Navigating change isn’t easy—especially when the challenges aren’t always clear. At SMRS, we help clients uncover opportunities, understand their audiences better and take the first steps toward meaningful transformation. 

Seeking outside perspectives can be difficult! 

We understand that seeking external support can sometimes feel like a big step—after all, teams are built to tackle challenges head-on. However, the most successful universities recognise that fresh perspectives, specialised expertise, and additional capacity can be invaluable in driving meaningful change.  As specialists in the Higher Education sector, we bring expertise, an independent view and the ability to challenge existing thinking, while providing additional capacity to support change. 

And the world of agencies and consultants can feel overwhelming: “Who do we even talk to?” and “How do we define the challenge we need help with?”. At SMRS, we make the process much easier by starting with an initial conversation to understand your institution and its specific challenges, working with you to explore where we can help.  

Our Discovery Labs are designed to help you to shape future strategy and action. 

Discovery Labs: uncovering opportunities. 

Our Discovery Labs are collaborative sessions designed to help HE marketing and recruitment teams to explore their challenges and uncover valuable insights. By blending institutional perspectives with objective analysis, we create a strong foundation for impactful strategic recommendations and to help you identify gaps in audience understanding and targeting strategies 

 With expertise spanning campaign delivery, audience propensity, personas, portfolio development, customer journey, sentiment tracking and analysis, brand and culture, our team brings a wealth of knowledge to help you reframe challenges and spot new opportunities.  

Focusing on the Key Details that Matter 

The real value of a Discovery Lab lies in what comes next. These sessions not only surface critical insights but also help you focus on the details that matter—clarifying priorities, identifying opportunities, and shaping a clear path forward. The outputs serve as a foundation for refining strategies, aligning stakeholders, and developing a focused plan for improvement. 

Through guided discussion, we help you distil key takeaways, clarify priorities, and provide the structure needed so you can weave these elements into a well-defined brief, when the time is right.  

Mastering the Art of the Brief: Let our Discovery Lab guide you.  

Clarity and consistency should be at the heart of your brief. Without a clear articulation of challenges and goals, projects risk lacking focus and failing to deliver real results.  

From our POV, we see success, where briefs:  

• Focus on challenges and desired outcomes rather than prescriptive solutions 

• Align with institutional priorities and key performance indicators (KPIs) 

• Provide flexibility to adapt as new insights emerge 

• Help teams and stakeholders stay aligned throughout the process 

Our workshops not only help shape strong briefs but also provide a structured approach to next steps—whether that’s refining a recruitment campaign, optimising engagement strategies, testing propositions, or assessing the health of your product portfolio. By equipping teams with the right insights and strategic focus, we help ensure that improvements are both actionable and impactful. 

Let’s start the conversation.  

Many HE teams we work with are at a pivotal point in their marketing and recruitment strategies. Having an open, expert-led discussion can be a powerful way to gain clarity, build confidence and take decisive action. 

If you’re looking to sharpen your audience understanding and shape more effective marketing and recruitment strategies, let’s chat.