Branding Digital in Higher Education Institutions: Theoretical Contexts of Digital Branding in Universities

Abstract

branding is a process that allows building brands and consumer products with high market acceptance, and it has gained more popularity because more and more higher education institutions (HEI) that are interested in applying good branding management in their organization, due to the value it can generate and the reputation they seek to be more visible. Public or private universities are educational systems that must be managed as a company and compete globally to be the best, so they are weighted using indicators that demonstrate their impact on society. In addition, branding offers universities strategies to manage their brands, which are normally used for brand positioning. This chapter presents a review of the literature on updated concepts and strategies on the digital brand applied to higher education institutions. Elements such as image, mission, vision, corporate values, commercial motto, and brand are used along with new proposals such as the academic part and the digital aspects, within the management of the brand.

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Chapter 2
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4930-8.ch002
ABSTRACT
branding is a process that allows building brands and consumer products with high market acceptance,
and it has gained more popularity because more and more higher education institutions (HEI) that are
interested in applying good branding management in their organization, due to the value it can generate
and the reputation they seek to be more visible. Public or private universities are educational systems
that must be managed as a company and compete globally to be the best, so they are weighted using
indicators that demonstrate their impact on society. In addition, branding offers universities strategies
to manage their brands, which are normally used for brand positioning. This chapter presents a review
of the literature on updated concepts and strategies on the digital brand applied to higher education
institutions. Elements such as image, mission, vision, corporate values, commercial motto, and brand
are used along with new proposals such as the academic part and the digital aspects, within the man-
agement of the brand.
Branding Digital in Higher
Education Institutions:
Theoretical Contexts of Digital
Branding in Universities
Ariana Daniela Del Pino
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0629-2994
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuador
Ariana Andrea Garcia
Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, Ecuador

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Branding Digital in Higher Education Institutions
INTRODUCTION
Branding in higher education institutions (HEI) has gained popularity, and there are more universities
interested in having a good management within it due to the value it can generate in the organiza-
tion and reputation, as universities seek to be more visible (Del Rio-Cortina, Cardona-Arbelaez, &
Simancas-Trujillo, 2017). Universities are not only an education system but also a generator of startup,
entrepreneurship and business (Bunzel, 2007) that have a whole global competition, and use Branding
for brand positioning, locked in strategies to differentiate themselves from others (Chapleo, 2011). In
a model addressed to HEI proposed by Del Rio, Cardona and Simancas based on the image, mission,
vision, corporate values, commercial motto and brand, in which, does not enclose the academic part or
the digital aspects such as social networks, websites or current platforms.
The most important people in elite universities are the students, the prestige of the institution is a
fundamental part of their trajectory, and that is achieved with its students, who receive first class train-
ing to become the best professionals and fill the best jobs or create their own companies. Something
that plays a fundamental role for the dissemination of achievements and results are social networks
and technology through applications or websites, which are used to share information about academic
advances, groups of researchers, and what students or alumni generate as time goes by for both profes-
sional and humanistic intellectual and formative development, universities are concerned with providing
face-to-face or online courses, which are an opportunity to improve more people who, for one reason or
another, find it difficult to make a physical presence.
Create sustainable environments that allow resources to be managed appropriately. The follow-up of
the students is an extra point for the university that, through this, can know the deficiencies or strengths
that they have, create alliances with their alumni and companies, know their scope of work, keep updated
the statistics, know new required jobs, share achievements and outstanding news, among others; This
allows the implementation of new departments in the university based on this, such as lines of employ-
ment or help to facilitate jobs.
BACKGROUND
Digital Branding
The e-Branding is known with other terms such as digital Branding, i-Branding, Internet Branding or
online Branding. e-Branding is considered a type of online or digital brand management, which interlaces
e-Commerce, e-Marketing and e-Business; It allows the proper flow to the era of connectivity, without
confusing the options of interactive marketing. Internet Branding (also refers to Online Branding) is a
brand management technique in the marketplace. Website optimization and creation, social media search
(Jansena, Sobelb, & Zhangc, 2011), blogs, digital press releases, and marketing videos are all methods
used for the digital branding process (Green, 2013) (Fallon, 2013).
According to Rowles in his book Digital Branding he explains that: Essentially, digital branding is
the customization of the organization, service or product; created by the sum of all the experiences that
an individual has with the brand; It includes themes of visual identity, but also important points such as
interaction in social networks and online comments. In summary, the logo provides an identity, but the

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