Work.

Russell Group university.

A Russell Group University wanted to understand its positioning compared to competitors in respect of two key topics related to the Environment, and Health. Metricomm used its Quantum media effectiveness capabilities to reveal how the University is performing compared to two competitor groups – Russell Group and Other Universities. The results compared the University to the average university from each of these groups.

PR/communication activity has a significant impact on a university’s ability to attract the world’s best academics, students and research programmes as well as the funding required to maintain world-class status. When assessing the impact of this activity it is important to recognise and understand the reputational challenges facing universities in a world of significant societal change and increasing financial pressure.

Metricomm’s proposal was to provide focused understanding of the University’s reputation, as reflected in online news coverage. This included examining areas where opportunities to stand out must be grasped, highlighting the impact PR activities are having on the university’s reputation, and providing a benchmark against which future activity in key areas could be planned and success could be measured.

The University asked us to consider two key areas of strategic importance:

1. What is the University’s share of voice now and what is the University known for?
2. What is the University’s visibility and positioning around two key topics related to a) the Environment b) a specific Health condition

We determined that the best and most cost-effectively answer the first question was to use our Quantum media analysis tool. This is particularly useful for understanding how the University is performing at the top level against other UK universities and reveal what it is famous for, compared to Russell Group and non-Russell Group universities, specifically identifying:

• Share of voice achieved for the University in UK media
  • By share of audience
  • By share of coverage volume
• Analysis of key themes, topics and issues to identify what is most visible to the engaged media audience and what the University is ‘famous for’
• Analysis of key media influencing perceptions of the University.

In relation to the second question relating to visibility and positioning around the two key topics, we captured and analysed data specifically for the University to see how strongly the institution is associated with the specific topics, again compared to the competitor sets outlined above. For each topic, we identified:

• Size of audience compared to volume of coverage for the University over time

• Strength of association between the university brand and the topic

• Proportion of coverage containing the topic

• Identification of any relationship between coverage and Google search

• Key named media driving this level of association

• Named academics making an impact in coverage

• Sample of most effective coverage

The results from our analysis provided the University with a wealth of key insights to help shape its communication strategy and plan, including proof of where the University is positioned in online media as a leader, as well as opportunities for where and how the University brand could be more strongly associated with its key topics, in relation to competitors.