Stamats' QuickTakes
Insights into Research, Strategic Planning, and Integrated Marketing for Colleges and Universities by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Vice President for Research and Marketing at Stamats (quicktakes@stamats.com)
Vol. V, no. 8: Yield Thoughts
In this issue.
ON STRATEGY: FINDING A COMMON LANGUAGE
Finding a common language for planning is essential. Without it, the process will be even more confusing than it can sometimes be. Recently, I revised a set of terms for a strategic planning client. Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing that list with you. First, let's start with the three different kinds of audiences:
Having a successful relationship with members of each audience will require a careful understanding of their needs, expectations, motivations, and perspectives. The only way to gain this understanding is through careful research, continual listening, and remembering. In the next issue, we will quickly review the elements of a brand portfolio.
On almost every branding project I work on with clients I am confronted sooner or later with a dean of this school or that school who believes that his or her program is so unique, so different, or so important that it deserves its own special look or logo. The technical term for this is "logo lust." In almost all cases, this is more ego than strategy. The basic strategy is this: one university, one look.
I make this statement for a couple of reasons. First, it is confusing to the marketplace for an institution to support more than one look. Second, there is a loss of synergy between units on campus. Third, the rising tide effect is lost. At some colleges and universities, less well known areas are lifted up when they are tied to institutions with a larger reputation. And fourth, if deans don't want to work together on this, the most basic element of brand, I can't help but wonder where else they will fail to support the larger institution-wide purpose.
Of course, it is sometimes difficult to come up with a look that serves everyone well, but it is possible. Let me offer an illustration. When I watch the Chicago Cubs play baseball, I am aware that every player (even the coaches) are wearing the same uniform. Same colors. Same caps. Same team name on the front of their shirts. Everyone is easily recognizable as part of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. I am also aware that each player has his own name on the back of his jersey. This bit of individuality is important, but it is carefully managed within the larger identity established by the Cubs. And, while each player may have his name on the back of the jersey, every player uses the same font and the same colors. Individuals working together, but one team.
AN
UNPRECEDENTED RECRUITMENT YEAR
By Lorna Miles Whalen, Principal Consultant
It's May. Many college recruitment numbers are in and most of the students are out. We have faced the rocking fears and anxieties that beset the country on September 11th; we have muddled through a wobbly economy, large-scale layoffs, and the near collapse of public faith in some of the country's biggest corporate and spiritual institutions.
For higher education, this has been an unprecedented recruitment season in every way imaginable. How have current events impacted the higher education recruitment season? Hardly a ripple. Applications this year soared in the face of recession. Few schools' applicant pools exhibited significant "distance anxiety" after 9/11. Tuitions rose dramatically—particularly at public institutions—as parents of the college-bound were being laid off. How many institutions report applicant pools as good as or even better than those qualified last year? Lots. For all but a handful of colleges, it is not over yet. So, what are colleges and families thinking about? Yield? Costs? Housing? Football? Backing out? Already? Maybe.
If the summer does not produce a significant yield melt, we better start gearing up for the fall. There is no way that colleges and universities can remain insulated permanently from the continuing aftershocks of the events of the last two calendar years. To return to "business as usual" anytime soon will cost institutions down the line. Students and families will demand and deserve more from institutions that serve them.
Yield and retention
As marketers, we always try to put our best, reasonable, PC foot forward in publications, videos, Web sites, and visits. But, is it right to wait until new students arrive on campus to let them discover the truth? This is the last chance students and families may have to determine whether Junior will live happily within the prevailing culture - or miserably outside of it. When students are unhappily surprised that first week, it hurts everyone - students, families, and retention figures. A recent study released by ACE told us what we already know—most students who drop out of one college actually do graduate.somewhere else! If you haven't read this story, here's the beef:
"Institutions' retention data 'greatly underestimate' the rate at which students actually complete their undergraduate educations. A significant number of students transfer to other institutions for any number of personal, financial, or education-related reasons.
"Even if students leave the first college in which they enrolled, they do not necessarily drop out of the post-secondary system; they often transfer to another school.
"We rarely pay attention to students when they leave us. Our exit polls generally refer to personal, financial, or educated reasons for leaving. I suspect that better matches made up front can alleviate most of the personal, financial, and education-related reasons for attrition - if institutions would place as much emphasis on making good matches as they do on recruiting good students." Access and Persistence from 10 yrs of Longitudinal Research on Students, Published by ACE, appeared in Chronicle of Higher Education, May 6, 2002.
Some tips based on recent events In light of the events of the last year, I am suggesting a few sobering additions for your checklist on yield activities or upcoming recruitment communications:
1. Communicate emergency plans. Parents and students will appreciate a little extra reassurance after last year. Help build confidence by addressing anxieties early. Make sure your institution communicates an easily understood emergency plan for connecting parents and students quickly in an emergency or if any "unthinkable" events actually do happen on or off campus. Go the extra mile and suggest a "friends and family plan" for keeping in touch in crisis.
2. Talk about health/counseling services. Make sure that students understand the services available on your campus. Make it easy and shameless for students to participate in professional, psychological counseling when the pressure gets tough. Remember, peers are not professionals. A recent New York Times Sunday story chronicled the tragic deterioration and eventual death of an MIT co-ed. Many problems start well before admission. Your institution is responsible for the health and welfare of its students - the Buckley Act notwithstanding. Personal counseling/evaluation may become an essential event in the orientation process.
3. Understand campus biases—tell—don't just sell. After September 11th, Stamats conducted a survey of college-bound high school seniors. The responses shocked us so much we questioned our research. Most of the students surveyed indicated that their lives hadn't changed much in light of September 11th and that college selection was still the greatest source of angst in their young lives.
At the time, college admissions folk and Presidents (especially) countered that students on their campuses felt very connected to the events, the heroes, and the victims. The difference, I am convinced, is the college experience itself. I believe that campus culture determines the experience students have. It can be highly charged and intensely passionate; thus, the freshman experience can be good or awful.
New freshmen and/or transfer students are often sold on an idealistic view of the individual culture that defines many college campuses. In fact, many times students and their families are carefully shielded from signs or symbols of any particular prevailing pressures, issues, or points of view.
Here are some examples:
- Religious-related institutions that do not tell students and parents just how religious they really are (or, are NOT)
- Urban campuses, fearing the impact of crime statistics, whose publications photos look like they are housed safely in the suburbs
- Colleges and universities that talk about four years worth of tuition payments but also report five-year graduation statistics
- Colleges and universities that tout programs they barely have
- Liberal and conservative campuses that try to appear more "middle of the road" than they really are
- And, finally, colleges and universities that significantly lower financial assistance after the freshman year
4. Good business reaps rewards. I have a friend who encourages me always to "celebrate your [my] weirdness". I certainly do my best to comply and I pass this advice on wherever I can—especially to colleges. It is the essence of the institution that distinguishes one college or university from another. It is that special essence—that might once have been called school spirit—that makes for satisfied students, happy alums, and proud donors. That's good business!
To discuss this article further or if you have any other tips about yield, please contact Lorna at lorna.whalen@stamats.com.
Earlier this year I briefly mentioned In Pursuit of Prestige: Strategy and Competition in U.S. Higher Education by Dominic J. Brewer, Susan M. Gates, and Charles A. Goldman. Drawing from that book and adding some insights from Charles Fombrun's Reputation: Realizing Value from the Corporate Image, we learn that there are six avenues through which colleges and universities might work to build a reputation. They are:
1. Academic quality - high selectivity. Harvard may never consistently field a number one football team, but it can consistently field the best students in the country.
2. Academic quality - faculty research. The quality and amount of faculty research is a significant reputation builder. Not only does great research attract other great faculty, but it also attracts great money and the attention of the media and other reputation builders.
3. Big-time sports. If you think about the colleges and universities that sell more branded apparel, you will discover that all of them are either football or basketball powerhouses.
4. Image-building. The consistent use of a comprehensive integrated marketing communications strategy will help build a strong local, regional, and even national image. This is especially true if the strategy utilizes an enriched media array rather than just one or two media, (see following section).
5. Co-branding. The marrying of your name with another, perhaps more prestigious name of particular interest, to a target audience is often used to help build reputation. This point is reinforced each year when colleges and universities scramble for their place on the U.S. News and World Report lists or when the University of Washington seeks to enlarge and publicize its ties with Boeing or Microsoft.
6. Endowment. $500 million in the bank tends to help support a strong reputation.
Of the six options above, most colleges and universities will likely have the best success with strategies that focus on image-building and/or co-branding because these two options are generally the least expensive and most immediate. They are, however, also the most transient and easy to duplicate by your competitors. A true, long-lasting reputation can take generations to build and should involve as many of these six options as possible.
GETTING THE WORD OUT: USING AN ENRICHED MEDIA MIX
A year ago in QuickTakes I outlined the components of an enriched media mix (see below). Because that outline is so useful (and is mentioned in the above snippet), I wanted to update it and present it again. Like last time, I want to remind you that an enriched media mix works best when it is used to convey messages that are truly strategic, coordinated, and of interest to your audiences, which in itself can be a big challenge. The revised mix includes:
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Traditional media: (advertising)
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Constituent relations:
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Interactive media:
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Direct marketing:
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| Publications including variable digital printing | Sponsorships and collaborations |
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Media work:
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Facilities and environmentals:
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| Word-of-mouth | Internal relations |
In this list, the one that probably needs some explanation is "wild art." Wild art describes a photograph and caption (not story) that is visually dynamic and is released to the media. Media will often pick up the wild art and run with it because it tells a universal story.
PARTICIPATE IN OUR NATIONAL SURVEY OF RECRUITING & MARKETING TRENDS & PRACTICES
Every year or so we update our national survey on recruiting and marketing. If you have a few minutes, please give the survey a look. As an incentive, everyone who completes the survey will get a copy of the results. In addition, we will randomly choose 10 people who complete the survey to receive a signed copy of Thinking Outside the Box. Contact Stamats for a copy of this survey .
STAMATS WEB ACCELERATOR POWERED BY ESTRADA
Check out Web Accelerator Demo to view a demonstration of a new Web content management solution we are offering in conjunction with Estrada. It's pretty amazing and the 45-minute demo is well worth your time if the Web plays a role in your overall integrated marketing strategy. If you would like to discuss the Web Accelerator further, please contact Pat Collins at pat.collins@stamats.com.
STAMATS SEMINARS SERIES
Generating
Successful Recruiting and Marketing Strategies for Graduate and Professional
Schools
When: June 16-18
Where: New Orleans, LA
REGISTER
NOW!
Generating
Successful Integrated Marketing and Branding Strategies for Colleges & Universities
When: August 11-13
Where: Washington, DC
REGISTER
NOW!
TeensTALK Conference
(Pre-NACAC)
When: September 25
Where: Salt Lake City, UT
STAMATS SEMINARS ON YOUR CAMPUS
If you are interested in having a one- or two-day customized seminar or workshop on your campus, we would be glad to put together a program for you. We have seminars available on a wide array of topics related to student recruiting, institutional marketing, image-enhancement strategies, branding, publications, and interactive media including Web strategies, demographic trends, and others.
For information on any of our seminars, please contact Suzanne Schloss at info@stamats.com.
JOB OPENINGS
Southwestern College
Director of Admission
Southwestern College, a private comprehensive college affiliated with the United
Methodist Church, seeks a director of admission. Southwestern features laptop
learning in a wireless networking environment. With beautiful facilities, a
hilly and wooded campus, strong faculty, vigorous leadership, and flagship academic
programs of high quality, SC is poised for continuing growth. Minimum qualifications
include a bachelor's degree and five years of progressively responsible admission
experience. Send application letter, resume, and names of three references to
Steve Wilke, Vice President for Enrollment Management, 100 College Street, Winfield,
KS 67156, or swilke@sckans.edu. Visit
Southwestern on the Web at www.sckans.edu.
EOE
Valparaiso University School of
Law
Director of Admissions - Recruitment
The Valparaiso University School of Law is seeking a creative, energetic individual
to serve as Director of Admissions - Recruitment. As the external affairs officer
for admissions, the Director is responsible for creating and implementing programs
that generate the requisite quantity and quality of inquiries, applicants, and
matriculants. To apply, submit a resume, a cover letter detailing your qualifications
and your approach to relationship marketing, and the names and contact information
for three references to: Associate Dean Curtis Cichowski, Valparaiso University
School of Law, Valparaiso, IN 46383.
Meredith College
Director of Marketing and Communications
Meredith College is currently seeking applicants for the Director of Marketing
and Communications position. The Director of Marketing and Communications reports
to the President of the College and is responsible for designing, implementing,
and managing comprehensive integrated marketing programs that support enrollment
goals, provide information, and enhance College visibility, including: *Strategic
external and internal marketing *Public relations and information *Media relations
*Publications, advertising, and Web site development *Crisis communications
*Marketing support of enrollment activities, alumnae activities, development,
and academic programs. Minimum qualifications: A Bachelor's degree in marketing,
communications or related field; progressive experience in marketing management,
preferably in higher education marketing and communications. To apply, letter
and resume with salary expectations required. Send by May 15, 2002 to: Office
of the President, Meredith College, 3800 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC 27607,
fax: 919-760-2838.
If you have a short position description (100 words or less) you would like posted, please forward it on to info@stamats.com. There is no charge for this service. Job listings available online at Higher Educations Careers.
COPYRIGHT, DISTRIBUTION, AND PERMISSION
Stamats QuickTakes is published by Stamats and is distributed to our clients and colleagues in higher education at no charge. Contents (c) 2002 by Stamats. Please feel free to forward copies of Stamats QuickTakes in its entirety to colleagues. Visit QuickTakes for past issues.
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