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Introduction
In today's global marketplace, the role of brand management has been elevated to a new level of importance. In fact, the most distinctive skill of marketers is their ability to build and manage brands ([29] Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). This is because brands as powerful assets represent the essence of a company, outlasting the company's specific products and facilities; thus, they must be carefully developed and managed. Because brands represent consumers' perceptions and feelings about a product and its performance ([30] Kotler and Keller, 2006), the real value of a strong brand is its ability to capture customer preference and loyalty. As one of a company's most valuable intangible assets, a brand functions as a powerful differentiator for the business and as a decision-making tool for customers ([2] Aaker, 1991, [1] 1996; [27] Keller, 1993, [26] 2008). At their best, brands represent promises kept, and build loyalty through trust, which in turn results in continued demand and profitability ([46] Reichheld, 2001, [47] 2006). Thus, branding is an integral part of marketing strategy; it is the creation of a corporate identity and reputation. Because branding efforts are not limited to "consumer" products, firms in various service industries have been trying to utilize branding strategies to build stronger brands. In this regard, higher education and universities have also begun to realize the need to develop sustainable brand strategies. Therefore, branding has become a strategic issue and focus for universities and other post-compulsory educational institutions in order to develop meaningfully differentiated brands to communicate their strengths ([25] Jevons, 2006).
Recently, the economic environment has had a major negative impact on the financial situation of most higher education institutions. More enduring is that vast numbers of universities and colleges (i.e. brands) in the marketplace often compete for the same students. Moreover, the relatively simple promotional tools of the past no longer work as they once did. As today's prospective students are fully immersed in a variety of digital worlds, institutions of higher education sometimes struggle to understand and embrace their needs. It is in this context that colleges and universities are turning to branding as they seek to thrive, and in some cases to survive, in the current marketplace for higher education. For example, in the UK, increased...