The Department of Marketing and Fundraising under the Division of Corporate Affairs at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) held a presentation on the findings of DUT’s 2020 Marketing and Brand Image research via MS Teams on Friday, 14 May 2021.  

DUT’s Marketing, Public Relations and Events Manager, Vasantha Govender said the 2020 Marketing Research was conducted by a marketing research company, Siloam People Development Agency on behalf of DUT, during November and December 2020.  

“In 2020, the Division of Corporate Affairs was requested to conduct a Marketing and Brand Image research. The last research was conducted in 2015 and due to financial constraints the University endeavours to do a market research every five years. In 2020 October, we commenced with the process, it was officially conducted in November and concluded in December 2020. The market research was targeted to 200 DUT staff, 200 prospective students, 200 alumni and 200 current students. We went through an internal tender process where we were able to secure a few entries from a few market research companies. Using the three quotes system, DUT allocated the task to Siloam. Siloam did give us a final report in December 2020 and Mr Alan Khan, Senior Director at Corporate Affairs requested that this report is shared with the key offices at DUT,” said Govender.  

Presenting the research findings was Mr Roland Naidoo from Siloam, who thanked DUT for giving them an opportunity to conduct this research project. He said the overall perception score that DUT achieved in the survey is 79,5%.  

“I guess in the times that we are living in, a positive report or positive news is always welcomed. I would think that it is a remarkable achievement, considering where we come from in terms of COVID-19 and unrests that are in the tertiary space. The DUT brand was perceived positively by respondents in this survey. The sample size is 1000 respondents in total. We see the breakdown of five segments in total, alumni, current DUT students, public, current learners in grades 11 and 12 and the DUT staff as well,” he said.  

Naidoo presented the summary of the findings as follows:  

• 78% of the alumni indicated that the DUT provided them with innovative methods of learning and development and that DUT brings the real world to the classroom.  
• 84% of the alumni indicated that the quality of course materials was remarkable good.  
• 85% of the alumni indicated that the quality of lecturers was exceptionally good.   
• 76% of the alumni and 78% of the students enjoyed the atmosphere at DUT.  
• 91% of the alumni indicated that they would recommend DUT to their friends and family.   
• 83% of the current students were extremely pleased with the quality of lectures.  
• 85% of the current were incredibly happy with the quality of activities on campus.  
• 92% of the current students at DUT were aware of the revised logo with isiZulu wording on it.  
• 73% of learners indicated that they would consider studying at DUT and listed DUT as number one on the top five universities that they are aware of.  
• Learners also indicated DUT as the leading university visible in the media and also as a leading university that provides superior academic expertise.  
• DUT also topped the list as the number one university that the public is aware of, and 76% of the public indicated that they would consider DUT for their children’s study.  
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The methodology used for these responses were face to face interviews and electronic submission via a dedicated link.  

Pictured:  DUT received 79.5% on overall perception on the 2020 Marketing and Brand Image research. (Picture taken pre-covid)

Simangele Zuma