The best reputation ideas for universities aren't coming from universities

Before I worked in higher education, I spent years running marketing for a hotel group operating Hilton, Marriott and IHG properties. When I moved into universities, I expected the sector to be ahead on brand. In some ways it was. In others, I found institutions wrestling with problems that hospitality had solved a decade earlier.

Higher education is very good at learning from itself. Conferences, benchmarking clubs and sector bodies mean ideas travel quickly between universities. The downside is that we often end up with the same ideas, executed in slightly different colours. If you want a reputation strategy that genuinely stands apart, I’d argue you need to look further.

What hospitality taught me

In hotels, reputation is measured daily. Every review on every platform is read, scored and answered, usually within hours. Guest satisfaction is tracked by property, by department and by shift, and it’s tied directly to how teams are recognised and rewarded. When we rebuilt our approach at the Cairn Group, we were managing more than 100 social channels and treating every one of them as part of the brand.

Most universities still check perception once or twice a year, through a survey or a rankings release. By the time the data arrives, the moment has passed. Borrowing the hospitality habit of continuous listening, with clear ownership for responding, would change how quickly institutions spot and fix problems.

What consumer brands do differently

The best consumer brands are disciplined about a small number of messages. They decide what they want to be known for and they repeat it, consistently, for years. Universities, understandably, want to celebrate everything: every school, every discovery, every award. The result is often a brand that says a great deal and is remembered for very little.

I’d encourage leadership teams to borrow the consumer discipline of choosing. Pick three things you want the world to associate with you, and make sure every campaign, every press release and every academic profile reinforces at least one of them.

Universities are very good at learning from each other. The downside is that we often end up with the same ideas.

What sport understands about belonging

Sport has mastered something higher education talks about constantly: a sense of belonging that lasts a lifetime. Clubs build it through rituals, storytelling, behind-the-scenes access and giving fans a role in the story. Universities have all the raw ingredients, from graduation to alumni networks, yet rarely use them with the same confidence.

And technology, quietly, everywhere

Many of the tools that would transform university reputation work already exist in other sectors. Social listening platforms, customer data platforms, review management, AI-assisted content and real-time dashboards are standard in retail and travel. Universities often buy one of them, in isolation, and wonder why little changes. The difference outside the sector is that the technology is connected to a clear process and someone accountable for acting on what it shows.

How to make this practical

None of this needs a major programme. I’d start by asking each member of your marketing and communications leadership team to bring one idea from outside higher education to your next away day, along with a view on how you’d adapt it. Some won’t fit. A few will be far better than anything you’d have found at a sector conference.

I’ve found that the most valuable question in any reputation strategy session is a simple one: who outside our sector does this brilliantly, and what would they do in our position? It’s a question I’ll be putting to guests throughout Season 2 of Marketing Greats in Higher Education.

Jonathan Sabarre FCIM MBA is Principal Consultant at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a keynote speaker and host of Marketing Greats in Higher Education. Get the weekly email or invite him to speak.