Brand Strategy

An effective college or university brand is much more than a logo, or creative "window dressing" developed in a marketing department. At Academica Group, we emphasize that your brand should be much more than merely "a promise" or a turn of phrase that appears to differentiate you. A powerful brand must build on truly unique characteristics of your school's mission, location, research expertise, teaching philosophies, culture or atmosphere. In short, it must be built on a clear, credible, compelling, and competitively distinctive market position.

Academica Group's approach to institutional branding starts with a thorough understanding of marketplace perceptions (often through quantitative and qualitative research), consultations with campus stakeholders and key informants, and a careful assessment of comparator and competitor institutions. The brand strategies we develop emphasize distinctive, compelling attributes that are embraced by faculty, students, and alumni alike -- who become living ambassadors of the brand.

Some recent brand strategy projects include:

• Athabasca University (positioning research) 
• Mount Royal University (positioning white paper and summit)
• Lethbridge College (brand strategy, visual identity, and launch)
• University of the Fraser Valley (brand strategy, visual identity)
• University of Saskatchewan (brand research and strategy)
• Grande Prairie Regional College (research and brand strategy)
• Algonquin College (positioning and brand strategy)

Please contact Ken Steele to discuss your institution's position in the higher education landscape.