Survey Research

Higher education is facing a brand crisis hiding in plain sight. As tuition costs rise, program offerings multiply, and campus experiences begin to look increasingly similar, universities are competing harder than ever for the same prospective students while using the same messaging to reach them. For most universities, highlighting academic excellence is not enough to stand out from other institutions. In a commoditizing market, positioning against everything owns nothing. T

Our previous post walked through a brand concept test for Groundwork Coffee Co., a fake regional coffee chain evaluating three positioning directions. Using semantic network analysis, we identified which brand concept was the clear winner. However, choosing a winning brand platform is only the first step because you also have to figure out how to execute it. Every downstream choice (e.g., photography style, color palette, the way staff and customers are represented, the fee

Developing a brand platform is more complex than it might appear. Take a coffee shop brand for example. To a lot of people, coffee is more than a beverage; it can be a morning ritual, an experience to share with others, an entry fee to a workspace, or a signal about who they are. The difference between a brand that resonates with target customers and one that’s overlooked often comes down to a single positioning decision made early in the brand's development. That decision is