European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.7, No.15, 2015 133 Marketing Strategies for Competitive Advantage: A Survey of Selected Public and Private University in Kenya Cheruon, Rebbeca Cheruon Department of Human Resources, Tourism and Hospitality, Rongo University College, P.O Box 103- 40404 Rongo, Kenya Nyangosi Richard Department of Business Studies Rongo University College, P.O Box 103- 40404 Rongo, Kenya Corresponding author: nyangosir@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Kenya’s higher education has remained the fastest-growing segment of the education system over the past 20 years, with enrolments increasing on average by 6.2 percent per year. The current trend in universities is characterized by aggressive competition especially with the establishment of satellite centers across the country and use of different marketing communication (MC) tools to attract potential students. To examine the differentiation strategies used by public and private universities in Kenya to attain competitive advantage the study was conducted in one private and one public university in Nairobi, Kenya. The target population comprised of students, senior administrative staff and marketing units of the selected universities. Comparative study research design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select a private and a public university, based on student enrolment, brand image and demand for programmes offered. Following this, the selected universities were stratified by disciplines and courses taken and the respective respondents were finally selected using systematic random sampling. The data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were used to collect data from students while interviews schedules were used to collect data from senior administrative staff, marketing units and key informants of the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (correlations and regression) through the use of statistical package for social sciences were used to analyze the raw data. The findings indicated there is variance in the application of differentiation strategies. Key Words: Differentiation, Marketing, University 1. Introduction and Background to the Study Competitive advantage is a concept which describes the degree of relative advantage possessed by an enterprise within its sector or markets as compared with other organizations with which it directly or indirectly competes; or with which its use of people, finance, and resources must be compared. In the 1960s and 1970s, concepts of competitive advantage often were predicated upon steep scale economics, and many tools of strategic analysis were built upon those economics (for example, growth-share matrices, experience curves, and industry-supply curves (Bekier, et al., 2001).For much of the 1980s and 1990s, strategic analysis concentrated on the attractiveness of the external environment and issues of positioning – market share, relative cost position, first- mover advantage and the like. Recent examination of the firm has largely been devoted to the implementation of strategic plans. Universities worldwide are undergoing unprecedented change and confronting multiple challenges brought about by the vast and complex processes of globalization and liberalization (Mok, 2003). Economic development is correlated with the development of higher education. Enrolment ratios in higher education average over 50% for the countries belonging to the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) compared to 21% in the middle income countries and six percent in low income countries (El-Khawas 1998). Kenya’s higher education has remained the fastest-growing segment of the education system over the past 20 years, with enrolments increasing on average by 6.2 percent per year, Abagi (1995). This has been exemplified by the rise in enrolments in public and private universities, the proliferation of more private universities and the establishment of self- sponsored programmes in the public universities, Sifuna (1998). The current trend in universities is characterized by aggressive competition especially with the establishment of satellite centers across the country and use of different marketing communication (MC) tools to attract potential students. Developing a competitive strategy therefore, is vital to the survival and prosperity of any organization wishing to play any significant role in its relevant industry (Adrian and Palmer (2000).