Advanced modern marketing for study abroad

New theory developed from action research and practical experience in higher education combines retro-marketing and student engagement theory to form a post-modern approach to motivating and supporting students to work/study abroad. It explains that 'inertia' is the normal state of a modern student and they move through several stages towards confidence to tackle challenges and take opportunities well beyond their current capabilities and self-belief. It was developed in one of the most challenging environments: typically insular, British students with no tradition of higher education, for whom 'study abroad' is optional and an addiitonal cost to an already expensive undertaking (an undergraduate degree). In this 'new' university, outgoing mobility increased from 6 to 300+ students annually in 8 years with a zero-return rate and high reported satisfaction. Furthermore, the most impressive results were achieved in attempting the apparently impossible - attracting such students to spend a full year in provincial South Korea or Slovenia. This expansion of the approach reflects the importance of high quality collaboration when seeking to internationalise. At times counter-intuitive and even controversial, this session presents the theory and evidence of its effectiveness in a specific case, meeting a need in many conference delegates for some advanced and ground-breaking thinking. Elements can be adopted or rejected according to specific situations.