TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose This paper concerns public sub-sector branding within the higher education (HE) system. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public sub-sector branding within HE is organized and how it is influenced by the use of national values, traits and characteristics.Design/methodology/approach The study relies on two data sources: first, the paper benefits from a data set of one-stop web-portals for HE from the 23 countries listed in Times Higher Education’s top-60 universities ranking. Second, it builds on a sample and brief overview of Norway’s sub-sector branding of its HE sector.Findings Expert authorities within the HE sector are legally and organizationally responsible for sub-sector branding, and they establish coordinated and coherent web-portals. In practice, however, nation-branding concerns are influencing on how the HE sub-sector is branded. The paper concludes with a discussion of democratic implications, and points to paradoxes arising from the use of national clichés and characteristics in this highly international sub-sector of the public realm.Originality/value The paper informs discussions about public sub-sector branding within HE, a phenomenon that thus far has not been systematically studied. The practical applications of such a study are evident, as branding is becoming more important in the public sector in general, and in HE in particular.
VL  - 24
IS  - 3
SN  - 1356-3289
DO  - 10.1108/CCIJ-05-2018-0056
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-05-2018-0056
AU  - Sataøen Hogne Lerøy
PY  - 2019
Y1  - 2019/01/01
TI  - Sub-sector branding and nation branding: the case of higher education
T2  - Corporate Communications: An International Journal
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 425
EP  - 438
Y2  - 2024/05/11
ER  -