Clear Identity and Unique Positioning: Foundations for the (Communicative) Future of the University of Zurich.
Knowledge creates perspective. Knowledge creates explanation. Knowledge builds strong societies. Yet knowledge itself requires context. It requires differentiation. Above all, it requires credible sources.
In today’s vast sea of information, knowledge institutions need, more than ever, a clear identity and distinct recognition. How such a process can be shaped – and why stakeholder involvement is indispensable – is at the heart of our collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH).
Starting Point and Framework
The University of Zurich finds itself in an intense, global competition for reputation. Across the world, leading universities are investing ever more substantially in marketing and communication.
According to a recent study on higher education communication in Switzerland, nearly half of the country’s universities perceive this competition as very strong. At the same time, government funding cuts and the erosion of science journalism further complicate the adequate communication and evaluation of academic work and achievements. The contextualisation of research outcomes often falls short, the added value of science remains underexplored, and dialogue around findings is too rarely conducted in a meaningful, accessible way.
As Switzerland’s largest university, UZH enjoys a strong presence in the public sphere and the media thanks to its distinctive and pioneering research. Yet in order to strengthen its communicative positioning and societal relevance – externally, among diverse stakeholders, and internally, across the university community – the university leadership decided in 2021 to sharpen its profile and public presence.
ESSENCE RELATIONS AG was commissioned to lay the foundations for this positioning. The mandate: to establish a clear identity for UZH, grounded in its recognisable and positive values, and to ensure the institution is unmistakably anchored worldwide as a thought leader and pioneer in its domains.
Foundations and Objectives
With the 2021 decision of the university leadership, the groundwork for UZH’s future positioning was set. The Future Conference – bringing together members of the university leadership alongside representatives from academia, staff, politics and business – marked the first step in a carefully designed process.
Preceding this, one-to-one interviews had been conducted to capture and analyse the university’s reputation. Different perspectives on the institution were gathered, common denominators identified, and areas for refinement mapped.
At the Future Conference, approaches for a guiding vision were developed, and potential thematic priorities defined. From this emerged a proposal for UZH’s identity, including vision, mission, claims, values, strengths and strategic principles. A complementary catalogue of measures, detailed stakeholder-specific storyboards and example campaigns were also prepared.
The results were presented to the university leadership in June 2022. Subsequently, the follow-up project Eikon was launched: an initiative to build a clear, unmistakable identity and embed it across communication channels. An expanded, interdisciplinary team drives the project forward through collaborative methods and diverse approaches.
Impact Goals
- The University of Zurich is consistently associated with recognisable, positive elements through its communicative positioning.
- The targeted use of themes defined within the project strengthens UZH’s positioning as a thought leader in these areas.
- The sense of belonging among UZH staff, students and alumni is reinforced.
Performance Goals
- A clearly defined identity – including vision, claims, values and a potential visual language – is in place.
- Priority research areas are identified that best underline UZH’s communicative positioning.
- A tested campaign is available, with feedback from relevant target groups translated into recommendations and an implementation plan.
Strategy and Approach
Eikon consists of three interlinked workstreams (each with its own lead and overarching coordination):
- Vision, values and claims are presented to stakeholders, with the goal of discussing, refining, or – if necessary – further developing them in a participatory and creative manner.
- Research themes are identified where UZH demonstrates scientific excellence, societal relevance, and distinctiveness, supported by strong ambassadors within the university community.
- A campaign strategy and campaign are designed and tested through structured surveys with representatives of all target groups.
Campaign and Next Steps
Building on the vision, values, claims and research themes, ESSENCE RELATIONS AG developed a campaign strategy. Target groups and their needs were defined and clustered, storyboards drafted, and three campaign concepts proposed. The campaign design is being tested through in-depth interviews with representatives of each group, based on a structured questionnaire. The resulting feedback is being evaluated and integrated into the final recommendations for implementation.
«Knowledge organisations require an intensive, internally curated dialogue – particularly when defining their identity. Complex content and institutional diversity demand profound engagement. A unifying identity, a shared denominator, can only emerge through an interdisciplinary, iterative process, pursued with a long-term perspective.»
Our Client’s Perspective
«We aim to shape the future. This requires us to rethink our relationship with the public and to embrace a culture of digitalisation. It is vital to strengthen dialogue; we want to communicate from the outside in. We are claiming ideas and themes to forge a clear identity – and to make our values tangible. ESSENCE RELATIONS has provided us with the foundation for this: a tangible positioning strategy and the collaboration within Project Eikon.» – Michael Schaepman, Rector of the University of Zurich