Nottingham Trent is repackaging itself in a bid to attract more cash and students.
Tight budgets and the scramble for students and private funding are forcing new universities as well as top research institutions to seek a niche in the higher education market.
Re-branding or "re-positioning" has become the name of the game, as institutions search for secure footholds in their strongest areas of teaching and research.
But some universities are taking this a step further by trying to turn an outlook or an approach to higher education into their particular brand.
Nottingham Trent University has cleverly chosen "the entrepreneurial university" as its new banner. Clever, because the entrepreneurial spirit has become a pervasive component of the government's agenda for change, and it can be shown to be the focus for a range of university activities.
So while some students and investors might perceive that Nottingham Trent's neighbour university is hoping to cash in on its elite reputation, Nottingham Trent hopes to capitalise on being seen as streetwise and go-getting.
Nottingham Trent's vice-chancellor, Ray Cowell, acknowledges that his institution is not the only one aiming to promote itself as entrepreneurial. But he claims it is "ahead of the game" when it comes to turning a modern interpretation of this phenomenon into a working model.
The university's annual report, launched this month, attempts to demonstrate that this is the case by showing what being an entrepreneurial university means in practical terms.
As Professor Cowell says, it is no use relying on dictionary definitions, which provide a quaint description of the entrepreneur as "a manager of public music entertainment". The word has also taken on new meaning for higher education, since the 1980s "when we thought it was about converting universities into businesses".
Professor Cowell believes a truly entrepreneurial university will ensure that it is pushing back the boundaries of enterprise in almost every sphere of activity. This gives it a better chance of turning out entrepreneurial graduates, likely to succeed in the employment market. It is not a coincidence, he points out, that Nottingham Trent topped national newspaper employment league tables, based on Higher Education Statistics Agency data.
He said: "We see entrepreneurialism not as a bolt-on extra, but as an integral part of everything we do. It encompasses what goes on in the classroom and the laboratory. Subjects must be taught and learnt in ways that take account of connections with the world of work and professional development.
"Our graduates not only hit the ground running, they are also long-distance runners with a capacity for lifelong learning. That allows us to get into a virtuous circle, where those graduates identify with the university through their professional role."
Keith Short, the deputy vice-chancellor, says enterprising students relish the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary formula adopted by Nottingham Trent.
Professor Cowell says the same approach governs the university's efforts to integrate academic pursuits with the world of work. This includes formal work experience for 60 per cent of students and work experience of some kind for all students.
He said: "Every university will talk about its relationship with employers, but ours is pervasive. It permeates the curriculum and the teaching and learning methods.
"We're not just talking about a few modules on the world of work: the whole curriculum is geared to this approach. In the old days, you put in blocks of study that were stand-alone and did not integrate. What we are concerned with is producing an holistic view of what a student requires for employment."
The university's annual report runs through a few more practical examples. These include the enterprise development centre, known as The Hive, which offers university expertise and commercial know-how to people, including students and graduates, with a business idea that they want to turn into a reality. The Hive helped Nottingham Trent graduates launch Studentnet, a successful website offering information and services for students.
High-profile commercial centres have also been set up across the university, with an interdisciplinary approach designed to break down artificial barriers between departments.
A new cultural policy and planning research unit is involved in a series of projects exploring links between the cultural sector and new media development, and investigating the impact of cultural policy on job creation and sustainable industrial growth.
The university's design contract research group is also aiming to bridge the gap between academia and manufacturing, by offering services including product evaluation and design.
One venture that gives students an opportunity to gain work experience in the education sector is the university's progression partnerships programme, which works with schools to raise children's aspirations and awareness of opportunities in higher education. Students are encouraged to help run homework clubs, revision sessions and visits to the university.
Professor Cowell says he does not pretend that other universities have not embarked on similar entrepreneurial initiatives. But he says Nottingham Trent can present more examples of the "virtuous circle" that comes from turning them into a coherent package.
"The higher education market is changing out of all recognition. In response to that, our whole philosophy is based on taking account of the changing market and positioning ourselves as a university that is determined to change the old stereotypes."
In this sense, Nottingham Trent may have found a formula where it is OK for the packaging to be as important as the content.