Insights

Nice to knows and need to knows.

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

Jason Simon

Jason Simon
Jason is CEO & Partner at SimpsonScarborough. Before coming to SimpsonScarborough in 2014, Jason led the marketing communications teams for the University of California System and North Carolina State University. In 2013, he was named Higher Education Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association. Learn more about Jason here.

Recent Posts

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
2023 written in lights. Photo by Moritz Knoringer, courtesy of Unsplash
Higher Ed's 2023 Resolution: Brand Management

Airplane flights are usually a time of reflection for me. Nothing like 4-6 hours tightly packed with a bunch of strangers to clear my head. 

Thought leadership
Hands on a table. Photo courtesy of Unsplash, credit to Clay Banks.
We Need to Talk about Diversity in Higher Ed Marketing

We have a few sayings that have stuck over the past several years as we've evolved our agency, added services and talent, and participated in a lot of self-reflection. Among those frequently repeated...

Thought leadership
SimpsonScarborough employees on a tour of Loyola Marymount University
Growing Gains: Announcing New Partners
In early June, SimpsonScarborough came together for our first in-person retreat since 2019. While some of us have worked together before, many of our colleagues met each other for the first time in...
Announcements, SimpScar Culture
Empty table and chairs. Photo by Matt Hoffman courtesy of Unsplash.
Higher Education's Existential Crisis

Higher ed CMOs face a myriad (and exhausting) set of challenges. Declining budgets, poor martech, leadership transitions, talent exodus amid the great resignation, ongoing crisis management, and...

Thought leadership
Jason Simon, CEO of SimpsonScarborough
Reflecting On 2021: This Is Me Trying
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Food, families, giving, reflection, and the celebration of the glorious algorithmic geniuses behind Spotify's "Wrapped" telling me how I reflected on the...
Thought leadership
Abstract illustration
Performance-Driven Brands, Pt. II

Throughout much of the year, our team has been asking the question, "What's the future of higher ed marketing communications?" 

We've shared ideas, perspectives, and research on what's contributing...

Thought leadership, Branding
Abstract illustration
Performance-Driven Brands (And Why They're the Future of Higher Ed Marcom)
The demographic cliff. COVID-19. Social and racial unrest and a renewed focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Challenges to mental health and the rise of the student voice. The elevation of...
Thought leadership, Branding
Headshot of Jason Simon, CEO of SimpsonScarborough
Gratitude in the Journey
Sometimes our greatest learnings aren't found in our successes or even apparent in the moments we experience them. It's a life lesson that comes with age, wisdom, kindness, heartache, humility,...
Thought leadership
The Five Questions We Have in the New Year

In the month ahead, SimpsonScarborough will celebrate its 15th year in business, and I'll celebrate my seventh year with the agency. Time sure flies when you're doing great work (and having fun doing...

Thought leadership
Jason Simon, CEO of SimpsonScarborough
What's Good From an Otherwise Crappy Year

2020. As soon as you say it, the wave of crappiness is upon you.

It's been a year that has simultaneously felt like its lasted forever while also being a bit of a blur. It's like the wise adage for...

Thought leadership, COVID-19
Neon side that reads, "We can be heroes just for one day."
Here's to the heroes.

Though common long long before COVID-19 began, here's to the heroes has become the rallying cry as brands search for the right tone in which to connect their voices with the global pandemic. No doubt...

Thought leadership, Digital, Creative, Strategy, COVID-19
Ryan Reynolds Aviation Gin Peloton Twitter Post
What Higher Ed Marketers Can Learn from Peloton (and Aviation Gin)

Just before the holidays, I got an email from a client and close friend who is the VP of Marketing at a small, private college. He wrote:

“Just launched this big digital campaign for our one of our...

Thought leadership