Why I'm Bringing Marketing Greats Back to Higher Education

Show notes

Season 2 of Marketing Greats in Higher Education starts here, built entirely around how universities are seen, chosen and trusted. I explain why the best answers rarely make it onto a conference slide, and what you can expect from the season.

• When guests join, each will answer one question: what would you do differently if you started again?
• Three threads run through the season: AI in practice, reputation and performance, leadership.
• The best insight comes over coffee, not from the conference stage.

Read the article: Why I'm bringing Marketing Greats back

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.

In 2023, I sat down with six marketing leaders I genuinely admired. Sage's Chief Marketing Officer. The team behind a games studio with over a billion downloads. People building global brands across luxury, hospitality and consumer services. Brilliant conversations, every one of them. And then, honestly, the day job took over. Three years on, I'm bringing Marketing Greats back. And this time, it's built entirely around higher education!

The reason is simple. I now spend my working week with universities in very different countries, and the same questions come up everywhere. How do we show up in AI search? What actually moves reputation? How do we build a team that can do more, without burning out?

And here's what strikes me. The best answers to those questions rarely make it onto a conference slide. They come out over coffee, in the corridor, in the honest conversation after the panel has finished. Someone leans in and says, here's what really worked for us, and here's what we'd never do again. Those moments have shaped my career more than any keynote. And they're far too rare. That's the conversation I want to bring to you.

So the new season is weekly, it's global, and it's focused on practice. Every guest is someone doing the work: chief marketing officers, communications directors, recruitment and reputation leaders, and, where I can persuade them, vice-chancellors. From the UK, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Americas and Australia.

And I'll ask every one of them the same question: what would you do differently if you started again? Because that's where the real insight is. Not in the polished case study, but in the decision they'd reverse, the campaign they'd never run again, the moment they realised they'd been measuring the wrong thing. Honest, generous and genuinely useful. Something you can take into your leadership meeting on Monday morning.

Three threads run through the season. AI in practice: the reality rather than the hype. Reputation and performance: what rankings do and don't tell you, and the decisions that genuinely shift the dial. And leadership: building teams, winning the argument at the top table, and keeping creativity alive in organisations that run on committees.

This matters to me personally. I've been lucky to learn from generous people throughout my career. First in hospitality, with brands like Hilton, Marriott and IHG, where I learned that every single interaction is the brand. Then at Newcastle University, where I led a team of a hundred and twenty people, and through the Russell Group forum I used to chair. Most of what I know about leading a marketing function came from peers who were a step ahead of me, and kind enough to share what they'd learned.

Today, working with universities right around the world, I see that same generosity everywhere. Leaders wrestling with the same problems, desperate to compare notes, and rarely getting the chance. This podcast opens those conversations up. And alongside each episode, I'll publish my own thinking on my website, so the ideas keep going.

So if you lead marketing, communications or reputation in a university, or you sit around the executive table and wonder how it all fits together, this season is for you. And if there's a guest you think I should be talking to, I would genuinely love to hear from you. The sector has never needed its best ideas to travel faster. Let's learn from the best, together!

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.