Brand ambassadors, system solutions and artificial intelligence: the main trends in marketing and media communications as illustrated by St Petersburg University

Employees of the new division spoke about: the promotion of the brand of the first university in Russia; and the main trends in marketing, PR and communication team management as illustrated by St Petersburg University.

Trend № 1. Separating projects from everyday routine

The field of communications and marketing is very dynamic. It is connected with almost all areas of the University’s activities. The management team daily works with a large number of information flows and events, administers hundreds of resources, promptly prepares and publishes dozens of various kinds of materials, and initiates new projects. All this requires an integrated approach in organising the activities of the team, so they are strictly divided into operational activities and project activities.

The project office is an important structural part of management. It is aimed only at setting new tasks and developing activities. It allows us to effectively reallocate resources, unlock the creative potential of our employees and direct it to solving large-scale tasks, preventing the whole team from being ‘drowned in everyday routine’.

Dmitriy Shishmakov, Head of the Marketing and Media Communication Department at St Petersburg University, Director of the Distributed Ledger Technologies Centre

The current plans of the project office include the creation of an updated corporate web portal with: University presentation templates; answers to questions about communicating with the media; corporate identity guides; and other information useful for internal communications.

Trend № 2. Good internal communications enhance the external ones 

‘In order for our team to successfully build communication with our significant target audiences, it is necessary to build effective communications inside the team,’ continues Dmitriy Shishmakov. ‘Therefore, in addition to traditional management tools, we use shared repositories. This is a whole catalogue of algorithms and regulations understandable to any beginner. They are devoted to: working in the Delo system, creating texts, doing corporate correspondence, and much more.’ 

The idea of shared access to knowledge extends far beyond our work computers. The Department has its own library of books on marketing and communications, which is replenished by employees themselves. In addition, master classes in management, copywriting, and analytics are organised for the team almost every month. The key corporate event for our managers is Marketing & Media Communications Day, or M&M’s Day for short, which was first held on 24 May 2023. The idea of the event is to hold a series of master classes for your own colleagues on any topic that will help the team grow professionally. Time management, AI tools, the secrets of successful management — these and many other issues were chosen by our team for discussion.

Trend № 3. Seeing the brand as something more than a brand

‘What is important of St Petersburg University is its scale: the number of students and teachers, the variety of departments and academic programmes. Like other products of the University’s extensive scientific and applied activities, the latter need to be promoted and branded. Such a complex structure of the University brand requires strict adherence to common unifying principles both at the strategic level of brand management and at the execution level,’ says Galina Rodina, an expert in the Marketing and Media Communication Department. She is a professional in the field of corporate relations and communications. 

It is strategically important, the expert explains, that any communication, no matter who it comes from at St Petersburg University, should convey the idea of the "first university". The concept of "first" goes far beyond the meaning of the time of the University establishment. By "the first university" we mean the one that is ahead of time. Its scientists are pioneers; its scientific achievements are the first of their kind, like the language of Fyodor Dostoevsky or the Periodic Law of Dmitri Mendeleev.

Studying at St Petersburg University means being the first. The three main values of the University work in a similar unifying way in communication: "classic"; "open"; and "expert".

‘The ultimate goal of our efforts is not just the desire to increase the competitiveness of St Petersburg University, but to unite its students, staff and all those who are interested in preserving and increasing the values and uniqueness of university education, research and academic traditions, under the auspices of the brand of the first university in Russia,’ notes Galina Rodina.

Trend № 4. System solutions for large-scale systems 

A systematic approach is applied not only when working with the University brand, but also when working with its communication channels. A large-scale process has already been launched to update the websites of the faculties. Their transition to a new platform will soon take place. It will allow publishing information in a more concise and user-friendly form, and most importantly, in a single style for all university websites.

300th anniversary of St Petersburg University

‘We preserve of a unified visual representation of St Petersburg University websites not only by introducing the University logo everywhere and updating the logos of faculties, but also by working in a single web template that will allow applicants, students, and staff to easily find relevant information on updated resources’, — says Alina Perevizintsova, Deputy Head of the Marketing and Media Communication Department. 

Moreover, since the University will celebrate its 300th anniversary next year, the Marketing and Media Communication Department team has developed a website with the most important historical dates and interesting facts about the University. Using it, you can also send your congratulations or share personal memories of the University through a virtual time capsule.

Trend № 5. The strong are supporting the strong 

Collaboration of strong brands can enhance the effect of various communication campaigns by several times. The point is not only in the fact that the cooperation of large companies and organisations allows them to mutually influence each other’s target audiences. Such cooperation also allows the exchange of resources. 

‘Since April 2023, we have been interacting with VK employees who are responsible for the educational sector of this platform,’ explains Alina Perevizintsova. ‘Thanks to this cooperation, the average number of views of St Petersburg University video clips is 20,000. Moreover, our public was included in the hundred most active VKontakte communities (among two million communities), whose administrators were invited by the VK community development department to join their own accelerator. Thus, the St Petersburg University community in VKontakte has the opportunity to be one of the first to connect and test the innovations of the social media.’

Since the introduction of the new management system, St Petersburg University itself has increasingly become the initiator of new collaborations. One of the recent collaborations is the one participated by "Bukvoed", an iconic bookstore network in St Petersburg. ‘Until 15 September 2023, in eight main stores of the network, all book buyers will be presented with a bookmark with the symbols of the Botanical Garden of St Petersburg University and its contact information. We have developed four types of bookmarks,’ says Dmitriy Shishmakov.

Trend № 6. Not to be afraid of AI and other changes 

Communications are one of the areas that rapidly respond to any changes in the life of society, so communications professionals have to be extremely sensitive to any innovation that appears in media, marketing, and management. Today, it is impossible to ignore the boom in AI-powered tools that continue to free employees from a lot of mundane, and sometimes even creative, tasks. 

‘Although machines are still a long way from humans, I think the ability to create content jointly with artificial intelligence will become an increasingly demanded skill. That is why today the University staff are already introducing AI assistants into their work. They generate images for the cover of the new issue of the St Petersburg University magazine, create illustrations for scientific releases, turn to chatbots for text planning, and even arrange interviews that a neural network has with St Petersburg University experts,’ explains Polina Ogorodnikova, First Deputy Head of the Marketing and Media Communication Department. 

Trend № 7. Science news as creative communications 

The communication services of St Petersburg University have a great responsibility, including the responsibility for shaping the scientific worldview among University students and staff, residents of St Petersburg, and citizens of Russia in general. Today, the growing interest in popular science, supported by the Russian President’s announcement of the Decade of Science and Technology, actively stimulates the development of scientific communications. 

The PR potential associated with the University’s research is huge. Our reports about the study of the age of the Thunder Stone are published in the RIA Novosti newsfeed. The recent palaeontological discoveries are discussed by TASS readers. Interviews with University scientists are published by Kommersant. If you open media analytics for the second quarter of this year, you will be able to see that, according to Brand Analytics, the number of messages in the media about the scientific discoveries of St Petersburg University amounted to 1940, and their potential audience is over 66 million people.

1940

messages in the media about the scientific discoveries of St Petersburg University, for the second quarter of this year (according to Brand Analytics).

‘The audience wants to learn more about modern science. The University’s communications team must meet this request properly. That helps us earn ourselves more media points, but what is much more, we indirectly influence the development of progress in general. Because any outstanding scientist was once a school pupil or a student infatuated by the mysterious story of dinosaur extinction or a trip to a natural science museum. That is why our work to promote science is so important,’ continues Polina Ogorodnikova.

Trend № 8. Are you finished? Collect analytics then 

Any serious communication work should be built on high-quality analytics. It requires an experienced analyst in the team, who will be able to study everything that has been "communicated" and offer new hypotheses for the development of the brand. Today, St Petersburg University uses end-to-end analytics tools that make it possible to look at the work systematically and establish a very important relationship, between the amount of funds spent on communication and the benefits received (including the number of closed deals). 

To build analytics, St Petersburg University uses all available sources, such as: data from website traffic assessment services and data from advertising platforms; CRM system indicators; financial reporting; email marketing services analytics; call tracking data; and much more. 

‘Understanding which events lead to an increase in sales, and which ones only spend the budget, the team can efficiently allocate investments in marketing, identify the least effective promotion tools in a timely manner, and reduce advertising costs,’ explains marketing expert Kristina Karpova, Deputy Head of the Department. ‘In addition, applying the knowledge gained can help improve the work of the sales department, increase customer loyalty, and even predict demand for future periods.’ 

Trend № 9. Communications employees as the main advocates of the brand 

‘It is very valuable for our department to increase the work comfort level and the involvement of employees in the activities of the University. This is not a one-time event, but an ongoing process aimed at turning each team member into a brand advocate,’ Dmitriy Shishmakov explains. 

For that, during the first months of the creation of the Marketing and Media Communication Department, all employees took part in an internal survey, which made it possible to study their motivation for work. Today, the data obtained is used to develop a system of individual incentives for employees, from personal certificates for achievements to internal training for managers and conferences like the M&M’s Day. 

‘The main goal is to associate employees with the St Petersburg University brand and to give them confidence that they are valued and esteemed. I am sure, when employees feel a sense of belonging to an organisation, they become deeply involved in all processes,’ notes Dmitriy Shishmakov