PROF. GRAEME WILKINSON
VICE-CHANCELLOR SUNWAY UNIVERSITY
How is the company coping in the current economic climate without compromising its brand presence?
Strategic marketing plans have been put in place with the aim of making a positive lasting impression with the audience. Our focus is concentrated more on brand placement and less on advertising. We have sought to become a part of our consumers’ lives at various touchpoints. Articles written by our academics often appear in leading publications and our venue is used for national and international events.
The university has also prominently appeared within two major movies this year and also provided the final location & cook off for the Celebrity Chef: East vs West television show, the most popular programme in Malaysia on Fox. Leading radio stations often refer to our university academics for On-Air opinions on the key news of the day.
We also ensure our leaders and academics get exposure to the international expat community by contributing to expat magazines.
Our aim is to position our institution, and in particular our academics and our courses, as “A Class Above”.
The strategy has been geared in such a way that it has longevity as well as meaning & relevance with our audience in daily life when it comes to choice regarding family education. We also strive to be a source of information related to education and on trending news related to the community. Sunway University, both online and in print, is the most covered brand in education for 2018 and our digitalisation efforts and initiatives have provided us with the opportunity to reduce the cost of engagement and expand our reach and contact points, while providing focused platforms to brand, market, sell and engage.
what makes a brand memorable given the short attention span and all sort of content screaming at customers? A key aspect is to provide people with an opportunity to “experience” the brand in a way that is meaningful, engaging, valuable, positive and memorable. Active engaging experiences are more memorable than content. A good example is allowing people to immerse themselves within the brand at events of significance that support a worthy cause like the “Join Hands & Make the Pledge” event.
The brand connection between Sunway and our current and potential audiences has always focused on the core values of the Sunway Group, namely “Integrity, Humility and Excellence” coupled with a high degree of trust that parents seek. Our passion is to build and maintain a long term relationship with our parents and students who progressively maintain their relationship with the brand through our extensive alumni programme. We encourage our students to develop an affinity with the brand and a “Sunway State of Mind” that sees many return to campus and contribute back. In fact, many don’t even leave the “Sunway family” and take up permanent positions within the greater Sunway group of companies too.