Defining the essence of a university: lessons from higher education branding

Abstract

Branding is a phenomenon that has become increasingly common in higher education over the last few years. It entails defining the essence of what a university ''is'', what it ''stands for'', and what it is going to be known for, requiring precision and consistency in the formulations as well as internal commitment to the brand. This article details what happened in the process of defining the essence of a regional university in Northern Norway. Addressing the challenges, the article reveals that the notions of consistency, precision, and commitment generated resistance from faculty members and made the process very difficult to fulfill. An important finding is that a university may be too complex to be encapsulated by one brand or identity definition. The article describes this process, explains the reasons for the difficulties, and discusses some implications for higher education branding.

Internal brand co-creation: The experiential brand meaning cycle in higher education

“…Due to increasing competition from domestic and international players, HE institutions recognize the need to differentiate themselves from other players in the market place (Chapleo, 2007(Chapleo, , 2011Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2010;Waeraas & Solbakk, 2008). Similar to most service industries, HE offerings include a series of intangible, heterogeneous and perishable characteristics, all of which highlight the role of employees in delivering the service brand experience to customers (Anctil, 2008;Mourad et al, 2011).…”

“…Similar to most service industries, HE offerings include a series of intangible, heterogeneous and perishable characteristics, all of which highlight the role of employees in delivering the service brand experience to customers (Anctil, 2008;Mourad et al, 2011). In response to the competitive environment, HE institutions have adopted an outside-in approach, such as redesigning logos, straplines and advertising (Waeraas & Solbakk, 2008;Whisman, 2009). This approach merely offers shortterm benefits, focusing on the visible parts of the brand rather than being part of a coherent branding strategy.…”

“…However, there is scant academic attention to understand how to develop a successful brand in the higher education (HE) context (Chapleo, 2007). Much of the recent literature has emphasized the role of marketing and branding within HE institutions that enables them to adapt to the global competitive environment (Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2006;Lowrie, 2007;Waeraas & Solbakk, 2008;Whisman, 2009;). Research has focused on market orientation in export markets (Assad, Melewar, Cohen, & Balmer, 2013), branding and performance (Chapleo, 2010;Robertson & Khatibi, 2013), corporate branding (Balmer, Liao, & Wang, 2010) and brand image (Hemsley-Brown & Goonawardana, 2007;Sung & Yang, 2008).…”

The painters behind the profile: the rise and functioning of communication departments in universities

“…One could expect that the more professionalized such unit is, that is, the more such units are marked by communications professionals who also have external attachments to the communications field; the more tension one can expect between the communication department and the faculties and other departments. As branding and marketing exercises may be met with resistance and skepticism in many universities (Stensaker 2007), it can be expected that while they may have closer links with the institutional leadership (Waeraas and Solbakk 2009) in handling the relationship to the environment, their integration with the remaining of the organization would be marked by tension.…”

Unidad de acción comprometida: una propuesta de solución ante el problema universitario del servicio a la sociedad

“…Esta orientación ha sido denunciada y descrita en numerosas ocasiones (véase, por ejemplo, Almarcha, 2001;Codd, 2005;García, 2008;Johnson y Hirt, 2011;Manzano-Arrondo, 2009; ManzanoArrondo y Andrés, 2007;Shumar, 2004;Susanti, 2011;Teelken, 2012;Venieris y Cohen, 2004;Wareaas y Solbakk, 2009;Yamamoto, 2004). Rizvi (2006), por ejemplo, denuncia que el imaginario neoliberal en las políticas de educación mueve a la homogeneización internacional sin atender a las particularidades locales, según modelos hegemónicos.…”