Achieving ‘cut-through’ in a noisy market: Strategic guidance for engaging future undergraduate students

In a highly saturated and competitive higher education marketplace, creating marketing content that achieves ‘cut-through’ has become essential in order to connect with prospective undergraduate students. This paper draws from industry trends and institutional practice to provide senior academic leaders and strategic marketers practical insights and a ‘how-to’ approach for developing authentic, effective and differentiated communication strategies. By examining global brand behaviour, sector exemplars and some of the tactics deployed by the University of Salford, the paper articulates a strategic framework for universities seeking to elevate engagement and resonance with Gen Z and emerging Gen Alpha cohorts. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.