Campus as “branding ground” for success
As branding evolves to accommodate elements such as globalization, the transparency of new media and employee engagement, “brands” are becoming more widely defined. The practice of branding as a way to engage customers in the experience and promote employees as part of the whole package presents opportunities for less commonly marketed products and services to develop a clear brand strategy and build lucrative brand equity. Canada’s educational institutions, particularly universities and colleges, should take notice and consider embarking on their own individual branding projects.
The recent Maclean's University Student Issue, an increasingly critical source of information for prospective post-secondary students as well as a guide for potential employees, a job-search tool for professors and a reference for alumni, puts the spotlight on competitive university performance. The report highlights student satisfaction, quality of education and availability of resources. Within all of those rankings though, I do not see the universities as having unique, clearly delivered branding messages. As tuitions have climbed and enrolment increases, many institutions may feel relatively “safe” in their rankings, but as prospective students become increasingly aware of both the value and cost of a post-secondary education, many are looking for a clear view of just what each institution has to offer. And they certainly don’t stop at the “top” Canadian institutions on the lists, as prospective students are increasingly considering US and international options, online or distance learning and apprenticeships, not to mention, taking the time the make the right decision. This phenomenon, often referred to as a Gap Year, is prevalent in countries like Australia. (On a side note, the branding of the gap year is another hot topic, which travel agents, humanitarian organizations and companies offering internships may soon catch onto). Given these trends in post-secondary education, institutions may have some difficulty competing if they can’t communicate and then sell the quality of their services. The branding trend of companies aiming to recognize their brand's stakeholders beyond customers is crucial to educational institutions that rely on many stakeholders, including benefactors, alumni, students, professors and research grants. A unified brand strategy for the range of services that post-secondary institutions offer is indeed a difficult task.
The prominence of the power of brands to create and reflect social and cultural values is a major theme for educational institutions. The Maclean’s issue recognized that “students at smaller, undergraduate-focused universities say that they are generally more satisfied than students at larger, research-oriented universities.” This suggests that student satisfaction hinges on culture and not necessarily the superiority of education, which opens up many opportunities in terms of branding. How many times have you heard or said, in terms of post-secondary decisions, ‘it’s not where you go, but the experience itself that matters most’? Brands also need to be authentic – a tricky area for educational institutions that merely strive to roll with the pack in terms of quality of education and student satisfaction.
Of course, many universities and colleges in Canada do have “brands”, but these are often based on reputations defined by competitor schools or unfavourable media attention. (Not to single one out, but a certain university student newspaper scandalcomes to mind: Satire) These reputations are disproportionately created and communicated by the student populations than managed by the respective institution, which makes dealing with bad press an onerous task. Rivalries can also be damaging, as can homecoming antics and other primarily student-led realms, but if branding and marketing were focused, the repercussions may be more effectively managed. While the Maclean’s issue suggests that “while university students have complaints about specific aspects of their learning experience, most report they are “satisfied” or even “very satisfied” with their university experience,” institutions could be doing more to identify that experience in a way that students can appreciate. Of course, competition is an issue, but spirit and pride are also important, which is a way to counter negative images.
There are certainly examples of educational institutions that have engaged in branding projects, such as “The City College: George Brown”. But, then George Brown uses the advertisements “Brown gets you the job”, so what is the central brand message?
As the evolving experiences offered by the range of post-secondary institutions begin to blur, I think strategic branding accompanied by a smartly managed marketing and communications plan will become a very important theme.
