Intelligence, Analysis & Competitive Insight Services

Benefits for clients

We identify opportunities for growth and for cost savings. Also for improved new product development, including distance learning. Other benefits are:

  • Better understanding of the requirements of employers
  • Improved organisational structures
  • Me-too ideas
  • Areas to target for more investment
  • Improved understanding of the student base

Case Studies

UK university

"Using a mixture of sources of information, EMP identified in which postcodes its client university was losing market share in major subject areas and to which competitor institutions. This was used to formulate a competitive marketing strategy.”

UK & US universities

EMP researched the B2B organisational structures of 15 UK universities and a number of US universities to identify relative strengths and weakness and me -too opportunities. These were used to improve the processes and structure of an existing department.

for Universities & Colleges

Services we provide for clients

We deliver to our higher education (HE) clients crucial insights that will enable them to achieve competitive advantage:

  • Full time and part time markets - undergraduate and postgraduate
  • Key competitors – strategies, new product development and performance
  • Student profiles – age, gender & location

Using data from external sources, such as Hesa, and specially developed techniques of analysis, we identify crucial markets and postcodes. We focus on the market shares of key players. We benchmark providers against each other to extract important insights about relative strengths and weaknesses. Important features of core student recruitment are identified.

We also collect competitive intelligence from outside the UK, focussing on markets and competitors. In addition we build special local area demographic forecasts to identify crucial “hot spots” or “cold spots”.

Some other examples of work done for UK higher education providers

  • Collection & analysis of intelligence on competitors in the UK & abroad
  • CPD market & competitor analysis
  • Private competitors in UK HE markets
  • Postgraduate trends in USA (part of future trends analysis)
  • University employer operating model analysis

Our understanding of the HE marketplace comes from university course
production and consultancy experience over a total period of nearly 20 years.

What our clients say about us

“Most faculty staff and those in marketing were very surprised to find out which university was actually our biggest competitor.”
Director of Marketing, UK University
“We were about to launch a new course when we learned from EMP’s research how difficult it would be to gain market share in the most important postcodes.”
Dean of Faculty of a UK university