Brand meaning in higher education: Leaving the shallows via deep metaphors

This research explores brand meaning for a focal higher education institution (HEI) using metaphor analysis for deep insight. Two contributions come-to-light. First, the research addresses the call by Hemsley-Brown and Goonawardana (2007) to advance theory development in the area of branding in higher education. Findings for a focal HEI are consistent with findings for private sector firms; brand meanings differed somewhat across stakeholder groups. However, differences were harmonious and did not have a negative effect on the HEI brand overall. Second, the study applies metaphor analysis (Zaltman & Zaltman 2008) for the first time to the domain of higher-education branding. Four deep metaphors, varying in predominance across stakeholders, emerge to reflect brand meaning for a focal HEI. The most pervasive deep metaphor for students and administrators is transformation while journey is most pervasive for faculty. The findings confirm that brand meanings are consistent with the mission of the focal HEI and current brand positioning strategies are in alignment around discovered deep metaphors. HEI brand owners may consider a reflexive process of deep metaphor discovery and extraction in future brand building efforts. The study concludes with acknowledgement of limitations and suggestions for future research.