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Raising a university's profile with distinctive curated research
Case Study: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Raising a university's profile with distinctive curated research

Industry
Higher education
Audience
Scientific community
Objectives
Raise awareness
Promote research
Attract talent
Strategy
Custom website
Print magazine
Promotion
Multi-channel

Objectives

Founded in 2009, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology aspires to be a key destination for scientific and technological education with high-impact research output. As a newer university, KAUST faces the challenge of building global recognition and visibility. By partnering with Nature Research, the university aimed to:

  1. Raise awareness of KAUST’s research and expertise across the global scientific community
  2. Promote KAUST’s impactful findings and build partnerships across industries
  3. Attract talented students and scientists to study, teach, or conduct research at KAUST
  4. Target policy makers in the fields of science and technology

Strategy

To increase awareness of KAUST’s research excellence, the administration partnered with Nature Research to produce KAUST Discovery, a bi-annual print magazine and custom designed website. The content was curated by editors to highlight the university’s scientific findings. That research was then promoted to a global audience through a carefully targeted multi-channel campaign.

Custom site

KAUST discovery

Print magazine

KAUST discovery inside

Promotion

A multi-channel approach was used to build traffic and drive engagement from the desired audience. Display ads were shown across different nature.com pages based on behavioral targeting. Print ads were placed in Nature and Nature branded journals. Email and social media marketing campaigns regularly promoted content that was developed for the site. Surveys were conducted to measure KAUST Discovery’s impact on the university’s reputation and recognition.

 

Outcome

Awareness of KAUST increased by 9% 

  • 6 months after the launch of the KAUST Discovery, awareness of KAUST increased by 9%
  • KAUST Discovery Magazine, Issue 3, won the PR Daily’s 2017 Content Marketing Award for Print Publication
  • Consistent subscriber growth, including 40% after the third issue

PR Daily Award

Our global reach is greatly increased thanks to our custom publication, KAUST Discovery, created in partnership with Nature Research. The stories highlighted in KAUST Discovery are a snapshot of the research, discovery, and innovation ongoing at KAUST.

Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau President
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
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