• by Larissa Faw , December 1, 2014

Rapp UK is advancing to the next grade. UK's Open University (OU) is expanding its relationship with the Omnicom-owned agency following a competitive review. 

This summer, OU anointed Rapp to oversee the online university's strategic brand expression and to comprise a new look and feel. Now, OU is extending this relationship into creative, data planning, analytics and the technology business. The first work breaks in Spring 2015. 

“As a data driven, creative business, we now sit at the heart of OU’s communications strategy," says Marco Scognamiglio, CEO, Rapp UK. "The OU offers a fantastic range of courses to people of all levels of education and I am delighted that we will continue to help drive their business.”

Rapp's key priorities will focus on driving engagement among potential students and improving their conversion to enroll in additional classes. Another key growth strategy is through the FutureLearn Limited platform, which launched in September 2013 as the UK’s first massive open online courses in partnerships with twenty-one UK and two overseas universities. 

Founded in 1969, The University operates primarily online throughout the United Kingdom and in over 100 countries globally. Those accessing the online University’s open educational resource Web site, OpenLearn, which launched in October 2006, has reached a cumulative total of 29 million. The school spent 6.4 million Euros ($7.98 million) on "audio visual production" in 2013, up from 5.9 million Euros ($7.36 million) in 2012, according to financial statements.