Internal Corporate Brand Building in Higher Education Institutions: Case Study of UNEC

Abstract

University branding has become the norm yet there is also an insufficient accumulation of knowledge within specific contexts. It has been suggested that the complexity of university branding does not allow for the direct implementation of traditional branding approaches in higher education institutions. Thus there is a struggle among universities to develop and implement these indispensible and effectual branding strategies. According to the previous case studies on university branding approach universities take an inside-out approach to branding by involving internal constituents in brand building process. This study is conducted to explore internal corporate branding in an Azerbaijani university. As such, the authors of the present study aim to describe and examine the internal brand building process at Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), a major university in Azerbaijan and ascertain whether the internal branding process contains, either implicitly or explicitly, overlapping existing theories from for profit organizations. This is a first ever study conducted in Azerbaijani higher education institution on this topic. Study reveals that internal corporate brand building process at UNEC consisted of brand audit, brand identity building and brand positioning steps which explicitly overlaps with the existing theories and views on brand building at for-profit organizations. The research finding should be useful for higher education institutions in former Soviet republics that wish to initiate corporate branding.