How well has Tennessee Tech University wielded the powerful tool of branding?
“Unfortunately, confusion over our identity continues to remain one of the toughest challenges facing the university today,” responds TTU Marketing Director, Alisa Frazier.
But efforts are under way to change that. The university recently implemented a new logo, and previous articles in Growthchart have focused attention on efforts to define the university's core market position.
What is branding?
“Branding,” says Chuck Pettis, author of Technobrands, “has the potential to be the single most powerful tool in the commercial world today.”
Pettis defines branding as “the careful selection and use of trademarks, images and messages.”
Note that key to Pettis' definition are the words “careful selection and use,” implying that haphazard application of these elements would not constitute a successful branding strategy.
Items which contribute to TTU's overall brand image include the university's name and logo, as well as any associated images and copy contained in advertisements, publications, news stories and on the web. This may even extend to include the content of letters and e-mails made available to the general public.
In a nutshell, nearly anything has the potential to contribute to or detract from TTU's brand image.
An essential ingredient of any successful branding strategy is focus. At TTU, the development of the university's market position serves as an example of how narrowing the focus contributed to successful brand development.
For example, though there are many reasons why students choose to attend Tennessee Tech, it would be impossible to successfully brand TTU based on all of these. Strategic branding demands a more focused message.
“Through talking with students we realized that many chose TTU for three basic reasons – the outstanding academic reputation, the friendly comfortable atmosphere of the campus and affordability,” explains Frazier. “And these three strengths in combination give Tennessee Tech a unique position in Tennessee's higher education marketplace.”
“That's not to say they are the university's only strengths. They are simply the ones mentioned most frequently by students when asked why they chose to attend Tennessee Tech. For that reason, they're the ones we've chosen to focus on for purposes of branding, recruitment and promotion.”
In addition to the new logo and well-defined market position, print, television and radio advertising have all been employed in the past year to help strengthen TTU's brand identity. The ads are similar in design and content with more planned for the remainder of this fiscal year and next.
Another component of the university's brand strategy which still needs attention is the issue of consistency.
“For the long-term success of efforts to develop an effective brand image for Tennessee Tech, it will be increasingly critical that everyone standardizes to using the single recognizable mark,” continues Frazier. “Just as consumers see the `swoosh' and think Nike, we want them to see the interlocking T-T-U and think Tennessee Tech University especially in terms of outstanding academics, comfortable campus and value.”
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