Jude Browne, Director of Marketing at Newcastle University
Jude Browne started her working life as a psychologist, turned London agency account planner - fascinated why people chose 'this' over 'that'. After a spell at News International plc, sharpening her commercial skills, Jude took leave off work to study full-time for an MBA in London, to learn the theory behind the practice.
Returning to the client-side, she rose to be Marketing Director for major UK players in retail and telecommunications. Wooed "across the fence" by an international consultancy based in London and New York of which she was a client, she went on to grow the business by supporting some of the world's biggest B2C and B2B brands in developing their own marketing strategies and processes.
In an effort to truly understand how brands work in the digital space, she started a gardening blog which ended up with a huge social media following and critical acclaim, named "one to watch" by the Sunday Times.
Currently, Jude lives in the north of England and is delighted to be leading the digital marketing transformation at Newcastle University.
“Defend your ideas, contest ideas, and remember the golden rule: "this is supposed to be fun".
Just be the best that you can be—every day. And don't beat yourself up, because tomorrow is another day.”
Jude Browne
Jude Browne LinkedIn
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career or areas of focus.
I'm the first-ever Director of Marketing at Newcastle University, and this is my first leadership role in Higher Education (HE). For those in the private sector, Newcastle University is a little more than being a 'third sector' or non-profit organisation.
In fact, it turns over well in excess of half a billion pounds (which would comfortably put it inside the FTSE 250). Almost exactly half of our revenue comes from student fees - in other words, high volume, high-value demand-driven marketing.
The other half, again approximately £250m revenue, from research funding; in part from government, research councils and the like, but increasingly from our research collaborations with the private sector. Either way, that's pure Enterprise Marketing.
Newcastle University is world-leading in a number of research areas, but in particular data, energy, cities, the creative arts and ageing and we are one of the few UK universities that are the gold standard in both teaching and research.
My job, as Marketing Director, is to develop strategies that ensure that our reputation is even better than we are; that we will recruit sufficient numbers of appropriately qualified students to our range of 247 undergraduate and 322 postgraduate programmes; help us match market demand with our core competencies and to support and secure income to, and revenue from, our research business.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
I'm here to make sure that, like many of its academic disciplines, Newcastle's marketing is world-class. I'm still focusing on revenue, but as a means to an end as opposed to an end in its own right. What's not to love?
I believe that brands and the people who run them, need to be nimble to succeed, and HE is no different. Faced with relentless change, it's all too easy to slip into a reactive mode, frustrated by internal barriers and be unsure about what action to take next.
I've focused on bringing to Newcastle the agile thinking, impetus and marketing infrastructure needed to get right up there. Like all markets, the giants have a lot to learn from challengers.
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Art galleries and theatre - the more fringe, the better; watching sport. Family are of utmost importance as they're the people who know me, sometimes, better than I know myself!
I've got a fantastic extended family, and I'm married to an Irishman, so say no more! My kids are just finishing and just off to university respectively, so I'm learning a lot from them about the future and how they're going to shape it.
I love nature, so consider myself lucky to have moved north - there's a lot of wilderness in the North East and I'm making the most of discovering it. Sloe Gin is a speciality!
I love gardening, so I started a blog. It became a large obsession which turned that into an award-winning website and social media brand, so it sailed dangerously close to working again!In the end I sold it and moved on, so I could get my leisure time back!
Also, it has been truly humbling to use my talents to help people through charities in a hands-on way - I've cooked for homeless street sleepers, which has reminded me of how easily it could be me and looked after many Guide Dogs in training, most of which are smarter than me. I'm looking for themes now – how about food and mud?!
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
"Business, as usual, is an oxymoron" is my favourite for the digital age, but from the start, I've stuck to the Gary Player maxim "the harder you work, the luckier you get". "The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules" is a recent Banksy favourite.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Reinvention. Things have changed unrecognisably since I was a kid - in every way.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Everything, but then that's unrealistic, isn't it? How to deal with office politics and understanding what motivates people who are coming from a very different place. Hindsight is a wonderful science (...)
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
Different people for different reasons, but I'm going to pick Malcolm Gladwell at the intersect – he's a master storyteller, but he is also adherent to the scientific method.
He has challenged us, and we are welcome to counter-challenge Gladwell's ideas in return. In fact, he wants us to. If your contention is with an idea, get educated on the idea, then challenge it with reason.
Defend your ideas, contest ideas, and remember the golden rule: "this is supposed to be fun".
What companies, brands or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Nike because they've continued to get it right, going from strength to strength, now an uber brand. From very early on they've rocked it. What started as pair of sneakers has come to mean something to everyone, whether the sporting elite or the pavement plodder.
Their marketing has had real creative firepower since the 80's - earning word-of-mouth, creating unique, exciting moments and newsworthy technology, like self-lacing shoes. Most of all, they're smashing it on social media. Not just a one-way street, but a real conversation.
I think we can learn a lot from the waves created by Extinction Rebellion (XR) in the last 18 months. Efficient and effective, it's an agile, responsive, non-hierarchical, interconnected global network that is purpose-driven and impact-oriented, resourceful and imaginative, inclusive and constantly evolving. XR may have rewritten the rulebook for protest, but it also did something quite radical with its brand.
Unlike most fiercely managed and protected corporate logos, the power of XR's logo has been through its flexibility and democratisation. The logo, an encircled hourglass symbol (representing the dwindling time left to tackle the climate crisis), can be drawn and understood, in seconds, and hacking it is actively encouraged by XR.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
From one of the wisest people I've ever met "it doesn't matter what you do, just make a difference".
I honestly can't remember who recommended I read 'The Effective Executive' by Peter Drucker. But his observation that "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." has pushed me to realise that doing the same things over is rarely a successful strategy.
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
How can I add value? More people should hear the story of the great institution I work for and why it matters, but this would apply to any organisation large or small that I'm involved with.
I can't work with something that I don't believe in. Great sportsmen say that it's not about winning and losing, rather winning and learning. If you approach things in that way, work is the best fun there is because every failure is at least one step closer to the goal.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
I originally clocked the power of social watching my kids share their ideas before they were formed – an anathema to people of my generation. The idea that GenZ is falling out of their social world into a desk in my office any day soon and with them a whole new host of reality from AR to VR is hugely exciting to me.
I can't wait to see social being used to really listen to customers in real-time and employers understanding how important social will become in employer branding. All of the traditional lines will be even more blurred.
Large organisations will realise that employee comments and perceptions on social will need to be managed just as companies monitor customer complaints and feedback. Key to this transformation will be the ability of CEOs and other leaders to use social to communicate directly with employees.
Already CEOs with tepid professional adoption of social media have become a rarity and quite right too. As social channels continue to grow as the dominant communication channels both within and outside of company walls, CEOs who ignore these channels, or fail to adapt their communication style to more personal and unscripted will be at a distinct disadvantage.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
That depends on the mode I'm in. Medium is a content publishing site with some social network elements to it – there are loads of excellent articles on there.
And I love Giphy, an online database of animated GIFs that are usually humour-based. Lately, I'm also getting into Tribe, a cloud-based community where consumers can connect with a brand through conversations and discussions under specific brands.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I have several, almost like my own board advisors, each with their own specialist perspective. I've worked across a number of sectors, so finding someone willing to help you navigate through a particular sector through their deep experience has been important. Mentoring is a two-way street, so I make sure that I'm prepared to reciprocate too.
How do you network? What is your preferred way to network?
I've worked in the US quite a bit, and the 'work-the-room' model of networking never cut it for me, in fact, I'd go as far as saying I was hopeless at it. Networking is about positive, creative conversations for me, so I think about ways that I can reciprocate, help others, and exchange ideas and information.
I have found the vast majority of people to be incredibly generous with their advice and contacts and social media has been a wonderful lubricant to finding like-minded people and getting the conversations going.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
Go for it! Digital marketing is a great place to be. Reach out to people who you admire, not just at the top, but a step or two along the road and ask them for their advice, whilst being prepared to reciprocate in any way you can. Trust the process, work hard and stay relevant.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
That's a good question! Possibly an unwillingness to adapt to changing times, or frustration with progress towards unrealistic perfection, but most of all, a failure to take responsibility for your own life, progress, career etc.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
Success is a value judgement, so it's pretty difficult to define. Just be the best that you can be—every day. And don't beat yourself up, because tomorrow is another day.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
I'm brave, but also a pragmatist so I will take calculated risks. I'm also totally committed to everything I do.
Anything else you would like to share with our audience?
I'd be delighted to collaborate with anyone who wants to reach out to me.
Is there anything new that you are working on or involved in that you would like to share?
Yes, but we'd be here all night!