A school brand is any type of term, mark or insignia, which distinguishes one school from another.

History

While

branding Branding may refer to: Physical markings * Making a mark, typically by charring: ** Wood branding, permanently marking, by way of heat, typically of wood (also applied to plastic, cork, leather, etc.) ** Livestock branding, the marking of animals ...

dates to 1100 BCE in the

Vedic Period The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...

, school branding is a relatively new concept. Many universities and colleges operate in a business-like market where students are considered as customers and other schools are treated as competition. To compete, schools develop and market a brand that differentiates it from other schools vying for students and funding. School branding surfaced in the early 1800s when a few sororities and fraternities literally branded their pledges. Schools began widely adopting branding in the early 2000s. There was a rise of for-profit and online universities, which were aggressively marketing in corporate style. At the same time, schools had to compete harder for government funding and private endowments.

Present situation

In today's world, school branding plays a crucial role in identifying a school’s unique competitive advantage. Schools may use brand archetypes to craft emotional messages. For example, a school that places a high value on community service might use the archetype of the caregiver to shape its brand narrative. A notable case of rebranding occurred when

Beaver College Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

in Pennsylvania surveyed prospective students and discovered that 30 percent of people chose not to apply because of its name. As a result, Beaver College was rebranded as

Arcadia University Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

in 2001.

Recognition of need

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

relies on branding to attract students and donors. The university holds trademarks to protect taglines such as "Ask what you can do" and "Lessons learned". It has also licensed its name to an upscale clothing line. Although colleges may be fairly new to branding, they represent the longest-lived brands in the United States. Schools have existed for decades or centuries and have thousands of rivals. As

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the demographic cohort preceded by the Silent Generation and followed by Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom that ...

age out of the education market, the declining number of prospective students has intensified competition among schools; prompting schools to employ branding techniques to compete. According to Neuromarketing, Columbia branded itself as the only

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

school in New York City and began showcasing the Manhattan experience in its marketing. Student applications have since increased, and many applicants cited location as the reason they chose Columbia University. Likewise, high school students build a personal brand for themselves in an effort to impress colleges.

Repercussions of improper use

While many school administrators recognize the power of school branding, the lack of resources and funding have led to alternative solutions to professional branding. Logo infringement has increased through the years as a result of this acknowledged need for branding. Numerous schools across the United States are infringing upon trademarked logos without realizing they are in violation. The Sanford Herald notated a recent case with

Lake Mary High School Lake Mary High School is a public high school located in Seminole County, Florida, operating under Seminole County Public Schools. It was opened in 1981. Campus Lake Mary High School was the fourth high school in Seminole County, opening for th ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, which was given a cease and desist order to terminate the use of their ram logo because it was too similar the Dodge Ram logo. In addition to logo infringement, the loss of brand identity is another resulting drawback to improper school branding. Unprofessionally designed logos or mascots can lead to an undesired identity or a variety of versions, which can lead to brand confusion.

Elements

*School name: The full or partial name that the school is best known as. *

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

: The visual representation of the school that identifies the school brand. *

School colors School colors, also known as university colors or college colors, are the colors chosen by a school, academy, college, university or institute as part of its brand identity, used on building signage, web pages, branded apparel, and the uniforms ...

: Colors selected by the school as a form of recognition. *

Motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

, catchphrase or tagline:

Bishop Montgomery High School Bishop Montgomery High School (commonly referred to as "BMHS" or simply "Bishop" by students) is a Catholic high school serving twenty-five parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. BMHS was founded in 1957, and staffed by the Sisters of St. ...

, uses their motto "Seek Justice, Speak Truth, Serve with Honor". The branding slogan is typically used within the school to summarize the organization's character. *Interlock or interlocking logo: Characterized by interlocking two or more letters to form an alternative logo or secondary mark.

References

External links

School Branding - The University Way: White Paper
7 Secrets That WIll Transform High School Brands Brand management Types of branding Universities and colleges Schools