The California State University: a case on branding the largest public university system in the US

• Branding of universities is an area that is growing in importance as competition between universities increases and creates an imperative for strong brand positioning and visual identity as the basis for differentiation. In this context, this paper describes the process by which the California State University (CSU), a major, multi‐campus public university system developed a corporate visual identity system and analyzes the key issues in developing this system, as well as the key challenges ahead.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.