Reputation Belongs to Everyone in a University

Show notes

Reputation is shaped by a lecturer's keynote, a call on results day and a student's first-week post, far more than by any campaign. I explain how to support a whole institution to carry the story well.

• Give colleagues a short, honest narrative they are comfortable telling in their own words.
• Treat researchers as partners, and professional services as part of the brand experience.
• Put reputation into team objectives and recognise the people who build it.

Read the article: Reputation belongs to everyone in a university, not just the comms team

Full transcript

Hello, and welcome to Marketing Greats in Higher Education. I'm Jonathan Sabarre, your host, and this is where we explore the ideas shaping how universities are seen, chosen and trusted around the world. Everything I share on this show is my own personal view.

Early in my time at Newcastle University, someone told me reputation was the marketing team's job. I understood why. We had the budget, the campaigns and the press office. But it didn't take long to see that the moments shaping how the University was seen were happening almost everywhere except in marketing. It has shaped how I've thought about reputation ever since!

A lecturer gives a keynote at an international conference. A researcher is interviewed on the radio. Someone in admissions answers the phone on results day, to a student who's anxious and hasn't slept. A finance colleague negotiates with a partner overseas. A student posts about their first week. Each moment shapes reputation more directly than most campaigns ever will, and most of the people involved have never been told they play a part.

That's why culture matters more than the campaign. Campaigns raise awareness, but they can't make a university trusted. Trust is built through experience, and experience is delivered by people. If academics don't feel connected to the institution's story, they'll tell their own. If professional services colleagues feel invisible, the care they show students every day won't be part of how you describe yourself. Both are within a leadership team's gift to change.

The universities I've seen do this well treat reputation as a shared responsibility, supported by the specialists. It begins with making the story easy to tell. Most colleagues are happy to champion their institution if they know what to say. Give them a short, honest narrative about what the university stands for, with examples from their own area, and keep it up to date.

When we created a clearer strategic narrative at Newcastle, academic colleagues told us they finally had language they were comfortable using. These were people who cared deeply and had represented the institution for years, but had never been given the words. Researchers are often your most credible voices, so treat them as partners. Help them share their work, prepare them for media and recognise their contribution. It must feel like support, never surveillance.

The same goes for professional services. The people running accommodation, finance, estates, IT and student services are part of the brand experience every single day. Include them in how reputation is discussed, share the data with them, and celebrate the moments where their work made a difference. Then measure it, openly. If reputation matters, it belongs in team objectives and leadership conversations, not only in the marketing plan.

Some of the most effective changes I've made as a leader were about recognition. Thank the professor who gave up an evening for a recruitment event. Share the story of the receptionist whose kindness turned into a glowing review. Small gestures, but people watch what leaders notice. A thank you from the top tells the whole institution what counts, far more clearly than any values statement on a wall.

None of this diminishes the marketing and communications team. It raises the bar. The job becomes enabling the whole institution: providing the narrative, the training, the tools and the insight that help thousands of colleagues represent the university well. Instead of guarding the brand, the team equips everyone else to carry it. It's harder, and it asks for different skills, but it's how reputation gets built at scale.

So if I could leave one thought with university leaders, it would be this. Your reputation is already being built by everyone in your institution, every single day, in lecture theatres, labs, offices and phone calls you'll never see. Most of those moments will never reach your desk, and they don't need to. The only choice is whether you support people to do it well. Back them, and you'll find thousands of ambassadors you never knew were there!

Thank you for spending this time with me. If this episode sparked something for you, hit subscribe, so you never miss the next one. And our full season, with guests from leading universities around the world, is coming very soon. Head to Jonathan Sabarre dot com and sign up, so you're the first to know when it launches. Until next time, keep building something great.