UNIVERSITY BRANDING DURING COVID-19: A STUDY ON THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN PROMOTING COVID-19 AWARENESS AND BUILDING BRAND IMAGE

The aim of this study is to understand how digital platform especially social media is being used for branding purpose of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the present era, the traditional way of branding such as newspaper advertisement, radio jingles, career counseling workshops, education fairs, billboards has taken a back step. The Universities are implementing a unique method to create awareness about COVID-19 and for building up the brand image as part of the outreach program. Higher education especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic has started to use social media to get a competitive advantage. The present study will analyze and compare Facebook pages of the Maharishi University of Information Technology, Lucknow; Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida; Sharda University, Greater Noida, and Rama University, Kanpur from May-July 2020. The purposive sampling method was used to select the sample. The result of this study is divided into four different categories: a) The number of fans b) The posts related to COVID-19 awareness c) Content d) Like, Share & Comment. On basis of this study, the selected posts could be used as an example in case studies for other Universities/Institutions to increase their reach and subsequently build a strong brand image.