ABSTRACT
Marketing is one of the more recognizable business practices being used within higher education. While perhaps the most visible aspect of marketing, advertising is only one piece of the greater institutional marketing picture. A market is simply “a collection of buyers and sellers”. From a higher education perspective, the institutions are the sellers and the students are the buyers. Historically, there are two ways to approach marketing strategy: the product approach or the services approach. Strategic marketing is not the same thing as strategic planning; while many of the concepts are the same or very similar, they are two distinct processes. Marketing is not for external audiences only, especially when considering large, complex institutions of higher education. Integrated marketing communications are a set of tools used in the establishment of internal and external relationships and in the development of brand equity. The customer services movement of the 1970s and 1980s has had a profound impact on higher education.
