Business education has always had an important role to play in developing effective leaders, nurturing aspiring entrepreneurs, and preparing individuals for the world of work. But the way institutions communicate that value is changing.
History, reputation, and traditional methods are valuable assets to draw on, but applicants today also expect new ideas, commentary on current events, digital engagement, and evidence that institutions understand the future of business.
PR has an important role to play here – instead of choosing between tradition and innovation, effective communications can weave the two together to create stories that promote business education.
The oldest business school in operation today is ESCP Business School, established in 1819, whilst the Cambridge Judge Business School and Oxford Saïd Business School, despite both being established in the 1990s, carry the notoriously historic legacies of their founding institutions.
Schools such as these should absolutely incorporate their rich tradition and history into their storytelling. After all, an institution with decades (or centuries!) of history will have endless stories to tell, and that is part of your reputation and branding. Alumni, academic achievements, research, partnerships, and community contributions all demonstrate what schools can offer, and what they have achieved throughout their existence.
But tradition alone won’t wholly serve your current targets and goals; acknowledge your history and hold on to tradition in business education, but you need to make sure your institution is still relevant to potential students and faculty of today.
It’s not enough to simply tell audiences that an institution is established or innovative. You need to demonstrate through stories, spokespeople, and content that both are the case. Tradition provides credibility and expertise that has been built over time, whilst innovation provides new ways to communicate those strengths, connecting with the issues that matter today; artificial intelligence, sustainability, geopolitics, and more.
Tell the story of how your institution has evolved over time, from when remote learning was an impossibility, to the incorporation of AI and other EdTech in teaching. Or share insights from alumni throughout the years, on how the sectors they work in have changed, alongside the advice they’d have for current students and recent alumni.
Also consider the channels you are using to share your messages. Traditional media, such as print, TV, and radio, still hold an important role in PR and communications, but the necessity of a visible profile across digital media is indisputable.
Interviews through TV or radio allow your spokespeople to communicate their message, often live, with your target audience, boosting presence and credibility as watchers/listeners can actually see and hear from the sources themselves. However, the reach of digital media – how far an online article can spread, the interactivity and engagement levels attainable through social media – is arguably the future (honestly, the present) of effective communication.
A majority of those engaging with content online when searching for potential schools and programmes will be doing so through articles or informative videos, and if they are using AI to help them search, articles and blogs are integral to the output they generate.
And if you’re an institution without a strong social media presence, it doesn’t matter how prestigious your institution is; you will be missing out on a huge audience. According to the Digital 2026 Global Overview Report from Meltwater, 72% of internet users use social media for brand research.
The report also found that, on average, internet users aged 16 and up consume social media and short form video content (e.g., TikTok) at least four days a week. They also spend more than 11 hours engaging with online video, and over seven hours on social media, per week.
Social networks were also the type of websites/apps most visited by individuals aged 16 to 44; an important age bracket to communicate with regarding business education programmes.
So, log in to your defunct TikTok account or neglected Instagram and start sharing videos on the history of your school, where your teaching philosophies come from and why they stand true to this day, as well as the new developments your school is pursuing to ensure future students are ready for tomorrow.
Innovation isn’t all about new, fancy technology or predicting future trends – it’s about new ideas and exploring different ways of doing things. AI, EdTech, and other new and emerging technology certainly have a role to play, but innovation in PR can also simply be about thinking differently.
Imagine your business school is celebrating 75 years since its launch. A traditional approach may have focused on a press release announcing such, with content and posts around the school’s history and achievements. All important aspects to highlight.
However, you could elevate the communication here by exploring what has changed in business and business education over those years, bring together alumni from different decades to explore their varied experiences, and share how teaching, workplace culture, and leadership has evolved. And do so across different formats – short form videos on TikTok and Instagram, a longer form video for YouTube; perhaps your own podcast series interviewing high-profile spokespeople, alongside securing interviews across digital media.
Continue with approaches that have worked for you in the past, but consider exploring new ways of doing things alongside this, and you might find novel approaches that work even better.
For more information on how you can weave tradition and innovation together to promote business education, get in touch today.
Kyle is experienced in working with leading institutions in far-flung corners of the globe, from London to Kazakhstan. His client list features the likes of the London School of Economics’ Department of Management, ESMT Berlin, BI Norwegian Business School, Nazarbayev University, and many more around the world.