“I’m different, just like you,” or “I’m just like you, a little different.”

There is a subtle, but significant, difference. It’s the difference between differentiating something you “do” (the me-too kind of differentiation) versus differentiating “who you are” as a company or institution (the “I am truly different” differentiation). For most colleges and universities, the choice is often the former. And inside their marketing departments, if there is one word at least as popular as “brand,” it just might be “differentiation.”

So let’s differentiate, shall we?

You can choose differentiation-as-commonly-practiced – the superficial product positioning (majors and programs) against the competition – that can produce gains and garner temporary results; or you can focus on the “intrinsic” differentiation of the institution itself. A kind of differentiation that expresses the organic personality, temperament, strengths and legacy of the college itself; and one that articulates the actual personality of the school. Speaking through this latter “lens” of differentiation creates a “cycle of self-selection” that invites compatible prospects who are already pre-disposed to accept what the brand stands for. It can then go one step further by reinforcing the “true” brand by building relationships based on common interest.

So in a very real sense, the process of creating a brand for higher education isn’t a process of creation at all. Nor is it a process of differentiation through pure creativity. It is a creative process of introspective discovery based on research, observation and conversation.

THIS IS THE KEY: You don’t “create” a brand for venerable institutions anymore than you “create” a personality for a person. They have one already. Too many marketers of higher education institutions approach building the brand as a blank slate. I got news for you, it isn’t. For a new company, yes. A new product, maybe (depending on the company). But a 100+ year-old college? Yeah, good luck with that. The brand pre-exists before any assignment is given or any brand consultant, myself or anyone else, sets foot on campus. The job is not to create the brand, the job is to find it, expose it and articulate it. This is where many colleges miss the boat. Their institutions were TATTOOED long before they wrote the RFP to “re-brand the institution.”

“Rebranding” is as futile as “re-tattooing”…

(This was part of a larger conversation between myself and my good friend and creative colleague, Tom McNulty.)

Ed Macko is creative director for higher education at the Pipitone Group.
Pipitone Group is dedicated to improving business communications through channel marketing and brand development.