Maintaining an Exclusive Brand

I teach at a university. Every time I give out grades, I am reminded of the value of a brand and how it can be supported or eroded. Grades have been inflated in recent years. During the time I was working on the corporate side, grades began to rise across the board. Students now think they are flunking out of school if they receive a "C", which --to date myself used to be called a "gentleman C". It meant that one performed average in the class. Some people were better, some worse. In undergrad, I was a "B" student. There were a few "A's" sprinkled in, with mostly "B's" and even some "C's" in some courses. I was a good student at the time.

The grade of "A", which is supposed to mean excellent work, now is expected by students for good but not excellent work. Everyone has an excuse why they deserve an "A". They worked really hard, they have scholarships that need to be protected, etc. We now have a generation of students who all got trophies. They were all told they were wonderful. Heaven help the teacher who told a student that they were not excellent!

Let's turn this discussion and think about it from a brand-product perspective. What would someone say if they indicated that they needed Tylenol but because of other circumstances wanted it at generic prices? It would erode the value of the Tylenol. Why support a brand if there is no value perceived in it?

Of all the things I love about returning to teaching, the thing I hate most is grading. The value of the grade (the brand) has been ripped out. If everyone can get it, what value is it to those who truly deserve it? On a larger scale, this is what has happened to the value of a bachelor degree. If everyone can get one, where is the real value? So, that starts a hyped competition for students who want/need to get into so-called elite schools--the Prada or Guicci of universities.

This is a very US phenomena. I recall in the 1960's a discussion a British fellow had with my father who was bragging about the large percentage of American students who go to college. "What will you do when you need a B.A. to run an elevator or sell shoes?" asked the Brit. He was right. He saw that the value of the degree would be eroded. In many countries, there are exams that separate who can attend university and who cannot. This has its downside as well since many students who do not do well on large, standardized tests are excluded from universities in their home countries. The US does allow those who are "late bloomers" or creative types to find their way. It has helped US innovation. However, there has been a cost. In Canada, there has been less delineation amongst the many universities in terms of quality. All universities are government owned and all are deemed to have quality--a bit different in some cases, but quality none the less. So, a degree is a degree. Kind of generic, which also has its downside since people want differentiation when price goes up. They want to know if there is value in their purchase. Students (or their parents) do not suffer depression or stress over whether little Johnny or Joan is getting into University of Toronto vs. Brock. There even is pride in students who go to 2-year colleges because that is where one goes for the education that in the US is reserved for 4-year colleges (nursing, kindergarten teacher, graphic design, public relations, advertising).

Universities are brands. Grades are brands. People are brands. Brands are comprised of attributes and associations and symbols that have meaning. Erode the meaning and the brand begins to erode.