivered a China marketing insights session for sector representatives. The presentation titled “Unlocking China’s Education Market: Insights and tools for success” covered:
-
The key drivers of the consumer
-
China’s media/digital/social media landscape
-
The big four – WeChat, Little Red Book, Douyin and Bilibili (case studies included)
-
ENZ’s China local marketing plan.
Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the Marketing Presentation can access this here on ENZ’s Intellilab.
ENZ collaborated with Shinyway, the largest agent in the eastern region of China to produce short videos for the agency to promote online. The online promotion aimed to leverage brand awareness of a New Zealand education showcasing New Zealand providers attending the Shanghai event. A big kudos goes to the 18 brave New Zealand representatives who accepted the invitation to participate in the filming. Education Counsellor and Regional Director Greater China, Michael Zhang, was also interviewed to present the advantages of a New Zealand education and our institutions across all sectors.
Shinyway has published all the videos on their consumer-facing social media platforms, including WeChat, Little Red Book, and Weibo. The collaboration enhances New Zealand providers’ market exposure by leveraging Shinyway's influence across their digital platforms and reaching prospective audiences in China elevating our brand profile within a highly targeted audience group.
Mary Nixon, Principal of Takapuna Grammar School participating in the recording for sharing on social media. The first trial video published on Shinyway's WeChat received over 300 engagements including likes, shares, favorites and comments.
87.5% of New Zealand education providers also said that “attendance at the seminars was either “very valuable” or “valuable” for their organisation.”
The dates and locations for the next round of Agent Seminars in China will be announced soon. These details will be posted on the ENZ Events page along with the link for registering.
