Questions to Gauge Your Brand Readiness

In this issue

• ON STRATEGY: QUESTIONS TO GAUGE YOUR BRAND AWARENESS
• THE WEB SITE: YOUR INSTITUTION'S BEST FRIEND
• STAMATS TAGLINE REPOSITORY

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR STAMATS ANNUAL STRATEGIC INTEGRATED MARKETING CONFERENCE, JULY 25-28 IN CHICAGO!

Join us for our annual Strategic Integrated Marketing Conference where you will increase your knowledge and learn how some of your peers have been successful. Plus you will have the added bonus of two great keynote presenters, Jack Trout and Arthur Levine!

Please go here for more details.

ON STRATEGY: QUESTIONS TO GAUGE YOUR BRAND READINESS

OK, you've been asked, or will ask someone, to write a brand marketing plan for you. Before you rush to lay ink on paper, or fingers on keys, it is critically important to outline 10 questions that must be asked…and answered, before the actual planning process begins.

Dick Damrow, Vice President for Marketing Resources at Stamats, collaborated on a set of questions that should help get any brand communication planning process off to a great start.

1. Do you have top-level commitment for creating a brand marketing plan?
   It will take resources, time, and money so it helps to have buy-in at the top. The best plan building champion is someone who has the power and authority to allocate resources in order to get things done! Identify who that is before you get going.
   
2. How long will the brand marketing plan run? Dick and I agree that you need to commit to at least three years, and preferably five. Anything less and things just won't have enough time to work. Also, a long-term commitment gets you away from the "let's do a one-time blast" approach to brand awareness building that is largely ineffectual.
   
   
3. How much money do we have to spend? Actually, the term is "invest," not "spend." And, as important as the amount is the length of the commitment (see above). You might want to consider "front-loading" the investment (based upon the premise that it takes more to establish awareness of a brand promise than to sustain it).

   And, not to sidestep the question, the investment will depend on where your institution is starting in the brand marketing process. If you have little or no brand awareness and want to become nationally known, it will take a larger investment than if you have less grandiose goals.

4. Have we identified a brand promise that is important, believable, and distinctive? In other words, have you developed and tested a singular brand promise that you know for certain will be valued by your most important audiences? In addition, has this brand promise been "developed" in a comprehensive brand portfolio that includes:
   
   • Brand promise
   • Brand rationale
   • Brand attributes
   • Tagline
   • Graphic identity
   • Elevator speech

   And don't minimize the importance of "living" the brand promise. The quickest path to failure of any brand communication plan is to neglect to live up to the expectations that your brand promise promises. If you say you do this or offer that, be sure that you deliver…without fail.

5. Do we have a short, prioritized list of target audiences? Because most schools do not have enough money to develop a brand position in the minds and hearts of each and every target audience, it is essential that the list of audiences be short and prioritized. When evaluating the importance of a particular audience, ask yourself how much impact this audience will have on your ability to achieve your institutional vision and help you reach your overall goals.
   
   
6. Have we conducted relevant research to determine how these audiences currently perceive and value us? If you don't know how you are currently perceived, how can you know where to start your brand-building efforts? In addition, solid audience research will establish an important initial baseline against which to measure progress. Finally, research will give you important insights into the media habits and preferences of your target audiences.
   
   
7. What is the target geography? This question is a bit tricky to answer because within your overall target geography (sometimes called primary and secondary markets) you are also looking at a test market or two with some controls. In an ideal scenario, you launch some of your brand messages in smaller test markets to see how they perform against the control markets before you commit to a larger rollout.
   
   
8. How should we apportion the dollars across target audiences? The variables to consider are reach, frequency, and geography. How widespread do you want your message heard, how many times do you want your target audiences to hear your message, and where, location-wise, do you want that message to be heard the loudest? Assuming you plan to use traditional media to "communicate your promise" if you cannot achieve enough reach and frequency in your target markets, you target fewer markets.
   
   
9. Which media channels should we use? From a technical perspective, we can look at a number of channels to build your brand awareness, including:

   a. Special events
   b. Publicity
   c. Promotion
   d. Co-branding
   e. Sponsorships
   f. Media relations
   g. Advertising

   Rather than getting hung up on single channels, Dick believes that it is better to consider a mix of paid media (where you control the timing and the message) vs. earned media (where you enjoy increased credibility but are at the mercy of the media and target market receptivity). Most experts, especially those who do not make their living selling advertising, believe that earned media builds the brand but that paid media can help sustain it.
   
   
   For a third-party endorsement of this thinking, read The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR by Al and Laura Ries. Al is a long-time advertising veteran credited by many as one of the co-creators of the concept of positioning.

   In planning a brand marketing campaign, it is important to remember that direct media (postal mail, email, and telephone) should support the brand promise, but are not an effective way to establish the brand promise.

10. How will we evaluate whether or not the plan is a success? The only way to evaluate the effectiveness of your brand communication strategy is to repeat the research that helped you identify initial baseline awareness. Dick offers a couple of key reminders here. First, at the outset of the campaign, as part of the creative brief, you establish your brand communication goals. Without that brief, the goals will be vague. And second, you need to be careful about using awareness-building strategies and then being held accountable for response, like in-bound phone calls, Web traffic, inquiries, applications, et al.

    Too often, inexperienced marketers use direct marketing metrics to evaluate the success of a brand marketing program. That is why you have to declare—in advance—if you seek to influence attitudes (perceptions) or action (response) and measure your results accordingly.

THE WEB SITE: YOUR INSTITUTION'S BEST FRIEND
By Eric Hodgson, Client Consultant

Every college and university faces the daily task of keeping its Web site up to date, whether it be the latest campaign information, news releases, events, or changes in the institution. But what is often ignored is the question: To what actions is my Web site driving audiences toward?

As you visit Web sites outside of higher education, what you may find is that the sites you love, or at least return to, promote loyalty. Amazon.com is the resource to buy books. CNN.com provides you the best news. Ebay.com is where you find or sell that rare item. You keep coming back because you can rely on these sites. You may visit other Web sites, but always return to the tried and true. How does your site affect visitors?

At Stamats, we see four key practices in selling audiences on your institution through the Web:

• Integrate: By its nature, the Web is a visitor-driven medium. As you develop publications, advertising, and e-mail strategies, the Web becomes the hub for your key institutional messages and actions. Use the Web as the source for audiences to complete many of their tasks, and you will find other media accomplishing that drive through the decision-making process, whether that be enrolling, returning, or donating
• Make it easy: Content on a Web site is very similar to billboard advertising. A visitor decides to stay on a Web site through brief encounters. They may know what they want to do on the site, but if it is not obvious you may lose them. Understand what those key actions are for your visitors, then move those actions to the top of the site
• Stay reliable: Throughout the Web site, information must be up-to-date and audience-focused. With the thousands of pages on your Web site, it only takes one mistake to change the mind of visitors. This is an institutional effort; with a strong site architecture and an understanding of key content principles, everyone can be on the same page
• Follow up: With so many Web-based tools out there to automate processes, it is a bit ironic that what sells your institution is personal attention. College choice is an emotional decision in the end. Supporting the institution is very personal. Once actions are completed on the Web site, use human interaction to both acknowledge and reward

If your institution has not made a recent major investment on its Web site, remember that this site may be the first connection with your institution for a high school junior or senior. It may be the key communication vehicle with a prospective student from out-of-state. Your Web site may be the difference between an online donation or no donation at all. Reliability leads to loyalty.

If you would like to discuss your Web strategies or any points in this article, please give Eric Hodgson a call (800.553.8878 ext. 5131) or drop him an e-mail (eric.hodgson@stamats.com). And don't forget to sign up for the three-part online seminar series on Interactive Media starting April 28 at www.stamats.com/events/seminars.

STAMATS TAGLINE REPOSITORY

Colleges and universities are still in the throes of tagline development. While I have serious reservations about taglines, especially taglines that are developed without an overarching strategy, Stamats has created a tagline repository for clients and friends. The repository has nearly 400 tags from different colleges and universities. Check out the site to see what is already taken and add yours. The site can be found at: www.stamats.com/resources/taglinerespository.

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.

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:

• How to Make a Brand Promise That Matters to Your Key Audiences
• Communicating Your Brand Promise Effectively
• Living Your Brand Promise
• Strengthening Your Brand Promise

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 block-buster brand for your school, then reading Building a Brand That Matters is an essential first step.

STAMATS ONLINE SEMINARS

Thursday, April 28th, from 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. CDT

Let's Get Personal: Using Personalization to Court Key Audiences
Presented by Karen Hildebrand

When communicating with key audiences, it used to be impressive to say "Dear Joe Smith" rather than "Dear Sir" or "Dear valued customer" even though the message content was exactly the same to each recipient. It was impressive because the message was addressed to an individual, not an attribute. But now, that level of personalization is expected and recipients are starting to tune out those messages just like the others. So how do we take it up a notch and go from personalized to personal and relevant? We build relationships. We ask questions. We court individuals through ongoing communications based on their personal interests—just a few pieces of information can go a long way.

This is the first session of a special three-part online seminar series on interactive media practices designed for admissions and marketing professionals at colleges and universities, Practical Applications in an Interactive World.

The second session, Search Engine Optimization & Advertising, will be Thursday, May 5 from 1:30-3:00 PM CDT. Scott Hall will discuss how to optimize your site successfully, pay-per-click advertising, and the pros and cons of using aggregator sites to boost your rankings.

Eric Hodgson will present the third session, Maintaining Your Web Site, on Thursday, May 12 from 1:30-3:00 PM CDT. During his presentation, Eric will cover the latest models and best practices in higher education to support and maintain the content on and quality of your Web site.

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.

Cost: $249 for each individual session or $600 when you register for all three.

Click here to register for one, two, or all three sessions.

STAMATS' ANNUAL STRATEGIC INTEGRATED MARKETING CONFERENCE JULY 25-28 IN CHICAGO

This summer Stamats will host an outstanding conference that focuses entirely on integrated marketing for colleges and universities. Some of the more than 20 sessions include:

• Developing an Integrated Marketing Plan
• Integrated Aspects of Fundraising
• How to Build a "Sticky" Web Site: Integrate, Innovate, and Interact
• TeensTALK™
• Building a Brand That Matters

In addition, we will have two special keynote presentations:

• Jack Trout, president of Trout & Partners, has authored more than 10 books on brand marketing
• Arthur Levine, president and Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University

It promises to be an exceptional event. Please make your reservations early.

Jack Trout

Instrumental in developing the vital approach to marketing known as "positioning," he is responsible for some of the freshest ideas to be introduced into marketing thinking in the last several decades.

Jack Trout is president of Trout & Partners, one of the most prestigious marketing firms with headquarters in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, USA and offices in 13 countries. Jack Trout manages and supervises a global network of experts that apply his concepts and develop his methodology around the world. The firm has done work for AT&T, IBM, Burger King, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Merck, Lotus, Ericsson, Tetra Pak, Repsol, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Southwest Airlines and other Fortune 500 companies.

Jack Trout started his business career in the advertising department of General Electric. From there he went on to become a divisional advertising manager at Uniroyal. Then he joined Al Ries in the advertising agency and marketing strategy firm where they worked together for over twenty-six years.

His latest book Trout on Strategy is Trout's best advice on the subject of good and bad strategy. If you don't have the right strategy, you're toast.

Arthur Levine

Arthur Levine is President and Professor of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He received his bachelor's degree from Brandeis University and his Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. Prior to Teachers College, he served as Chair of the Higher Education program and Chair of the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mr. Levine is the author of dozens of articles and reviews. His most recent book is When Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Student (with Jeanette S. Cureton.) An advocate of improving teacher quality and enhancing the use of technology in higher education, Mr. Levine's numerous opinion editorials appear in such publications as The New York Times; The Los Angeles Times; The Wall Street Journal; The Chronicle of Higher Education.

He has served as consultant to more than 250 colleges and universities, and currently sits on the Boards of Blackboard, Inc., and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu). Mr. Levine was also President of Bradford College (1982-1989) and named 1999-2001 Carnegie Fellow, formerly Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Foundation and Carnegie Council for Policy Studies in Higher Education (1975-1982).

Other presenters include: Dr. Robert A. Sevier, Senior Vice President; Eric Sickler, Principal Consultant; Chuck Reed, VP of Client Services; Kari Kovar, Senior Client Consultant; Scott Lomas, Principal Consultant; Eric Hodgson, Client Consultant; Karen Hildebrand, Direct Marketing Manager; Sabra Fiala, Direct Marketing Executive; Ann Oleson, Senior Client Consultant

Cost:
$449 - Tuesday, July 26 through Thursday, July 28 - General conference
(an additional $149 - Monday, July 25 - Optional preconference session)

Plus, every attendee will receive a copy of Jack Trout's latest book, Trout on Strategy!

Register today at www.stamats.com/events/seminars!