Building Brand for Universities in Vietnam in the context of international economic integration

Mai Trong Nhuan, Prof, PhDPhung Xuan Nha, Associate Prof, PhDPham Hong Tung, Associate Prof, PhDTran Viet Dung, MBA

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

Nhatrang 10-11/8/2009

Main content

1. Some issues about Brand

2. Brand for Universities

3. Brand Structures – Experiences from international Universities and VNU

4. Brand Strategy for Universities

5. Managing Universities’ Brand

6. Criteria to evaluate the university’s brand

7. Difficulties and Threats in building and developing university’s brand

8. Solutions to build university’s brand

Brand for BusinessConcepts

According to American Marketing Association:

Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

According to Patricia F. Nicolino:

Brand is a identifiable entity that create specific promises about VALUE

Importance and Roles of Brand

For Customers:

• Specify the origin (of the products or services)

• Place the responsibility for the producers

• Decrease risks in consuming

• Save the cost in finding (good products, services)

• Express Personal Value

• Be assured of the good or service’s QUALITY

Importance and Roles of Brand

For Organization:

• A tool to identify and differentiate (the products, services)

• A means to protect its advantages legally

• Affirm the QUALITY

• Set the organization’s image into customers’ mind

• Being a competitive advantage

• Being source for profit making

Brand- Identified Process

Brand becomes Brand becomes a BIG Propertya BIG Property

KnowingKnowingthe Brandthe Brand

Identifying Identifying the Brandthe Brand

ExperiencingExperiencingthe Qualitythe Quality

Brand Brand LoyaltyLoyalty

Brand- Structure

ONE Brand model

Many CHILDREN Brands in ONE Mother Brand model

FAMILY Brand model

Why does Universities need Brand?

Some suspicion about Brand for Universities: “Commercializing the Education?”, “Make Universities to turn into Businesses in the market?”

Knowledge - Based Economy and International Competitive Environment in Education and Technology

– Competitive to have more resources for development– Competitive to create more high-tech products – Competitive to “consume” the “products” in the best way– Competitive to have a best position in the international education and

technology system– …

Therefore, brand strategy is very necessary for a university to build and preserve its reputation, to enhance its competitive capability, and to strengthen its development.

Brand is an important property that need to be managed and developed

University Brand - Concept

In a wide meaning

“University Brand is a collection of elements that create the reputation and competitive capability for a University”

In a narrower meaning

“University Brand is external elements (name, logo, slogan….) that display the reputation and competitive capability of a university

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Foundation for a university’s brand strategy

Foundation for criteria that managing and exploiting the university brand

10

Training QualityTraining Quality

Quality of scientific technological activities

Quality of scientific technological activities

Quality of “Intelligent” services

Quality of “Intelligent” services

University’s Reputation

University’s Reputation

University Brand- Main Elements

Tradition, HistoryTradition, History

High Quality Educational Products

High Quality Educational Products

High QualityScientific Products

High QualityScientific Products

University’s Prestige

University’s Prestige

University Brand- Main Elements

Leading ScientistsAwards

Leading ScientistsAwards

High RankingHigh Ranking

High Competitive

Capability

High Competitive

Capability

University Brand- Roles of building University Brand

• For Customers:

Potential Learners

Current Students

Alumna

• For management organizations, sponsors….

• For the USERS of “educational and scientific products”

• For the university itself

International experiences(identify university brand)

Brand of Australia National University is displayed in many instruments, from the sign of the university to the cups, pens, uniforms and etc…

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCEBrand Structure HAVARD UNIVERSITY

(Family structure and each child’s brand exist quite independently)

BRAND STRUCTUREVIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

1st choice: Family structure and each child’s brand exist quite independently

Other directed under Faculties, Centers and

Institutes

VNU currently has 31 directly under units, this picture is only the example of the university’s brand structure

BRAND STRUCTUREVIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

2nd choice: Mother – Children Structure. VNU Brand is the basic for other brands

Other Faculties, Centers and

Institutes

Managing Multi-brand VNU

• Creating strong, effective brands

• Deploying resources appropriatedly in building brand for different universities

• Creating synergy, avoiding confused image about brands

• Enhancing VNU’s Brand Value and brand of its Colleges, Institutes and Centers

• Creating resources for the development in the future

• …

University Brand Strategy- Objectives

• Building and Preserving its Reputation

• Enhance its competitive capability

• Strengthen its development sustainable

University Brand Strategy- main contents

• Determine Brand Structure

• Create Reputation and Prestige

• Commit the Quality and Standards

• Attract and diversify developed resources

• Attract and Use talent

• Create logo, slogan, symbol etc……

• Develop alumni, sponsor network etc…

• Build and develop community culture

• Have Brand’s developing regulations

• Have image developing policy

Managing University Brand

Students

Educational/ScientificProducts

Marketing/Identification

active, flexible, diversified, forward to the future

Highly respected as valuable customers

Long-term Strategy, honest, consistence

Educational/ScientificProducts

Marketing/Identification Students

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Criteria to evaluate University Brand

• Criteria about leading and innovating ability

• Criteria about training quality

• Criteria about scientific research quality

• Criteria about service quality

• Criteria about educational programs and lecturers

• Criteria about brand communication activities

• Criteria about the Public Awareness of the University brand

Difficulties and Threats in building and developing university brand

• Awareness about the importance of building university brand

• Developing level of university education locally and internationally

• Quality Assurance

• Policies

• Infrastructure

• Human resources

• …

Solution to build university brand

• Solutions about organisation, structure

• Solutions about psychology

• Solutions about managing and sharing resources

• Solutions about organizing scientific tecnological activities

• Solutions about organizing educational activities

• Solutions about advertising and preserving IMAGE

• Other special solutions

Conclusion

• In competitive environment, Enterprises and Universities both need a brand strategy – Brand strategy is a part of developing strategy

• University Brand expresses Reputation and Competitive Capability (Value of a university is considered by training, research and service quality…)

• Each university should develop its own brand strategy and brand management method

• VNU is a multi-discipline, multi-field university, it should choose a effective multi-brand managing method.

• Mother-Children Structure need a solidarity (not homogeneity) to create common reputation and synergy

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THANK FOR YOUR ATTENTION!THANK FOR YOUR ATTENTION!