Totes amazing: a counsellor’s life in 10 tote bags

Athletes measure success by their trophies, and old soldiers are keen to display their medals. The university counsellors’ equivalent is our collection of tote bags.

Along with cheap pens, universities’ main marketing tool is the branded tote bag. Having worked as a rep, I learned to love the tote bag: easy to pack into a suitcase (and extremely useful as padding for fragile objects); light and convenient for handing out at fairs when pre-packed with brochures and flyers.

For counsellors, as well as offering the aforementioned benefits, tote bags are useful for carrying lunch to school, and make great prizes for students. And as for their marketing impact, they do jog the memory and encourage us to visit university stands at fairs – if their tote bag offering is particularly attractive.

Writing this piece, I have revisited my tote-bag stash to see what bag-related lessons I have learned on my counselling journey.

What quality tells you

Before I became a counsellor, I travelled extensively to recruit students for British independent schools and then for universities. Although the institutions I worked with in both sectors used the tote bag as part of their marketing mix, they served different purposes.

The schools sold themselves not only on academic results, but on safety, facilities, opportunity for personal growth and quality of accommodation. Thus their tote bags reflected these qualities. The bag I am looking at now, from an expensive English boarding school, is constructed from heavy-duty canvas, has strong rope handles and has carefully chosen but discreet colours and logos.

Investment by parents in school education over a number of years can be significantly more than the cost of three to four years of university, and so integrating the university counsellor fully into the life of the school and providing early and sustained contact with pupils is an indication of the quality of the school.

The universities I worked with, on the other hand, regarded their tote bags not as signifiers of quality but as containers for the most important aspect of what they offered – information about their courses – and so their bags reflected this shorter-term function.

Stand out from the crowd

Most promotional tote bags follow a similar design: black or unbleached off-white, made of natural fabrics (or something that looks like it might be natural), sewn-on handles made of the same material, standard 30-40cm dimensions and a monochrome logo.

Yet institutions are keen to differentiate themselves and to highlight what makes them unique, and this can sometimes extend to the tote-bag design. In front of me, I have the Leeds Conservatoire bag, which has a prominent label sewn into the seam announcing that it is made of recycled cotton (I’m not sure if this refers to the bag or just the label), a bag from a Thai institution that has a very useful small inner pocket for a phone, wallet or keys, and a Huddersfield University bag which is A4 size, convenient for keeping papers and brochures neatly filed away.

Would these unusual designs influence me when it came to recommending the universities to students? I don’t think so, but I am much more likely to use these bags regularly, which increases their visibility among my students.

Design matters

There is particular pressure on art schools and universities when it comes to marketing materials. An institution that offers courses in graphic communication, textiles and fashion is far more likely to be judged on the design of its marketing products than a business school.

I am looking at a very simple but striking bag from University of the Arts London (which contained some very nice branded pencils), and bags from US and Singapore art colleges, which feature students’ creative work.

Although less frequently encountered, bags with illustrations or photos rather than text and logos are very effective. In a straw poll of counselling colleagues (well, one colleague), it seems that the most popular bags are those that “can be carried as part of day-to-day life”, and his favourite was one that featured illustrations from the university’s art students. Universities, take note.

The call to pastures new

The tote bags that are the most covetable, in my recent experience, come from EU universities or organisations. Why is this? Possibly because they have arrived later on the international-student recruitment scene than the more established destinations for international students: the US, the UK, Australia and Canada.

At the moment, I am looking at a vibrant and striking bright red “Study in Spain” bag, which also features a multicoloured logo. And I regularly use a bag from Education Ireland – although I remain slightly disappointed that this one isn’t emerald green.

But alongside offering nice bags, European countries that haven’t traditionally been big players in international education are raising their profiles, often supported by their governments. Europe, for my students, is an increasingly attractive option. An ever-widening range of English-taught courses in countries that offer pleasant lifestyles, good accommodation options, are regarded as being safe environments and charge lower fees than Britain, Australia and the US all contribute to the growing number of applicants.

As an example, two years ago we had no applications for Spain, and now 60 per cent of our Year 12 students are seriously considering Spanish university applications. The Spanish embassy in Bangkok has been very proactive in providing support (and the bag) and, on reflection, it might be these factors, rather than just the tote bag, which are the main driver.

The future’s bright

Standing out from the others in the pile of tote bags in front of me are those from two Thai universities: Bangkok University and KMUTT. These are very definitely not made from natural materials and so are vibrant in colour and feature intricate and dynamic graphics. The colours and designs have more in common with high-end sportswear than the traditional signifiers of academic excellence. 

These bags send a message: look to the future and the exciting new opportunities on offer in Asia rather than the tired offerings of countries with hundreds of years as university destinations.

It’s what’s inside that counts

What does a promotional tote bag tell you about a university? If you are on holiday in Portugal and buy a bag that falls apart within a week, you are unlikely to revisit that shop – would a cheaply made bag from a university make you less likely to recommend that university? Hopefully not, but visiting university stands at fairs because their marketing collateral looks interesting or attractive means you are more likely to have conversations with their reps and read their brochures.

It is often said that there is an inverse correlation between the perceived quality of the university (often gauged by rankings) and the desirability of their marketing materials, and that high-ranking universities don’t need to use gifts to attract applications.

But creative and thoughtfully designed tote bags do not mean that the university is desperate for students – rather that they want to be judged by what they offer, rather than just their ranking position. As counsellors, we need to be informed about all options for our students, and attractive marketing can stimulate further research.

Now, what I am looking for at the next event I attend is a canvas bag with a pocket, perhaps in a nice shade of blue…