Regardless of how you’re developing your strategic marketing plan, there are core principles that guide successful and authentic brands. As you think about your own institutional efforts, what are the key “truths” that differentiate and set successful brands up for success? Hear from conference faculty as they share their insights and provide examples.

As higher education institutions adapt how they’re marketing and conveying value to stakeholders, brand experience and strategy have grown into an integral part of the process. With universities across the nation struggling to differentiate their product within a crowded market, it’s hard not to promise similar aspects: great location, great academics, great opportunities. So how does one institution convey their unique campus and academic highlights in a noticeable way? The University of Montana has leaned into branding, both from a strategy and experience standpoint. By reframing the term ‘brand,' we can deliver authentic experiences for both prospective and current students.

Strategic branding in any industry is hard but in the education sector, it is especially difficult because of culture, history, misunderstanding, and traditional academic leadership. CASE’s international membership provides a global perspective on this challenging work and why it has never been more important. Kinnari Sejpal, Vice President at the University of Redlands, hosts a conversation with two experienced senior marketing leaders, Terry Flannery, CASE Executive Vice President and COO (and author of How to Market A University) and Jane Chafer, CASE Vice President for Membership. They’ll share expertise, encouragement, and perspectives gleaned from marketers around the world to provide you with inspiration, fresh ideas, and guidance to survive your branding initiative with your career intact.

College enrollment decline is at the forefront of many campus conversations. Whether an institution faces a crowded educational ecosystem, budget reductions tied to enrollment, or the impending “enrollment cliff,” marketing communications teams are called forward to provide solutions. This moderated panel will explore how leaders used the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink the enrollment process and strategize for the future, addressing today’s and future students’ expectations for their educational experience. Panelists will provide insight on trends, best practices, challenges and which metrics point to the greatest return.

From rebrand to strategic plan within 20 months, hear how Concordia University Irvine approached a comprehensive brand study and strategic planning process in tandem. Shared from the perspectives of the university president, associate vice president of marketing, and the institution's agency partner, this session will share lessons from the combined processes and insights for engaging the campus community and stakeholders.

Western Carolina University began refreshing its institutional brand and building a comprehensive capital campaign set to launch in 2024. In partnership with Ologie, WCU approached the two projects in a staggered tandem, allowing the brand project to feed into the campaign work — making the most of the unique opportunity and helping achieve WCU’s strategic goals. In this session, we’ll provide an optimal approach to building and launching a connected brand refresh and comprehensive campaign effort, including increasing alignment internally, determining the appropriate relationship between the workstreams, and planning milestones to capitalize on shared momentum and bandwidth for the work.

A marketing maturity model can enable colleges and universities to identify their own level of marketing maturity and establish a relevant roadmap for further developing marketing organizational capability and performance. When plotted out over a period of time and used to measure the skill set of the team, it creates a clear perspective on areas where you need to devote time, attention and resources. During this session, three marketing leaders will share their experiences using a marketing maturity model for organizational development. They will give expert guidance, discussing advantages and potential limitations of creating and using your own maturity model.