Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL) has been named one of South Africa’s top three leading business-school brands in the Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brands survey for 2005, released this week.
Commenting on the survey results on Wednesday, Suzanne Broadley, Markinor’s stakeholder-relationship manager, said: “Unisa’s Graduate School of Business Leadership has once again achieved third place in the Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brands survey.
“In this survey, awareness, trust and confidence, and loyalty are combined to give the brand-relationship score, which is used to rank the brands within the categories.
“This is an incredibly competitive sector and Unisa has managed to improve its trust and confidence score as well as its loyalty score since 2004.”
The Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brands survey has been conducted yearly since 1992 to provide businesses, investors and marketers with a brand health and prospect measurement.
This research provides an indication of marketing and advertising success, brand popularity, growth, decline and consumer trust.
Markinor’s National Omnibus Survey, M-Bus, is used to gather the data. The universe consists of 3 500 adults, 16 years and older, living in residential homes in South Africa. The survey, which is conducted in April and May, comprises all races as well as all geographical areas, urban and rural.
Leading brand strategist Thebe Ikalafeng, MD of Brand Leadership and director of the Marketing Federation of Southern Africa, commented: “The Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brand survey has been going for over 10 years.
“Although the top three business schools retained their position, Wits Business School increased its lead over the University of Cape Town and Unisa, no less buoyed by their constant presence in all key business media through advertising and their dominance of leaders in South Africa’s corporate ranks.
“Over and above the expected leadership in academic excellence, respected staff and a portfolio of market-oriented courses or tuition, building a university brand takes clarity, consistency and constancy.
“Since its rebranding, Unisa’s SBL has not only clarified its positioning with a new vision located within the African context and brand positioning of ‘leadership in practice’, but the increased visibility of the brand has no doubt contributed to the university maintaining top-of-mind presence among business decision-makers,” said Ikalafeng.
“To take the brand into the future will require consistency in both the positioning and presence in the mind of decision-makers. With over 130 years’ heritage and its location within the African-renaissance context, Unisa has a solid foundation to take a leadership position in the new [South] Africa,” he added.
Professor Hellicy Ngambi, the executive director and CEO (interim) of the SBL, noted: “We are pleased that we are continuing on the right path to becoming the leading internationally relevant and reputable business school of excellence in Africa.
“Unisa has taken a strategic position to establish a comprehensive and monolithic brand, which goes beyond just the identity and media presence, but also ensuring that all our business reflect and keep the brand promise. We are simply living the brand on our way to the top, becoming the best of the best.” — I-Net Bridge