Constructing university brands through university research magazines.

摘要

Universities have increasingly employed branding strategies in recent years to address the commercial and strategic pressures placed on them over the last decade---pressures which are the result of a changing academic environment which requires universities to raise funds and recruit top quality students and researchers. As it could be argued that university publications potentially instantiate a great deal of a university's brand equity, this study examines the role of university research magazines in constructing university brands. Theories of branding and integrated marketing communications (IMC) were explored and related to a case study of the University of Ottawa and its research magazine, Research Perspectives. Specifically, a survey of Research Perspectives readers was conducted with a statistical and qualitative analysis of the data. The results indicate that university research magazines support the four brand equity measures of awareness, perceived quality, loyalty and association. Such benefits are greater and more visible if the university has an integrated approach to its communication. The survey was conducted with limited financial and human resources, but nevertheless yielded significant information that can guide university administrators and university research magazine editors in deciding on the future of the university research magazine.