Academic Planning Committee Brand Development Dr Anthony Marsella Director, Marketing and External Linkages

MEL Alignment with the Strategic Plan PR & Comms Web & Publications International Alumni & Development UK Recruitment UG Admissions Ceremonies & Events PG Admissions Marketing Vision Recognised as one of the leading universities internationally Internationalisation Brand & Web Development Financial Sustainability MEL Activities Priorities

Agenda Rationale for Change Driving Brand Consistency Increasing Brand Awareness and Reputation Developing the Brand on-line

Agenda Rationale for Change

Rationale - Market Imperatives Demographic Situation Requires Urgent Action –Population declining in North by 9% over 5 years –Applications for Home/EU UG down 6% on last year as versus overall increase across UK and 94 group –LU recruitment bias for Home students in North –Action needed to compensate decline by increasing share of students Government funding pressure on HE increasing –Cuts resulting in higher market competition –Pressure for shorter degrees and educational pattern Awareness and reputation of LU still low –Many prospective students still not aware of LU –Brand research by LUMS shows brand strength not enough to convert into registration. Students say League Table achievement is counter intuitive

Rationale – Need for Income Growth Income growth will come mainly from International student fees and partnerships in the next few years Need to be increase ranking to top 15 university to –Attract international students and partnerships –Increase fee revenue stream The ability to attract higher performing UK students with higher grades and increase ranking and fees depends upon brand and reputation Long term, higher reputation positions LU for future growth post UK fee cap

Agenda Rationale for Change Driving Brand Consistency

What are we saying about our brand?

Prospective PG Students – LU as a car brand....

VW Beetle

Driving Brand Consistency – Brand Message Realignment of current messaging with the Strategic Plan Major shift in message positioning – a new direction for communications away from a focus on social aspects of the campus towards learning and research destination LU brand messaging should communicate Lancasters brand values: Lancaster University is a world leading quality international study and research destination Demonstrated by Faculty/Department achievements A preferred place for traditional types of degree study rather than the shorter types of degrees Carry through message position and brand consistency into all forms of university communications (campaign, marketing literature, web etc...) A brand development campaign will need to focus on the long-term vision, creating an enduring brand position, not tactical action

Driving Brand Consistency Drive brand consistency through : Realignment of the Brand Message A single brand strategy and brand guidance Improved customer experience at key interaction points A marketing agency management process MEL realignment to support Faculties/Department marketing

Agenda Rationale for Change Driving Brand Consistency Increasing Brand Awareness and Reputation

OneMS Research Findings (LUMS) 15 I just hadnt heard of it. Nothing against it or the course but it is mainly perception. It needs more awareness, more presence and wider acclaim (Prospect Student, Imperial, International) It was a real dilemma between LUMS and Cass. But based on reputation, I thought that Cass would be better known in the industry. It is difficult to choose (Prospect Student, Cass, International) I chose Manchester as my brother said it had the best reputation of all. Even though the course wasnt as good as Lancaster, my brother said that course content was less important than the reputation of the university (Prospect student, Manchester, International) Dont get me wrong, I got the impression it was a good University, but it is isolated and no-one knows much about it. People have heard of Durham and it has a good reputation for producing good graduates (Prospect student, Durham, British) For many, awareness of Lancaster is low and the perceptions are that it is… Rural…. It is just a little town In the quiet backwater Difficult to access Isolated…. even further north than Preston!

The Situation Today Low awareness We cannot rely on the reputation of a big city to prop up our brand Rankings counter intuitive Brand not strong enough to automatically convert interest into registration 16

Brand Development – Campaign Objectives Raise awareness of Lancaster University Increase consideration for Lancaster among UG (CF and CI choice) and PG Students – at home and abroad Increase total number of higher achieving students UG applying to Lancaster Prepare for lifting of Fee cap

Brand Development – Target Audience UK Prospective students (UG/PG) Influencers Parents Press Policy makers School teachers/careers advisors Not directly included as covered by other means: Academics

Brand Development – Campaign Strategy 1.Build long term awareness through strategically selected out of home poster sites Focus on key transport links for the North Campus sites Long term build through 2 year commitment Rotating Faculty messages

Example: Key Transport Links New Dehli

Railways...

Airports...

Brand Development – Campaign Strategy 2.Activate the brand online with exciting digital marketing aimed at social networks and influencers

Brand Development – Campaign Strategy 1.Build long term awareness through strategically selected out of home poster sites 2.Activate the brand online with exciting* digital marketing aimed at social networks and influencers 3.Create brand value transfer and media cut through using high media profile spokespeople PR

Agenda Rationale for Change Driving Brand Consistency Increasing Brand Awareness and Reputation Developing the Brand on-line

Development of LU Web Strategy Three major areas of focus: Content Management Common Look and Feel Navigation and Access

Common Look and Feel – Current Situation

Common Look and Feel – First Phase

Common Look and Feel – Refresh Central Pages

Common Look and Feel – Common Header

Common Look and Feel – Phase 1 1.New website design applied to the central pages 2.A single Content Management System on central pages 3.Brand Guidelines, Content Guidelines 4.A new masthead element for all Faculty, department and other non-central web pages 5.Navigation to key audience-appropriate content defined by user journeys

Common Look and Feel – Phase 2 1.Improvement of the site search engine 2.Compatibility of new site search engine 3.Reporting improvements 4.Roll out of standard templates where agreed 5.Review and learning from the pilot central CMS 6.Implementation of Brand and Content Guidelines across all websites

Take Away Today, there is a unique opportunity to build our brand presence, awareness and reputation Need to reposition messaging to the market Build brand vehicle to create a stronger awareness Make a step change in our online presence