Most campuses are embracing the concepts of integrated marketing and branding but marketers and now aiming even higher. Formal and informal groups of institutions are beginning to work together to develop the brands of their categories. Just last week I was with the NYCCAP (New York Community College Association of Presidents) discussing ways to promote New York's community colleges as a unit. And, this Spring we completed a pilot study for the GBHEM on the brand of United Methodist colleges and universities.

There are already a couple of groups of institutions that have done great work on integrating the marketing of their category. Almost all of the AJCU institutions promote the Jesuit tradition on their Web sites.  Look at the Holy Cross site, the Loyola site, the St. Joseph's University site. They all have links to content on what it means to be Jesuit right on their home pages. And the Women's College Coalition has been doing some nice work for years to transform the image and brand of women's colleges. 

All of this work is pretty exciting. There is clearly strength in numbers!