Project overview
The impact we made:
· A strengthened market position
· Differentiated proposition and attributes
· Improved reputation among key audiences.
The challenge was how to stand out:
AUB wanted to create a differentiated position, within an increasingly competitive market, that would raise levels of spontaneous awareness across all audience groups in the UK, internationally, and in the USA.
We were asked to:
· identify and establish current brand proposition/narratives
· measure brand awareness, brand association and the impact on conversion
· establish a benchmark for brand strength and approach for ongoing brand tracking
· understand leadership views of those in employer, professional and industry bodies, relevant to the AUB portfolio
· identify recommendations for improving reputation among key audiences.
We performed in-depth insight within the UK:
Our experts worked with internal stakeholders and ran surveys and focus groups with staff and students, to discuss the existing proposition and perception of the AUB brand. We focused on understanding motivations for choosing AUB and identified any emerging themes. We also conducted quantitative surveys to assess brand awareness and perceptions amongst an external panel of prospective students interested in arts-based education.
Followed by awareness and perception tracking across the USA and India:
Our methodology included both qualitative and quantitative approaches:
· external stakeholder interviews to explore their perceptions in relation to AUB’s immediate competitors
· external surveys with prospective UG and PGT students - those considering applying, or who had already applied, for a degree in arts, design, media and performance, in the UK for their studies.
There was work to do across all three markets to build AUB’s reputation
We created a future strategy to drive consideration through the conversion funnel and advocacy for the brand. It focused on:
· raising awareness with external audiences across all markets through a mix of above the line advertising to increase student reach and below the line to broadcast achievements, thought leadership and creativity
· evolving the core idea to engage the social consciousness of target audiences
· consolidating their positioning and achieving cut through within the market by embedding their brand essence across everything they do - achieving real differentiation compared to their competitors.
Our research made the world of difference:
By embedding the brand across the institution and all communications, we supported AUB to grow awareness and understanding across all audiences and markets. We supported them to share the AUB brand strategy internally and provided clear guidance on how to continue sharing the AUB story through workshops, events, developing brand ambassadors, etc.
In their own words
In their
own words
Simon Pride - Head of Recruitment and Marketing Arts University Bournemouth
“We partnered with SMRS to guide us through a major research exercise to benchmark and leverage our brand, encompassing all key audiences and stakeholder groups, internally and externally, in the UK and internationally. A sensitive operation for any university, but especially so as it was a first for AUB and also undertaken during the pandemic period. SMRS went out of their way to ensure that the project was handled carefully and insightfully throughout, maintaining senior stakeholder engagement up to and including the Chair of the Board. The project will inform not just recruitment and the development of our brand profile, but also valuable insight to feed into decision-making around student experience and portfolio development. Aimee Kleinman led the project with huge commitment, passion and intelligence. She’s also great fun to work with.”
Meet a few members of our team
