University-gate: a tale of rich people, and the depths they'll plumb for status brands

A few days ago, the hallowed halls of elite colleges like Yale, Stanford and USC were blown apart with news that wealthy parents had paid college entry 'consultant' Rick Singer upwards of $25 million to short circuit the admissions process for their children. 

Buying entry into great schools is nothing new: the most famous example is Jarred Kushner, whose parents paid millions to have their scion attend the school. 

What's new here is that Singer told the parents they could do the scam for far less money, and he could guarantee the results. 

To me, this is a classic status brand story - people doing anything and everything to attain ethereal status, and brands stepping in to fill their void. So I went on the air with CFAX's Mark Brennae to dissect the story, and provide a checklist of how to create a status brand. Enjoy!

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