Higher Education Marketing and Second Life - Part 5 of 6: Branding

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All institutions have a brand, whether they tend to it or not.  Different institutions have different approaches to brand building, others don’t have any at all.  Brand building at a strategic level is gaining traction in higher education though, as noted in this recent Newsweek article.  There is not a lot of data out there on universities using Second Life for brand building, but given that it offers a more engaging user experience than the web and the growth it has experienced, I would not be surprised if we see more institutions turning to Second Life as at least a small part of their branding strategy.  One indicator of this is that universities with well known brands, such as Harvard and Princeton (http://etc.princeton.edu/sl/), were quick to utilize this medium.  An instantly recognizable brand in the real world is likely going to be an instantly recognizable brand in the Second Life world.  What intrigues me though is the potential for some of the institutions that may only have a regional brand or smaller to extend their brand in a whole new way.  If this branding concept is extended into the classroom and the institution fully embraces Second Life, the Second Life community may very well embrace that institution.  It is possible that an institution could become a dominant brand in Second Life, even when they are only a regional or local player in the real world.  The fact that it is still relatively small in terms of traffic and student enrollment potential actually provides you with the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Related Posts:

• Introduction and General Information about Second Life;
• We'll dig into the demographics of Second Life users;
• Discuss what statistics to use when analyzing Second Life as a marketing channel;
• Discuss some of the marketing challenges you'll face in Second Life;
• Discuss brand building for higher education institutions in Second Life;
• And reaching out to Alumni in Second Life.