Brand Strategy for Universities: Why Your Fancy New Logo Isn't Solving Anything
Here's what typically happens when university leadership decides they've got a "brand problem"- someone commissions a sleek new logo, updates the website colour scheme to something trendier, maybe throws together a vague tagline about "excellence" or "innovation", then wonders why enrolment numbers haven't magically skyrocketed six months later. The issue isn't that rebranding efforts are pointless - it's that most institutions fundamentally misunderstand what a brand strategy for university actually involves, treating it as a cosmetic exercise rather than the strategic foundation it needs to be if they want to stand out in increasingly crowded markets. Understanding What Brand Strategy Actually Means At its core, brand strategy in higher education addresses how prospective students, parents, faculty, alumni and employers perceive your institution relative to alternatives they're considering, which sounds straightforward until you ...