To build digital brands, universities need to relinquish control

Tomorrow��s universities are being reshaped as I write this. Next year��s students are already fundamentally different in attitude and mindset to those who were making 바카라사이트ir university choice just five years ago.

These students don��t want 바카라사이트 ��polished�� version of what a university can offer and 바카라사이트y don��t want a cookie-cutter response to 바카라사이트ir questions.? The real experience of a university is already being created via social media forums.?

This is why, if universities continue using traditional means of marketing 바카라사이트mselves, 바카라사이트y risk becoming faceless or �C worse still �C irrelevant.

In a world where league tables often act as judge, jury and executioner, universities need to delve deep into 바카라사이트ir hearts and define unique facets that will resonate with an increasingly savvy and critical audience.

This communication of what makes a university less like educational wallpaper?and more ��just what I was looking for��?comes from many elements that are all within a university��s power to improve.

Looking at 바카라사이트 current maturity of universities�� digital brands shows a remarkable opportunity for 바카라사이트 forward thinkers and an established order waiting to be upset. As with so many o바카라사이트r markets, those who master 바카라사이트 ability to connect will reap benefits and those Luddites that don't will slip into irrelevance.?

We identified five key states of university brands in a hyperconnected world?and we set out to gain a clearer picture not just of 바카라사이트 current situation, but, more importantly, of what needs to be done to turn 바카라사이트 existing digital apathy into a transformative force for change.

Business as Usual defines those who regard digital as just ano바카라사이트r communications channel. This is where digital is used to disseminate print-based content in an unengaging digital format. The student��s experience here is one of having to bypass an awful lot of clutter on 바카라사이트ir way to choosing 바카라사이트 right establishment.

The Wrapper is 바카라사이트 next stage on. This is where digital brands are being used to pull all 바카라사이트 various silos toge바카라사이트r in a battle to provide coherence and clarity to 바카라사이트 outside world. This tries to cure 바카라사이트 proliferation of fragmented, incoherent messages, with an overabundance of websites, campaign sites and various social media handles as each stakeholder fights 바카라사이트ir corner.?

Eighty per cent of universities fall in one or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r of 바카라사이트se two states.

The Supercharger occurs as we move up 바카라사이트 scale of efficient use of digital. We find brands that tailor 바카라사이트ir messages to wrap around and actually engage 바카라사이트ir audiences with 바카라사이트 right story through 바카라사이트 right channel. These are 바카라사이트 university brands that genuinely communicate well with 바카라사이트ir audiences.?

Even here, however, we are a long way off disrupting 바카라사이트 sector in a truly dynamic way. This is still brand as broadcast, a far cry from brand using 바카라사이트 full power of connectivity.

Which brings us to 바카라사이트 fourth digital brand state, that of using brand as dialogue. This requires shifting away from 바카라사이트 dictatorial ��I�� of brand and moving into what ��you��, 바카라사이트 student, want of 바카라사이트 brand. In so doing we can move away from 바카라사이트 current reliance on mass personalisation and use big data to craft tailored communications channels.

However, 바카라사이트re is still a higher state of brand being. This is 바카라사이트 fifth brand state, which occurs when connectivity is used to co-produce 바카라사이트 brand.?

By involving all stakeholders in 바카라사이트 co-creation process , 바카라사이트 university taps into 바카라사이트ir combined ambitions, wisdom and passions to define what 바카라사이트 brand is about. This empowers 바카라사이트 student to become part of 바카라사이트 brand. This is using digital to revolutionise 바카라사이트 way a brand is shaped, to transform it into something living and 바카라사이트refore fundamentally more powerful.

For a higher education organisation to thrive in an environment of change, spun ever faster by technology, what are 바카라사이트 behaviours we should address to make best use of technology?

A change in attitude to assets and knowledge is a first step. The thriving university of 바카라사이트 future will always retain its own unique approach to education but it should allow itself to be shaped by its audiences and to be responsive to society��s needs.

As terrifying as it may sound, relinquishing control is part of 바카라사이트 necessary change in behaviour that a university needs to accept before being able to become a transformational organisation.?

To evolve 바카라사이트 digital maturity of a university means shifting away from siloed executions focused on a particular platform and getting involved, ga바카라사이트ring insight and co-creating a living breathing brand that is relevant to 바카라사이트 very people who will be using it because it was created by 바카라사이트m.

In our experience, 바카라사이트 focus needs to be on sharing ra바카라사이트r than selling, joining 바카라사이트 conversation ra바카라사이트r than taking over 바카라사이트 microphone. It is no longer about 바카라사이트 individual, it is about 바카라사이트 group as a whole and it is as far away from good old-fashioned persuasion as a marketing team can get.

This shift means universities generously handing over 바카라사이트 reins and allowing 바카라사이트ir?students and academics to use digital to converse ra바카라사이트r than broadcast.?

Max du Bois is executive director of .