Campus Image: A Vital Part of a University's Brand: If a University Wants to Strengthen Its Brand, Then Upgrading Its Visual Image Is One Very Effective Way to Accomplish This Goal (2014)

ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR TOPICS in world of organizational management and marketing today is concept of branding. While I am certainly no expert on this subject, those who I have consulted have defined a as total package of characteristics that define a product or organization (called retail branding) and set it apart from other products or organizations in same field (called business-to-business branding). Branding is process of strengthening that brand so as to improve competitive position of organization. The two aspects of branding contribute to accomplishment of different institutional goals. In higher education, retail branding is effective in areas such as recruiting students (particularly undergraduates) and building loyalty and support among institution's alumni and friends. Business-to-business branding is more effective in areas such as recruiting graduate students and faculty, gaining research funding, and attracting philanthropic and donor support. A friend of mine was recently offered two academic positions at same time. One was a postdoctoral position at Stanford University; other was a faculty position at a somewhat less highly institution. He told me that despite fact that faculty position was better one, he would probably accept Stanford offer because in long run it would be better for his academic career to be associated with Stanford Universities are academic and intellectual organizations that like to view themselves as engaging in the life of mind. They do not like to think of themselves as competitive entities in same sense as business or entertainment organizations, but fact of matter is that they are. They compete for students--or best and brightest among them. They compete for outstanding faculty members, research dollars, philanthropic and governmental support, and alumni loyalty. They compete in their athletic programs, cultural programs, and student amenities. They are, in truth, highly competitive organizations, and one very effective means of improving their competitive position is by strengthening their brand. A university's brand consists of many different components, including general reputation of school, quality of faculty, amount and quality of research, competitiveness of athletic program, quality of academic facilities, and student-life environment. The development of a strong institutional brand should be of great importance to a school. At majority of American universities, first unit to recognize advantage of branding, and to capitalize on it, was athletic department. This came about as a result of several things. To begin with, universities put great pressure on athletic departments to be self-sufficient so as not to be a financial burden on overall university budget. At same time, national media showed great enthusiasm for broadcasting games between top ranked university teams and a willingness to pay handsomely for privilege. Thus in order to generate desired income, athletic departments became highly motivated to establish their reputation as a top tier program, and they recognized what an effective tool branding could be in accomplishing this goal. As a result we have now reached a point where many of America's leading universities are better recognized for quality of their athletic teams than for excellence of their academic programs. This imbalance needs to be redressed. The current situation may be helpful in areas such as undergraduate recruiting and alumni support, but it is of little benefit, and may even be harmful, in areas such as faculty recruiting, graduate student recruiting, and competition for research dollars. Universities need to develop programs for branding academic aspects of their operation that are as effective as those that have been developed for their athletic programs. …