Internal branding: a university's most valuable intangible asset

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the essential role that internal branding plays in successful university settings. Design/methodology/approach - Case studies from businesses and universities, as well as reviews of the pertinent literature and research, provide the data for the paper's analysis of university branding successes and failures. Findings - The paper concludes that, in the complex university realm, internal branding helps an institution overcome internal resistance to branding efforts. It helps the institution take an identity-development strategy beyond traditional approaches, such as new logos, snappy taglines and expensive advertising campaigns, to an embedded cultural approach that guides everything from communications, fund-raising, marketing and personnel policies to enrollment management and program development. Practical implications - The evidence indicates that the biggest mistake universities make when undertaking branding initiatives is failure to embrace an inside-out approach to brand development. Those universities that succeed in their branding efforts are willing to borrow strategies from the corporate world to get buy-in by engaging all interested constituents - faculties, staff, students, alumni and others - in the process. Originality/value - This paper examines an emerging phenomenon within higher education marketing, one that, as of yet, has not been explored fully in the marketing literature.