Penn: beyond the brand name

In efforts to market Penn as a brand, the University’s name seems to be the biggest stumbling factor.

“We might as well rename our school name to Wharton,” College alumnus Shan Gian said. “It’s already an established name, and that way we don’t get confused with Penn State or IUP [Indiana University of Pennsylvania].”

Penn, despite being one of only eight Ivy League universities, is often considered a state school due to its name, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School David Reibstein said.

“In fact, it is the only Ivy League school that is named after a state, and probably the only school that’s named after a state that is not a state school,” he said.

Perhaps as a result of this, the Penn Bookstore even sells a T-shirt that sports the phrase “Not Penn State” with a “P” for Penn on it.

Even if students find the shirts amusing, there may be a negative side to them. “We are two separate schools … we don’t want to be linked with Penn State,” Dean of Admissions Eric Furda said.

“There’s an old adage in advertising that if you mention other brands, you end up being associated with that other brand. Internally, it’s cute. Externally it’s not the best way to publicize who we are,” Reibstein explained.

Lillian Chou, a Wharton and Engineering junior, said she believes Penn doesn’t always do a good job at marketing itself.

“Many people don’t associate Penn with Ivy or being a top U.S. university,” she said.

“Unfortunately, Penn often gets associated with Penn State, which is well known for its football team — hardly one of our strengths,” she added.

Still, Penn’s location in the city, its beautiful campus, flexible curriculum and reputation for being “the friendly Ivy” were some of the main reasons why students chose to matriculate at the University, according to a questionnaire sent to admitted students by the Admissions Office.

Every school has a different strategy in appealing to prospective students. During preview days for admitted students, Princeton University promotes its own unique aspects. The “essential elements of a Princeton education” such as residential colleges and eating clubs are revealed in depth, according to Cole Crittenden, Director of Studies of Whitman College at Princeton.

“No tag line or commercial video can convey all the complexities of an educational institution,” he said. “Choosing which college you’ll attend for four years should be a very different process from choosing which movie you’ll see on a Friday night.”

While its brand name is perceived differently from geographic area to geographic area, Penn’s overall position is one “that is linked to a strong reputation, history and tradition,” Furda said. “Reputation is important to people … to most families academic reputation is a top requirement.”

In addition to admissions, Penn employs marketing strategies in other areas. For example, the Office of University Communications exists to advance Penn’s reputation and to strengthen Penn’s brand image, according to University Spokeswoman Lori Doyle.

“Placing positive stories about Penn in the national news media … and positioning Penn President Amy Gutmann as a national and international leader in higher education, among other things” are some of the strategies used by the office, Doyle said.

Despite Penn’s disadvantage in general brand image marketing due to its name, Chou acknowledged Penn’s strength in attracting job recruiters.

“I think Penn has an extremely strong brand with companies, which is why top companies come to our campus to recruit,” she said.

Career Services markets Penn to employers by sending out invitations to recruit on campus and to attend University-sponsored career fairs, according to Career Services Director Patricia Rose.

“Obviously, we’re anxious to market Penn to prospective employers,” she said.

Rose also highlighted the fact that having outstanding students is one of Penn’s main advantages in attracting recruiters.

“Penn students as a group are career-minded, and most employers will find a critical mass of interested and qualified students here,” she explained.

Regardless of confusion over its name brand, Penn students are defining the brand themselves.

“Our students are being recruited and are doing well at organizations literally all over the world, so our students have an excellent track record,” Rose said.

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