Full Sail University Brand Image

I’m a graduate of Full Sail University. I enjoyed earning my graduate degree in internet marketing from the University. Just for fun, I’ve created a brand image campaign with the school as the case study.

• Real world experience –

• Beyond simple education – Full Sail University creates a unique environment that prepares its students for real world experiences. Students are provided the same software and hardware that is used throughout its chosen industry and they are also mentored not only by educators, but professionals in the industry. Each of Full Sail University’s degree programs is designed to provide students with hands-on knowledge and real world experiences.

• Professionalism –

• Full Sail University also initiates an industry driven Global Professionalism Standard program to further guide its students into a professional career.
• This GPS program contains 5 key components which are;
• Timeliness – evidencing respect – preparedness – attentiveness and compliance with Full Sail’s policies as well as local and federal laws that directly reflect the industry’s expectations of their employees.

Full Sail University and the law of branding: 

• The Law of Expansion:

• Beginning as a Recording Arts program, Full Sail ran its first advertisement in the January 1979 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Through the law of expansion, Full Sail has grown over the last three decades and now offers masters, bachelor’s and associate’s degrees in 20 degree programs, and has graduated more than 31,000 alumni.

• The Law of the Category:

• With expanding its brand, full sail university has also acknowledged the law of the category. As media and marketing have changed, full sail has changed and added new categories to its degree lineup based on the new industry desires. By continuing to expand its programs, full sail continues to remain relevant in its industry market.

• The Law of Contraction:

• Though Full Sail has expanded its programs over the years, it has also broken that law of contraction. Full Sail University started with a narrow focus of programs and degrees within the recoding arts industry and now has expanded to offering programs within marketing, creative writing and web design and development to name a few. This expansion could weaken the brand by loosening the focus.

• The Law of Sub brands:

• Full Sail University originated as an on-ground facility and shortly sub branded into also offering online courses. By offering online courses, full sail could have jeopardized the quality of its brand in the minds of current prospects. Along with this new online sub brand, full sail also created two separate websites for the two that includes different marketing, different programs, and different colors.

• The Law of Color:

• Full Sail University hasn’t seemed to hold a direct color for its brand. While full sail university on-ground has colors of blue, gray and white. Its online community uses orange, tan and green. By full sail not branding a color for its brand, it doesn’t help embed its image into the minds of viewers. One way full sail university could prevent this is by simply creating one brand logo with one brand color.

Full Sail University’s branding decisions

• Positive –

• A positive branding strategy that full sail has used is with its ability to expand into new programs and degrees based on the industry and consumers wants expanding. By providing new and updated degree programs, full sail has kept itself in the real-world market and will continue to do so as long as it stays updated by offering relevant industry programs.

• Positive

• Another positive branding strategy full sail has used is in initiating its global professional standard (GPS). This does not only help to create a quality student, but also a quality employee. By implementing the GPS program, it helps students prepare for real-world careers and it ultimately helps connect the name and brand of full sail with another success story.

• Could have done better-

• Though full sail university has just recently started its online degree programs, it does not seem to have a strong international marketing campaign. Most of its marketing is done online, but it seems to have neglected offline marketing to its international consumers who live outside of its local address.

Key strategies

• Implement –

• Full sail has a great marketing plan for its online consumers. However, it should implement a better plan to market towards offline consumers. By full sail marketing on television, radio and in print, it will be able to reach a wider audience without having to simply depend on word of mouth. From a personal opinion – I believe that a great marketing is not one that you have to find, but one that finds you.

• Avoid – law of contraction

• Though full sail university has been a success with its expansion of degree program categories. It should remain close to and keep in mind the law of contraction. Full sail shouldn’t want to steer too far away from where it started. It started with a focus in the arts and it should want to remain there without expanding too far into a state university marketed toward everyone in all industries.

Full Sail University in the industry

• Full sail is and is not distinctive from other similar products. These similar products include other art schools and other online art schools. Schools I will compare it to here will be the art institute and Academy of Art in San Francisco. All of these educational institutes offer onground campuses and online education. And are all relatively close within the same field of art schools.
• While the art institutes offer multiple onground campuses in many major US cities, full sail and Academy of Art only offer their campus education from one location. The benefit of doing this for the Art institute is that it allows for more flexibility for its students and allows for more students to enroll in program, which are offered only at onground campuses.
• Full Sail University also offers degrees in categories for a smaller group than the others. While full sail seems to aim more toward media, Internet and gaming degrees. The other educational institutes have expanded further in the art field by offering degrees in subjects such as Photography, Fashion, and Architecture.
• While full sail does offer a smaller variety of courses, it has been around for the least amount of time. The art institute was started in 1921. Academy of the art originated in 1929 and Full sail was founded in 1979. Based on where full sail currently stands against its competitors, it ranks fairly high based on its short amount of time in the industry.
• What full sail offers over its competition is its brand name in the industry. The educational institute is highly ranked and praised within the industry and against its alumni. To create a better marketing campaign from its competition, full sail university should also market that it has higher industry ranks, graduation rates and higher student retention rates. Unlike its competitors, full sail university should strive to be a university, which graduates a quality of students rather than a quantity of students.

• I believe that full sail university can improve life, solve problems and fulfill desires. How it can improve life is by offering degree programs that are highly sought after and have a great success rate once students look for employment.
• It can solve problems by providing programs that other schools or universities don’t offer and solve the problem of providing on online campus to reach out to students across the world who may have a full-time career and family and may have concerns about moving locations or dealing with time schedule conflicts of going to onground campus courses.
• By providing prominent courses for students, full sail is able to fulfill student’s desires to attend the university and graduate with a desired degree.
• Though full sail can improve life, solve problems and fulfill desires, it is ultimately up to the attending student to gain the full experience full sail has to offer. Without abiding by GPS standards, working hard on their studies and making the most of their opportunity; the student can miss out on gaining the full sail experience.