Brand Gaps: The Silent Threat to Enrollment and Trust

Recently, F&F partnered with a university l to develop a suite of communications materials for prospective families. Early in the process, I sat down with faculty to review the school’s website and viewbook and asked a simple question: Do these stories reflect what happens here?

If the answer is no — if the messaging is missing key ideas, feels overly aspirational, or paints the school as something it’s not—then you’re facing a brand gap: the disconnect between what a school says it does and what it truly delivers. Brand gaps matter because prospective families inevitably discover the mismatch. Over time, those discoveries quietly erode enrollment, trust, and institutional health.

So how do you spot a brand gap?

Schools are complex ecosystems, and misalignment isn’t always obvious. Instead, you may notice subtle signals: open houses that aren’t converting like they used to, website traffic that doesn’t translate into inquiries, or digital campaigns that suddenly feel less effective.

Metrics can confirm a brand gap, but you can often detect it earlier through engaging your families and establishing intentional feedback loops. This requires stepping out of your office and into conversation with faculty, students, administrators, and parents. When something feels “off,” your community usually knows long before the data does.

These practices mirror the tools of design thinking — methods that sharpen your sensitivity to places where your story and your reality diverge. For MarComm professionals, this skill set has never been more essential. The most effective schools treat every touchpoint — website, campus tour, social media, viewbook, open house, even the way a prospective parent’s phone call is answered — as part of one cohesive narrative.

Ultimately, shaping your brand and closing any gaps starts with listening. Because your school’s brand isn’t what you declare it to be — it’s what your community says it is.