Innovative educational environment as a branding tool
Authors:   Cherkasy State Business College, Borovyk T.M. , Ustychenko S.V. ,   Cherkasy State Business College, Zalozna T.H. ,   Cherkasy State Business College, Voloshchenko O.V ,   Cherkasy State Business College
Published: May 2023

The aim of the article. The aim of the article is to investigate the impact of an innovative educational environment on the formation of a positive image, reputation and promotion of an education institution brand. Analysis results. Building and managing a brand in today’s challenges is one of the key tasks of forming a sustainable position of an education institution, because it is the construction of an innovative educational environment that is aimed at implementing a development strategy and global collaboration. The article considers the activity of the Language center “Lingua Hub”, a structural unit of Cherkasy State Business College, as one of the branding tools used by an education institution to enhance its competitiveness in the market of educational services. Today, the Language Center is a branding tool, a business card for stakeholders, a career orientation tool for potential applicants and interested people, etc., which is formed in accordance with the development strategy and brand creation of the education institution. The article analyzes the impact of the unit's activities on the development of international cooperation, establishment of partnership relations and implementation of educational projects and determines the main target audience and ways of communication with it. The features of interdisciplinary relations in the construction of the strategy of intercultural communications, the establishment of international partnerships and their influence on the formation of the image and brand of the education institution are highlighted. The authors consider brand management in the conditions of modern challenges and focus on the importance to follow the principles of building a successful brand, such as flexibility and adaptability to changes, loyalty to consumers of educational services, social activity, the ability to take risks and experiment. The digital component is separately highlighted as a branding tool of an innovative educational environment, which provides an opportunity to expand the target audience of brand consumers in a virtual dimension, and helps to eliminate a psychological barrier in communication, erase boundaries and increases economic efficiency.The developed brand strategy is aimed at the transition to digital branding, which contributes to the acquisition of a new status of the use of interactive communications, the acquisition of new forms of creative content, an effective tool of which is SMM. This provides an opportunity to communicate and receive feedback through social networks and SEO - promotion of the website of the education institution among search engines, which simplifies the search for the Language Center page by keyword. Special attention is paid to the use of digital tools and the creation of a virtual space for organizing the activities of the structural unit. In particular, the application of digital learning technologies through the use of mobile applications, social networks, educational platforms, cloud services, etc. simplifies the exchange of information and communication of participants in the educational process and provides the possibility of remote learning from anywhere in the world. The use of various marketing communication tools strengthens the internal and external components of branding. In particular, the management of the education institution is improved, the quality of the educational process is enhanced through the use of innovative teaching methods, the potential of educational services is increased, and the influence on the opinion of consumers is strengthened through proposals for international cooperation and increasing the competitiveness of the education institution in the market of educational services. Conclusions and directions for further research. The result of the study has shown that the formed innovative environment of the education institution is an effective mechanism of branding of the education institution. The Lingua Hub Language Center structural unit is a well-established brand, that has marketing communications for its promotion, meets the stated promises of participants in the educational process and consumers of educational services, evokes positive associations and emotions in the target audience, has a corporate style, and corresponds to the general strategy of the education institution’s development. Therefore, taking into account the current challenges and the need to implement a branding strategy in the activities of an education institution, as well as the influence of branding mechanisms and tools on the formation of its positive image, business reputation among potential consumers and stakeholders, the use of technologies of an innovative educational environment and its digital components is a significant indicator in competition of education institutions in the market. Prospects for further scientific research lie in the field of research on the role of branding in ensuring the competitiveness of an education institution in the educational services market.