HOW you market is as important as WHAT you market
The truly enlightened higher education marketers and branders are embracing the idea that HOW you promote your brand is as important as what you are marketing. Most of us have read about the Wilkes University campaign which is now a couple years old and still getting attention from major media outlets including another article last week in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Wilkes strategy is designed to communicate the concept of mentoring; one-on-one relationships. They do this so successfully by using an ad campaign developed by a fantastic agency, 160over90, that speaks directly to the University's admitted applicants. As part of the campaign, a Wilkes admitted student might see their name on a kiosk in the mall along with a message personalized for them.
Another great example reinforcing the idea that "you are how you market" comes from Dr. Lisa A. Rossbacher, President of Southern Polytechnic State University, in Marietta, GA. She and her team are going to be presenting an advanced marketing session at this year's AMA Symposium about the huge increases in applications they have generated in the last couple years. They did not increase their marketing budget at all....they just put all their money online and into electronic marketing tools; the change was designed to reinforce their brand as a "techie" type institution.
Message to take home? Every institution needs to find their message...that core differential advantage that you want to deliver to your key target audiences. Once you find it, the manner in which you deliver it is a very important part of the equation. Don't forget to consider your brand when you are deciding on the HOW of your marketing strategy.