Standing for Something in a

Crowded Sector

Helen Pennack
Head of Marketing Communications
If we want to change our reputation we
must stand for something that is clear
and distinctive….
What’s Special About Leicester?

We asked:
• Business Partners
• Heads of Department
• Academic and Administrative Colleagues
• Alumni
• Students (PG, UG and DL)
What’s Special About Leicester?

“I think Leicester is a very human

university and doesn’t really have status
in the negative sense of being elitist. We
try to avoid universities who are like
that.”
What’s Special About Leicester?

“Pastoral care and personal tutoring –

Leicester really cared about you.”

“Amount of effort a student puts in will

be repaid by the University – it’s a
reciprocal effort.”
What’s Special About Leicester?
“The lecturers are well published academics at
the forefront of their fields; that’s who I want
to be learning from.”

“I have a lecture from a teacher who’s not just

stood there spieling it out...they’re actually
getting excited about it because it’s their
subject… and it makes you feel excited.”
What’s Special About Leicester?

“The first thing I knew about Leicester

was when I picked up a prospectus.”
What’s Special About Leicester?
“A good traditional university with good
instincts about academic values.”

“Internally the image of the University is

poor and that’s because a lot of the staff
don’t really appreciate what we’re good
at.”
What’s Special About Leicester?
• “People on the course come from
very different places in the world... it
makes it very interesting – people
from different regions have different
views.”  

“I think things are changing and they

are changing for the better.” 
What’s Special About Leicester?
“Down to earth, … but still excelling.”

“for me it’s the people – whether it’s the

students the academic staff or the
support staff that’s what makes us what
we are.”
What’s Special About Leicester?

• “There’s a line from John Lewis

which is ‘never knowingly
undersold’ – Leicester’s the
opposite way round, it’s
completely undersold.”
Four Characteristics….

•Inclusive and accessible

•A friendly and personal experience
•A commitment to high quality
•A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic
And the evidence to back them
Oxford?
• Inclusive and accessible X
• A friendly and personal experience √
• A commitment to high quality √
• A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic ?
De Montfort?
• Inclusive and accessible √
• A friendly and personal experience ?
• A commitment to high quality X
• A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic X
Sheffield?
• Inclusive and accessible X
• A friendly and personal experience X
• A commitment to high quality √
• A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic ?
Leicester?
• Inclusive and accessible √
• A friendly and personal experience √
• A commitment to high quality √
• A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic √
So…
The University of Leicester is:
• Elite without being elitist
• Improving and innovating
• Providing a great student experience
• Rigorous in its academic standards
• Accessible in its academic culture
Standing for Something in a Crowded
World
Synergistic research and teaching,
rigorous academic standards a vigorous
and personal experience, Leicester is part
of a new wave of higher education.
Standing for Something in a Crowded
World
• It’s a re-framing of the values that govern
academia and a redefinition of what a
university needs to be.
• We’re proof that you can compete with
the best…
• …AND open up the competition to
everyone.
Standing for Something in a Crowded
World

• We believe in progress.
• We’re not afraid to set the pace.
• We find new ways of doing things.
• We are ready for challenges ahead.
• We’re different to the old elite (and their
impersonators)

• We’re different to the non-elite

Old Elite Non-Elite
 New Elite

Old Elite Non-Elite

A New Elite
This is the space Leicester will dominate.
Although other universities can claim to
be part of ‘the new elite’, Leicester is
the embodiment of what can be achieved
when a university is governed by the set
of values these institutions share,
expressed in part by the slogan ‘elite
without being elitist’.
A New Elite
Although ‘The New Elite’ would never
appear as an advertising line, it will live
in all communications as a core belief, an
identity that places Leicester amongst its
correct peer group whilst simultaneously
differentiating the institution from the
‘old elite’ (elitism) and the ‘non elite’
(new universities).
This is our approach.
•Inclusive and accessible
•A friendly and personal experience
•A commitment to high quality
•A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic
And the evidence to back them
Moving Forwards
• This Is Us…
• An integrated campaign that
communicates the distinct nature of
Leicester, our values and our work,
through stories.
• It will also make a statement about the
attitude, or the position that the
University will take.
Communicating externally
• National advertising campaign
• Posters at Leicester and St Pancras
stations
• Website www.le.ac.uk/thisisus
• PR and media
• http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=4
• http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/University-praised-unlikely-entrant
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6434308.ece
Communicating internally
• Book and website to celebrate the stories
that demonstrate the four Leicester
values.
• Hoardings.
• Integration into all communications.
• Feedback and ideas
What should we communicate and
how?
• Together devise a way to talk to our
students about this.
• What do students seek from your
services?
• Think about tailoring the message to be
meaningful to students.
• Ideas???
This is our approach.
•Inclusive and accessible
•A friendly and personal experience
•A commitment to high quality
•A passion for our work and that teaching
& research are synergistic
And the evidence to back them
What should we communicate and
how?
• Review current communications.
• Identify areas of duplication, weakness,
strength.
• Consider comms mediums – are they
optimal?
Rules for Good Communications

• Is there an objective to your communication?

What are you trying to get the reader to do?

• Benefit led, not simply feature focussed.

Benefits vs Features
• FEATURE:
A top 20 University
What’s the BENEFIT?

• FEATURE:
Over 19,000 students drawn from 150
countries study with us.
What’s the BENEFIT?
• Benefit: …this means that as a Leicester PG
student you will be attending a University with
a strong reputation, benefit from a high quality
experience and graduate with a degree highly
valued by employers.

• Or to a distance learning student the benefit

might be: you will have the opportunity to
network with fellow students from across the
globe.
Rules for Good Communications
• Is it something that your audience is
interested in listening to/reading about?
• Think about the mediums for
communication.
• Try to avoid writing in the third person.
Rules for Good Communications
• Consistency in messaging.
• Creating logos does not make for good
communications (or compensate for bad!)
• Put in place a process for integrating
consistent messaging into all
communications.