Ideas for the people who build university reputations.
Articles on higher education marketing, reputation, AI and institutional performance. New pieces arrive in the weekly email alongside each podcast episode.
Why I'm bringing Marketing Greats back
Season 2 of Marketing Greats in Higher Education launches in November 2026. Here's what's changed, who you'll hear from, and why now.
16 October 2026 · 2 min read
Policy is now a reputation event
Visa rules, enrolment caps and funding settlements used to be a matter for the planning office. Today they shape how universities are seen around the world, often before the institution has said a word.
15 October 2026 · 3 min read
Reputation is a performance metric. Manage it like one.
Universities track applications, income and research output to the decimal point. Reputation, which shapes all three, is still too often treated as a matter of opinion.
14 October 2026 · 2 min read
The best reputation ideas for universities aren't coming from universities
Hospitality, consumer brands and sport solved many of higher education's reputation problems years ago. Universities would move faster if they looked outside the sector more often.
13 October 2026 · 3 min read
Reputation belongs to everyone in a university, not just the comms team
A university's reputation is built in thousands of daily moments by academics, professional services colleagues and students. The institutions that understand this build it deliberately.
12 October 2026 · 3 min read
AI search is already writing your university's reputation
Prospective students and partners increasingly ask an AI assistant before they visit your website. What it says about you is fast becoming one of the most important reputation channels you have.
11 October 2026 · 3 min read
Rankings are a mirror, not a strategy
Rankings reflect what a university has already become. The institutions that improve most use them to diagnose, then build a strategy around their mission rather than the methodology.
10 October 2026 · 2 min read
Designing the AI-enabled marketing team
Buying AI tools is the easy part. The teams getting real value have redesigned how work flows, starting with the jobs nobody enjoys.
9 October 2026 · 2 min read
Five reputation numbers every university board should see
Governing bodies scrutinise finances, risk and student outcomes in detail. Reputation, which affects all three, deserves a place on the same agenda, with numbers to match.
8 October 2026 · 2 min read
In a cost-cutting year, don't switch off the lighthouse
When finances tighten, marketing and communications are often the first budgets to go. The evidence, and my own experience, says that's exactly when reputation needs protecting most.
7 October 2026 · 3 min read
Your international partners are your reputation abroad
Branch campuses, joint degrees and transnational partnerships are growing fast. In many markets they're the first, and sometimes only, experience people have of your university.
6 October 2026 · 2 min read
The civic story is your strongest reputation asset, and the least told
Universities transform their cities and regions every day, yet the story rarely reaches the people whose support they need most. In a tougher political climate, that's a risk no institution can afford.
5 October 2026 · 2 min read
Every university will face a crisis this year. Few will have rehearsed it.
Campus protests, data breaches, financial headlines and viral social posts now unfold in minutes. The institutions that come through well are the ones that practised before they needed to.
4 October 2026 · 2 min read
Sustainability claims are becoming the sector's next reputation risk
Students, staff and regulators are increasingly sceptical of green claims. Universities that can't evidence what they say risk turning a strength into a liability.
3 October 2026 · 2 min read
Universities are data rich and insight poor. Here's how to fix it.
Most institutions hold more data than ever about their students, markets and reputation. Very little of it reaches the decisions that matter. The gap is about culture as much as technology.
2 October 2026 · 2 min read
Employers are the audience universities forget
Graduate outcomes now shape student choice, government policy and global rankings. Yet employer reputation is rarely managed with the same care as student recruitment.
1 October 2026 · 3 min read
The marketing director belongs in the room where strategy is made
Too many universities still treat marketing as a service that executes decisions made elsewhere. The institutions that perform best give reputation a seat at the executive table.
30 September 2026 · 3 min read