30 October 2025

By Professor Rachel Sandison OBE, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, External Engagement, University of Glasgow and U21 Senior Leader and Chair of U21 Student Experience 

Why the role of strategic storytelling has never been so important in HE

In today’s complex, challenging and rapidly evolving higher education landscape, where universities navigate increased competition, shifting student expectations and societal demands, the ability to craft and convey meaningful narratives has become a strategic imperative and one that is now central to institutional success.

Why? Because storytelling proffers the twin benefits of connection and differentiation. In a crowded sector, the adoption of a storytelling framework allows universities to share their unique selling points through the lens of their people, place and purpose. In addition to sharing statistics, performance metrics and rankings, storytelling enables universities to articulate not just what they do, but why it matters, and at a time when the social licence of the higher education sector is being called into question by some, this is perhaps more important now than ever before.

Creating narratives that resonate

Thankfully, the sector worldwide is replete with extraordinary stories: of students overcoming adversity; of researchers solving global challenges; and of partnerships transforming communities. Yet, too often, these stories remain siloed, underutilised, or told in ways that fail to connect emotionally or align with strategic ambitions.

To have impact, our narratives must be real, resonant, relevant and repeatable. If they are, we can move beyond transactional messaging with the audiences we serve — students, staff, alumni, donors, policymakers, and the wider public – into the realm of transformational engagement. Importantly, strategic storytelling must also be intentional. It should be aligned with institutional strategy, grounded in organisational values, and tailored to audience needs.

Co-creation as key to authentic storytelling

At the University of Glasgow, we have developed a marketing and communications approach that hinges on the mantra ‘a good story, well-told’. Through our brand architecture of ‘World-Changing Glasgow’ we focus on telling stories of impact with our community. A recent example being our ‘Partnerships for the World’ campaign, where we spotlight our world-leading research, education and innovation but do so by harnessing distinct voices from within our community but also those from the partners who we are collaborating with.

This has been one of our most successful campaigns to date because the content is co-created and authentically told. The assets are shared and socialised across owned and earned channels, and the narratives will organically evolve over time, ensuring ongoing relevance.

As we look to the future, I believe that the universities that will flourish will be those that invest in storytelling as a core capability. This means building narrative intelligence and storytelling cultures, empowering our community to become storytellers in their own right, and embedding storytelling into strategic planning, brand development, and change management. It also means embracing new formats, from digital storytelling and immersive media to co-created content and community-led voices.

Creating a storytelling legacy

The stories we tell, if done well, should help institutions build trust, foster a sense of belonging and inspire engagement. Strategic storytelling is therefore not a luxury but core to leadership.” 

Ultimately, strategic storytelling is about legacy. It is how we honour our past, shape our present, and imagine our future. It allows us to translate vision into action and strategy into shared purpose. The stories we tell, if done well, should help institutions build trust, foster a sense of belonging and inspire engagement. Strategic storytelling is therefore not a luxury but core to leadership. And it is one of the most human — and powerful — ways we can shape the future of higher education.

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Professor Rachel Sandison will be chairing a session at the U21 Global Research Senior Leaders’ Meeting, taking place at the University of Johannesburg from 5–7 November, 2025 on the topic of ‘Strategic Storytelling – Making the Case for University Value‘ .