Brand and the Bottom Line
Branding is not an abstract science, disconnected from the underlying business realities of academic institutions. Ask Coke what their brand is worth, or Apple, or Four Seasons: in all cases, a strong and well-focused brand causes consumers to value a product or service more and, therefore, pay more for it. This is also true in academe. The classic “value equation” in marketing posits that:
Value = experience ÷ cost
A college or university, then, has a choice between two routes to increase its perceived value: it can increase understanding of the quality of the experience it offers, or it can lower its rates. The latter path leads to smaller budgets, squeezed faculty, reduced opportunities, and a slow and painful death spiral. The former goes right to and through the brand.
Why is it that seven of the ten most selective universities in the country are Ivies? Are they really that much better than Duke and Chicago and Vanderbilt and Emory and University of Virginia, whose selectivity rates are as much as four times that of Harvard? And how can that august leader-of-the-pack command $50,000 annually from the families of eighteen-year-olds itching to walk its hallowed halls? The answer: brand power—and in the case of the Ivies it extends to the whole family, with all eight member institutions being ranked in the top fifteen universities nationwide. Harvard, quite simply, owns the idea of best-in-class in this country, to the extent that it makes headlines if the top slot in U.S. News isn’t colored crimson.
Reliable studies place the “added value” that consumers are willing to pay for a premium brand at 6%-20%, depending on the category—and higher education may well be at the top of that range. If a consumer (parent, prospective student) believes that his or her future will be fundamentally better by attending a power-brand college or university, the relative cost difference is marginal compared to the longer-term gain. So the assignment is theoretically simple: improve perception of the brand so more people are willing to pay more to associate with it. The execution, however, is more complex.
Understanding and activating your brand potential begins with a clear-eyed assessment of where your brand sits now—in the mind of the beholder! It’s not enough that you think you know what your brand is or stands for; if nobody shares your opinion, you’re living in a fool’s paradise and your branding initiative will splat like gefilte fish on granite. You have to know where your prospect places you in the pantheon of organizations or institutions from which he or she could get a similar service. If the prospect is not looking for a lifetime value brand, but wants a commodity—an individual course or simple certificate—then he or she will go elsewhere. And that’s fine. We’re not trying to sell all services to all people. But if your prospect is looking for a value brand, a badge that can be worn proudly as an entry on a c.v., a lapel pin, or a work-out hoodie, you have to deliver a clear, accurate, and compelling portrait of how your brand links to your prospects’ ambitions—and the prospects will pay the price.
So you start by doing brand-focused market research, determining how your prospects see you, how they differentiate you from your competitors, and—importantly—what they value. With this knowledge you can begin to build your brand platform, develop a creative brief and effective brand expression, and lay out your brand marketing plan. All easier said than done, I know, but do-able nonetheless.
And then, most importantly: you execute the plan, keeping track of the effect of each of its myriad strategies and tactics by the results they generate and by an ongoing program of market research.
We have seen this create phenomenal results at the University of Cincinnati, Northern Arizona University, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and elsewhere.
At Cincinnati, a brand-based “Every Student Counts” campaign reversed a decade of faltering enrollments, brought them to an all-time high in FTE student body, reduced their discount rate, and triggered alumni enthusiasm that contributed to the success of an $800 million capital campaign. Moreover, tracking research showed that public perception of the University shifted from “big” and “basketball” to “quality education” and “excellent faculty” over the course of the branding campaign.
At Northern Arizona University, not only did enrollments skyrocket even after tuition jumped up 40%, but the whole gamut of stakeholders—from prospects to students to faculty to staff—registered significantly greater agreement with fundamental brand messages such as “faculty as mentors” and “good fit” as a result of an aggressive branding campaign. And the “Mountain Air Makes You Smarter” campaign also captured the attention of William Franke, a successful Phoenix businessman and philanthropist who made a commitment of $25 million to name the NAU College of Business because of its undergraduate orientation and success at educating first-generation Hispanic and Native American students—attributes he first learned about through the branding campaign.
The University of Texas at Arlington has seen enrollment skyrocket more than 33% in the three years since the “Unbranded” brand campaign was launched. University of Chicago Booth School of Business has claimed and held the top slot in EMBA education according to Business Week rankings. University of Minnesota Morris reclaimed its position as the top-quality liberal arts option in the UM system. University of Miami has climbed into the top 50 national universities according to U.S. News—withstanding many a storm along the way—due in no small part to the gale force of President Donna Shalala who epitomizes the Hurricane brand.
Brand campaigns work. They’re not easy; they take diligence and investment; they have to be continually reviewed, assessed, measured, and freshened—but they work. They deliver dollars to the bottom line because they align an institution’s “offer” with the values and interests of its constituents, and those constituents are therefore willing to pay more.
Bottom line: a brand campaign is the best investment you can make to improve your bottom line. A tautology, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
— Rob Moore, CEO and President
For more insights on branding in the higher education space, read Rob’s book The Real U: Building Brands That Resonate with Students, Faculty, Staff, and Donors.
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