Higher-ed marketing needs sharper listening

The Story

Hanover Research published its 2026 National Prospective Student Survey on 14 October, placing prospective-student behaviour back at the centre of higher-education marketing strategy.

The useful design implication is simple: institutional identity should not be built only from internal language. It needs to reflect what prospective students are trying to understand, compare, and imagine about their future—and where the institution’s proof is strongest.

For Studio Wensday, this is a good brief-writing prompt for university work: separate what the institution wants to say from what a student needs to know. The resulting visual system may become clearer, warmer, and more useful without becoming less distinctive.