A two-week push to lift registrations for the autumn courses in Rotterdam, running up to the reception on 17 September. What the team has already done, what we add on top, and what is blocked until a decision is made.
14 September 2026 · Phase 3 · Campaign
STARTING POINT
What the team already did
Tianzhao ran a grassroots push in Rotterdam and the autumn newsletter went out on 2 September. This is a strong foundation: it reaches the people who are already close to CIM. What it does not yet do is reach people who have never heard of us.
Grassroots (Tianzhao)
Course link shared in the student WhatsApp group, with a request to recommend it onWord of mouth, but untracked — we cannot see what it produces
done
Local community Instagram accounts approached: Space 101, Young Asian PlatformReach into exactly the right audience, at no cost
done
Flyers distributed at Chinese supermarkets, restaurants and POP MARTPhysical presence in the neighbourhood where the audience already is
done
Channels (Cathérine & Manon)
Autumn newsletter sent, 2 SeptemberReviewed beforehand; topic list at the top and a Teacher Spotlight on Wenjun Zhang were added
done
Social media posts in preparationManon is producing; Cathérine publishes
running
15% alumni discount liveMentioned in the newsletter, competing with three other topics
live
THIS WEEK
What we add on top
Four actions that need no new policy and no budget. Three can run this week; the Google Maps listing has moved to on hold because it depends on the naming decision.
Quick wins — no decision needed 4 actions
Standalone alumni email: one message, one offer — the existing 15% alumni discount, nothing elseThe discount is already live, so no new policy is involved. Cathérine can send it the same day; what is still open is the route. The HubSpot alumni segment holds only 175 contacts and is probably out of date, so the alternative is a direct mail from info@ to the past two semesters, with Tianzhao doing the same for Rotterdam. Adrie to decide — see Open Decisions.
Adrie
Google Maps listing for Rotterdam: claim and verify the locationIt does not exist today, and neither LuCheng nor Danhua have one. Manon found that one business profile cannot hold a second location under a different name, so the listing waits for the naming decision. In the meantime she prepares address, hours, categories, photos and the FAQ list, so it goes live in one go once the name is fixed.
on hold
Teacher Spotlight post: one social post featuring Wenjun Zhang, same angle as the newsletterA named teacher with visible credentials outperforms generic course promotion. This is also the first live test of the Star Teacher concept.
Manon
Alumni offer post: one clear visual, one call to action, tagging Space 101 and Young Asian Platform for a reshareTurns the accounts Tianzhao already approached into distribution instead of a one-off favour.
Manon
ON HOLD
Tell-a-friend: a pricing decision, not a marketing one
The proposal was that an alumnus who brings a new student earns both of them a discount — turning Tianzhao's WhatsApp word of mouth into something trackable. Cathérine is right that this cannot simply be rolled out: it changes pricing policy, and the operational burden lands on her desk.
What has to be settled first
It introduces a pricing policy that differs from current practice — a management decisionTianzhao to discuss with Xinxin and report back
blocked
Discount codes are created and tracked entirely by hand today; there is no automationAny referral volume multiplies that manual work
blocked
Students who already registered may claim the offer retroactively — credit invoices, refunds, corrections in the accounting systemAll manual, all on Cathérine
blocked
Discounts have never been combined or stacked beforeStacking with the 15% alumni discount would be a further departure from policy
blocked
Our position: we are not asking to push this through. If Xinxin greenlights the mechanic, the implementation should not add administrative work — WooCommerce handles referral and discount codes natively, and since the Webmix meeting on 9 September Adrie is the direct contact for exactly that kind of change. Until then, nothing is communicated externally about referrals.
BEFORE 17 SEPTEMBER
Towards the reception
Two things that take longer than a week but should be started now, so that there is something concrete to show at the reception.
Star Teacher video
A short film featuring a named teacher, made with students wherever possible. Zuyd has answered: Video@Zuyd has studios in Sittard and Heerlen at roughly €60 per hour for internal work, and needs planning well ahead. Hannah and Adrie now draw up a plan of approach and a cost estimate for Xinxin's approval.
Ambitious for 17 September, but even raw footage or a single portrait series gives the reception something to look at. Full concept in the Star Teacher document.
East Meets West · 26 September
A cultural event is a natural content moment and a natural reason for local media to pay attention. Worth planning the social content around it now rather than improvising on the day.
Same applies to Hanyuqiao. Both are earned-media opportunities that cost nothing but planning.
MEASUREMENT
How we will know whether it worked
The honest answer today is that we cannot fully attribute results, because most of the current channels are untracked. That is itself a finding, and something to fix in the next phase.
Channel
Trackable now?
What we can see
Newsletter
Yes
Opens and clicks via HubSpot
Alumni email
Yes
Opens, clicks, and registrations in the same window
Social posts
Partly
Reach and engagement; no link back to registrations
WhatsApp / word of mouth
No
Nothing — a referral code would change this
Flyers
No
Nothing — a QR code with a tracked link would change this