Assessment of Corporate Branding and Communication Strategies in Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring problems of corporate branding and communication strategies in Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions. For this end, six public universities, four from first generation and two from second generation, were selected using purposive sampling method for this study. The participants were selected using random sampling method. A total of 300 hundred students and 12 communication office heads (50 prospect and 50 regular students and 2 officials at each site) were selected as participants. As the main purpose was to investigate the existing problems, a descriptive research method was used employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches to gather and analyze data. Data have been gathered using questionnaire, interview, content analysis, and observation. As the study results show, universities have not implemented effective corporate brand communication strategies; both the prospect and regular students have not been provided with consolidated information. Hence, they relied on others‟ advice to choose their university. In addition, universities have gaps in branding their universities designing and using unique features.