W100 Brand Snapshot Measuring online brand strength in world- class universities Lisa Bould, Mark Sudbury, Louise Simpson November 2018 Key findings from our review of 100 top university online brands:
Integrated brand Less than a fifth have Brand propositions are High quality images have campaigns are impactful consistently engaging not well differentiated a big impact but rare content
“Impactful research”, Student brands are Campaigns are generally “global citizens” & Less than a third are better articulated than fundraising led and most “leaders of the future” leveraging their location research brands, but few common in Australia and are common vision as a strong brand asset do really well at either North America themes
Less than a fifth of There is no strong link Few do well at promoting Little design global universities do a between rank and online partnerships, especially distinctiveness – half are great job of projecting brand power outside of the HE sector using a variant of blue Summary their international brand
A fifth do a great job at Social media is largely News brands are the presenting reputational on-brand but could be success story with most claims; but almost as better integrated with doing a good or great job many were poor at this websites
Recommendations for projecting a stronger online brand:
Be bold Be targeted Be integrated Be real Say or do something with segmented content with social media and Use the student and unique and strong navigation other web pages academic voice
2 W100 reputation Research Method First impressions research background 8 11 4 5
Engaging content Location brand Student brand Research brand 18 27 39 51
International Reputation brand Partnerships News brand brand 60 78 87 Contents 68
Social media Online brand Campaigns Vision and values brand champions 102 110 95 116
Conclusions & Next research Appendix recommendations project 131 121 130 3 Undertaking bespoke research focused on international reputation is one of the main objectives for the W100 Network Research informs practice, explains budgetary decisions, progresses strategy, and enables reputation managers to W100 excel in their jobs The Network delivers an annual research project that pushes Reputation forward the boundaries of knowledge around reputation and helps those managing university’s image to understand it, Research and better amplify it W100 members benefit from access to current and previous research, and share the results with their colleagues to inform decision-making
4 • Universities are putting more energy and thought into expressing their brand position as they compete for research funding, top students and world-class academics • But there is a very weak understanding of brand difference or any formal impact assessment in the higher education Research sector other than via the rankings background • As websites are one of the main ways audiences interact with universities and universities articulate their ‘brand’, The World 100 Reputation Network’s 2017/18 research project looked at brands online
5 Brand = a unified presentation of the organisation to appeal to customers
Differentiated brand = a brand with a unique selling point or difference that helps the organisation stand out from What we competition mean by brand Online brand = the integrated expression of the brand across the organisation’s web pages & core social media channels. Your university’s website is the most likely way stakeholders discover your brand in Higher Education
6 1. Brand propositions are not well differentiated between top-ranked universities
2. Brands are separated out between research, study and Four international, rather than offered as an integrated hypotheses expression of the whole university we tested 3. Student brands are better articulated than research brands
4. There is no correlation between a high ranked university and a university with a strong online brand impact
7 • Analysis of 100 university websites (top 50 in world in all four rankings, plus W100 members and nominated peers) • Assessed by two independent analysts against pre-agreed questions between January and June 2018 • Qualitative comments asked for the reader’s response to brand values, style etc. Method • Each university nominated five peers for benchmarking • Quantitative scores on a 1-5 scale, and an independent judge re-read websites when scores diverged s • Overall scores were calculated for each university based on logo uniqueness, design consistency, engaging content, quality images, news and social media brand, student brand, research brand, international brand, clarity and presentation of reputational claims and evidencing partnerships
8 Map of all 100 universities in the Brand Snapshot review (see appendix for full list)
9 “To what extent is the city a brand asset?”
Campaigns “How does the university differentiate
First its student brand?” Partnerships impressions
Research Vision and brand values Brand “What are the Engaging research strengths attributes content News brand as stated on the website?” assessed Reputation Student brand brand
Location Social media brand brand “What are the five main International messages that the university brand is repeating?”
10 Oxford Yale UC Berkeley • 50 Shades of Blue! Half the sample use a variant of blue as corporate colour Pennsylvania Duke Toronto First • Many sites are highly impressions consistent in design terms
• Excellent images make Imperial Melbourne UBC a real difference • Traditional logos still dominate NUS Cambridge Michigan
11 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“Warm but serious and professional, clean, modern colour palette. A bit plain but like the addition of the purple. Clear, large lettering. Very consistent and effective”
12 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“Wow - a great-looking site. Lots of boxes with interesting stuff all over the place. Very clearly focused on science, engineering, medicine and business. Unusually for a UK university, no shield.”
13 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“QUB -Great images, great colours, great stories, great layout, 100% consistent across all the pages I looked at.”
14 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“Really different design - not seen another site like this before. The orange is a welcome change from navy and red. Nice website design, easy-to-navigate blocks. Large Alumni & Giving block near the top and Group of 8 Australia logo prominent. 'Start your journey to Sydney’ is striking call to action.”
15 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“Loving the homepage! Lots of inspiring and engaging content, as well as interesting facts. Dynamic running video at the top of the homepage. Can tell it’s a great website already - global engagement, the campaign and lots of other bits all visible on the homepage!”
16 Winners for First Impressions: Aarhus, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, Washington St Louis, UEA
“Striking website. Unusual logo. Focused on students, not research The cross in the logo is PINK!! - the first university to use pink! Bold and dynamic, love the pink!”
17 Great = Highly engaging content 18 on every page • Pictures set the tone immediately but Engaging Great some look too homogeneous content • Photos of awards and agreements are dull! Less than a fifth have Good • Importance of white space and not too consistently engaging 45 much text content! • Scrolling features and news on home OK page for vibrancy and maturity • Two minute videos work to establish
sense of place Weak OK = Some • Top 1% claims still made… 32 engaging content
• Don’t overdo the menus Poor
5
18 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Not afraid to tackle the difficult topics such as animal research, women in STEM, and asking for funding. Strong and impactful research news stories (with dates!) and a selection of videos.”
19 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“In the week that the Winter Olympics are taking place, Cornell is the first university to link the Olympics back to its Alumni.”
20 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“I liked the mix of stories - research, academic profiles, student stories…”
21 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Interesting news stories and events presented in an exciting way.”
22 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Lots of great research news stories from a range of different fields.”
23 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Compelling research news stories and other news stories on the home page.”
24 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Everything on the homepage is written in an engaging and up-beat tone and presented in a way that makes me want to click on it!”
25 Winners for Engaging Content: Imperial, Cornell, Washington St Louis, Sydney, QUB, Aarhus, UEA, Stanford
“Lots of engaging rich media - visually interesting with plenty of images used alongside text, some videos on the school pages. Dynamic image zooming when hovering over an image encourages clicks. A lot of the content has humans at the centre - personal accounts are more engaging. Interesting and on-trend news/research topics - cancer, the brain and renewable energy.”
26 0 of 12 Asians with strong location brands
Most universities have the Location city or location in the name 1 of 8 Australasians with strong location brands brand But fewer than a third use the location effectively – 28 City is a strong part of the of the 100 universities use brand for less than a city as a strong/very strong 2 of 18 Europeans with strong location brands third! part of their brand British and Irish most likely to use city as a strong brand asset 9 of 35 N Americans with strong location brands Location mostly used for student recruitment The concept of civic engagement seems remote 16 of 26 UK & Eire with strong location brands for many
27 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Great examples of how the university is involved with its community: ‘Community Impact provides meaningful volunteer opportunities for students at Columbia and Barnard College to serve individuals in need in Upper Manhattan through dozens of community-based organizations.’”
28 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“LSE and London - a global community rooted in London. Content for international students presents a compelling picture of life in a global city."
29 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“No separation between uni and the city. Described as unique, a concentrated campus in the city, around Washington square park... like an open quad.... 'great place' used a lot in the video! the park is the epitome of Greenwich village, in the middle of the city... big on the views of New York from halls. ‘you are coming to NY to start your life’”
30 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“'Not only is Newcastle one of the UK's favourite student cities, it was recently named number one by Rough Guide 2018 in a list of places that should be on your radar in 2018'. One in six people in Newcastle is a student, helping create the city's vibrant social scene and renowned nightlife. Student brand is strongly focused on the city as an attraction and the city centre location of the university. ”
31 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Promotes Belfast as a modern capital city that is compact, welcoming and an inexpensive place to live and study. Lonely Planet calls it one of Europe’s most hip and vibrant capitals, with energy, a lively atmosphere and a dynamic young population. A huge amount of information.”
32 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“A pioneering, forward thinking and global place to live. Proximity to city, but also a kind of green oasis – the city has over 8,000 acres of parks and open space. Own railway station, so well connected. The youngest city in Europe, with under-25s accounting for nearly 40% of its population. Highlights that all faiths are well represented in Birmingham.”
33 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“A vibrant, friendly place to live and study. A fantastic list of things Bristol is famous for - Independent spirit, culture, location, sustainability, creative industry, friendly faces, walkability, thriving art scene, abundance of nature, heritage.”
34 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Of all the US university websites I have looked at so far, Chicago is the first to really use its city as a selling point. On the home page there is an impressive short video, making Chicago look really exciting and a great place to live.”
35 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Describes Sheffield as 'a city like no other' and a 'special city with a strong sense of community on the edge of the Peak District.' Highlights affordability and safety as well as creativity - 'the ultimate student city' with 70 music venues and the best pubs.”
36 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Claims the best student experience in Australia, in one of the world’s best cities – Sydney ranks second on a list of the 50 best cities in the world in which to live, above New York and Paris. Has also been named amongst the world’s top most beautiful campuses.”
37 Winners for Location Brand: Columbia, LSE, NYU, Newcastle, QUB, Birmingham, Bristol, Chicago, Sheffield, Sydney, UBC
“Stunning use of photos and evocative text to make most of its spectacular location. Text also evokes the modern & traditional, the urban & natural environment: e.g. ‘Breathtaking vistas...stunning campus… surrounded by forest on three sides and ocean on the fourth…just a 30 minute bus ride to Vancouver's downtown core…the traditional territory of the Musqueam people.’”
38 6 Great = Strong scores across all three factors Student Great assessed for student brand: Brand student brand The most impactful brands use the 40 prominence, use student voice prominently of student voice Only 6% projected a truly Good and student Universities in competitive systems great student brand! brand distinctiveness (e.g. UK) tend to have more sharply defined student brands OK Some non-English language universities are clearly defining their 39 student offering
Weak Few universities are expressing a differentiated learning experience
Poor 14
39 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“Presents information in a comprehensive way - all the information I am looking for is all in one place and is consistent. The study pages cover all aspects.”
40 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“It all sounds lovely…The strong focus on place alongside reputation claims is not unique but quite compelling. What is missing is any focus on type of study or link between excellent research & teaching.”
41 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“The website gives succinct reasons as to ‘Why Imperial?’ including reputation and rankings; central London location; research-led education; supportive environment; global opportunities. Really strong student brand.”
42 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“The videos and blogs of current students are a great way to get a feel for the student experience. The fact that the university has a special science and technology focus distinguishes it from most. Bilingual campus and English taught courses shows it has an international outlook. Dormitory accommodation for everyone.”
43 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“Just a great website that really makes me want to study at Keio! My daughter was walking past as I was looking at the website and she said "WOW. I want to go there”. 'Shaping history, shaping tomorrow’ - Nicely presented and engaging student profiles. While most of Keio's undergraduate programs are conducted in Japanese, the University increasingly offers degree programs in English.”
44 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“A huge amount of information presented in a fresh and engaging way. Makes the most of the fact that the institution is specialist, based in London and is leading in its field. A comprehensive student brand, with plenty of information about a range of different courses and a great student voice - student video diaries, student blogs.”
45 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“I wish I could score it higher - it sounds fab… It's very well put across and it is believable.”
46 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“This university does a superb job at presenting what it's like to study there. Lots of information, presented in a fun and engaging way. Really like the student blogs and the chat with a student feature.”
47 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“The website makes student life sound very exciting. Link to sports teams - unsurprising given their prominence. Also, stronger use of reputation metrics than most US institutions - mostly USN&WR. Also uses CUWR for world ranking. ”
48 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“I liked the ‘make your degree your own’ part of the admissions website. Suggested combinations included Electronic Engineering and Jazz Studies; Comparative Literature and Chemistry; sounds like you can study whatever you want! Videos, quotes, profiles featuring real students on all academic pages.’”
49 Winners for Student Brand: Edinburgh, Exeter, Imperial, KAIST, Keio, LSE, QUB, Southampton, Texas at Austin, Washington St Louis, Warwick
“Lots of student blogs: https://studentblogs.war wick.ac.uk/. High quality campus, engaged teaching, with strong researchers.”
50 8 Great = Strong scores across all three factors Research Great assessed for research brand: Brand research brand prominence, use Specialist institutions have more 42 of academic sharply defined research brands Fewer than 1 in 10 did a Good voice and great job at presenting research brand ‘Superbrands’ tend to perform well distinctiveness their research brand! Universities with specific and not
OK too many research ‘flagships’ stand out Academic profiles, strong use of 35 imagery and engaging films bring .’Weak research to life
Poor 15
51 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“If I could have given a 6 for featuring their academics, I would have! Brilliant Academic Heroes campaign. The tagline ‘Research Matters’ comes up at the end of the video and makes a good strong point.”
52 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“Really like the research stories and the interviews with current research staff. These are well written and presented and make BU seem like an interesting place to undertake research.”
53 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“Its specialism makes it a little different to most. Caltech's researchers are known for scientific inquiry that is bold, innovative, and impactful. Very strong claims of reputation.”
54 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“While no research strengths are specified, this seems like a place that will let you research anything you want. It appears to be a very personal place, engaged faculty and integrated with teaching. Research covering a wide range of issues and topics and a big focus on impact.”
55 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“One of the very few universities to put "Meet the researchers" at the top of the research page. Highly specialised areas of research and the largest share of medical research in Sweden. The articles about current researchers and their work are really interesting.”
56 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“What's not to like? Engaging research videos, a clear explanation of its research focus, just a top- notch presentation of its research. Brilliant academic voice - so much content! Research highlights, researcher profiles - content all presented well.”
57 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“Scored highly because of the grand challenges - I think this is a brave move and one that could really yield results. Unusual to focus on just two inter- disciplinary challenges - gives real focus. Claims to be one of the world's leading research universities. Gives a good sense of the wide range of research activity across the disciplines - arts to medicine”
58 Winners for Research Brand: Birmingham, Boston, CalTech, Cornell, Karolinska, Keio, UCLA, York
“A clear presentation of its research strength. Every single research story is written in an engaging way and the themes sound really interesting. I particularly like the theme overview - while other universities just list themes, this university really backs up its choice with evidence of activity. Snapshots where researchers talk about their work are really interesting and useful.”
59 Great = Claims are validated, 22 unambiguous and Long lists of rankings look dull – Reputation Great clear graphic treatments work better Brand Claims need validation and have to be easy to find
Just over a fifth do a great Good job, but reputational 28 Reflecting both institutional and claims at almost as many subject excellence works well are too ambiguous! More interesting claims catch the OK eye and add humour 18
.’Weak 13
Poor = Claims are UW-Madison: www.admissions.wisc.edu vague, 19
Poor ambiguous or even misleading
60 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Has some unique claims – UK’s most international university, only UK university focused entirely on science, engineering, medicine and business. Comprehensive and transparent presentation of ranking positions.”
61 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Rankings claims well presented – excellent use of infographics, and properly substantiated with clear references. Wide range of statistics referenced in engaging Facts & Figures pages. ”
62 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Very clear articulation of strengths and statistics in one of the best ‘About’ sections we have seen. Good use of faculty honours beyond Nobel laureates, including Pulitzer Prizes and poet laureates.”
63 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Contextualises rankings and other statistics well in Our Position section. Strong section on Prizes and Awards, featuring academics with both internal and external recognition.”
64 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Prominent, straightforward and well referenced reputation claims on homepage. Supported by really strong articulation of research performance in research section presented in an engaging way.”
65 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Presented very clearly on a rankings page, not in a list but in a grid form which gives more details about the source of each rank/reputation claim as you hover over them. Really effective...”
66 Winners for Reputation Brand: Imperial, Melbourne, Washington St Louis, Groningen, UEA, Arizona State, Western Australia
“Focuses specifically on reputation as the context for rankings performance and other relevant statistics. Features economic contribution, as well as research and student quality; very well referenced.”
67 Great = Strong scores across all • The best international brands reflect 19 three factors both research and study attributes
International Great assessed for international brand: • Case studies of international Brand international partnerships are very effective, but partnerships, Less than a fifth of the rarely used Good global marketing 100 global universities do 38 and information a great job at presenting for international • Many non-English language universities their international brand! students have clearly defined their
international brands OK
• N. American institutions are lagging in integrating an international focus into the overall brand (max. score 15)
Weak 34 Poor 9
North America Asia Australasia Europe UK & Eire 68 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“Highlights alliances with three other international universities. Equal emphasis on opportunities for incoming & outgoing students for summer school/studying abroad. Case studies of successful partnerships and community/public engagement e.g. programme with agro- pastoralist villages in Tanzania to help control the spread of livestock diseases.”
69 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“A wide, international curriculum, with over 100 English-taught Master's degree programmes and PhD programmes, as well as more than 20 English- taught degree programmes.”
70 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“It claims to be the most international university in the UK. Lots of case studies of collaborations across the globe. Global academic partnerships listed by country and in quite a bit of detail.”
71 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“A great map of institutional partnerships with information on program names and student numbers too.”
72 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“The very fact the university has such an amazing website in English makes it international. Loads of information on partnerships. Lists with university partnership details. Global research hubs, from Australia and Asia to Europe and the US. The English, Korean and Chinese websites are for international students, so really in depth.”
73 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“Emphasis on global partnerships and case studies of successes within these. Figures about proportions of students studying abroad and international students studying at Dublin very prominent.”
74 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“A wealth of information for international students and about international partnerships. Strong focus on global engagement, both around education and research. Excellent section on links with China with case studies and some Chinese language content. Interactive map, although mostly based around exchange partnerships.”
75 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“Has a campus in Malaysia. Highlighted relationship with Commonwealth during a Heads of Government meeting – ‘As a leading global university, Southampton enjoys many strong and mutually- beneficial partnerships in many of the Commonwealth's 53 countries.’ A map of locations, list of 5 partnerships.”
76 Winners for International Brand: Glasgow, Groningen, Imperial, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Keio, UCD, Sheffield, Southampton, QMUL
“Gives a lot of detailed information for prospects that is specific to where they are from including entry, scholarships, popular subjects from students from that country, number of current students etc. Features a map of QMUL activity across the world.”
77 Industry HEIs Great = Strong 15 17 evidence
Great • Communication of the Partnerships impact of partnerships is generally weak 26 Few are doing a great job! Good • Often limited to lists with Better at demonstrating 42 links within the sector no further detail or
than externally. evidence OK
31 • Industry partnerships more prominent in certain countries 25
Weak OK = Some evidence • International partnerships 20 often confined to list, but some good examples of 10
Poor impactful engagement 8 6 Poor = No evidence
78 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“Evidences regional partners with information on aims and themes of the partnership. Some are detailed, but one or two of them haven't been updated since 2013.”
79 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“‘Partner with us’ is the first sub-menu item when you click on Research and Innovation. The best information about corporate partnerships so far. Lots of great case studies and examples of work done with corporate partners. And a huge amount of information for potential new partners - the university looks like a very accessible place for companies.”
80 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“Plenty of information on corporations and foundations that work with and contribute financially to help LSE develop courses, centres etc. for research, student support and public engagement.”
81 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“There are several case studies with companies from a variety of different disciplines via the Research menu. Mission groups are mostly links to individual websites, but lots of evidence when it comes to industry.”
82 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“Several examples of partnerships, mainly in engineering. 100 international partnerships mostly at departmental level.”
83 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“Good case studies of partnerships, with impact of the work and research in the Trinity Research and Innovation section of the website.”
84 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“Lots of global initiatives with extensive partnership information on the website.”
85 Winners for Partnership Brand: Groningen, Imperial, LSE, Melbourne, Northwestern, TCD, UC Berkeley, UCD
“It belongs to a wide range of university networks, in Universitas 21, UNICA, Erasmus Mundus, AESOP & AESOP+, European University Association, International Association of Universities, Network on Humanitarian Action, The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), Forum on Education Abroad. Some partnerships with international universities.”
86
Great = Well- Great News Brand written and engaging stories, Best news sites have up to date news 56 pages and just snappily-written pieces with
More than half had great the right number great images Good news pages and the rest of articles were doing a pretty good Categorising news emphasises job too! research and institutional
strengths OK Strongest impact comes from mixing research, student and events news
Weak 34 Handshakes do often
dominate institutional news! Poor 10
87 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“A really well presented newsroom with exceptionally interesting content. Divided into latest news, analysis, focus, and international. Section for media allows expert search.”
88 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“Impactful and well illustrated news story on home page linked to related stories in side bar. News pages - really great format, with lovely images used and stories appropriately sized. Good mixture of types of articles.”
89 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“Strong imagery used especially on news page. Very well set out and divided up amongst themes. Very researched- focussed, which I like. A great mix of stories, all well written in great English.”
90 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“The news page is divided into "home", "college and campus" and then the individual disciplines of science, engineering, health and business. A fantastic array of interesting stories with great pictures. Difficult to identify the latest news with the news divided into many sections, but otherwise engaging content.”
91 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“This is one of my favourite news sites so far. Gives the impression of a very active, very involved university with lots of really exciting things going on. Nice news page with just the right amount of preview text for each story and a good-sized image for each. Queen's insight section makes expert opinion very accessible. There is a prominent share button on each news page. ”
92 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“The university releases about 3-5 news stories per day! This is the highest number of releases I have come across. Really great layout, with just enough information before you even open the article.”
93 Winners for News Brand: ANU, Cape Town, Helsinki, Imperial, QUB, Sydney, York
“Excellent- a university that is not afraid to let research have an opinion. The Expert Reaction stories are a refreshing change, featuring university staff commenting on current issues. The rest of the news is also highly engaging - one of the best news sites I have seen. The articles themselves are really interesting, concise and with subheadings to break them up.”
94 • Consistent use of Twitter & Great = Social Media Great Messages, design Facebook to reflect news 38 and branding agenda Brand consistent with the website and • Few are integrating social
The majority of social up-to-date Good media is largely on-brand. accounts media & news websites More than a third doing a well great job!
OK • The best social media content is highly
48 segmented • Some use of social feeds on Weak homepages for currency
9 Poor 1 4
95 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“Glasgow’s YouTube channel is updated regularly and I really like the Glasgow video: https://youtu.be/R89_88w oscQ Funny, slick, quirky.”
96 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“Top marks for Twitter and Facebook pages - really engaging and great photos. Strong use of hashtags throughout communications - on web & social media channels provides structure & coherence e.g. #NUSResearch. Social media very strongly student focused.”
97 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“The first YouTube channel I have seen that is updated nearly every day. All social media accounts are updated frequently."
98 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“Fun, engaging, interesting. ”
99 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“Regular and fun updates by students at Queensland make the university look cool, and Queensland amazing.”
100 Winners for Social Media Brand: Glasgow, NUS, North Carolina, QUB, Queensland, QMUL
“Advertises Twitter and Facebook on its homepage. Interesting content. Comprehensive links to social media accounts across the university from the news pages.”
101 Active campaigns by world region:
Australasia 6 of the 8 universities The Australians and North Americans were the most likely to have an active campaign North America Campaigns are largely 21 of the 35 universities fundraising focused Campaigns There are campaigns for recruitment and anniversaries - UK & Eire time-bound and focused on 10 of the 26 universities specific audiences Few are using integrated Asia campaigns to amplify brand 4 of the 12 universities across different audiences and areas of the website Europe 5 of the 18 universities
102 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“Academic Heroes. For international academics, students and research funders. Exemplifying how their research makes an impact, is relevant, and well led. Asking the best to join them.”
103 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“Campaign focused on 'world changing campus' to help the university expand its campus. Key channel used is the website itself, which links to the alumni website to donate.”
104 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“The Stellify campaign for students to encourage them to participate in the bigger social and career ambition whilst unifying the student experience. Bold graphics with a strong star theme.”
105 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“Brighter World. Research focused on the health and well-being of all. A clever campaign that uses sepia pictures to suggest sunglasses, which then come into full colour when you touch them. The brand of brightness informs many top pages. The strapline then pins McMaster down to a specific interdisciplinary research theme.”
106 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“A range of hasthtag- based campaigns: #NUSLife - student recruitment- focused Website stories and social media content; #NUSBeyond - a really great collection of stories of what NUS Alumni have achieved - great pictures, great stories, great presentation. Just fab.”
107 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“A campaign that creates a strong and unusual identity for UCLA around the concept of Optimism. Focused on academics, students and wider stakeholders. Strong use of online imagery and stories.”
108 Winners for Campaigns: Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, McMaster, NUS, UCLA, Newcastle (Australia)
“The University of Newcastle uses the brand ‘New’ for recruitment and research, and to front the next Strategy.”
109 There is a clear convergence of the messages top universities are conveying in their vision statements 'World-leading', 'impactful research' and 'educating Top 100 words used in vision statements students as global citizens Vision and (excludes “university” and common words) and leaders of the future' are common values threads Vision statements are often buried in strategy documents The most inspiring visions say something unique about their institutions
Common values at leading universities 110 Winners for Vision & Values: Helsinki, Dundee, Keio, Princeton, UCL
“Clear and focused mission with an interesting emphasis on social interaction – the sense that the university will work together with society, rather than produce benefits FOR society. Strong value set; the word ‘truth’ is an important one and rarely used.”
111 Winners for Vision & Values:, Helsinki, Dundee, Keio, Princeton, UCL,
“A vision that is very clear, focused and above all ambitious. Purpose, values and community very clearly explained within the context of the institutional strategy.
112 Winners for Vision & Values: Helsinki, Dundee, Keio, Princeton, UCL
“Top level vision statement is succinct and impactful. Summoning the ‘spirit of jitsugaku’ firmly locates the university in its setting, whilst being intriguing for international audiences.”
113 Winners for Vision & Values: Helsinki, Dundee, Keio, Princeton, UCL
“Strong focus on service to society. Recently recast their motto as ‘In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity’.”
114 Winners for Vision & Values: Helsinki, Dundee, Keio, Princeton, UCL
“Specifically highlights a distinctive approach. References partners as well as academics and students, and suggests a collaborative approach to solving global problems rather than the usual claims that the university will do this itself.”
115 Top overall online brand
#1 online brand Asia
Overall Online #1 online brand Australasia Brand Champions #1 online brand Europe
#1 online brand North America
#1 online brand UK & Eire
116 Top 25 global university online brands
117 Europe
North America
118 UK & Eire
119 Australasia
Asia
120 Brand propositions are not well differentiated between top-ranked universities
Conclusions Findings: ✓ Universities are using very similar brand Hypothesis 1: positions, words, values Supported ✓ Descriptions such as world-impact and challenging make many sound similar
✓ Different ways of illustrating these concepts are essential – visually and with great storytelling
121 Brands are separated out between research, study and international, rather than offered as an integrated expression of the whole university Conclusions
Findings: Hypothesis 2: Supported ✓ Integrated online brand campaigns are rare
122 Student brands are better articulated than research brands
Conclusions Findings:
✓ Student brands tend to be more prominent; Hypothesis 3: research brands are not well differentiated
Supported ✓ Universities with a strong focus on a small number of research areas stand out
123 There is no correlation between a high ranked university and a university with a strong brand impact
Conclusions Findings: There is no strong link between the rank of a Hypothesis 4: university and its online brand power Supported ‘Superbrands’ have less of a need to focus on strong brand amplification – but some do so
Many lower ranked universities are working harder at brand positioning
124 One of the top online brand impact winners ranked
Highest much lower than the -
- rest
R² = 0.0386
-
-
- - Correlation between world rank and Brand One of the highest ranking universities was one of the Snapshot lowest scoring for online
BrandSnapshot Score brand impact
overall score -
-
-
-
-
- Lowest Highest ------World Rank ------Lowest
125 BE BOLD: to stand out online, you need something different that is authentic and salient to stakeholders
Strong design which stands out Campaign approach which from the crowd - QUB says something unique – UCLA, McMaster Recommend- ations
126 BE TARGETED: focus on priority target audiences - & excellent navigation for other stakeholders
Homepage design serving key Target audiences through users with a clear context of personalised content – the wider institution - UEA Edinburgh Global Recommend- ations
127 BE INTEGRATED: bring website and social media engagement together
Hashtag campaigns provide a Embed engaging social focus for key audiences - media on homepage - NUS Texas at Austin Recommend- ations
128 BE REAL: people – students and academics – bring the brand to life
Lead study sections with real Use academics to tell stories student views and stories - about research themes - KEIO, QMUL Birmingham Recommend- ations
129 The Role of Reputation in International Partnerships The 2018/19 W100 Network research project will focus on how reputation influences the international partnerships that form between leading global universities The research will look at both the role of reputation in Next research influencing the choice of international partnerships; and how project universities are using these links to build global reputation For further information, visit www.theworld100.com/research. Or contact Lisa Bould,W100 Research Manager, [email protected]
130 • Universidad de Alcalá • California Institute of Technology • Dublin City University
• Aalborg University • University of California, Berkeley • Duke University
• University of California, Los • Aarhus University • University of Dundee Angeles
Appendix: • The University of Adelaide • University of California, San Diego • University of East Anglia
• University of Alberta • University of Cambridge • University of Edinburgh
The 100 • University of Amsterdam • University of Cape Town • Eth Zurich universities • Arizona State University • Carnegie Mellon University • University of Exeter included in W100 • Australian National University • University of Chicago • University of Glasgow
Brand Snapshot • University of Birmingham • Chinese University of Hong Kong • University of Groningen
• Boston University • Columbia University • Hanyang University
• University of Bristol • Concordia University • Harvard University
• University of British Columbia • University of Copenhagen • Heidelberg University
• University of Calgary • Cornell University • University of Helsinki
131 • Hong Kong University of Science • University of New South Wales • University of Liverpool and Technology (UNSW) • University of Illinois at Urbana- • London School of Economics And • New York University Champaign Political Science (LSE) • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität • Imperial College London • The University of Newcastle Appendix: München • Johns Hopkins University • Lund University • Newcastle University
• University of North Carolina, • KAIST • University of Manchester Chapel Hill • Massachusetts Institute of The 100 • Karolinska Institute • Northwestern University universities Technology • Keio University • McGill University • University of Oxford included in W100 Brand Snapshot • King's College London • McMaster University • Peking University • Korea University • University of Melbourne • University of Pennsylvania
• KU Leuven • University of Michigan • Princeton University
• Kyushu University • Nanyang Technological University • Queen Mary University of London
• University of Leeds • National University of Singapore • Queen's University Belfast
• Leiden University • University of Navarra • University of Queensland
132 • University of Sheffield • Utrecht University
• University of Southampton • University of Warwick
• Stanford University • University of Washington (Seattle)
Appendix: • University of Sydney • Washington University in St. Louis
• Technische Universität München • University of Waterloo
The 100 • University of Texas at Austin • The University of Western Australia universities • University of Tokyo • University of Wisconsin included in W100 • University of Toronto • Yale University
Brand Snapshot • Trinity College Dublin • University of York
• University College Dublin
• University College London (UCL)
• Uppsala University
133 Contact Lisa Bould Research Manager, [email protected] Mark Sudbury Head of Global Network Development, [email protected] Louise Simpson Director, [email protected]