Finding the Common Thread: 8 Ways to Market Institutions Cohesively

Higher education institutions empower students to find and develop their unique voices, but it is easy to forget that institutions must also develop individual personalities. What is your institution’s unique voice and core personality? What is the common thread that ties all programs and experiences together that makes your institution distinct from all others and provides cohesive marketing strategies?

In my career, I have worked for two different types of higher ed institutions. Some institutions have majors in varied programs, including English, music, computer science and nursing. Then there are ones that offer only closely related majors, for example, in the creative arts, including filmmaking, acting, musical theater and photography. In both cases, finding a common thread among the students or the programs can help marketers clearly and concisely promote the college through an overarching strategic theme.

Specialization vs. Broadness

When institutions specialize in closely related majors, the common thread is easier to find, leading to a focused, cohesive mission and clear market strategy. 

For example, my current institution, NYFA – New York Film Academy, is a world-renowned college for film, media and performing arts. All of NYFA’s majors focus on teaching students how to be “Creative Storytellers” through hands-on learning experiences alongside professionals in whichever creative medium they wish to pursue—whether filmmaking, acting, photography, game design or other related fields. This synergy makes it much easier to market the college through shared messaging, images, target audiences and media.

When an institution has broader and more varied majors that aren’t closely related, finding the common thread becomes more of a challenge. It is more challenging to build a narrative showing how the institution connects across all majors and where the synergy and differentiators lie when there are so many varied areas to cover. The connection or unifying theme must come from the institution’s culture, mission or even a unique attribute.

The school may have a signature teaching style, a unique campus location, a specialized student demographic or a revered athletics team. For example, Harvard University is arguably the most well-known and recognized higher ed institution in the United States. The school’s brand awareness is due to its reputation for outstanding academic excellence and selectivity and its status as the first college in the American colonies.

For colleges and universities with varied and potentially unrelated majors, the best way to find commonality is to focus on the institution’s defining features. Listed below are eight ways colleges can find a common theme. 

Finding the Common Thread

To find a common thread or threads for your institution, consider its unique attributes and then build on those as potential themes.

1. Specialized Focus or Industries 

As stated above, the best way to market an institution with similar majors is to find the commonality that drives all the majors. Emerson College, for example, focuses on the creative arts and encourages students to “Become a Creative Force.”

2. Specific Audience or Mission 

Several institutions were founded with a mission to support a specific student population. Many HSBC mission statements extend far beyond the offered degrees, in that the institutions’ focus is to support Black students and to incorporate a shared culture while advancing academic achievement. Howard University is an excellent example with its mission to “prepare diverse, talented and ambitious students to learn, lead and embody excellence in truth and service.”

3. Specialized Teaching Style or Approach 

Another defining feature of an institution may be its unique or signature teaching style. Landmark College is “designed exclusively for students who learn differently, including students with a learning disability (such as dyslexia), ADHD, autism or executive function challenges.” Due to its mission to support this specific student population, the college champions “a strengths-based model for education, giving students the skills and strategies they need to succeed in life.” This innovative teaching style and approach provides a common theme across the institution and its majors and sets Landmark College apart.

4. Unique Location 

The “Power of Place” is the concept that our surroundings can shape our experiences and who we are. The place where we learn can also impact all aspects of an educational experience. The University of Hawai’i provides a unique and exotic place for students to delve into their studies and notes its location is “Like no place on Earth.” Focusing on its unique location, UH “offers opportunities as unique and diverse as our island home.” Universities in unique locations or places that offer specialized access relevant to specific majors, such as sustainability or marine biology, can highlight that location as a differentiator. 

5. Flagship Program or School 

Showcasing the most popular majors and using these as a flagship can raise the institution’s reputation. Perhaps you’re known for engineering, but that reputation can help create partnerships and interests that can turn into opportunities for other majors. John Hopkins University is well known for its School of Medicine, as well as its important contributions to medicine and medical research. The reputation of the medical school helps to raise the university’s reputation collectively, which is perfectly expressed in the current tagline: “Together We’ll Make History.”

6. Athletics or Extracurricular Programs 

Many schools are known nationally for top-notch athletics teams that often have traditions, mascots and mottos that carry over to the entire institution. The Ohio State University Buckeyes are among the top college teams in the United States and have won national championships in multiple sports, including football, basketball and baseball. The university has capitalized on this, and the Buckeyes nickname now extends beyond athletics to other student areas and activities. 

Remember that sports and extracurriculars go beyond the football stadiums and basketball courts. Tarleton State University, a member of the Texas A&M system, has a unique and long-standing tradition of a strong rodeo program, dating back to 1947. Rodeo is a perfect activity to promote a school “deep in the heart of Texas” because the activity conjures excitement, energy and nostalgia for cowboys and the American West.

Having a well-known and successful athletics team or unique program, such as rodeo, helps raise awareness about a school and can provide a shared sense of pride and tradition behind which students and the community can rally.

7. Cultural or Historical Foundation 

Marshall University is perhaps the best example of building a brand through a cultural or historical event. The 2006 film, We Are Marshall, tells the story of a grieving community and a new coach, played by Matthew McConaughey, who is determined to rebuild the football team after a tragedy. Whether or not you have seen the film, many have heard the real-life story on which the film was based: a 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 75 members of the football team, staff, crew and community. The university’s motto is “Live Your Marshall Moment,” which builds on the sense of community and shared contributions evident throughout its history and its “We Are Marshall” affirmation.

8. Contributions to Research and Innovation

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is well-known as a center of innovation and for its many contributions to cutting-edge research. Unsurprisingly, it promotes the motto “driven by a shared purpose: to make a better world through education, research, and innovation” and features groundbreaking research projects on the institution’s website. A dedication to fueling innovation and pushing advances in specific fields or across all majors can be a compelling defining feature for innovation-driven colleges and universities.

Regardless of the institution, marketers must identify unifying themes to uncover the institution’s unique voice and define the college or university’s brand. Developing and expanding on these features can help guide the marketing team and the institution on how best to promote the college or university while differentiating it from others.