OXFORD UNIVERSITY is exploring the competitive world of merchandising as it seeks to cash in on its cachet as a global academic brand. Its degrees may still be hard to come by, but the university hopes to find a ready market for a wide range of other products bearing the Oxford stamp of approval.
Scientific toys and games, Oxford-branded champagne, garden tools and even baby clothes are to be sold to boost the university's income. Oxford Limited, a university subsidiary, has been set up with the stated aim of exploiting commercially "the knowledge, skills and crest of the University of Oxford".
Mike Davis, the managing director of Oxford Limited, said: "A little while ago commercial was in the same part of the Oxford English Dictionary as prostitution at this university." Now the university is sending brand licensing packs to companies across the globe, inviting them to "exploit the quintessential British heritage of the university arms" through "aspirational lifestyle collections or product group categories".
Oxford trademarked its crest in 1993 and makes £400,000 a year from licensing its use. It hopes to increase that figure to about £5 million within five years, and is determined to enter markets previously thought outside the university's scope. Whereas American Ivy League universities offer office chairs, lamps and clocks from $100 (£53) to $1,000, Oxford is taking a distinctly different approach. Mr Davis said: "For US universities such as Harvard, a huge part of the business is high net value items. We're trying to avoid stuff like that. We want to sell things with a real relevance to Oxford; we want to romance the products with Oxford's heritage."
The university recently licensed USI, the toy manufacturer, to produce the Oxford "Discover and Explore" Young Scientist range. Including crystal radios and lemon-powered clocks that are within the range of pocket-money earners, to costlier items such as microscopes and globes, with packaging bearing the names of famous Oxford scientists, the products will be in the shops in time for Christmas. Harrods has accepted the entire series and negotiations are in progress to exploit the range nationwide.
John Hood, Oxford's Vice-Chancellor, said: "For over nine centuries the name Oxford University has been synonymous with excellence in teaching and learning. As guardians of this brand in the 21st century we have a duty to protect the name but equally we must consider ways to add value to the brand through... carefully selected, high-quality merchandise that reflects the university's history as well as its current research strengths. I believe that the commercial opportunities and revenue from this endeavour will become increasingly important. Moreover, it's an additional opportunity for Oxford academics to communicate their enthusiasm for their subject to a much wider audience."
Expertise from departments across the university is being poured into products under development, including historical board games, croquet sets and men's accessories featuring images from the nuclear physics department. The university's botanic gardens are a prime source of products under development, including garden tools, seeds, teas and even toiletries. Timothy Walker, the director of the botanic gardens, said: "Any potential source of income is good news. One has to explore everything."
The university can expect its commercial efforts to be met with some scepticism. John Williamson, of the brand consultants Wolff Olins, said: "Is flogging academic toys an appropriate action for an august institution of this nature? This should be one of the most exclusive brands in the world; I think this can only cheapen the brand. I think it's absolute rubbish."
Those worried that Oxford may sell out will be heartened to learn that the university has a bottom line. It turned down the offer to license thongs with the Oxford crest emblazoned across the gusset
Is Oxford selling Its soul?
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City of screaming tyres and lost post, of unpopulist matriculation and impossible penury, Oxford University is turning commercial. It has appointed Mike Davis as the managing director of Oxford Ltd. His mission is the commercial exploitation of the knowledge, skills and crest of the University of Oxford. The university subsidiary is flogging franchises, inviting punters to exploit the quintessential British heritage of the University Arms" (not the pub). Young scientist toys bearing the names of Oxford boffins, "funky" men's toiletries with fragrances culled from the botanic gardens, and Oxonian luggage, with a suitably battered Brideshead veneer, will be in the shops for Christmas. The motto of the university, Dominus Illuminatio Mea (the Lord is my Light), can be anagrammed into "I made a mutinous million". But the university has turned down a project to sell "mind the gap" thongs with the Oxford arms emblazoned across the gusset. Quite right.
Town has been exploiting the prestige of gown for nine centuries. The market already offers Oxford marmalade, shoes, groups, movements, mixtures (dark grey tweed), sausages and bags. So the university is climbing on an old bandwagon. It should copyright the Oxford accent, with a certificate to distinguish graduates from Estuary garblers. Tourists will be sold a diploma on the Oxford manner, empowering them to dominate dinner parties with an air of unconscious superiority and knowledge of only one subject. Is there a market for the Oxford hangover cure and for the Oxford address book? And what about snow globes with bookish inebriates reading Horace or Tolkien in a quad?