University marketers should switch off the random slogan generator for a bit and go read Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s speech to last week’s university chancellors’ conference. Especially the bit where he set out his fourth law of higher education, “the amount you invest in rebranding will be inversely proportional to the originality of the outcome.”

Dr Finkel’s concern was less the interchangeable anondyne aphorisms that universities often mistake for brand-building than the responsibility of institutions to present what prospective students need if they are to succeed in study and to only accept undergraduates who have a chance. “That means restoring prerequisites, specifically maths prerequisites for courses that need maths! Like science, and engineering, and economics, where at least intermediate maths should be expected. And we should adhere to high ATAR expectations for any degree where the graduate will have a direct impact on people’s lives,” he said.

But he also had a message for the marketers. “I think we do need to have a serious conversation as a sector about the way we communicate with young people, beyond trying to attract them with slogans, … “We have all thought it… you can spend an awful lot of money for words that look awfully familiar.”