WHAT'S IN NAME OF A UNIVERSITY?

What's in a name? The value of a good university brand

When it comes to student attraction, a university with a well-respected brand has an enormous advantage. But it takes more than a catchy slogan to stand out from the crowd

Universities need to market themselves as never before. As fees rise sharply and business-friendly courses boom, students and their families are ever cannier in researching value for money

In this rapidly changing marketplace, university branding is about much more than logos. But what does this mean for students and the role of branding in higher education in general?

Academic integrity; future employability; and, perhaps above all, the value of the student experience are key values. But university "customers" nowadays are not only students but their parents as well. One delegate spoke for everyone: "In a difficult economic situation, parents at open days are asking more and more astute questions while applicants sit with their heads down."

Successful branding to this dual audience relies on a few crucial strands: positive student testimony; the synergy between marketing and branding; and getting academics on side by linking success in the marketplace to academic freedom.

Consulting academics

Academic freedom, however, often relates to success in the marketplace, but getting this message across to academics can be hard. Sports clubs and university enterprises might cling to a branding identity associated with a legacy of success, despite the higher management of the university wishing to change it.

One solution offered to the debate by a participant had been to spread all divergent sub-brand identities out on a table and ask university staff if they made sense. "That way, they made the decision to come onside with the new brand," they explained.

Brand identities, such as a perception of a university being a regional hub with a fantastic student life, resonate with existing students while attracting new ones, too. University identities are built first of all within communities. A university is not Coca-Cola, branding messages tend to be centred around broad slogans, such as "upgrade your future". What makes such general visions work are case studies, vivid and concrete student testimony gathered from existing students and displayed to students past and present at open days, recruitment fairs and awards ceremonies.

Awards ceremonies reinforce loyalty from alumni and they can be the best brand ambassadors

For universities to recruit successfully, one participant suggested that marketing and branding needed to be woven through university life. "You can radically alter people's perception of the university by marketing," In one case, a student marketing video for a college in Australia, which was posted on YouTube, went viral and has been watched by millions.

Participants stressed that successful branding is not confined to the logo; its importance lies in being able to position the university in the market.

In any case students were not attracted only by academic excellence. The student experience is more complex than that and often relates to the actual teaching of their subject, job prospects and specific information about their own degree.

Eighty per cent of brand equity lies in meeting the promise that you make to your customers- students.

"A really good brand takes the risk out of buying, . "Brand leaders deal in confidence, which gives customers confidence

AUV University

Key points

 Universities looking to brand themselves successfully should:

• Focus on their core values, such as: academic integrity that links teaching, research and scholarship; business-friendly courses with employ-ability appeal; and the positive student experience on offer.

• Target communications at parents as well as students.

• Involve academics as much as possible; their enthusiasm can often bring big dividends.

• Highlight student testimony in university marketing materials.

• Make the most of social media's influence and reach.

Source: University guide