At every college and university, students enroll with expectations and aspirations about the kind of experience and the kind of outcomes that the institution delivers. When those expectations are met and exceeded, students are satisfied and likely to remain committed to their college choice. When their experience falls short of their expectations, their commitment to the institution erodes and attrition can be the outcome of those unmet expectations. Students' expectations for their college experience are shaped in many ways, including by what the marketing industry would call the institution's brand identity and brand promise--its distinctive value proposition as perceived by the students. The importance and influence of brand in consumer behavior is undeniable, and the role of institutional brand in students' initial and continuous enrollment choices is no different. Market research shows the impact that institutional brand has on students' initial college choice. Once enrolled, their initial enrollment choice is continuously solidified and enhanced by their positive experience of and satisfaction with the institution's brand promise. Today, more than ever, it is essential for institutions to define and differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and they do so by demonstrably delivering on their distinctive promise. A positive and brand-congruent experience not only benefits the student, it reinforces that institution's brand identity; conversely, a student experience that is incongruent with the brand promise not only leads to student dissatisfaction, it also erodes that brand. The process of brand development can help provide a retention effort with a strategic market orientation focused on overarching institutional outcomes rather than on narrowly individualized student outcomes, an orientation that can help the retention effort gain traction and connection with broader purposes. Within a 4 Ps framework, a research-based focus on the institutional brand promise can bring together retention and institutional marketing, and strategically linking the two completes and integrates the entire enrollment life cycle.