UCAS/Hewlett Packard marketing email causes a media stir

A co-branded marketing email from UCAS (the UK’s higher education admissions authority) and Hewlett Packard has caused a bit of controversy over the last few days. The mailing, with subject line “You have been accepted to receive big discounts on HP laptops!”, was sent before A-level results were announced yesterday, causing some students to mis-interpret it as a university acceptance letter.

In UCAS/HP’s defense, most A-level students should be intelligent enough to know their results are sent out by post, not email, and should really be savvy enough to recognize a marketing message, however it does go to show that marketers should ensure they never lose sight of the customer’s experience.

More in this Evening Standard article.