Insights

Nice to knows and need to knows.

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

Headshot of Elizabeth Johnson
Reflecting on 15 Years

Fifteen years ago, Christopher Simpson and I took the plunge and launched SimpsonScarborough. He was the Simpson and I was the Scarborough. Like Donny and Marie, he was a little bit crisis comms and...

Announcements, Elizabeth Scarborough, Thought leadership
Illustration for Higher Ed Jobs of the Future
Higher Ed Jobs of the Future
Our ongoing series about the Future of Higher Ed MarComms is focused on all of the topics that we believed were important to address in a pre-covid environment, and in a world turned upside down by...
Thought leadership, Future of Higher Ed Marcom
Person typing on a computer
The Trust Predicament

How can institutions build and sustain trust with students and influencers in a fragile, virtual environment? 

In this age of impending cookie-less environments, heightened demands for data privacy
Thought leadership, Media Planning
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
Meredith Simpson, VP of Research
Announcing the Promotion of Meredith Simpson to VP of Research

SimpsonScarborough is exceptionally proud to announce the promotion of Meredith Simpson to Vice President of Research. Meredith was one of SimpsonScarborough's first hires back in 2006 after she...

Announcements
People looking at a computer
Public-Private Partnerships, Empathy & AI

Over the past several years, public-private partnerships (P3s) have become increasingly common in higher ed. Like most P3s around the country, their focus is usually related to infrastructure, much...

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
Aerial view of forest. Photo by Giovanni Bianchi, courtesy of Unsplash.
2020: Hope Was Just in Retrograde

Things don't move backward, but sometimes you have to look back to see they've been moving forward the whole time. 

My keyboard stopped working. This would eventually lead to me presenting on Zoom...

Thought leadership, COVID-19
Illustration of two people working on their laptops.
The Influencer Network

How to find the balance between influencer partnerships that drive value and the fluidity in brand guidelines that success requires. 

Witty repertoire? Check. Unique, interesting idea that keeps...

Social Media, Branding
SimpsonScarborough Booth at AMA
Join Us at AMA Higher Ed 2020

The AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education has long been known as the preeminent conference for higher ed marketers, and while we're disappointed we won't be seeing everyone in-person in...

Elizabeth Scarborough, Events
Empty Classroom. Photo by Nathan Dumlao, courtesy Unsplash.
NSC Enrollment Data Deep Dive

Editor's Note: When the NSC released the first collection of data, we were concerned that the data was not representative enough of institutions across the country to draw meaningful conclusions....

Thought leadership, Research
Four young women laughing. Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran courtesy of Unsplash.
The Trouble with Personas

At a time when expressions of identity and individuality are prevailing, and there's an acute intolerance of bias, discrimination, and systemic racism, we must ask ourselves — is there still a place...

Thought leadership, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
International Space Station orbiting earth. Photo by NASA on Unsplash.
Mission in Control

This is a guest post from one of our industry colleagues, Katharine Wehling. We believe her perspective about mission in higher ed is as important now as it's ever been. As she states in her article...

Thought leadership, Guest Post