“There are so many options out there,” says Associate Professor Laufer about the crowded international tertiary education landscape.
“A university’s name is very important in terms of generating interest and recognition—if people can’t connect the brand name with the University, there’s going to be confusion.”
He says he has encountered the issue of name confusion first hand, with some media outlets getting the name of his workplace wrong, including The Wall Street Journal.
“The current name’s not intuitive, and people get it wrong. A big part of marketing is being part of the ‘consideration set’. And if you can't remember it, or you get it wrong, then you have big implications. If you're not part of the ‘consideration set’, you're not going to be considered.
“Here in New Zealand people know the connection with Victoria and Wellington, but overseas they don’t necessarily know that.”
He stresses the importance of connecting the University more strongly to the city of Wellington, given its strategic focus as a global-civic university at the heart of New Zealand’s government, legal and business sectors.
“By calling it the University of Wellington or a variation of that, you’re associating the University directly with the capital city, and that’s powerful.”
Associate Professor Laufer acknowledges that many people, especially alumni, are attached to the heritage of the current name.
“There will be some resistance, but I actually think for the people who are concerned about the value of their degree, that value is going to be enhanced because if the international reputation of the University is enhanced, who benefits from it? Alumni.”
“It's going to be a challenge, particularly for alumni who have fond memories of the current name, but it's in the best interests of the institution.”