SEEING UNIVERSITY IN TANGIBLES DIMENSION: A LANDMARK AS A MARKETING STRATEGY FOR UNILAK, IS IT NEEDED?

Do our university need a landmark? Is a recent question that somehow rises a discussion
in many universities in Indonesia. This mixed method study tries to determine Universitas
Lancang Kuning’s customer satisfaction based on tangibles dimension or present physical
appearance. The present challenge of massive competition among higher education institution in
Indonesia force many universities to see having a landmark as one of the solutions. The objective
of this present study is expected to give a brief perspective about a landmark strategic issue for
higher education around the globe by using Unilak as it exemplary context.
This present study found some interesting findings of tangibles dimension both from the
perception of the inner circle (students and lecturers) Unilak or the outer circle (public) who
frequently interacted with Unilak. 1982 students, 174 lecturers and 212 citizens in Riau province
participated as informants in this present study. They participated by giving feedback in a
different set of questionnaire.
This study used 3 different sets of questionnaire as the main instrument to collect data.
Every questionnaire delivered to a different group of informants exclusively. Benchmarking and
documentations also used to triangulate data to ensure the quality and quantities of data. This
present study analysis realized a massive competition among institutions in Indonesia, especially
in the province of Riau. The data reveals that the tangibles dimensions in Unilak were left behind
from its major competitor in the regions. It is supposed to forces Unilak to find the most
appropriate strategy to win the competition. The results of the analysis in this study recommend
the need for Universitas Lancang Kuning (Unilak) to have a landmark that functions as a
"lighthouse" in attracting the market and to raise the university pride in the regions.