Do universities have successful brands?

Abstract

Branding in universities is a topical issue, but arguably few UK universities have fully developed ‘successful’ brands in the manner of commercial organisations. This qualitative paper explores the opinions of forty opinion formers on which UK universities have successful brands and the associations these brands have. Current literature on what constitutes a successful brand and current branding theory and practice in higher education is examined to give context to the work. Findings identify comparatively few institutions with ‘successful’ brands, but those that are suggested are considered for attributes, and limited commonality is found ; areas such as marketing communications, reputation, location and public relations are all argued to be contributory to successful brands. Perhaps more importantly, this research identifies certain institutions worthy of closer qualitative investigation towards generating a model of successful branding in higher education.