I have noticed at least 3 separate campaigns running in Singapore promoting different Higher Education courses and suspect there are many more.

Education is big business in this country, it accounts for about 4% of GDP and despite the current economic upheavals the Government is committed to boosting it further. Recently there was an announcement that 15,000 new University places would be available this year alone.

It is also a significant export earner. Students from around the region are flocking here to gain degrees from prestigious UK and US institutions rather than having to travel and live on the other side of the world.

SIM Global’s campaign involves fully branded buses and smaller ad-shell posters like in the photo. But they are not just promoting the University of London, in fact UoL is just one of many partners that include the Universities of Manchester, Warwick, Birmingham, Buffalo in the US (which is featured on some of the current ads) and more.

Is there not a bigger strategic issue at stake for the University issuing the degrees? Which brand is being promoted? In this case is it the University of London or is it SIM? What effect does this have on long term brand equity?