We’re proud to announce the strengthening of our partnership with The Open University after a successful tender and pitch win, for years to come.

The Open University is globally recognised and respected as a leader in distance education. For over 50 years, they’ve supported millions of learners – and transformed lives. As their latest brand campaign says, ‘The future is open with The Open University’.

At Stratos we’ve been building strong relationships with The Open University over several years. Working closely alongside their Business units and Marketing teams, we’ve already helped to develop and roll out their new brand across a wide range of marketing and branding projects.

OU Equity video players mockup

Having built solid foundations and a firm understanding of The Open University’s objectives, we were delighted to be invited to tender for a significant new contract and develop our partnership further still – to support the The Open University’s highly important B2B work and brand.

Galvanising a team is something we do best, bringing together our collective thinking and talent to add extra value to our proposals. And we were soon hard at work crafting an in-depth response that we believed wouldn’t just strengthen, evolve and grow the The Open University’s brand, but demonstrate why we were the right agency to work alongside them in the years ahead. 

With a specific focus on the National Apprenticeship Week campaign, our winning response was presented by a team that were already very familiar with The Open University: our Managing Director Martin Carmody, Creative Lead Meg Jones and Account Manager Amy Williams.

Commenting on the win, Stratos Account Manager Amy Williams said “It was a pleasure to be offered the opportunity to pitch for The Open University following a long-standing relationship. We have thoroughly enjoyed working as an extension of their team, and looking forward to continuing to build our relationship with other areas of the business.”

Paul Severn Content Marketing Manager at The Open University added “Stratos was integral to the rolling out of our new Employers and Partnerships branding. This new contract will help us to work together to further the OU’s presence in the B2B education space. We enjoy working with the team who collaborate well with other agencies to bring ideas to life. We are excited to be working with Stratos on a number of campaigns and projects in the coming years.”

Collaborating and connecting with our partners is something we do especially well. In fact we see ourselves as more than just another ‘agency partner’, but as an integral part of the team making up one cohesive unit. With an array of talent and skills from across all partner agencies, the brands and campaigns delivered will span all consumer and B2B touchpoints – covering campaign strategy, content, brand, events, digital marketing, web development, animation and video content.

And as our values, focus and ethos are aligned with The Open University’s, this will create an unshakeable foundation which will further support all our efforts. 

Tim Franks, CRM Manager at The Open University said “Stratos brings fresh perspectives to every project and campaign we work on together. Their openness to collaboration is huge for our team and the way we work in the Open University for Employers & Partnerships. I am looking forward to the great results this tightening of our relationship will bring.” 

Martin Carmody concluded, “We’re excited about this new chapter of our relationship. The response to the tender was a true team effort and I was delighted by our approach and proud to present it. Working with like-minded people is important to us, and working alongside such a credible brand and a tenacious team is so invigorating. We’re looking forward to our ongoing partnership and excited about what we can achieve together.”

team members around a desk

As the Open University says to their 200,000 students, with the right support ‘there’s no limit to what you can achieve.’ Everyone at Stratos is excited about the possibilities ahead and the many opportunities there are on the horizon to see our partnership flourish.