Newsletter #38: Harvard Uni hands its homepage to content marketing; Twitter Spaces is a Clubhouse killer; University of Limerick wins TikTok
📰 HE news
Gavin Williamson announced plans to halve funds for arts courses. Shock. It’s not so much the money (the majority of which is paid by student fees) but the message it sends - that arts courses aren’t valuable. Here we go again. Creativity is the only thing AI isn’t coming for and yet creative subjects are labelled “low-value” and lacking stable graduate futures. Spoiler alert: the future isn’t stable. Contracts are getting shorter, the gig economy is booming and we’re embarking on a new era of work. We need fresh, creative ideas, not a government that thinks ballerinas should retrain in “cyber”. Read
Here’s a smiley picture of Michelle Donelan saying that all remaining students can return to university from May 17. Your comms team cancels whatever they had planned for this week. Read
💻 Digital marketing news
Twitter Spaces is here and is setting itself up to be a Clubhouse killer. Not because it does what Clubhouse does better, but because a lot of brands already have a decade’s worth of audience on Twitter. Why would you rebuild from scratch? Read
Signal tried to run some ads on Instagram to expose how Facebook uses your data. Emphasis on tried. Facebook blocked Signal’s campaigns saying you can’t run ads that specify a specific “medical condition” or “sexual orientation.” Yet that criteria can still be used to target you? Read
Deloitte’s digital media trends report is out. Gen Z say that ads on social media are the most memorable, while on streaming video they are the most annoying. Huh. I guess it depends on the quality of the ad, but I can get behind scrolling past content vs having to wait for 3 agonising seconds for the option to skip it. Read
🏫 What unis are doing
University of Limerick is the undisputed champion of university TikTok. I recommend “Wolfie kicks the Earth” and “Wolfie bats the Sterling Squirrel into orbit”. The best part is the evolution of the channel. It starts out glossy - agency style with stats and rankings - and you can see the exact moment a TikToker picks it up and goes “no, we’re not doing it like that anymore…” Look
Harvard University has turned up the volume on its content marketing strategy. The Harvard Gazette has always been a big hitter, but now the University is handing its homepage over to the topics it wants to be famous for. Brilliant. This week, it’s all in on research around wellbeing and reducing stress. Look
In contrast, take a look at University of Exeter’s homepage. The lead “we have the UK’s top five most influential climate scientists” and accompanying press release only succeeds in promoting an asset. Not sharing its value. Harvard is a high bar, but this is what the difference between content strategy and “get it on the website” looks like. Look
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“During the pandemic, I don’t feel as if I had experienced the threat of learning loss. In fact, I feel as if I have learned more during quarantine. This is because, during my free time, I have found ways to learn at my own pace and ways to practice what I have studied before.” Students on “learning loss” during the pandemic. Read
👾 Culture shock
Google’s answer to the post-pandemic workspace is IKEA meets LEGO. Read
Tesla released a downloadable “acceleration boost” which costs $2000 to unlock, but look over there… It’s a cute dog riding a rocket ship to the moon. Read
A politician drives while on a Zoom call debating harsher penalties for distracted drivers (😂). Look
💌 Thank you notes
To Study EU and Rachel Rau for letting me be part of their Career Q&As with education marketers. Read
To all the people who wished me well for my new role at Unibuddy. You are all quite lovely. Look
