Northeastern University is a huge institution and therefore has many individual logos according to different disciplines and areas of the university. As one of my main responsibilities I have to create different posters, newsletters and flyers for various events in our department. Each piece of multi media must include the Northeastern logo, however, deciding which one to use within the university policy is the hard decision. Northeastern has many logos, however, each collage or sports team affiliated with Northeastern can only use certain logos according to the marketing department.
Throughout my Brand Management module last year I was introduced to the true importance of branding and how significant branding can be to any organisation. When researching this topic I was able to use information and knowledge that I have learned from the Brand Management module I took last year at GCU. Therefore, I was able to complete not only one of the IP objectives (see appendix 1) but also one of my personal learning objectives (see appendix 2).
The colour story throughout all of the logos does not change which is easily recognisable for the consumer no matter what the design is. This is a common theme throughout different universities in America, having very recognisable colours. In the higher education market where competition is fierce and where prospective students and their parents may select from among many competitive offerings, creating an identity through branding has become essential (Bunzel, 2007; Joseph et al., 2012). I have noticed that university in America have a larger sense of public pride in the university they or their family member goes to, this can be seen in the university shops with thousands of university branded merchandise and “Husky Mom” and “Husky Dad” branded merchandise. This may be due to the large amount of money that American citizens have to pay in order to gain secondary education and therefore they want to display their institution .
Appendix 1
IP objective 5:
Relate, in consultation with experienced practitioners, his/her academic studies to the real life business environment;
Appendix 2
Learning contract goal 4:
My goal is to be able to use the academic knowledge such as in my contemporary cultural challenges in international business
module in a practical way through the workplace.
References
Bunzel, D. L. (2007). Universities sell their brands. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 16(2), 152–153. doi:10.1108/10610420710740034
Joseph, M., Mullen, E. W., & Spake, D. (2012). University branding: Understanding students’ choice of an educational institution. Journal of Brand Management, 20(1), 1–12. doi:10.1057/bm.2012.13Open publish panel
Abby Duncan 