Abstract
With increased competition and other market forces affecting higher education, branding has emerged as a strategic imperative for colleges and universities. Branding in academia faces many inherent challenges, including institutions’ multi-pronged missions and decentralized organizational structures. In some cases, branding is not widely understood or valued among faculty colleagues, presenting another organizational barrier. These challenges become even more complicated at larger institutions that have multiple campuses. The purpose of this case study was to examine a major multi-campus public research university with brand coherence across its institution. The case study of State University explored the phenomenon of brand coherence through the perspectives of 21 senior administrators who participated in semi-structured interviews. State University is a leading American public university with 100,000 students and more than 20 campuses and operates as one university geographically dispersed. Three overarching themes emerged from the qualitative data revealing how State University has achieved brand coherence across all of its campuses: (a) necessary academic and administrative infrastructure, (b) strong culture and brand values, and (c) marketing’s role in reflecting, reinforcing, and amplifying the brand. Based on the findings from State University, recommendations were made for a peer institution. The peer institution could take a more centralized approach to the marketing of its regional campuses and develop a stronger culture of brand coherence at these campuses, utilizing symbols and a sense of place. Additionally, a new definition of the recommended brand architecture in higher education – a branded neighborhood – was offered.|Keywords: Branding, marketing, brand architecture, brand coherence, higher education