Higher education brands and data should branding metrics in U.K. universities be better informed?

Abstract

Branding in higher education is highly topical; in recent years there has been a trend among most U.K. universities to seek to employ the techniques of branding, often expending considerable sums in the process. Whilst branding activity in U.K. higher education is arguably as relevant as in the commercial world (Roper & Davies, 2007), it is a sector that does not suit a simplistic application of commercial approaches without some understanding of the particular qualities of the higher education market.