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

5 DIGITAL JOB TRENDS FOR 2015

1. A Move Away From Digital Agencies:
Having complete control over a brand’s digital presence is becoming more and more important thanks to things like SEO updates and content marketing – and that control is taken away from a brand when they choose to hire an agency. That said; in 2015 there is a lot of major brands starting to turn their backs on their digital agencies and choosing to invest time and money into building up their own in-house digital teams in 2015.

2. More Digital Communications Roles:
A massive surge in demand from brands looking to hire ‘Digital Communications Officers’ who can look after PR, online content, content marketing and social media –  and the digital communications roles are testament to the fact that PR is now seen as a key component of digital marketing.

3. A Step Back From Pure SEO Hiring:
Many companies are still struggling with organic SEO and as such are using alternative methods to drive traffic to their site such as content marketing and PPC. With that, there is going to see less demand for SEO candidates in 2015, as brands continue to look to other methods to attract traffic.

4. More Insights/Analysis Roles:
As brands realized that the key to a better user experience and increased profits was understanding their customers and delivering the right content –There is lot of brands starting to invest serious amounts of money into Insights Managers, Business Analysts and even Data Scientists in a bid to beat their competitors and deliver the best experience for their customers.

5. A Move To Paid Social:
Over the last year or so, brands have struggled with organic social reach as platforms like Facebook have tweaked their algorithms and as a result, many have now started to turn to paid social in a bid to reach potential customers. In this 2015, some brands to bring in paid social experts alongside their existing social media managers in an attempt to regain their social media reach.

Source: bublejobs.uk

5 STEPS TO BUILDING YOUR UNIVERSITY BRAND

Here are five steps to successfully branding your school:

1. Create one unified message based on what makes your school different, who you are, and what you do.   What distinct benefit(s) does your school deliver?
   o AUV University "Your pathway to American education"
   o University of Maryland "Keep Me Maryland"
   o UCLA "Here. Now. UCLA"
   o University of Phoenix "I am a Phoenix"
   
2. Focus on public relations not advertising that creates a sense of belonging through engagement.  Staff, faculty, administrators and students all play a key role in delivering an institution's brand promise.  Engagement through your web site (promote news on campus; encourage online engagement); social media (be mindful of what you are trying to say, looking at posts "likes", connect with stories; share information in both directions; maximize your involvement with "whole" people that require a name and/or some consistency of membership); video (rotating key feature stories that reflects different programs, community member or reflects the student body as a whole), push video content to mobile devices.; engage with local cable TV/media; create interactive view books on USB drives that can be handed out at an open house or mailed to prospective students that feature video clips or information about your school relevant to the programs you are promoting.
   
3. Build a brand promise based on academic offerings, student experience, or an institution's prestige.  Develop brand strategies that reflect the emotional and psychological dynamics (alumni giving, staff culture, student experience, recruitment efforts, instructor reputation, faculty engagement, and community relations) of an education institution as a whole.  These dynamics will influence and shape the perceptions of your brand in the marketplace.
   
4. Create a brand experience through updated curriculum. Curricula must be relevant in today's global marketplace through new academic subjects.  Institutions must also be aware of the growing  population of nontraditional students, aging student population, accommodate more online and distance learning as well as continue to offer broader spectrum of student needs.  Doing so will strengthen your brand's position in the marketing place.
   
5. Build an emotional brand experience that creates loyalty.  If you build it they will come.  If the emotional connection between your brand and your prospect is strong, the brand experience will bring active/continued referrals as well as increased profitability to your school.  Loyalty means higher retention rates as well as reduced marketing costs.  Create loyalty by understanding your market segments as well as offering convenient locations/hours, having an employer influence (corporate alliance), pricing, timing, or flexibility with schedules for example.
   
   

Powerful brands increase market share and loyalty.  The power of a brand lies in the minds of your students' perceptions:  what they have learned, heard, felt or seen as a result of their experience overtime.  Ultimately your students determine what your brand means.

MARKETING 'S SEVEN "Ps" AND THE ROLE THEY PLAY

When it comes to attracting and retaining the customers that are the lifeblood of every business, there are several tactics that marketers may put into practice to get the job done, such as digital and traditional advertising, direct response, special events, public relations and content marketing. But there are underlying issues that marketers need to address before they get to those tactics. Sorting through these issues will ensure a balanced mix of efforts that will do the optimal job of converting customers and driving top- and bottom-line growth. Divided into distinct categories, they are known as the Seven Ps of Marketing. Each should be carefully considered to achieve effective marketing.

The “Ps” initially began with only four, which were instrumental in ensuring a balanced marketing mix for products. They were later expanded to seven as a means of addressing marketing mix considerations for the service industry. 

    Product - Marketers should always be assessing how well their product or service meets the needs of the market and its consumers. While quality is an issue, other facets that factor into a product are variety, design, image, features and benefits. Whether or not the product is tangible, it must provide value to the customer, as established by the customer, not the marketer.

    Price - The price must be competitive and appealing to the customer, yet still generate a profit to the business.  It covers suggested retail price, wholesale price, discounts, allowances and payment terms among other factors. To establish appropriate pricing, it is important to understand the cost of producing the product or service, along with how much elasticity in the price/value ratio customers will tolerate. This is the only element of the marketing process that generates revenue.

    Place - This refers to where customers buy the product or service, such as by direct selling, telemarketing, mail order, at retail locations or a combination of these and other approaches. This also refers to how the product is showcased to customers, such as a store window or an e-commerce website. What is important is that the product is made available in the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity at the customer’s convenience. Changing place can have a major impact on sales, upward and downward, so it must be carefully considered.

    Promotion - In this part of the process, the marketer is using tools to raise awareness and interest in the product or service. Promotion covers branding, special offers, sales, advertising and PR. The idea is to create a mix that opens the dialog with customers by focusing as much on the benefits of the product as the features. It is also important to understand the dynamic nature of promotion.  Not all tactics will achieve the same results over time, making it critical to test and learn from activities, such as which combinations of tactics perform best under what circumstances, and be prepared to adjust the process accordingly.

    People - People refers to anyone inside or outside of the business who is in a position of influencing how its brand and the products and services that comprise it are perceived and accepted – or not.  This is most important with a company’s employees, who are on the brand’s frontlines and directly responsible for shaping experiences and impressions. To that end, it creates the need for a workforce that has the right attitude, is well trained and is motivated to serve as brand advocates.

    Process - Keeping the customer happy by consistently performing in a way that anticipates and responds to customer satisfaction issues is critical to any business.  Process denotes how the service is provided.  It covers customer service, delivery, placing orders and communications policies, and is often the most overlooked part of the marketing process since businesses tend to design their processes for their own convenience. Considering this category from an outside-in vantage point can transform this “P” into a huge competitive advantage.

    Positioning - With Positioning, consideration is given to how the brand is positioned in the competitive space and in the minds of your consumer. The product or service might be positioned as more valuable and more expensive, or as an affordable option at somewhat lower quality. Many experts argue that how your customers perceive you will be the most critical factor in a businesses’ success or failure in a competitive environment. This is why market positioning must always remain a work in progress.

Other “Ps” that are often wrapped into the marketing discussion are packaging or physical evidence/appearance. In either case, these refer to the visual element or external aspect of a product or service, and not just “packaging,” per se. For example, the décor of an office being funky or conservative says something about the business, as does the attire of employees, and the way informational brochures and the company logo are designed.

By understanding the facets of each of the seven Ps, a business’ marketers are equipped with the keys they need to create a comprehensive marketing plan to keep the organization responsive to the market and moving forward profitably.

Source: University marketing

HOW TEAM WORKS

A team consist of a group of two or more people who work together to achieve a common goal. The goal doesn’t have to fall on any particular side of moralities arc in order to be accomplished. The point is, a successful team works together in order to almost flawlessly in order to achieve its purpose and receive reward.

Your social identity online should also be looked at like a team. One network feeding the rest. For instance there is no real reason, as a fan of personal branding, that your Facebook page shouldn’t be used to assist your linked in identity. People, no matter on what level, want to know more about you, and I suspect that most of them go to Facebook to look you up anyway, you may as well provide them with the you, you want to present. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard of someone going to someone else’s Facebook page to see who or what the potential partner, employee, friend is about.

I’ve heard some people even say, “Oh! I don’t use Facebook.” And that’s fine but you look out of touch, to be honest.

Others may say, “Oh, well I block my page.” That’s fine too but please don’t think that because you block your page from one person it’s blocked from all the people they know, that you know.” It’s the Science of Networks, Six Degrees of Separation, Duncan Watts, They don’t call it the connected age for nothing.

Use the networking to your advantage, be part of the here and now, control your digital, destiny don’t let your digital destiny control you.

I post lots of pictures on Instagram, and often, but not always, share those images with my Facebook and Flickr account at the same time. I do this because I want my digital highway to be painted with the lines of my choice. But simuposting isn’t new CMS developers, and Content Managers have been doing it for years now, because it just makes sense. Yet when posting to several networks at once, or setting up scheduled post releases, you have to make sure the content is relevant for every network you post on.

Target the right audience or you’re just sending them junk.

You should be very conscious of how you illustrate your life with your social networks. They can work in your favor or against you. LinkedIn, one of my favorite retreats as of late, provides me with the intellectual stimulation that I can’t get on Facebook. This isn’t because Facebook is bad or littered with idiots, but because there is just so much noise on Facebook that it isn’t always productive in a manner that is conducive to people talking about the work they love and the products they love. People, all though some do, are less likely to post just anything on LinkedIn because a place where you want to be seen by employers, customers, and like-minded people on that level you want to get to.

Networks that I think you should be using in tangent with your personal sites and blogs.

Facebook / Google + / Instagram / Twitter / Flickr / Pinterest / YouTube / Vimeo /Blip.tv

I would not post all of the things I post on these sites that I’m posting to my LinkedIn account unless they hold some sort of relevance to what I’m trying to do on there. Find out where your people are and target them, show them what they want to see and they’ll enjoy giving you that 5 seconds. You can also find great use for your Sound Cloud account as well as your old Myspace page along with some more local networks you might belong to.

WHAT IS BRANDING?

To understand branding, it is important to know what brands are. A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product. Advertising professionals work on branding not only to build brand recognition, but also to build good reputations and a set of standards to which the company should strive to maintain or surpass. Branding is an important part of Internet commerce, as branding allows companies to build their reputations as well as expand beyond the original product and service, and add to the revenue generated by the original brand.

When working on branding, or building a brand, companies that are using web pages and search engine optimization have a few details to work out before being able to build a successful brand. Coordinating domain names and brand names are an important part of finding and keeping visitors and clients, as well as branding a new company. Coordination of a domain name and brand names lends identification to the idea or image of a specific product or service, which in turn lets visitors easily discovery the new brand.

Branding is also a way to build an important company asset, which is a good reputation. Whether a company has no reputation, or a less than stellar reputation, branding can help change that. Branding can build an expectation about the company services or products, and can encourage the company to maintain that expectation, or exceed them, bringing better products and services to the market place.