The international student market in the UK is worth £8.5billion to the economy. As our recent collaboration with Selfridges shows, international students are recognised for their love of shopping, especially on branded and luxury goods. Selfridges approached GB Mag to co-host three exclusive events for international students in London, Birmingham. GB Mag is the only lifestyle media channel for international students in the UK, with a loyal following and the 'ears and eyes' of this influential and desirable consumer group - which exceeds 600,000 students.

The objective was to position Selfridges as the department store of choice for international students, who are keen shoppers themselves and are also visited on average 2.5 times a year by their friends and family - who are big spenders on leisure, tourism and shopping - this group commonly choose to buy heritage and luxury brands.

GB Mag worked with Selfridges to create styling sessions on how to rock this seasons looks, using the latest designer collections. The events were exclusively announced to GB Mag subscribers and the first 50 to respond for each event bagged the VIP tickets. Tickets were also offered to VIP international students, such as heads of student societies (who tend to come from high-status families) and bloggers, to create word of mouth ambassadors.

The event attracted more than 800 entries from our subscribers and the editorial on our website was viewed by more than 10,000 users. A further 47,258 people were exposed to the Selfridges brand via our social media pages, including Weibo, Facebook Twitter and Instagram. The total readership of the bloggers and other media that covered the event was in excess of 253,703. In total we reached 311,761 people.

"Selfridges is for everyone and this event is a very good example of putting this value into practice and recognising the relevance of the custom from our international visitors, including those based in the UK." Annette Cremin, Director of PR and Events, Selfridges. GB Mag is the UK's only media channel for international students and encompasses a website, a pre-arrival edition of the magazine for China and India and a welcome pack for new arrivals. We also work with brands to create events that allow them to get in front of this influential audience.