On October 1, a satirical column in the London Times Higher Education supplement included the following item:

Branding Room Only

Poppleton’s Deputy Head of Brand Management, Georgina Edsel, has described a recent article in Times Higher Education on marketing techniques as ‘backward looking.’

“She particularly objected to the manner in which its author, Philip Moriarty, professor of physics at the University of Nottingham, threw doubt on the importance of a university cultivating its brand image.

“Without such vital work, claimed Ms. Edsel, Poppleton would not have been so readily recognised in a recent marketing survey that asked respondents to “select the university” from the following list of brands:

–Frank Cooper’s Original Oxford Marmalade

–Marmite Yeast Extract

–Poppleton

–Pledge Multi-Surface Furniture Polish

–Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Tea

“Early results showed that 90 per cent of respondents chose ‘Poppleton’ as ‘the university.’ ‘This is a major tribute to our branding work,’ said Ms Edsel. ‘Only a year ago, 24 per cent of those surveyed thought it was multi-surface furniture polish.’”