Marketing and communications in higher education: the new normal

2 Dec - 3 Dec 2020, 09:30 - 17:00

Online

Book here

Overview

Covid-19 has definitively reshaped higher education forever. Things will never be the same again. For all intents and purposes, this is the new normal.

Universities’ marketing and communications teams have already displayed enormous resilience by moving services online and developing new and agile methods to communicate with prospective and existing students, staff and the wider community. How can we use what we have learned thus far to build resilient and innovative new ways of working, and make sure that we are doing the best we can to enhance our institutions’ recovery?

This two-day online conference will bring together communications, marketing, external relations, public affairs and digital professionals to explore how the sector can navigate this new landscape it finds itself in.

Why should you attend?

A highlight of the year, this two-day event is dedicated for marketing and communications professionals to hear from sector experts on what to expect for the coming year, as well as to share best practice and network with peers.

Topics we will cover include:

Covid-19 recovery - what next?
Student recruitment and Covid-19
Communicating value to different stakeholders
Social media and Gen Z
Internal relations and communications

This conference will be held online over the course of two days. Alongside eight hours of informative, timely content from the most pertinent speakers on the topic, we will also be providing a wide range of opportunities to network, discuss, and make connections with colleagues within the sector.

You will also be able to access the recordings of all sessions after the event, including breakout sessions which you were unable to attend.

Who should attend?

This conference will be useful for staff who have responsibility for or play a part in the communications and marketing strategy of their organisation. All with an interest in this topic may attend, but relevant job titles include:

Director/Head of Communications
Director/Head of External Relations
Director/Head of Public Affairs/Strategic Partnerships
Director/Head of Marketing and Student Recruitment
Communications/Marketing Manager/Officer
Head of Campaigns
Head of Digital
Head of Media/Media Manager
Social Media Manager/Officer

If you have any questions about this or any other of our events, please contact us on events@universitiesuk.ac.uk or 07500 441505.

We have a range of sponsorship opportunities available. Please contact Esther Dudley, Head of Events and Engagement for more information: esther.dudley@universitiesuk.ac.uk

If you want to stay up to date with our events, news, and publications, you can sign up for our newsletters here.

Day 1

09.30	Platform opens for self-navigation and exploration
10:00- 12:00	Morning plenaries
10:00	Welcome and opening remarks from the chair Nicky Old, Director of Communications and External Relations, Universities UK
10:10	Opening keynote: Socially Responsible Marketing and Communications Shabby Amini, Board Member, Greenpeace and Former Executive Director of Fundraising and Creative, Comic Relief With extensive experience with communicating to consumer and business audiences in both the private and non-profit sectors, Shabby is passionate about making stories of complex poverty-alleviation programmes accessible to large audiences through the power of storytelling, compelling imagery, and simple messaging. Shabby's address will cover topics of social responsibility such as sustainability and inspiring support from the public.
10:30	Covid-19 recovery - what next? Ben Verinder, Founder and Managing Director, Chalkstream Dr Susan Kinnear, Director of Global Communications MA, Cardiff University Jennifer Lipman, Associate Director, Lexington Communications Now that we as a country are moving towards a recovery phase of this pandemic, what are the next big challenges for university marketing and communications leaders, and how do we address them?
11:20	The defining social media app of Gen Z: Tik Tok Edward Lindeman, European Strategy Manager, TikTok Anu Hautalampi, Head of Social Media and AV, University of Cambridge With the highest social media engagement rates per post and over 800 million active users worldwide, TikTok has the attention of millions of people aged 16 to 24. How can universities harness the power and reach of this rapid global phenomena to engage with current and prospective students in a way which feels natural and in-keeping with the platform?
11:55	Closing remarks from the chair Nicky Old, Director of Communications and External Relations, Universities UK
12:00- 14:30	Break from sessions and virtual conference café
14:30- 16:00	Breakout sessions Choose one session to attend. Small group discussions to follow each session.
	Internal relations and communications Mark Tallentire, Communications Officer (Corporate), Durham University Georgina Kelly, Director of Strategy, Marketing and Communications, University of Leicester Paul Hindle, Acting Head of Communications, De Montfort University Chair: Steven Jefferies, Head of Media, Universities UK The last 12 months have had an unprecedented impact on university communities. With existing challenges and pressures facing institutions and individuals of Brexit and industrial action, Covid-19 has meant that the focus on internal communications and staff engagement has been more important than ever. As universities attempt to deliver their usual activities in far from usual circumstances, effective communication with staff and students – and with the local community. This session will explore case studies from two institutions which have taken innovative approaches to internal relations.
	Virtual recruitment events Amanda Gregory, Chief Operations Officer, Univer Beth Prescott, Head of Events and Ceremonies, Queen Mary University Laura Delfitto, Associate Director: Global Marketing, University of London Fiona Blair, Director of Marketing, Communication and Engagement, University of Reading Chair: Emma Darwin, Director, Assemble Events, and Co-Founder, Union Spaces Marketing and events teams have been thrown into the world of virtual open days, offer holder days, and other set pieces where they have had to figure out a way to virtually open their doors to potential students and external audiences. What have been the benefits of conducting business online and how has this affected both home and international recruitment? Will they become a part of the business as usual? As universities have rushed to transfer open days online, what has gone well, and what are the pitfalls to avoid for the coming year?
	Aligning your technology: Increasing applications and Improving conversions through marketing technology Alex Calder, Head of Technology Solutions and Partnerships, Akero In this digital workshop for data-driven marketers, Alex from Akero will be answering questions such as: “How can I track and improve the ROI on my advertising” “What benefits does aligning my tech stack bring to understanding my own student recruitment process” “How can I improve my conversion rates at data-capture points” We will run through use cases of how you can align all of your marketing and admissions technologies, so that ultimately, you can align your systems to improve conversions through the entire funnel, and in the process, capture more leads and nurture them through to enrolment.
	End of Day 1

Day 2

9:30	Platform opens for self-navigation and exploration
10:00-11:30	Morning breakout sessions Choose one session to attend. Small group discussions to follow each session.
	Crisis communications in HE Chris Tucker, Course Leader for CIPR Crisis Communication Diploma, PR Academy Dr Fiona Lethbridge, Senior Press Officer, Science Media Centre Tahmina Choudhery, VP Professional & Social Sciences, Middlesex University Students’ Union As communications professionals, your job is to promote but also to defend. What happens when something goes wrong? What happens when you get it wrong? How do you reassure your communities that everything is under control or get the right messages across both internally and externally? This session will tackle crisis and risk in communications but also address how to support communication staff with dealing with fallout and mass responses. We will also hear reflections on how universities communicated responses to the Black Lives Matter campaign, and what lessons can be learnt from this.
	Ensuring expectation equals reality Dan Ramsay, Director of the GREAT Campaign, Department for International Trade Jo Nuckley, Head of Outreach and Insight, Office of the Independent Adjudicator Paul Humphreys, Founder and CEO, StudentCrowd Chair: Michael Thompson, Deputy Director of Communications and External Relations, Universities UK How well are UK universities managing expectations of prospective students and the reality of current students? In recent years several universities have been criticised for their use of statistics in promotion and advertising. How can marketing professionals highlight their university’s strengths, while not misleading? In this era of blended learning, student experience has changed. This session will explore what universities need to be aware of to ensure their university promotions reflect the student experience.
	Developing effective university brand communications Collette Lux, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, University College London Mark Garratt, Interim Director of Marketing, Recruitment & International, Swansea University Penny Eccles, Strategic HE Marketing Consultant (former Director of Marketing at Nottingham Trent University) Alex Causton-Ronaldson, Head of Education, pslondon Robert Pepper, Strategy Partner, pslondon Kendra Rogers, Head of Insight & Strategy, pslondon Universities in the UK are marketing themselves harder than ever before. More effort and more money is being invested to attract students. At the same time, many universities appear to have few points of difference in their advertising. In this session our panel of university brand leaders will discuss: 1) What are the challenges facing universities in the 2021 and 2022 recruitment cycles? 2) How these problems can be solved by robust, insight led brand communications 3) What 16-19 year olds think of current university brand communications 4) How university marketers can make the shift and mitigate any strategic risk associated
11:30-14:30	Break from sessions and virtual conference café
14:30-16:30	Afternoon plenaries
14:30	Welcome opening remarks from chair Gabriel Milland, Partner, Public First
14:40	In conversation with... Kamal Ahmed Kamal Ahmed, Editorial Director, BBC News In this session, we welcome Kamal Ahmed to discuss the BBC’s strategy for shaping editorial content to ensure that it accurately reflects its audience and how it is changing and embracing new technologies. We will also hear how they work effectively with news media and content providers to promote good news stories.
15:00	Communicating value to local and wider communities Lizzie Ellen, Communications Manager, King’s College, London Victoria Pearson, Head of Corporate Communications, University of Reading While attention has been on the impact of covid-19 and the move of university teaching and services online, the question of the value of higher education has not gone away. This session will look at case studies from two Universities who have gained public attention for their initiatives that aimed to contribute and add value to our wider society. They will discuss what impact they had and the response they received.
15:30	Recruiting and engaging in tough times Jim Tudor, Founder, Future Index Polly Cziok, Director of Communications, Culture and Community, Hackney Council Jonathan Goode, Head of Alumni Relations, Bournemouth University Cutting through the noise and standing out in a recovering global market is tough. Why should prospective students choose you? Why should current students stick with you? This session will share highlight strategies to engage concerned audiences and how to stand out as a trustworthy brand.
16:05	The future of league tables Alastair McCall, Editor, The Sunday Times Good University Guide As UK universities take a hit in the global higher education rankings, we take a look at the behaviour in the market that led to these results. This session will hear from league table providers about how sustainable their methodologies are and how they contribute to a University’s reputation.
16:25	Closing remarks Gabriel Milland, Partner, Public First

Conference partners:

Blog

The grades u-turn caused a ripple effect throughout education – it could be catastrophic for unis

25 August 2020

From over-stretched finances to lack of space and facilities, universities are facing a perfect storm of problems.

Laptop, phone and tablet, at home studying

Covid-19 silver linings: how the pandemic has increased opportunities for disabled university students

15 July 2020

AbilityNet's Amy Low explains how new ways of working brought about by the pandemic have resulted in improvements in accessibility and inclusion for disabled university students.

News

Universities UK calls for urgent action on racial harassment in higher education

24 November 2020

UUK has published a new set of recommendations designed to decisively tackle racial harassment as part of efforts to address racial inequality in UK higher education.

Universities determined to review and prove value of degrees

16 November 2020

Universities in England are developing a charter to help ensure they take a consistent and transparent approach to identifying and improving potentially low value or low quality courses.

Marketing and communications in higher education: the new normal

Overview

Why should you attend?

Who should attend?

Day 1

09.30

Platform opens for self-navigation and exploration

10:00-

12:00

Morning plenaries

10:00

Welcome and opening remarks from the chair

10:10

Opening keynote: Socially Responsible Marketing and Communications

10:30

Covid-19 recovery - what next?

​11:20

​The defining social media app of Gen Z: Tik Tok

​11:55

Closing remarks from the chair

​12:00- 14:30

​Break from sessions and virtual conference café

​14:30-

16:00

Breakout sessions

Internal relations and communications

Virtual recruitment events

​Aligning your technology: Increasing applications and Improving conversions through marketing technology

End of Day 1

Day 2

​9:30

​Platform opens for self-navigation and exploration

​10:00-11:30

Morning breakout sessions

​

Crisis communications in HE

​

Ensuring expectation equals reality

​Developing effective university brand communications

​11:30-14:30

​Break from sessions and virtual conference café

​14:30-16:30

​Afternoon plenaries

​14:30

Welcome opening remarks from chair

​14:40

​In conversation with... Kamal Ahmed

​15:00

​Communicating value to local and wider communities

​15:30

​Recruiting and engaging in tough times

​16:05

​The future of league tables

​16:25

​Closing remarks

Conference partners:

Sponsored by:

Esther Dudley

Blog

The grades u-turn caused a ripple effect throughout education – it could be catastrophic for unis

Covid-19 silver linings: how the pandemic has increased opportunities for disabled university students

News

Universities UK calls for urgent action on racial harassment in higher education

Universities determined to review and prove value of degrees

11:20

The defining social media app of Gen Z: Tik Tok

11:55

12:00- 14:30

Break from sessions and virtual conference café

14:30-

Aligning your technology: Increasing applications and Improving conversions through marketing technology

9:30

Platform opens for self-navigation and exploration

10:00-11:30

Developing effective university brand communications

11:30-14:30

Break from sessions and virtual conference café

14:30-16:30

Afternoon plenaries

14:30

14:40

In conversation with... Kamal Ahmed

15:00

Communicating value to local and wider communities

15:30

Recruiting and engaging in tough times

16:05

The future of league tables

16:25

Closing remarks