Brand experience design for higher education: A review and future directions

Abstract

As institutions of higher education have faced increased competition for college-bound students, felt the effects of both category and market shifts and the impact of COVID-19, the need for developing sustainable brand strategies is apparent (Flannery, T. M., (2021), ‘How to Market a University: Building Value in a Competitive Environment’, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD). Yet it is unclear how institutions should manage this development. While brand experience design has gained some popularity among practitioners, there has yet to be a major push from practitioners to formalise the practice (McFadden, M., (2022), ‘How silos hinder brand experience in higher ed’, Simpson Scarborough, available at: https://insights.simpsonscarborough.com/how-silos-hinder-brand-experience-in-higher-ed). This paper proposes brand experience design as a sustained competitive advantage for institutions and should be explored for the benefit of academics and practitioners. Through a complete examination of the extant literature on higher education brand management, this paper will identify gaps in the current research and identify four important areas for future research.