Market pressures in higher education are increasing rapidly with changing demographics, growing global competition and higher financial investments making students more demanding customers. Effective marketing to attract and retain students is paramount. Institutions face demands to engage with their regional community, particularly with business, and at the same time need to ensure that they set themselves apart on a national market. Internationally, the UK is holding 12% of the global market share of foreign students, but marketing efforts need to be sustained to compete with the US’s increased recruitment efforts and with middle eastern countries developing their own universities. This conference set out the strategic challenges senior marketing and communications professionals are facing in higher education.