Branding Swedish Business Schools : A qualitative study on how Customer-based brand equity creates value for a Swedish Business School's Brand

In this current day and age, developing brands is increasingly important. Universities have started to realise the potential benefits that exists from having a strong brand and have therefore started to invest resources in branding. Even though research within this field is present, not much have been conducted on the Swedish market. Comparing to research that is out there, the Swedish Higher Education industry differs, as most Universities and Business Schools in Sweden are public authorities. This research aims to contribute with additional insights for Swedish Business Schools by studying brand equity and understanding how the brand is perceived both from the perspective of the University and that of the students. In order to reach the purpose stated, we developed our own figure based on previous acknowledged theories. The components that we chose to include were brand awareness, brand image, points of parity (POP), points of difference (POD), reputation and self-image. We interviewed 12 students currently enrolled at Umeå School of Business and Economics as well as one representative of the Business School. After thoroughly analysing the results we could conclude that brand awareness currently creates less value to the brand, in comparison to brand image. Looking at the differences in the perception of the Business School brand some components differed more than others. The Business School and the students perceived the overall position of the Business School as well as the general reputation the same. The brand image, as well as POP and POD, was perceived differently between the two. This research also found some managerial implications. Since brand image currently creates more value than brand awareness, Business Schools have a possibility to differentiate by focusing more on brand awareness. We also found that benefits of the Business School, specifically experiential benefits should be marketed towards prospective students.