TAG - pr

Across the globe, business schools and universities are locked in fierce competition for the best and brightest students. From MBA programmes to executive education courses, institutions are not only tasked with delivering world-class education - they also need to consistently attract new waves of applicants who are informed, selective, and often overwhelmed by choice.

One of the hardest parts of PR is knowing when to say no. Google ‘How to say no’ and you’re met with countless think pieces, links to therapists, podcast episodes, Reddit threads, and YouTube videos.

The world’s best and brightest business schools all accept one core truth: institutions need PR.

As a business school or university, students are integral to the existence of your institution. After all, what is a school without the individuals who want to learn?

In a world awash with misinformation, where viral falsehoods can spread faster than the truth, public relations professionals find themselves in a curious position. They are, at their core, the stewards of reputation, tasked with crafting narratives that shape public perception. But in an era when conspiracies proliferate and trust in institutions must be protected, PR must navigate a precarious line between promotion and authenticity. The challenge is not merely to counter misinformation but to pioneer the truth. This is an effort that requires vigilance, transparency, and an unflinching commitment to credibility.

As an academic, cultivating an online presence offers essential opportunities for networking, career advancement, and boosting the visibility of your research. For women and members of more marginal groups in academia, developing an online presence can also empower people by enabling community-building.

Looking to unlock people's full potential? Here’s why investing in employee training is certainly something to consider from my perspective, having just completed my apprenticeship with a Distinction.

When considering the best way to scale your communications efforts, a common question arises: Should start-ups hire in-house PR experts, or outsource to specialised PR agencies? Unfortunately, there is no simple yes-or-no answer.

Press releases can be one of the most effective communication tools. They’re a quick way to disseminate information widely to a targeted audience, and a well-written press release can demonstrate professionalism and credibility for your business school.

Quality content has never been a more valuable currency for business schools.

When forming a PR strategy, there can be a real temptation to bad-mouth your competitors. It stems from the mentality that there are a finite number of customers and resources, and that success is, therefore, a zero-sum game. Big corporations are often prime examples. Think of the public rivalries between brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, or Apple and Microsoft.

Public relations is often all about improving and increasing the image of a brand or institution. It makes sense that a key part of the process is therefore measuring its success. Just like anything else you invest in, you want to make sure the service you get is worth it but, in the PR industry, is that easier said than done?

Do you find yourself apprehensive about engaging with the media to secure press coverage?

Once academic research has been done, it is important for that research to be exposed to people, to the general public, and for the important messages of the research to be broadcast widely, for its findings to be disseminated and thereby being able to effect society at large. This is as important for researchers as it is for research itself; professors are assessed more and more on the academic and wider “impact” of their research.

For business schools and universities, PR plays a critical role in shaping perceptions, enhancing visibility, and engaging prospective students. An interview may be brief, but the article that comes from it can have long-lasting effects.

Writing an academic research paper can take a few months to several years. But the work doesn’t stop once the paper is published. Now it’s time to think about promoting your findings in the media and on social media.

It’s often the same story every year. Business school rankings are released by notable, influential media platforms and organisations all around the world.

Building good relationships with journalists is a key part of working in public relations. It can help you to really build your earned media coverage, and can even make your day-to-day working life all the more pleasant. It doesn’t have to be hard or scary, but how do you do it?

Business schools face the ongoing challenge of staying relevant and engaging to both current and prospective students as well as other key stakeholders. One innovative strategy that can significantly enhance a business school’s visibility and influence is by leveraging faculty members in podcast opportunities. By putting faculty forward for podcasts, business schools can amplify their thought leadership, connect with wider audiences, and enrich their educational offerings.

Imagine you’re a journalist on a tight deadline. You might be working on a trend piece for a globally-read magazine, planning an upcoming podcast recording, or perhaps reporting on a news story for a national daily newspaper. Your draft is due tomorrow, but you urgently need an expert comment to include. Where do you go?

Rewind to 2017, in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, prominent Brexiteer Michael Gove famously said “people in this country have had enough of experts”. Though to many this seemed like a stupid statement – surely you can trust the experts the most?

The role of PR in supporting student recruitment efforts is well-documented. Few successful institutions overlook the importance of impactful content, expertly crafted for – and strategically placed within – go-to sources for prospective applicants. Far from it. The time, effort and resources that schools dedicate to creating content is staggering.

McKinsey’s ‘war for talent’ isn’t restricted to businesses anymore; it rages throughout the business education sector too. Business schools compete to attract the most talented students into their flagship programmes.

Academia and the media go hand in hand, and today business schools and universities are becoming increasingly aware of why engaging with the media is valuable for not only their professors, but also their institutions as a whole.

Today, the world is always online. Increasingly, what matters is what happens online. When an event of any notes happens, its ramifications are debated online. Now, public and personal opinion is decided on the internet. Brands and companies have never been more concerned about what happens online. Reputations are bought, busted, and buoyed on the internet. Although the feelings people have toward brands and companies still happen in people’s minds (for now), the content each person works with to form opinion is primarily found on the internet. For these reasons and more, digital PR has never been more important.

So, you’re hosting a webinar, summit or debate at your institution. And you want to make it a success, instead of it becoming… forgotten about. The tools in your arsenal? Maybe some impressive stage lights…some fancy dinners… a celebrity guest?

From multinational corporations to pop singers to business schools, no reputation is ever static. A brand’s reputation is fluid and ever-changing – just look at Taylor Swift.

Journalists are flooded with emails and pitches. With there being around six PRs to every journalist nowadays, their inboxes are waterlogged. They exist in a bog of emails and pitches. But how can you get them to open your email, how do you hook them with your pitch?

Why you need to leverage alumni success To attract star talent to your MBA programme, you need to show why your MBA is the one to take; to demonstrate that it is dynamic, lively, relevant and, above all, fundamentally worthwhile.

The news is such a significant part of everyone’s lives. Its purpose is to inform the public, so that they can know about important events, and make informed decisions about their lives. Someone who regularly keeps up with the news will widen their outlook and enrich their knowledge.

If knowledge were a form of currency, business schools would be printing presses. These prestigious institutions produce hundreds if not thousands of research papers every year, most of which have the potential to significantly benefit societies around the world, covering topics as diverse as reducing tax evasion, environmental stewardship, ethical leadership, and much more.

Diversity and inclusion within companies, business schools and in the media has become a much wider discussion over recent years, and rightly so. More and more people are learning the importance of inclusion, and more action is being taken every day. Whilst there is still a long way to go, every step taken is a step closer to equity. Business schools are no strangers to this, with many schools championing themselves as leaders in diversity and inclusion. This is often seen through their communications efforts, but how exactly is it done and why is it so important?

Home to over 650 million people, South East Asia is one of the most densely populated regions globally. It’s known for its beautiful coastline, diverse culture and fantastic cuisine, but it is also an emerging economic powerhouse.

In the competitive market of European higher education, The Netherlands stands out as a key country for universities and business schools seeking international visibility.

It’s typical to make some form of resolution at the start of a new year – a commitment to ourselves to do better, be better than we were during the year before. Personal pursuits might include aiming to eat better, exercise more or simply to make more plans with family and friends.

Science press aims to provide coverage on current scientific research and findings which are often especially relevant to current news and trends, from natural disasters and the impact of climate change to public health and the psychology of modern life; there are always scientific topics out there that the public love to read about. A widespread discipline, science press can specialise in different areas such as biology, chemistry, health, sustainability, and medicine, just to name a few.

Securing media opportunities for faculty is one of a university or business school communications professional’s most important responsibilities.

Beyond traditional elements of branding like logos, colours, and messaging, your online reputation embodies the perception of your business school in the digital landscape. It encompasses what individuals say, think, and feel about your institution based on their online interactions, experiences, and encounters.

As a university or business school looking to get your alumni, research and professors featured in media opportunities, trade press can sometimes feel like an afterthought, particularly when your focus is on top-tier publications like the Financial Times, Forbes and the Economist.

If you’ve read our previous blogs on how to craft a compelling pitch or construct a powerful press release and have taken our advice to heart you’ll, hopefully, by now have been on the receiving end of some positive responses from journalists at your target publications.

Improving our relationship with the planet is vital as the lack of consideration for the natural environment is impacting more than just people (animals, ecosystems, etc.). A warming planet leads to changes in our climate, causing heatwaves to become more likely, and has exacerbated the cost of living as rising sea levels interrupt supply chains, affecting the availability and cost of goods.

Did you know that PR stunts can have real impact? Even for business schools and universities, a PR stunt can raise considerable awareness about the institution or an important individual. PR stunts can take many forms, but in order for them to work, originality is key.

My journey with public relations started over 10 years ago. It’s now been over a decade since I signed up to study Public Relations & Communications as an undergraduate. Back then I remember family and friends asking me “So what actually is public relations?”.

Language is essential to communications, but it seems that some people still underestimate the power it has. Choosing the right words and crafting compelling messaging is key to success in PR and communications efforts both at home and in international markets.

A once-held, later debunked belief in the Western world is that, in traditional Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is made up of two other words: ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’.

Yes, they’re the Dean. Yes, they are the head of the school. But no, they shouldn’t be your only spokesperson.

Although 18 percent of journalists say their relationships with PR professionals have improved over the past year, 16 percent has said the relationship has gotten worse, according to Cision’s 2023 Global State of the Media Report. So, as a communications professional, you need to make sure you’re getting it right when it comes to working with journalists.

How we cater to our insatiable appetite for instant information is constantly in flux, and technology is forever transforming how we consume news. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report, based on a YouGov poll of 93,000 people, provides a spread of insights into the habits, preferences, and behaviours of news consumers across different platforms and countries. As any good public relations professional will know, understanding a journalist’s or publication’s audience and medium is vital for cooking up that perfect pitch and getting your school into the news…

When was the last time you sent out an email inviting a journalist to attend an on-campus event, and received a positive response? Or sent out a release under embargo, only to receive silence in response?

Like Britain’s once ice-blanketed countryside, the state of the UK media landscape is always evolving. Polar bears no longer prowl the Scottish Highlands and town criers screaming “hear ye! hear ye!” have become a scarce novelty.