Welcome...
... to the latest Discovering Futures conference on Successful Branding in Higher Education: how to build a brand that creates sustainable competitive advantage.
The agenda features speakers, from the both the commercial and HE sectors, who are leaders in their field - they will help you to advance your knowledge of branding by engaging with specific challenges, findings and experiences. Whatever your role within your institution, the delivery of the brand's promise is the responsibility of all. This conference will offer invaluable new insights into this under-exploited but essential marketing activity.
Why brand?
As competition intensifies in the higher education sector, branding has become an essential component of universities' marketing strategies. A successful brand is an invaluable asset in the recruitment and retention of students - and forward-looking institutions recognise its vast potential in creating a competitive advantage in a crowded market place. Put simply, it could mean the difference between survival and failure.
Most of us know that this task involves far more than simply redesigning visual identities: effective branding cannot rely on image alone. A successful and sustainable brand is built by ensuring that your university has a unique and distinctive image - one that arouses a positive emotional attachment while meeting the needs of its key stakeholders. A successful brand can only be created if the product or services are good - a mismatch between image and reality will mean your brand will ultimately fail.
Ideally, the entire university community has to be involved in creating the brand, not just its marketing and communications professionals. And even if you're happy with your brand, how can you monitor and adapt it to ensure it continues to have a positive impact on student recruitment?
Now is the time to grasp the opportunity to gain a sustainable competitive advantage for your university. There is comparatively little brand differentiation in the UK's higher education sector and it is widely recognised amongst branding experts that there is huge potential for real brand building in universities.
Join us
Join the country's foremost experts on branding - from innovative creative agencies to higher education specialists - to gain invaluable new insights into this under-exploited but essential marketing activity.
Our keynote speaker will be Adrian Burton, creative director at Lambie-Nairn, a leading branding agency whose clients include the BBC, Channel 4, Sainsbury's and O2. Also on the day's agenda are speakers from Facebook, Google UK and the British Council, complemented by contributions from HE representatives with wide-ranging experience in branding.
Key issues
Our speakers will spark debates on the most important challenges facing marketers and communicators charged with branding their university. Their presentations will aim to give you new ideas and a fresh perspective to help you re-invigorate your organisation's branding strategies.
Sessions cover:
- the principles of successful branding
- using online media
- employer branding
- HE branding in China and India
- the presentation of specially commissioned research into students' perceptions of HE brands
- managing sub-brands
- attracting overseas students
