Researcher offers a skeptic’s guide to institutional brand-building

Although the higher education sector keenly understands the significance of branding, Eric Sickler relates that many senior leaders “remain skeptical about committing significant resources to brand clarification and management.” Sickler suspects that leaders express skepticism because branding strategies demand the reallocation of already scarce funds. He then offers an American college as a case study in brand “clarification and elevation.” Some of the key insights he gleans from this case include the importance of robust market research, a four-to-five year branding clarification strategy, and the importance of “authenticity” as a means of capturing the “essence” of an institution. Inside Higher Ed