Making ourselves stand out in the crowded higher education marketplace is not an easy task. How can we grab an audience’s attention and communicate what really makes us distinct from other universities? In this talk, we’ll look at what distinctiveness even means for a university, and what we can do to go beyond just defining our brand and move towards living our brand.
Key takeaways:
Find out what “difference” actually means for the way you use content
Learn about the situations where standing out can be to your detriment
Take the first steps to embedding your distinctiveness throughout your institution.
About Robert Perry
Robert is Head of Research at Pickle Jar Communications. He primarily works on behalf of clients in the education and charity sectors, where he is responsible for all aspects of information-gathering, audience research, user testing, and anything else related to content or customer insights.
He has worked with schools, colleges, universities, membership organisations, charities, and education sector bodies. Whatever the work and whoever the client, Robert likes to find the connections between the driving forces of a project and the needs of the audience, with the aim of being able to satisfy both at the same time. He wants to know about the journeys that people make in relation to clients’ offerings, because the only way to truly deliver the right content to the right audience is to understand the context behind that journey. That’s why his favourite answer to any question is “it depends”.
He has a particular interest in student influencers and widening participation efforts, and has worked with clients such as UCL, Aston University, Leeds Beckett University, and United World Colleges on projects that focus on these areas.
Robert also represents Pickle Jar Communications at education sector events, speaking on aspects of audience research and digital communications at conferences organised by groups such as CASE and UUK.
Before joining Pickle Jar, Robert worked on content creation and digital communications in the aviation industry. He studied communications and English literature at Newcastle University, and now lives in Newcastle.