Insights

Nice to knows and need to knows.

The hottest trends and latest insights from around the world of higher education.

Choose Your Strategy. Find Your Advantage.

In a quiet conversation on the upper floor of a centuries-old building, a college president shared with me a telling truth about higher education.

Strategy
The Fragmented Funnel: A Case for Cohesion

In this 2-part blog series, we’ll explore performance marketing, its history, where it’s going, and how higher ed senior marketing leadersshould prepare for the future by championing cohesion.

2023-2024 CMO Study, Brand Measurement
A College Athlete’s POV: How Higher Ed CMOs Can Strengthen Athlete-University Bonds

Editors Note: We were pleasantly surprised when Chase Griffin, current UCLA quarterback and publisher of The Athlete's Bureau, reached out to us after the release of this year's Higher Ed CMO Study...

Branding, 2023-2024 CMO Study
CMOLab 2024: Elevating Higher Ed Marketing through Strategy and Experience

Summer: a time to unwind and enjoy a nice breeze or the heat of a beach. In higher ed, summer means a quiet campus and a time to reflect, recharge, and plan for the year ahead. And for higher ed...

CMOLab, 2023-2024 CMO Study
How Employee Experiences Strengthen University Brands

Editor's Note: We received a number of thought-provoking questions during The Changing Role of the CMO, the second webinar in our 2023-2024 Higher Ed CMO Study series. One of the questions, submitted...

2023-2024 CMO Study
From SEO to UX: Reconsidering Subdomains for University Websites

Let’s try an exercise.

Open your favorite browser and search for the name of an academic program followed by your institution’s name. What are the first several results? Often, the first few you’ll...

2023-2024 CMO Study
Examining Gender Gaps in Higher Ed CMO Roles

In 2022, I penned an article titled "Is Higher Ed Built for Women?" It explored the question of equality for women in higher education marketing. With SimpsonScarborough's latest annual CMO study...

2023-2024 CMO Study
Purple background with a series of circles in the foreground that makes up a person with a graph illustrated inside the body.
Maximize Marketing Impact: Strategic Priorities in Higher Ed

If there's a constant to be found in higher education, it's variability. It's made the gap between institutions thriving and barely surviving feel more significant than ever. That variability is...

2023-2024 CMO Study
The Higher Ed CMO Has Arrived...And So Have Expectations

A decade ago, SimpsonScarborough partnered with The Chronicle of Higher Education to publish the first iteration of our Higher Ed CMO Study. Back then, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer was in...

2023-2024 CMO Study
A student walking on a college campus
Be Real With Me: Brand Authenticity in Higher Ed

In a strange turn of events, authenticity—the quality highly prized by Millennials and Gen Z—has become something of a corporate buzzword. Brands strive for it and build strategies, campaigns, and...

Thought leadership, Branding
Onward to 2024

For years, politicians, pundits, critics, venture capitalists, and demographers have been touting the certain demise of higher education. They’ve decried the costs and beat up the value of the...

Thought leadership, Future of Higher Ed Marcom
The Integrated Campaign for Blue Turf Thinking

Before Boise State University could take its brand to the nation’s biggest stages, it needed a bold breakthrough to close the perception gap it was experiencing at home. Declining state funding and...

Thought leadership, Media Planning
Boise State's Branding Blueprint

We've all heard the question echo across national media outlets: "Is college worth it?" This question has shifted the discourse about the value of higher education across our country. Higher...

Thought leadership, Branding