Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, May 2016

The emergence of various academic institutions set forth competition among schools and universities and with this, every academic institution needs to position itself and must communicate their identity strategically. To address such, this thesis exploded the development of a brand positioning, which will highlight the district values and reputation of an academic institution in a competitive edge, and how to relate it to the public. USEP Tagum-Mabini Campus was used as a case in point since this institution lacks a brand positioning that creates its own stage as a separate institution that excels academically. Following the brand positioning framework, a series of formative researches was conducted and its results served as grounds for the development of a brand positioning for the academic institution. In the case of USEP Tagum-Mabini Campus, the institution was positioned as an academe that excels in agriculture and education and produces globally- competitive graduates that contribute to the socio-economic development of Tagum City, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley. In order to communicate and developed brand positioning and promote USEP Tagum-Mabini Campus, a Public Relations-driven Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plan was designed as a part of this thesis. The plan integrated various Special Events, New Media, Advertising and Media Relations executions to channel messages effectively. Essentially, this thesis will benefit both the academic institution and the general public ? the academic institution for having their values and reputation highlighted and the general public being guided with which academic institution will best suit their needs given a well-positioned brand communicated through strategies under a Public Relations-driven Integrated Marketing Communication plan.