Picture this: You’re a student trying to choose a college or university to attend. You’re overwhelmed by all of the information, each school claiming to be the best this, the top-ranked that, and all of them are promising that “Your journey starts here.” It’s… a lot. So, how do you make an impression on students drowning in a sea of options? Enter brand messaging!

Brand messaging is like your institution’s personal elevator pitch. It’s the way you communicate your unique values, mission, and offerings to prospective students and stakeholders. 

And why does that matter? We’ll break it down for you:

1. The right brand messaging will get you noticed (in a good way). 

Brand messaging is an opportunity to share the real you with the world: what makes your institution the unique, fun, exciting experience you and your students know it to be. And it will quickly become a pillar of how people recognize you. Your tagline becomes a rallying cry, your mission becomes a mantra — and it’s how the world will see your institution moving forward. 

Consider your brand messaging as a chance to put your best foot forward. How do you want to be perceived? What words do you want people to think of when they hear your school’s name? That’s the foundation of your brand messaging. 

2. You’ll hook more right-fit students with messaging that resonates.

Students want to go where they feel welcomed; where they feel seen, heard, and comfortable. And while they may have outside influences helping to make their decision, like guardians and mentors, it’s ultimately up to them where they wind up. They’ll be looking very closely at your programs, your class schedules, your campus life, and — most importantly — how it’s all presented to them.

The research they do, whether they realize it or not, is giving them an idea of what to expect when they’re on campus. If they’re reading something bland and generic, there’s a good chance they’ll believe their experience will be bland and generic. But if they’re reading something exciting, inspiring, and aspirational, well… who wouldn’t want to go there?

3. Authentic brand messaging builds trust and street cred.

Here’s a pro-marketing tip: Always, always, always honor your brand. Especially in your brand messaging — it’s kind of a cornerstone of who you are and what students and stakeholders can expect from your institution. If you’re making a promise, you need to ensure that your institution can follow through. That’s what builds credibility and respect in your brand, which strengthens trust, connection, and sense of community with your audience. 

So, rather than trying to be something you’re not, embrace who you are. Because what may seem like a deterrent for some students (small or large, rural or inner-city, traditional or progressive) could be the exact reason why your institution is the perfect fit for others.

4. It’s how you stand apart and above the rest. 

Think of brand messaging as your higher ed institution’s secret weapon. It’s how you communicate who you are and what you stand for to your various audiences: students, alumni, faculty and staff, and stakeholders. And it’s how you differentiate yourself from what all the other school’s are saying. 

By staying true to your brand, you can effectively communicate what makes you different and why students would want to attend your school. You can capture the unique experience of your campus life, the values that your institution instills in its students and faculty, and what students can expect for their time there and beyond. Because attending college is about more than just classes and courses (which everyone is offering) — it’s about the kind of experience you can provide and the lessons learned both in and outside of the classroom. 

In a world where colleges and universities are a dime a dozen, having a clear, compelling, and fun brand messaging can make all the difference to students trying to find the right fit. It can help you stand out, build trust and credibility, and create a deeper connection among your students, alumni, faculty, and staff. And from there, things can only go up.

At GMB, we collaborate with clients to create a core messaging platform that includes essential components like the brand pillars, brand voice, vocabulary, brand essence, personality, and reasons to believe. Once these elements are defined, we use them to create the brand identity, which is the visual component of the overall brand strategy. For brand design and brand messaging to work seamlessly together, we keep the following concepts in mind: 

Keep it Consistent

When it comes to brand design and brand messaging, consistency is key! It’s essential to make sure that the brand messaging and visual design reflect the same set of values. For instance, if one of those values is “confident,” then the design could feature images of secure and self-assured people. 

This consistency helps create a strong brand cohesion that extends across different marketing channels. By consistently delivering a message that aligns with the brand’s values and visually representing those values, it becomes easier to establish a connection with the target audience.

Connect on an Emotional Level

Brand design and brand messaging are not just about standing out but also creating an emotional connection with prospective students in higher education. The brand messaging communicates the brand’s values, personality, and brand voice, while the visual design sparks an emotional response. 

Let me give you an example – suppose the brand is known for being “bold,” using a bright and bold color palette can trigger an emotional response by using different colors. Orange can convey braveness, purple can convey ambition, and so on. This creates a lasting impression and a connection that students are more likely to remember when considering their options.

Stand Out from the Competition

When it comes to higher education, it’s crucial to stand out from the crowd and avoid getting lost in the shuffle of sameness. Clear messaging and distinctive visual design are essential in setting higher education institutions apart. 

By emphasizing the commitment to quality, a brand design can use elements sparingly and opt for elegant typography instead of a clutter of generic fonts and design styles. Just like Apple, they have nailed it! Their brand design is a perfect reflection of simplicity, innovation, and modern design. They use clean lines, minimalist design, and a sleek aesthetic that sets them apart from the rest. 

Make a Lasting Impression

Brand design and brand messaging work hand in hand to create recognition. When the messaging and design work together seamlessly and emotionally connect with consumers, it becomes easier for them to remember and recognize the brand. 

Let me give you an example – we recently designed a campaign that used a large, bold font along with impactful and concise messaging. It was placed on an airport terminal billboard, and it easily stood out in the busy environment. When a brand catches a prospective student’s attention like this, it’s more likely that they will choose that institution over others.

If this question is at the forefront of discussions at your institution, then the answer is probably YES! Your brand is the soul of your organization and the reason a prospective student and family will choose you against other institutions. If you’ve recently asked yourself, “Does our messaging reflect who we are? Why would a prospect choose us? Can our audience see themselves in our campaigns?” then keep reading. A university rebrand can be a powerful tool for creating a fresh, modern image and connecting with new audiences. It’s even more powerful when you uncover your institution’s authentic self and share it with the world, unapologetically. Here are a few reasons why a university might choose to rebrand:

1. To reflect changes in the university: Universities are constantly evolving, and a rebrand can reflect changes in the institution’s mission, values, or focus. For example, a university may have added new programs, expanded its research capabilities, or new leadership may have come on board. A rebrand can help communicate these changes to the public.
2. To Stand Apart and Above in a crowded market: With so many universities vying for student enrollment, research funding, and prestige, it can be challenging for any one institution to stand out. A rebrand can help a university differentiate itself from its competitors and create a unique, memorable image.
3. To reach new audiences: A rebrand can also help a university connect with new audiences, such as prospective students, donors, or business partners. By updating its image and messaging, a university can appeal to new groups of people and expand its reach.
4. To create a sense of unity and purpose: A rebrand can also create a sense of unity and purpose among students, faculty, and staff. By crafting a new visual identity and messaging, a university can help people feel more connected to the institution and more motivated to be part of its mission.
5. Attracting more right-fit students: A rebrand can help a university appeal to prospective students by showcasing its strengths and highlighting the unique opportunities it offers. Aligning who you are with the prospective student who could thrive at your institution is incredibly powerful and impacts enrollment, retention, graduation rates, alumni engagement, and future advancement of the university. 
6. Enhancing the student experience: A rebrand can also create a sense of pride and belonging among current students. A strong, cohesive visual identity makes students feel more connected to the university and more likely to get involved in campus life.

A university rebrand can significantly impact your university’s image and identity. However, the biggest impact you can make is to lean into your institution’s strengths and unique attributes that make you truly amazing. And here at GMB, we encourage you to own who you are and share it with the world.

Our industry is at an inflection point. Higher education has lost billions of dollars. College Board reported apps are up, yet the numbers are unevenly distributed across the spectrum of college types. And while we continue to read predictions that aren’t in our favor, Americans are “still attached to the college experience.”

More than ever, colleges and schools must establish a strong identity and position themselves in a way that brings clarity to their core truths–meeting current consumer shifts caused by COVID as well as having the vision to remain relevant beyond. 

So while the results of the pandemic have left many schools re-evaluating who they are, their value proposition and what to invest in, it’s been shown that an investment in building a strong brand increases the likelihood of enduring. 

Today, modern brand building starts with a strong higher education brand strategy that understands that there have been fundamental shifts in where brands are built and combines intelligent strategy and creative communication. 

Modern Brand Building Requires Balance 

Modern brand building is built on a foundation that balances culture, media and marketing truths. For every new shift in media behavior there is a marketing truth that continues to endeavor. For every emergent social media platform, there are still fundamental human behaviors that are slow to evolve. For every qualifier we place in front of “influencer” and for each push to remove “funnels” from our lexicon, the more we rediscover a need to go back to past practices to inform key business goals. 

As Richard Rumelt wrote in Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, strong strategy “discovers the critical factors in a situation and designs a way of coordinating and concentrating your actions to deal with those factors.”

From a brand strategy perspective, the critical factors higher education marketers must focus on is media’s continued fragmentation, the dividing of attention and a customer journey that is more disconnected than ever. To remain relevant, visible and unique, we must connect the various “bits” and develop them into a coherent and comprehensive alignment.

In sum, strong higher education brand strategy should be rooted in modern brand building techniques that strike a balance between these new challenges and the fundamentals that haven’t changed. 

Balance brand marketing and enrollment marketing

Often thought of as siloed or divided by traditional/digital tactics, modern higher ed brands must balance brand marketing and recruitment activities across the spectrum of marketing objectives. As Binet and Fields argued “Balancing brand building and sales activation activity appropriately for the sector in which the brand operates remains a vital requirement.” Enrollment and brand marketing should seek to work in tandem to build a full funnel. 

There’s nothing worse than recruitment efforts gone unnoticed because the brand wasn’t recognizable, marketing efforts cannibalized or ownership of first party data weakened the overall institutional media strategy. All should work in concert to maximize effectiveness of brand building activities to make recruitment efforts more efficient. 

In practice, modern higher ed brands use brand marketing to reach the right audience enough times to increase preference and shape attitudes, so when recruitment campaigns are launched, these short-term activations are made much stronger. Similarly, marketers should pursue a balanced and shared scorecard to monitor the movement of both efforts to better understand which leading indicator is a reliable predictor of long or short-term success. 

Balance the “bits”

Our current media environment can best be described as fragmented, disconnected and decentralized. The customer journey is messy at best, attention is divided and interactions with brands extend beyond our control–making higher education marketing much more difficult. 

Modern higher ed brands recognize that this seemingly endless array of digital interactions demands consistency across each audience touchpoint that reinforces a brand’s distinct assets and brings balance between brand, college and program communications. 

Balancing the bits also requires understanding that the diverse collection of channels higher ed marketers have at their disposal can work together, not only to scale reach but through a mastery of craft and context can maximize impact throughout this complex ecosystem. 

Balance the collective understanding

Brands are built through collective meaning. Marketing helps to create meaning, reinforce previous interactions with a brand and get more people to experience the brand. It’s when a consensus reality has formed that a brand truly “owns” its status and attributes. For example, luxury brands don’t maintain their luxury status without a collective understanding. 

As prospective students experience a college or school, collective attitudes and perceptions are established and strengthened through a school’s advertising as well as reinforced by the actions of current students. 

Modern higher ed brands find their authentic brand promise and ensure that it resonates internally as well as externally. Effectively communicating your brand promise ensures you attract more right-fit students, which has the potential to improve future student outcomes. Similarly, improved student outcomes coupled with delivering on your brand promise increases the likelihood that the meaning you’re building with advertising is also reinforced through internal audiences. 

Balance marketing communications and community

Just like our social networks, brands have become decentralized. Audiences have just as much voice and more creative tools than ever before. Brands are now shared and scale can now be built through co-creation and community–creating meaningful incremental reach. 

Whether it’s an influencer or genuine fan, strategic partnerships with creators add value by communicating more nuanced brand codes, reducing buying friction and strengthening emotional connections to a brand. 

In practice, modern higher ed brands balance distinctiveness and messaging between paid media and their community creators. Carefully selecting partnerships with creators who enhance your brand promise brings additional value to your creative strategy and credibility.

The Modern Higher Ed Brand is Built with Authenticity

As Stephen King wrote in What is a Brand?, “[A brand] has to be a coherent totality, not a lot of bits…blended into a single brand personality…Secondly, it has to be unique, and constantly developing to stay unique, because it is through its uniqueness that the brand can offer sustained profit margins. Thirdly, this blend of appeals must be relevant to people’s needs and desires, and immediate and salient. It must constantly stand out from the crowd; it must spring to mind.”

To King, a brand was always more than its communications–and we couldn’t agree more. It starts with the desire to invest in uncovering what makes a brand truly authentic. Reflected in a compelling brand promise, balancing each new media challenge becomes much easier when anchored in a brand truth that’s consistent, unique and relevant to the needs of your right-fit students.