In the past five years, the number of institutions with marketing and communications leaders that sit on the university cabinet or report directly to the institution’s president has grown by more than 30 percent. There is a good reason for this positive development. As the author of How to Market a University Terry Flannery explains, "marketing strategy must mirror institutional strategy".



In recent times, institutions have been challenged by significant marketing problems including poor public perceptions of higher education, questions about the value proposition for parents and students, brand management through mergers and acquisitions, digital marketing and marketing technology growth, brand and the customer experience, transformational state investments and political challenges, athletic issues, and more. Leading your institution to success requires both institutional focus and commitment, as well as leaders who know that institutional challenges require more than a good story.



Learning Objective 1:
How to build a case for support among university leadership using industry trend data around the maturation of marketing and branding organizations and leadership.



Learning Objective 2:
Awareness and understanding of new research on public perceptions of higher education including an interesting disconnect between how alumni opinions of their own experience differ from a broader decline in public trust.