Lydia heads up Market Research and Insight at UCL where she oversees marketing and communications research to enable data-driven decision-making both centrally and across the institution. Lydia joined UCL in 2012, leading on research to support international student marketing and developing and delivering international recruitment strategies across Asia. Lydia has extensive knowledge of implementing integrated marketing campaigns utilising the full breadth of the marketing mix.

Lydia has recently concluded an extensive brand evaluation programme at UCL, utilising change management processes to inform and empower staff across the institution to implement clearer, bolder messaging and raise the profile of the institution at home and overseas. The evaluation utilised data and customer insight to identify opportunities to build brand recognition and solidify UCL’s position in the global top 10 universities, targeting key areas for rapid improvements in brand saliency and differentiation.

Lydia further leads in a team of Data and Insight experts across UCL, drawing together colleagues from across the institution to share knowledge, develop skills and improve the quality of data across UCL through collaboration. Through this group, Lydia organises and runs Hackathons to advance data visualisation rapidly through engaging and interactive competitions bringing together staff from a wide range of functions and roles to solve identified problems.

Lydia’s main interest is to increase the prominence of data and informed analysis in decision-making – enabling those around her to work smarter and deliver successful campaigns with tight budgets. She enjoys thinking creatively to measure and evaluate activity, and applying her knowledge and experience to tackle new challenges.