This is an article I wrote for LinkedIn as it was prompted by a share there. However, the subject of educational institutions as brands has been on my mind for quite a while now. Especially India’s institutes of excellence in engineering and business management, the IITs and IIMs.
Like many companies, educational institutions don’t see themselves as brands. Unlike companies, though, they tend to think of each of their campuses as separate brands. In this article I make an argument for why IIT and IIM are, each, a single composite brand, irrespective of how many campuses they open.
The practice of having several campuses is unique to India, it appears. I can’t think of any international universities or institutes that have multiple campuses. Whereas, in India we have the IITs, IIMs and also Aditya Birla Group’s BITSs (Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani) which has expanded beyond Pilani in Rajasthan to Goa, Dubai and Hyderabad. If you know of any others in India or overseas, I’d be happy to hear. Hope you enjoy reading this piece.
Peripatetic Perch 