Does London Business School need rebranding?
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But of late, I have increasingly observed that many of my best students are either not applying to LBS or keeping it as a ‘safe’ option. The five schools that mostly make it to the list of the top Indian students are
I regularly speak to many students to understand why they are more interested in attending schools other than LBS and I see three primary reasons.
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2. Another reason for declining interest (among the best applicant pool) in LBS’s MBA is the rapid emergence of its close rival INSEAD over the past few years. With a new campus in
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In spite of all this, I’m still very bullish on LBS for two reasons. I believe that the programme is next to none and its problems are more related to its stereotypical image of a finance school, rather than any fundamental problem with the school itself. I also believe that the biggest parameter for a top school is how successful the school’s alumni have been. LBS boasts some formidable and highly successful alumni. Thirdly, LBS is one of the most recognised brands globally. It takes decades for business schools to build a strong global brand and the fact is that most in Asia or the rest of the world would not recognise what INSEAD or HEC Paris is, but most would know what LBS is. In short, the LBS brand is here to stay.
The question is – can it change its stereotypical image? I believe it definitely can. The school can take cue from HBS, Stanford and Wharton, which in recent years, have revamped their websites and changed their value propositions to prospective students to reflect changing market dynamics and student aspirations. LBS’s website is minimalistic right now and I believe it could do much better by highlighting its strengths in areas other than finance. For example, LBS has one of the best programmes for entrepreneurship and the faculty has absolutely stellar credentials. But the website doesn’t do much to highlight this.
I also think LBS has a strong brand and it is not going anywhere. But then, if it doesn’t evolve with the changing times, it may soon find itself losing better quality students to its rivals such as INSEAD. Having said that, I believe that LBS will soon follow the footsteps of its American counterparts to position itself as a programme where students do amazing things and a programme that is in sync with the changing aspirants of students.
Manvender is the Co-founder & Managing Director of
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