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How To Build A Brand For A Business School ??
Posted By: mbindra* on 11/16/2004 1:12 PM (CST) 250 Points
If we consider the education imparted in B school they may not differ much in quality but certain B schools like Harward have a stong brand image. Considering management education as a product how to build brand of a B school considering the two set of prospective customers

1. Aspirants for B school
2. Recruiters of B School

Posted by: Peter (henna gaijin) Accepted Answer
11/16/2004 2:53 PM (CST)
B-school brands are often built over time, so don't expect that some 6 month marketing activity will have major impact. Recruiters want to hire graduates who are successful at the job, and that comes from experience hiring a school's students. Student want to know they have a good education, but are likely also interested in that the education will help them in their career (including getting a job - so good ratings with recruiters will help the brand image with students).

Lots of the growth of the brand would likely come from public relations activities as opposed to traditional marketing activities. Getting your professors known as experts in their field, through publishing research, being quoted in articles/by media, etc.

The brand growth would also be effected by your 'operations' - how good the classes are. Having the best professors but not teaching what is needed by hiring companies would prevent you from having a good brand.
 
Posted by: Sharon Moderator Response
11/16/2004 3:22 PM (CST)
There are also several niche markets for business schools. on the student side, you could offer part time programs that allow students to hold full time jobs. Some schools offer daycare and other personal time management tools to help these busy students. New graduates are another niche market you can target and get to easily through career fairs and GRE takers. Another niche market is executive education, an accelerated program for senior managers.

Another way to go would be to develop specialized fields of study like technology management or nonprofit management -- another way to differentiate yourself. See if you can sieze on new areas of business and develop degree programs in them, such as global business management, or integrated marketing management.

Any of these solutions, as Peter has said, will take a lot of time and more than just a marketing campaign to be effective over time. But if you can at least decide how to differentiate yourself and commit to it, you are on your way to differentiation.

Good luck.

Sharon
 
Posted by: thinkmor Accepted Answer
11/16/2004 8:12 PM (CST)
Hi Mbindra

Agree with both Peter and Sharon, building your brand or re-positioning will take time.

Your business school will already have values that exist in the minds and hearts of ALL of your stakeholders. It's whether you want to build upon these or re-position your b school or if you find from research that your core values have been lost over time.

Consider your channels to both students and recruiters. Can you use any of these to aid your differentiation? E-learning, Long distance study, Executive MBA etc

Consider involving corporates into a business/research/part-time executive programme e.g. Tanaka Business School & Imperial College London in the UK.

https://www3.imperial.ac.uk/portal/page?_pageid=58,1&_dad=portallive&_schem...

If your B School has been around for a while it may help contacting all 'signficant' Alumni (where Alumni have made an impact locally/nationally/internationally) and using their experiences and feedback to initiate a branding campaign that you can build into your marketing messages if they are of value or use them as a basis to revitalize your core values.

You may need to conduct a Brand Audit to comprehensively research whether your 'original' values are strong and relevant enough for both students and recruiters in today's competitive environment and whether these need to be updated to re-affirm your desired brand image.

Try finding case studies/research/articles for other universities and educational establishments that have undergone the re-positioning process.

A parallel question was recently posted which may help;

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=3980#27725

A link included in the question:

http://www.brandchannel.com/brand_speak.asp?bs_id=15

Hope this helps.

Zahid Adil
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
11/19/2004 9:21 PM (CST)
I think Peter and Sharon were too gentle when they said that positioning a B-school will take time. It will take a long time.

That said, it's worth investing the time/money to get there if you are serious about wanting to be a player in that very competitive market. It doesn't start with marketing though. It starts with the product itself.

You need to have professors with great credentials, writing and publishing a lot, showing up as guest lecturers and consultants, interviewed in the business press, etc. You need a facility that looks first-rate. You need a placement office and an alumni relations department that are passionate about what they do. And you need a logo, positioning, and "story" that will capture the imagination of your target audiences.

All of that could take years, but doing nothing will take years too, so get started on it now. You'll be glad you did when you look back at today five years from now.
 
Posted by: smacphed* Accepted Answer
11/20/2004 5:23 PM (CST)
Support students and graduates in finding good jobs, help then network, create LOTS of business networking events for them. Make them fun, so that business people will go.

Make sure you bring it speakers from businesses that operate in the area, and work on getting huge business names to come and speak once and a while.

Develop a mentorship program with local businesspeople, so that students don't walk out of school with any idea about how business really works.

These students will walk out of school with a job in their field. Then they'll be happy with the school and support current students as alumni.

The big thing all the good bschool brands have going for them really stems from the networks they create.

Other than that, have a GREAT website and make sure professors are very good at what they do.
 
Posted by: mcherif* Accepted Answer
12/3/2004 4:32 AM (CST)
Hi mbindra,

Try the following:
A- Do a research about what motivates students when they have to chose a business school, do a ranking of these attributes, and ask the respondent to give a rating of your Business school and its competitors on each of these attributes

Ex of attributes in order of importance (fictious)
1- Reputation among recruiters
2- Prestige of the professors
3- Scholarship fees
4- Studies length
5- Quality of post-school networking
6- Campus quality
7- etc.

B- Select the attribute where you have a better score than your competitors (if this attribute is very motivating it will be easier but if not select that one - build on your strenghts)... ex: if you score better on Post-school networking select this one,

AND: use this as your USP: constantly repeat the message to all your prospects. It will take time indeed, but you will end up owning this attribute and people valuing this attribute will select your School...
 
Posted by: michaldover* Accepted Answer
12/3/2004 7:53 PM (CST)
I totally agree with smacphed the two target markets you mentioned are totally dependent on one another.
The same with any other product you want to create a brand image of, if you have a good product (your students) you need to get out there and "sell" it to your prospective customers, which are the recruiting companies. I think the place to start in building a brand is not through the students but more through the companies that recruit. If you have a strong career center in your business school that reaches out to companies and offers them opportunities to speak at school events, job fairs and special recruiting options for example getting three credits in exchange for a summer/winter internship that would put your name out there. The more you work with companies your existing and potential students will appreciate your school as a true transfer point on the way to a successful career(which is what they’re looking for)
 
Posted by: michaldover* Member Response
12/3/2004 7:54 PM (CST)
I totally agree with Sean M the two target markets you mentioned are dependent on one another.
The same with any other product you want to create a brand image of, if you have a good product (your students) you need to get out there and "sell" it to your prospective customers, which are the recruiting companies. I think the place to start in building a brand is not through the students but more through the companies that recruit. If you have a strong career center in your business school that reaches out to companies and offers them opportunities to speak at school events, job fairs and special recruiting options for example getting credits in exchange for a summer/winter internship that would put your name out there. The more you work with companies your existing and potential students will appreciate your school as a true transfer point on the way to a successful career(which is what they’re looking for)
 
Posted by: spiritualentity* Accepted Answer
12/7/2004 4:02 AM (CST)
I think you should also look at a firm grasp over measurable indicators - annual college rankings are published by many business magazines and one of the first places to gain visiblity for an emerging business school is that.

Encouraging viral marketing is important because WOM spreads very fast in this industry - so encourage students to participate and share thier experiences of the B School on sites that are about customer feedback.

Finally of course, the product has to be excellent with some clear USP. A B School philosophy is an importnat issue in its positioning - I believe for eg. that the IIMs compete hard in India (Indian Institutes of Management) - the leader is the one at Ahemdabad, positioned on rigorus acads which makes it a hot favourite for recruters. IIM B (Bangalore) is positioned on all round development, making students love it more than A! So its all about positioning as well
 
Posted by: BParks* Accepted Answer
12/7/2004 11:42 AM (CST)
Harvard and many other business schools actively create programs targeted at high profile executives, where the programs are shorter and potentially less expensive, so that they can then claim them as alumni. They are then capable of publishing stats that say X number of CXO's graduated from our programs. Just a thought.

I agree with everyone that the product (education) has to be excellent and you need to understand the motivations of students in order to attract the highest quality, because the graduates will inevitably be your true "brand" representatives.

The question of marketing to students or recruiters first is a chicken/egg question in my opinion. You can't get good recruiters if you don't have good students. You may be able to attract good undergrad students with slick marketing, but MBA students are going to focus on post-graduate placement and recruiters.
 
Posted by: kyleweb* Accepted Answer
12/9/2004 1:08 PM (CST)
A largly overlooked part of this question is the research quality of the business school.

Universities exist not only as institutions of education, but play a large part in current research.

A good example of this is an area I am currently involved in or complexity theory. ONe of the leading researchers in this area is Ralph Stacey and as a product of his contributions to the subject and mass of journals he has had published he has greatly raised the status of the business school at the University of Hertfordshire in the UK which previously was almost an unknown in the subject of business.
 
Posted by: rajnish* Member Response
12/17/2004 11:53 PM (CST)
B-School brand building is certainly a very long term exercise. The most important source of a B-School brand is its students. They are the best brand ambassadors a B-School can have. If they go out and excel, the B-School automatically gets a lot of leverage. But that is only possible when the institution has built such brand ambassadors and thus made sure that they will excel. That is why it is a long term process. Long term here would easily mean a time horizon of 5+ years.
 
Posted by: Sanjeev Kumar Vyas Accepted Answer
12/19/2004 9:31 PM (CST)
The branding of anything takes time and Branding education institutions take even higher time.
To make the brand you will have to look into how the brand is made.
1. Good lecturers: if you have good lecturers it helps to get the place noticed. It is perceived that if a great lecturer is teaching then surely the place must be good.
2. Good facilities: if you have good facilities then people perceive that the place would be good too.
3. Great Alumni: This will take time but if your alumni are in great places and are passionate about the institution there is nothing like it. This gives you credibility and also has monetary benefits.
4. good job placements for passed outs. If you students get good jobs after passing out it would make the students want to join you. This will happen if the company recruit you students and are highly satisfied with them.
5. Great contributions: Contributions to the society by your students, lectures, etc in terms of knowledge or products or charity will also help your brand as this will get you good PR.
These are some of the basic things. doing only 1-2 over a short period won't help. You will have to use most of these consistently over a long period to see results.
Regards
Sanjeev
 
Posted by: Brainiac* Member Response
12/26/2004 9:13 AM (CST)
Excellent Suggesstions Above. Here are my views:
a) It is true that it takes many many years to build a great brand image for a B-School. And more importantly, it takes consistent performance and investment in marketing activities. I would say the following factors matter a lot:

1. Intake of Students: Always take the best possible students through a detailed and rigorous selection procedure so that you have a students who are highly likely to shine in the corporate world.

2. Intake of Professors: The kind of teaching imparted depends a lot on the type of professors. Pay high and invest a lot on these as it really helps in building a brand.

3. Infrastructure: Have a proper infrastructure in place to ensure that your students get the best possible facilities.

4. Make your students feel an emotional bond with the college: I say this cause these students are the ones who will be recruiting from your college. They know what is the quality of education that you provide etc. If they feel a sense of belonging to your college, they shall keep coming back to hire.

5. DO NOT ADVERTISE, USE PR: Do not advertise your college in newspapers. Credibility matters a lot. Use PR.

6. Have management Development Programs, Offer specializations in various fields, have tie-ups with companies to train their employees: This helps in getting your college noticed by the Corporates.

Here are some points from a website:
"For a brand strategy effort to be successful for a b-school, an expanded and identity-driven perspective of building strong brands is necessary.
A new model of building strong b-school brands replaces the classic segmentation and positioning paradigm to build strong brands.
For a brand strategy to be successful, it needs to go beyond its impact on communications efforts. Brand strategy is the face of the strategy across all constituencies.
Brand strategy development should start with a deep understanding of particular student segments, identifying unarticulated needs, for whom you want to be the most preferred choice, not distinguishing characteristics about the b-schools, such breadth or depth of course offering, quality of faculty and characteristics of the student body."
 
Posted by: jose04 Member Response
12/27/2004 9:10 AM (CST)
Hi mbindra

What's a b-school which does not give the confidence to its students to be part of a business and contribute to its profits?

The b-school brand will be decided (as with any product/service), by the quality of its students, in decision making, understanding business situations and functional problems, and be open minded enough to changes etc.

The students should reflect the maturity level of an entrepreneur moulded by market experience.

The b-school brand should be painstainkingly build up, with professors who are motivated and inspiring and with a management who understand the vallue of professionalism, ethics and stakeholder rights.

Democratic values, mission orientation, inspiring leadership (which are both realistic and emtrepreneurial) are the pillars of strength for a good educational brand.

Finally apart from the great ideas by my fellow experts, the b-school should build on its available resourses, which is refurbished creatively, quickly and participatively. These internal strengths should be capitalised on to produce a confident batch of performers, who with the apt amounts of exposure are grabbed by recruiters. An Alumni association decides the future of the school and they get really vibrant because they have receivedsomething from their school. Later, they do their bit naturally, and the school brand gets formed and shaped into a well cut and polished diamond, much sought after, for a long long time.

Let's spare a thought for the promoters too.

Hope these thoughts help!
 
Posted by: Phoenix* Member Response
12/28/2004 5:38 PM (CST)
B school brand depends on the quality and number of alumni, including connection/relationship. You can see many universities now offer free emails for their alumni, so they can keep in touch and use the power of alumni.

If you're new, quality of faculties and publications can interest your customers.

You must hire one or more famous faculties to work for your b school to lure people to look at your university. It's like using a currently famous brand as a carrier of your new brand. Once your brand become strong enough with quality of publications and alumni, you may not rely on those strong brands, famous faculties, that much again.

It takes time to build a b school brand. Using carrier is a shortcut. It depends how much you can invest.
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
12/28/2004 6:24 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than 10 days old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions. Thanks, so much, for participating!

Val (Moderator)
 


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