UW, Bothell Brand Audit

Sandeep Krishnamurthy

March 2001

Brand A brand is the identity of a product

or service. It represents the essence of the

product, its personality. The brand stands for something in

the mind of the consumer. Not all brands are equally “strong”.

Indicators of Brand Strength Awareness Brand Image

Strength of Brand Associations Favorability of Brand Associations Uniqueness of Brand Associations

Consumer Attitude

Associations could include-

Product Attributes/Benefits Sony VCR has a feature nobody else has.

Product Memories/Experiences/Images We always have Sunny Delight for breakfast.

Feelings/Beliefs Tide is the best detergent Hyundai is a bad car

Product Folklore We always have Coke for Thanksgiving dinner. Kids in our family always go to UW.

Benefits from Strong Brand Better targeting- appropriate

students self-select Easier recruitment of students Greater loyalty from students,

alumni, faculty/staff Less vulnerability from competitors’

actions Less vulnerability from crises Greater community cooperation

What did we do?

First half of class focussed on branding theory.

Second half focussed on project. Students were assigned to

stakeholder groups and were asked to audit these groups.

Focus on awareness, perception, credibility and communication effectiveness.

A Comment

This project’s focus was on qualitative/exploratory research.

We make no claims of statistical generalizability.

We recommend using this data as a stepping stone to conduct future survey research.

What we Found

Relationship to UW, Seattle unclear UW, Seattle is a natural

comparison point. General public does not get the

concept of “tri-campus university”. They think of us as a branch

campus and hence, are somewhat uneasy about coming here.

Recommendations New logo-

UNIVERSITY OF W ASHINGTONBothell Seattle Tacoma

Font equality. Training and communication of UW,S

advisors and counselors Present UW,B as an alternative EARLY- not

when the student does not make it. Positive reference.

Joint recruiting at community colleges. Area-based targeting?

What Students Like About UW, Bothell Parking is easy. Facilities are new and high-tech. New computers. Professors are approachable and

student-friendly “Professors here, they actually teach. If

they look at you eyeball-to-eyeball and if you are not getting it, they present it in another way.”

Team-approach to learning.

What Students Miss at UW, B Social Interaction

No clubs, interesting activities No gym(why can’t they use IMA?) No cafeteria- YET

Limited Program Offerings Announce new programs EARLY.

Low morale They are insecure about the value of their education. They tell everyone they go to “UW” and not “UW,

Bothell”.

Thoughts on Cascadia We better market to CCC students. They

are not a “gimme”. No transfer program

CCC students have not thought about what credits will transfer- may assume all will.

CC students generally leave their campus to attend 4 yr. college- will CCC students have a sense that going to UWB means “staying home”?

More Thoughts on Cascadia

Faculty/staff worried about excessively close relationship to CCC. e.g. Complaints about CCC link on our website, academic standards.

What needs to be done Transfer program Communication effort directed at CCC

students and UW,B faculty/staff. “Sit in class” program.

Web Activity Link to UW, B on www.washington.edu has

worked to raise awareness- BUT NOT KNOWLEDGE.

Faculty members(especially- but also others) complained about the quality of our website DOES NOT COMMUNICATE KEY

ATTRIBUTES. Hard to locate information, not updated

frequently, poor integration with UW, Seattle, white space.

Other Recommendations “Visit the campus” program in summer and spring-

Open to general community. Run by student volunteers. Barbecue?

Sell UW, Bothell merchandise at all UBS stores- i.e., Seattle and Bellevue.

Direct mailing of class catalogs to households on Eastside and “Northside”.

Information booths at CC and other regional events. Promote successful Bothell graduates. Emphasize any professors that teach on both campuses

to show Bothell’s credibility.

Branding Challenges With most groups, awareness has been

achieved- the challenge is to gain credibility.

What is needed is a clear and coherent message that resonates with all stakeholder groups.

Major work needs to be done on our website if it must appear credible.

Survey research.