Brand Marketing Communication Strategies for Public Universities: The Case of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Abstract

This study focuses on brand marketing communication strategies for different types of public universities. The study sought to ascertain how the traditional university, comprehensive and university of technology use their diversity to position and differentiate their postgraduate qualifications. The study adopted a qualitative approach, employing an exploratory technique to gather data from three research managers and two marketing personnel through semi-structured interviews. NVIVO version 12 was used to organise the data that emerged from the interviews; thereafter, the data was interpreted through thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the traditional university’s good reputation including research rankings, course reputation, and alumni, are used for brand marketing communication strategies. Interestingly, the University of Technology uses university rankings and its network with industries and other foreign universities. Furthermore, the findings elucidate that a comprehensive university uses its mission and slogans. In light of these findings, it appears that there is no succinct brand marketing communication strategy for positioning master’s and doctorate qualifications at the three public universities. These findings have implications in relation to the brand communication strategies that are adopted to market these universities. It is recommended that a coherent approach in marketing an institution of higher learning is informed by the distinctness of its offerings.