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Vol. 8, no. 15 Stamats QuickTakes™ Insights into Leadership, Strategy, and Integrated Marketing for Colleges and Universities by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President at Stamats, Inc. (bob.sevier@stamats.com) NEW CLIENTS
Job listings available online at Higher Education Careers. If you have a short position description (100 words or less) you would like posted, please forward it to brandy.huseman@stamats.com. There is no charge for this service. 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) 2005 by Stamats, Inc. Please forward copies of Stamats QuickTakes™ in its
entirety to colleagues. Visit www.stamats.com/resources |
Creating a Culture of Engagement In this issue
UPCOMING ONLINE SEMINAR—Marketing Strategies for Two-Year Schools Please make plans to join us for our next online seminar: Marketing Strategies for Two-Year Institutions. It will be held September 15, 2005 from 1:30-3:00 PM CDT. Please go here for more details. MAKE PLANS TO ATTEND THE 10TH ANNUAL GENERATING SUCCESSFUL INTERACTIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES Join us for our 10th Annual Generating Successful Interactive Marketing Strategies Conference where you will increase your knowledge and learn how some of your peers have been successful. You will get to hear presenters from JibJab, Chat University, WebSideStory, Target X, and more. Please go here for more details. STAMATS 5TH ANNUAL PRESIDENTS' INSTITUTE ON STRATEGY AND INTEGRATED MARKETING Designed specifically for presidents, the Stamats 5th Annual Presidents' Institute on Strategy and Integrated Marketing will feature a number of the nation's best thinkers and practitioners. We have taken the "best" sessions from previous conferences, added sessions suggested by recent attendees, and created an unparalleled blend of theory and practice. Plus you will hear two great keynote speakers: Ronald Ehrenberg, author of Tuition Rising: Why College Costs So Much and William Massy, author of Planning Models for Colleges and Universities. Please go here for more details. ON STRATEGY: CREATING A CULTURE OF ENGAGEMENT Successful integrated marketing and brand marketing plans and strategies all begin with a process that engages the campus, especially faculty. While I do not believe that everyone on campus will engage, I do believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to engage. To help, I want to briefly touch on a handful of "understandings" that will help create a culture of engagement. Before we begin let me offer two quick homilies. First and foremost, there must be desire for engagement on the part of the senior leadership team. Often we speak of engaging others because it is PC, but in reality we are not really interested in their involvement because either we have a clear understanding of what we want to do or we want to save time. This may appear efficient, but it is often extremely destructive. Keeping the process closely held will dramatically lessen ownership and heighten mistrust. Once the element of trust is lost it is very, very difficult to again attain. Furthermore, while engaging the campus may take longer at the early stage of an integrated marketing or brand marketing project, it will save a great deal of time at the implementation stage. OK, let's build a culture of engagement. First, the campus community must understand, generally, why you are proceeding with a specific activity. Why, for example, is this a good time to write an integrated marketing or brand marketing plan? To what need or opportunity are we (the campus) responding? Why is a response necessary, and why now? What would happen if we didn't act? Take the time to make the case for marketing or brand marketing. Chances are the angst you are feeling is also felt by others. Channel this angst. Second, help the campus, especially campus leaders, understand the process or model you are using. There is comfort in structure and people like to know that you are using a time-tested process. While there are lots of solid models to consider, we have seen most of them change over the past couple of years in a handful of important ways:
We will touch on some of these points later in this article. Third, clarify the role of faculty and staff in the process. Remind them to think institutionally, and not just individually or as a department. While the past is important, the focus must be on the future. At the same time, manage their expectations. While their input is sought, care must be taken not to convey that they are in control of the outcomes. Fourth, build confidence in the process. Show how you are balancing internal input with external input. Stress the use of timely, defendable, inferential research. Aggressively gather valid demographic, economic, and other marketplace data. At the same time, communicate continually about the progress you are making. Fifth, give the campus access to the process. Be open and overt. Aggressively seek their involvement through a variety of channels including meetings, conversations, surveys, focus groups, e-mail, and others. Use faculty leadership to involve recalcitrant faculty. Remember to keep confidential information confidential and never accept information and insights from anonymous sources. It is almost always corrupt. Next, clarify the campus' role building and sustaining the marketing or brand strategy. Help people understand what is expected of them. Acquaint them with the resources that are available. Offer training. And where allowable, adjust the reward system. Finally, show outcomes. Is the brand promise changing the campus? Did the plan or strategy move the needle? Did they increase the flow of resources to the institution? All in all, was it a good use of everyone's time? Remember, you will likely be involving these same people in future plans so affirm their involvement this time around. Sun, Sand, and Stamats The freedom of sun and sand doesn't have to stop when you leave NACAC 2005. Stop by Booth 216 to learn how Stamats can help you find freedom throughout the year with time- and stress-saving marketing solutions for recruitment, advancement, and more. We'll even bring a little sun and sand to you—stop by for a photographic memento to remember Stamats and your time in Tampa. Because even after you're home again, you'll always remember the fun of Florida…and you'll always have the freedom of Stamats. THE 2004-2005 1ST ANNUAL STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION The Stamats, Inc. and University & College Designers Association 2004-2005 1st Annual Student Design Competition is complete, and overall the quality of entries was highly impressive. Entries were submitted from undergraduate and graduate students at colleges, universities, and art schools across the country. The top three submissions in the 2004-2005 competition were: 1st Place -- Ben Schlitter, Fort Hays State University The top three submissions, as well as many others, were unanimously regarded as professional-quality work. The winning entry—a Web site design submitted by Ben Schlitter, a graduate student at Fort Hays State University in Kansas—combined an innovative, clean, and polished interface with smart navigation and a level of intricate detail that made it hard for the judges to look away. It was very captivating and imaginative work. Judging for the 2004-2005 competition was conducted by a committee of writers, graphic and interactive media designers at Stamats. Entries were judged on six criteria: initial impact; usability (Web), readability (print); target market appropriateness; quality of detail; originality of design; originality of concept. Each entry was given a score of 1-5 on each criterion, from each judge. The point totals were then tallied, giving each entry a total score. Go to www.stamats.com to view the winning entries. FREE INTEGRATED MARKETING SCORECARD AVAILABLE ON WEB The IM Scorecard allows you to complete a quick self-evaluation of your current integrated marketing strategy. The 17 questions address the major components of an integrated marketing effort and the combined score (ranging from 0 to 100) will give you an approximate sense of how things are working. The Scorecard is balance of serious (it really does work) and a little bit of fun. So, take five minutes (really, only five minutes), and complete the Scorecard. When you are done, if you feel like you might need a little help, there's an option for contacting us directly about your integrated marketing needs. You can access the Scorecard directly from the Stamats Web page (Stamats.com),
or you can go directly to www.stamats.com/scorecard.
Building a Brand That Matters: Helping Colleges and Universities Capitalize on the Four Essential Elements of a Block-Buster Brand, authored by Dr. Robert A. Sevier, is available from Strategy Publishing at www.strategypublishing.com. The premise of the book is simple. If you don't own a place in the minds of prospective students and donors, they will not enroll in your classes or donate money. In today's market, brands are more important than ever. Building a Brand That Matters begins by examining brand marketing and explores how it relates to integrated marketing and strategic planning. The book then moves on to present ideas for winning internal buy-in for the brand marketing process. The core of the book addresses the four-step process for building a valued brand:
The book concludes with budgeting ideas and options. It also contains numerous case studies and examples drawn from public and private, and larger and smaller institutions. If you are interested in unleashing a blockbuster brand for your school, then reading Building a Brand That Matters is an essential first-step. Thursday, September 15, from 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. CDT Marketing Strategies for Two-Year Schools Presented by Julie Haas, Director College Information and Publications, Johnson County Community College and Jim Reilly, Senior Marketing Consultant, Stamats, Inc. Marketing ideas that work well for four-year schools aren't always as successful when applied to two-year schools. Because two-year schools have different audiences, budgets, and geographic scope, different tools are required. This seminar will look at effective ways to market two-year schools, including publicity, media relations, advertising, direct mail, the Web, events, and internal communication. The presentation will cover the following topics:
For more information about the online conference, please contact Brandy Huseman at (800) 553-8878 or brandy.huseman@stamats.com. You can also check out the Stamats Web site at www.stamats.com. Register today at www.krm.com/stamats. Cost: $249 10th Annual Generating Successful Interactive Marketing Strategies Conference - October 11-14, 2005 From blogs to podcasting, today's prospective students and their families are embracing the latest technology in their college search. If you don't stay on top of the trends, your competitors will. How can you maximize your recruitment efforts through interactive marketing strategies? The folks at Stamats and our nationally recognized guest speakers want to show you how. I hope you can join us to learn how you can put interactive direct marketing strategies to work for your institution. Where: Cost:
Register today at www.stamats.com/events/seminars! Stamats 5th Annual Presidents' Institute on Strategy and Integrated Marketing - November 1-3, 2005 Designed specifically for presidents*, the Stamats 5th Annual Presidents' Institute on Strategy and Integrated Marketing will feature a number of the nation's "best" sessions from previous conferences, added sessions suggested by recent attendees, and created an unparalleled blend of theory and practice. Topics include:
In addition we have two special keynote speakers:
Ronald G. Ehrenberg is the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics at Cornell University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI). The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies (USA) Inc. and the TIAA-CREF Institute fund CHERI. From July 1995 to June 1998, he served as Cornell's Vice President for Academic Programs, Planning and Budgeting. He received his BA in mathematics from Harpur College (SUNY Binghamton) and his PhD in economics from Northwestern University. Ehrenberg is author or coauthor of over 120 articles and of 20 books, including Tuition Rising: Why College Costs So Much (Harvard University Press, 2000 (paperback edition, 2002)), Governing Academia (Cornell University Press, 2004), Science and the University (University of Wisconsin Press, forthcoming) and What's Happening to Public Higher Education (ACE/Praeger, forthcoming). He currently chairs the National Research Council's Board on Higher Education and the Workforce and recently chaired the AAUP Committees on Retirement and on the Economic Status of the Profession and served on the NACUBO Endowment Study Advisory Committee. He also is past president and fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, a National Associate of the National Academies, a member of the National Academy of Education and a member of the National Academy of Social Insurance. Ehrenberg has served as a consultant to faculty and administrative groups and trustees at numerous colleges and universities about issues relating to tuition and financial aid policies, academic programs, faculty compensation policies, faculty retirement policies and other budgetary and planning issues.
Dr. Massy is president of The Jackson Hole Higher Education Group, Inc., and an emeritus professor at Stanford University. He earned tenure as Professor of Business Administration, then moved to Stanford's central administration as Vice Provost for Research and later Vice President for Business and Finance. In 1987 he became a professor of higher education and founded the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research where he worked on education quality, resource allocation, finance, and mathematical modeling of universities. His book with David Hopkins, Planning Models for Colleges and Universities, received the Operations Research Society of America's Frederick W. Lanchester Prize for 1981, and in 1995 he received the Society for College and University Planning's annual career award for outstanding contributions to college and university planning. In 1996 he published Resource Allocation in Higher Education, which introduced the idea of "value responsibility budgeting." His most recent book, Honoring the Trust: Quality and Cost Containment in Higher Education, published in February 2003, presents an action plan for boosting quality without increases in spending. Dr. Massy holds a Ph.D. in economics and MS in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS from Yale University. Where: Cost: To register, call 800/553-8878 and ask for Brandy at ext. 2213 or online at www.stamats.com/events/seminars *This conference is intended specifically for presidents of colleges
and universities. Senior staff members are welcome to attend only
if attending along with their president. Thank you for respecting
this decision. |
Register
by September 9, 2005 and receive a complimentary JibJab:
The Early Years DVD to discover how engaging interactive
marketing can be! 
| ABOUT STAMATS Every year more than 100 colleges and universities trust the team of integrated marketing professionals at Stamats to help them identify, communicate, and keep their brand promises. Stamats services include research, consulting, publications, interactive media, search solutions, and advertising. Stamats. Promises kept. |