Brands promise relevant differentiated benefits. Those benefits can be functional, emotional, experiential or self-expressive. Further, brands can promise shared values. Brand value is the ratio of the bundle of relevant benefits divided by the cost (time and money) of acquiring those benefits. To conduct quantitative brand positioning research, one must first identify all of the potential benefits delivered by the brand. As an example, here is a partial list of potential benefits delivered by college and university brands:
- Prestige
- Intellectual stimulation
- Challenging one's assumptions
- Broadening one's knowledge and understanding
- Being exposed to people from different backgrounds and cultures
- Personal growth
- Career training
- Job placement
- A rich social life
- The ability to compete in a particular sport
- Forming lifelong friendships
- Increasing one's income potential
- Increasing one's social status
- Independent living
- Living in a different geographic region
- Living in an aesthetically pleasing environment
- A pedigree
- Becoming a part of a large professional network
- A safe space to experiment
- A time to try new things
- An adventure
- Being in an environment in which people share your values
- The ability to explore different areas of interest
- Learning from world-renown experts in your intended field of study
- The ability to conduct research in your intended field of study
- The ability to take on leadership roles
- The ability to study abroad
A skilled brand researcher will be able to determine which of these drive brand preference and college or university selection.
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