With more than 4,000 institutions offering degrees and certificates in America, competition in higher education is fierce. Furthermore, with baby boomer faculty and leaders retiring, fewer young people entering higher education as a profession, universities in Europe and Asia gaining prestige, and globalization of higher education evolving, competition will continue to increase. Progressive thinking and action are required to differentiate an institution's brand image in the marketplace.

The Chronicle/Gallup Brand Index (CGBI) helps colleges and universities build stronger brands by leveraging objective data to broadcast the right messages throughout the marketplace. One of the offerings is to help institutions better understand the perceptions of their brand. The CGBI is composed of a set of 10 foundational measures (EP10) along with additional metrics to assess how the public perceives the institution's brand. We can also add customized research measures to the survey.

Taking a pulse of America based on national and state/regional levels provides insightful data—enabling more effective, targeted, and precise use of marketing communications resources. Subsequent measures provide valuable trending data. The results are proprietary to your institution and will not be used for public release purposes through The Chronicle or elsewhere. Also, the process is extremely affordable. Click here for more information.

Once enough institutions use the CGBI, we will aggregate results from all participating institutions to compile an overall index that can serve as a comparison benchmark. Aggregate CGBI results may eventually be referenced in The Chronicle.

The CGBI can be expanded to include a brand analysis of competing institutions. Understanding the perception across a spectrum of competitors provides data-driven decision making to effectively differentiate your offering. Differentiation is the key to success.

The research of the CGBI foundational items is contained in Gallup's book, Married to the Brand. This book tells the story of what makes profitable brand relationships work—through the eyes of the consumer, not the marketer. Packed with stories and compelling discoveries from a worldwide consumer database, this book explores why people form deep emotional connections with some brands and not others. Click here to learn more about the book.