Higher-ed marketing still needs both memory and momentum
EAB’s latest argument for brand marketing is a useful corrective to the obsession with immediate attribution: future demand is built through repeated, credible signals.
Build brand awareness, affinity, and trust—or fill the funnel now?
EAB frames the tension as real, but not an either-or choice.
The Story
EAB describes the familiar pressure higher-ed marketers face between long-term brand building and near-term enrollment demand. The article argues that awareness, affinity, trust, and conversion should be designed as connected work rather than competing camps. ([eab.com](https://eab.com/resources/blog/adult-education-blog/brand-marketing-in-higher-education/?utm_source=openai))
That is especially relevant visually. A campaign can be optimised for clicks and still fail to give a prospective student a memorable reason to choose one institution over another.
A Studio Wensday lens would be to design the whole signal chain: the distinctive idea, the proof points, the landing-page structure, the social adaptations, and the measurement plan that shows whether recognition is becoming action.
Studio Wensday Angle
Brand is not the opposite of performance; it is the context that makes performance work harder.