A Conversation With Purdue University's Kelly Hiller On Leveraging Brand Innovation + Intentional Partnerships To Drive Differentiation + Growth

In today's environment there has been a clear shift in the higher education space to focus more heavily on brand and strategic partnerships as engines to drive not just awareness but growth -- growth that is directly connected to student acquisition, retention, trust and loyalty. This is no different than the sea change we are witnessing at leading corporations who are doubling down on a marriage of sharper understanding of audiences and strategic brand partnership investments to catalyze improved organizational performance.

As a result of all of this, I wanted to speak to a visionary CMO in higher education who has been at the forefront of this shift, innovating across brand content and new approaches to managing brand health to drive competitive advantage for Purdue University. She also is very intentional in her approach to partnerships which I feel is exceptionally important in an era of logos being splashed on every sport team and car race to the point that the notion of partnerships is approaching ubiquity.

Kelly Hiller is CMO of Purdue and has served as a marketing leader there for the past 15 plus years. Among her many achievements has been the creation of the Purdue Brand Studio and a strategic partnership with Sunnie, a Gen Z-focused media, community, and lifestyle brand launched by Hello Sunshine. Following is a recap of our conversation:

Billee Howard: There has been a recent trend of universities heavily investing in the marketing function, particularly via hiring world class CMOs. Can you speak to this trend and what is driving it?

Kelly Hiller: I think the increase in CMO hiring within higher education reflects a growing recognition that universities are operating in a far more competitive and complex marketplace. Higher ed is a high‑consideration purchase, often the largest investment a family or individual makes outside of a home, which elevates the stakes for trust, experience, and long‑term value. Institutions can no longer rely on legacy reputation alone.

Bringing in enterprise‑level CMOs signals a need for leaders who are fluent in data‑led decision-making, audience insights, and modern customer service expectations. Students and families now expect the same sophistication, personalization, and clarity they see from top consumer brands, and universities are elevating marketing leadership to meet that reality. Due to this shift in mindset towards higher-education, Purdue is being incredibly intentional with marketing using the information we know about Gen Z thinking patterns and habits. For example, in 2013, I thought it was cool that Purdue sent me a customized "Trevor Peters is a Boilermaker" poster when I was admitted. Now, our students see through the basic PR/marketing efforts. They crave authenticity and have a desire to see themselves in what Purdue represents.

Howard: You and I discussed the need to push past traditional sentiment analysis to better understand brand health and how students are feeling across their academic journeys. Please tell me about some new ways you are approaching things in this regard.

Hiller: We have been intentionally pushing beyond traditional positive versus negative sentiment analysis, which no longer reflects the complexity of how students actually experience an institution over time. Instead, we see brand health as an ongoing discipline, not a periodic check‑in. That shift led to the development of our Brand Health Scorecard, a consistent and structured framework designed to track brand performance year over year and across the full mix of earned, owned, and paid touchpoints. Rather than relying on isolated data points, the scorecard allows us to understand how awareness, perception, and engagement are evolving over time, while accounting for natural fluctuations tied to external factors. Ultimately, it gives us a clearer, more actionable view of how Purdue is experienced and where intentional focus can drive the greatest impact.

Howard: How are you leveraging strategic partnerships, such as your alliance with Hello Sunshine, to drive everything from enhanced curiosity driven content, to more personalized college experiences?

Hiller: We're really intentional about partnerships like the one with Sunnie because they help us create content that sparks curiosity and meets Gen Z learners where they are. Collaborations like this bring fresh storytelling perspectives that resonate with our student audiences and help us illuminate pathways they may not have considered. They also give us new ways to design personalized experiences that feel relevant and human, which is exactly what today's students expect from a modern university.

Howard: Brand is quickly emerging as a company's most vital asset, whether that is in a B2B or B2C context. How does this apply to university marketing and branding?

Hiller: A university's brand is just as critical as it is in the corporate world, because it shapes how potential students understand our purpose, values, and the experience we deliver. At Purdue, our brand is the throughline connecting our mission to the real outcomes we create for students, partners, and every day Americans. With over 150 years in West Lafayette (and in space!) Purdue has years of history that directly impacts our present message and mission and has created a strong sense of identity in the higher-education space. Being a clear, consistent brand is the primary tool for differentiation, helping people quickly grasp who we are and why we matter in a crowded higher‑ed landscape. Most importantly, it builds trust by ensuring our words, actions, and results are aligned.