What Is Your Institution's 'Brand'?

Stand Out is from Business Officer by Douglas Vaira.

Some view branding as smoke and mirrors, a lot of hooey, the stuff of corporate boardroom flip charts, or nothing more than the New Coke. Employees are as likely as customers to express skepticism about branding initiatives. Yet, within higher education, brand development is garnering greater curiosity as competition grows for new students and top-notch faculty and as relations with campus constituents and the wider community propel institutional leaders to rethink mission and communication strategies.

The pursuits of several institutions to rediscover their fundamental nature - that thing that makes them tick—demonstrate the essence of branding and its potential impact on current and would-be campus stakeholders.