The great American adman Bill Bernbach once said, ‘A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster’…and he was absolutely right.

If you are persuaded by a piece of advertising that a detergent brand will make your whites that little bit whiter, but when you try it, discover that the washing comes out a murky grey hue - then you are unlikely to try it again.

Nowadays, you’ll be straight on to Twitter to tell the world, and the manufacturer in particular that, in your considered opinion, they are a bunch of cowboys. Fool everyone in the same way, and you are doomed.

It is this fast track to commercial oblivion (as well as good old-fashioned ethics) that keeps minds firmly on the need to deliver advertising claims that, when put under the microscope, can be seen to be legal, decent, honest and truthful.

But what happens when that barrier doesn’t exist? What happens when the product you are promoting is one that the potential customer will only ever buy once in a lifetime - and after their home, is likely to be the second most expensive thing they ever buy?

"Universities should be devoting time and resource to defining what lies at the core of their offer, what are the elements that truly make them special"

If there’s no repeat purchase to hang your hopes on, what’s to stop an advertiser being a little casual with the truth? The buyer isn’t coming back for a second bite of the cherry anyway.

Now that the number of students a University can take is limited only by its own ambition, British tertiary education providers are throwing their best come hither looks at prospective undergraduates.

They are trying to both grow their share of the market and attract the very best students to their versions of the dreaming spires.

However, as some come under fire, having been found to be in breach of advertising codes by making claims that weren’t wholly backed by evidence, it’s clear that work needs to be done to increase the professionalism of some marketing operations at UK universities.

As in any market, you have to play by the rules and taking short cuts has consequences. While the Advertising Standards Authority may not have the sharpest teeth in the world, it’s no fun having the news of your (let’s be charitable) ‘inaccuracies’ plastered over the press.

After all, integrity is generally high on the list of values most universities are keen to deploy. Being economical with the truth, is not.

Is it possible to mis-sell an education?

What’s more, this is a battle that’s going to get fiercer. As more students question the value of a degree compared to the long term financial burden they will incur, numbers of applicants to universities are dropping - 4% for British students, higher for those from the European Union.

You may be legally allowed to take all the students you want, but if you’re fighting 130 well-funded competitors for a share of a declining pool, blood is going to get spilt, and someone needs to referee the contest.

What every commercial advertiser also knows of course, is that the most effective work is always that which speaks to a truth; which accurately communicates the measurable claims of the brand or organisation in question, and reflects its core values.

Universities should be devoting time and resource to defining what lies at the core of their offer, what are the elements that truly make them special, and then tell the world the answer in the most creative and effective way possible. On that road lies salvation.

Indeed, if you find yourself in a room debating how best to twist some data of dubious provenance into a claim of greatness that stretches the burden of truth, than you’ve gone badly wrong somewhere along the line. You need to start again.

With ever-spiralling investments in branding and advertising, all the marketing tools of the commercial world - new brand identities, mission statements, unique selling propositions and communication strategies - are being deployed as Universities eyeball each other in the fight to secure the best talent.

Experts are being brought in from around the world, from markets where Universities have been competing for many years, in order to deliver for British Universities a modern marketing strategy.

Professional services consultants and agencies are being employed to raise the standard of the work deployed on the universities’ behalf. No longer will an ‘off the shelf’ website and a re-tread of the same undergraduate prospectus as last year cut the mustard.

Money. Fierce competition. A declining customer base. It’s a potent mix. And everyone wants to win in the increasingly cut-throat battle for applications. The temptation to stray to the dark side will be strong - but down that path lies a shady reputation as a bit of a chancer. The universities need make sure they stay on the side of the advertising angels.

Richard Morris is a partner at branding agency Whistlejacket.