The Champion Redux

In this issue

• ON STRATEGY: THE CHAMPION REDUX
• CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NACAC WINNERS!
• SITE MAINTENANCE: WHO ARE YOUR WEB AUTHORS
• STAMATS AND UCDA DESIGN COMPETITION

GENERATING SUCCESSFUL INTERACTIVE MEDIA STRATEGIES CONFERENCE

Still time to register…

When: November 3-5
Where: Boston, MA
Cost: $399 (plus $150 for optional preconference)
Register at www.stamats.com

ON STRATEGY: THE CHAMPION REDUX

A number of years ago we briefly discussed the qualities and characteristics of a successful initiative champion. Over the last several months, however, I have seen a number of strategic planning, marketing planning, and brand planning efforts struggle because the champion was ill-chosen or the role of the champion was not fully understood. With an eye toward offering a bit more clarity, I wanted to revisit the idea of a champion.

As we intuitively know, most successful efforts and enterprises have at their core, a champion, the person who has the greatest vision for and understanding of the importance of the endeavor that is about to be undertaken. In a full sense, the champion is the team's leader, the catalyst, and the engine.

By definition, strong marketing champions:

• Are committed personally and professionally to the endeavor
• Understand the larger process or activity that is being undertaken
• Are trusted by the campus community and the president
• Are powerful
• Are keenly interested in building and working through the planning or action team

Let's expand these bullet points.

First, the champion must be fully committed to the process at hand. As part of this commitment, the champion must have the time to accomplish the task. It is important to understand this point. At most institutions, champions are often the "go to" people; the people that get things done. As a result, there is a powerful temptation to keep heaping tasks on them until they wither underneath the burden. Not only does this reduce their overall effectiveness, but it imperils the larger project that is being undertaken.

Second, the champion must have a general and conceptual understanding of what is happening and why. If you are writing an integrated marketing plan, this person must understand integrated marketing. If you are writing a strategic plan, this person must understand strategic planning. If you are evaluating and perhaps changing your organizational structure, this person must understand organizational design.

There is another important point here: While this person must have a general understanding, he or she does not necessarily need to have a technical understanding. Champions work at altitude. They have the big picture of where they are and where they are going.

Third, the champion must be trusted by the larger campus community. Issues involving change whether it is marketing or strategic planning or brand-building, make people and the organizations they inhabit nervous. Any change initiative often involves issues related to budget, staffing, and even performance. Tensions may sometimes run high. A basic level of trust is essential.

Fourth, the champion must have power. As you might think, there is no such thing as a weak champion. If the champion is given responsibility for leading an initiative, then he or she should be given authority to get the job done. It is always a mistake to designate someone who is not a senior player as champion. They typically do not have the experience, the clout, or the staying-power. And once again, the initiative may be imperiled.

Finally, because champions work best through teams, the champion must be a team builder. As team-builder, the champion must:

• Have a clear sense of the overall project goal(s)
• Maintain a sense of urgency and direction
• Select team members by skills and skill potential, not personality. Skills of special value include technical and functional, problem-solving, and interpersonal
• Set up clear rules of behavior. The most critical rules pertain to attendance, discussion, confidentiality, constructive confrontation, and contributions
• Challenge the group regularly with fresh ideas
• Reward the team periodically

A word about power

I don't want to belabor the point, but I do want to repeat it. The champion must be powerful. There is a temptation—often a very strong one—to put the assistant of this or that in charge. This is almost always a mistake. Major initiatives cannot be led from below. If what you are doing does not warrant a true champion, you should rethink your overall strategy.

The champion needs a sponsor

Perhaps the most interesting thing I have learned about successful champions over the past few years is that they all have a sponsor, someone in the organization who is more powerful than they are and is willing to use that power to move things along. Like the champion, the sponsor must be personally committed to the success of the undertaking. However, the champion is seldom involved in the day-to-day. In almost all cases the sponsor is someone more senior in the organization than the champion. In almost all cases, in fact, the sponsor is the president.

The sponsor clears the way. The sponsor lends political support. The sponsor makes tough decisions that are above the pay grade of the champion. The sponsor is an advocate. But the sponsor is not a meddler.

Right now we are working with a client on a planning project. This project has a good champion who understands what needs to be done and how to do it. The champion has assembled and built a good team. But the champion is an orphan. With great hoopla the champion was appointed. But after that appointment the president stepped back and basically said, "You're on your own. Good luck." The president refuses to use his office to help the champion overcome obstacles and roadblocks that are in place. As a result, the effort is having a difficult time getting traction.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NACAC WINNERS!

Marc Harding, Iowa State University: Leather jacket
Lindsay Sooy, Heidelberg College: Leather jacket
Randy Beachy, Bethel College (IN): Leather jacket
Chris Markle, Susquehanna University: Home audio system
Kevin McIntyre, Immaculata University: DVD player
Petra Knox, Kean College: DVD player
Susan Kassab, Saint Joseph's University: DVD player
Lisa Wenner, Gannon University: "Heavenly Hog" vase
John Huegel, UW-Milwaukee: "Hog Wild" vase

Thank you for joining us at our booth in Milwaukee this year… We'll see you next year in Tampa (Booth #216)!

SITE MAINTENANCE: WHO ARE YOUR WEB AUTHORS
by Eric Hodgson, Client Executive

We all know that a college or university's Web presence has become essential in marketing to external audiences and communicating with internal audiences. As more and more institutions rely on content management tools to help control the day-to-day changes in content, many of the people assigned to this task may not fit the criteria required to make your Web site a success.

What are the criteria?

Here are some starting points:

• Content Ownership. When selecting authors from different departments to help with content development and maintenance, make sure these people have a pulse on the content they need to manage. If not, revisions will need to go through several approvals or be shuffled to the bottom of the stack of that person's responsibilities
• Web Site Sophistication. Without understanding why the institution's Web site exists, authors will struggle to understand why and how often content needs to change on the site. Share the strategic goals, site architecture, and content management principles with your authors
• Ability to Learn New Software. The marketplace is filled with complex, powerful content management solutions. Many tout an easy authoring interface, requiring no experience in HTML. Although this is true, authors must still be able to navigate through the system to ensure content is updated easily. If they can't learn the tool, they won't be proactive
• Go-getter Attitude. Every job classified ad asks for it. Common sense tells us that someone excited about their job will perform better. Content management is a new concept to many institutions, and the authors you select, especially in the beginning, will set the pace for other authors across departments

These principles—and many, many more—will be shared during my pre-conference session at this year's Stamats Interactive Media Conference. Please plan to join us on November 3-5 in Boston, Massachusetts. Register online at www.stamats.com or call Suzanne Schloss at 800-553-8878 x5104.

And, please contact me with any questions regarding content management (eric.hodgson@stamats.com).

STAMATS AND UCDA DESIGN COMPETITION

Graphic design students can now find out if they have what it takes to be a graphic designer for a college or university. Stamats and UCDA are co-sponsoring a design competition for undergraduate and graduate design students across the country. To compete, students (or student teams) are asked to design a recruiting publication or Web site that would attract students to a real or fictitious college or university.

The challenge? To find the right combination of words and images, the right "look" or creative approach that will speak to 17-year-old prospective students and their parents and persuade them to attend the student competitors' institutions—the same challenge college and university designers, as well as a host of higher education consulting firms, face everyday. The competition will expose students to the world of higher education marketing and give them the opportunity to put real work on their resumes and in their design books.

Students will compete for cash prizes and UCDA student memberships. First-place winners will also receive complimentary UCDA conference registration and an additional $1,200 in travel expenses to attend the 35th Annual Conference in San Diego, CA in 2005, where their work will be displayed alongside other college pros.

For more information about the competition, visit: http://ucda.com/.

COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED MARKETING WORKBOOK

An Integrated Marketing Workbook for Colleges and Universities, authored by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, is now available from Strategy Publishing.

Written for college presidents, administrators, and faculty who are interested in how integrated can help them more effectively build an image, recruit students, and raise dollars, the book begins by exploring such questions as:

• How do I know if integrated marketing is right for our institution?
• What is the relationship between integrated marketing, integrated marketing communications, brand marketing, and strategic planning?
• How can I build internal support for integrated marketing on my campus?
• How long will it take to develop a plan and how much will it cost?

It outlines a step-by-step integrated marketing planning process that will move a planning team from initial goal creation through the major components of a marketing plan including audience identification, the definition of target geographies, the creation of vivid descriptors, and the completion of integrated marketing action plans.

Designed as a workbook—each chapter concludes with a series of discussion points and questions that will reinforce key themes and clarify decisions—the book contains the most comprehensive integrated marketing checklist ever published. In addition, budgeting is treated in-depth.

The book is available from Strategy Publishing at www.strategypublishing.com.