Michigan fans... what do you think about this? And Emily, check out University of Georgia at #3!
-- Teresa
August 2008 Archives
Ever since the late 90s, when electronic opportunities began to take over our lives, I have been saying "print is not dead." Clearly, in the last couple years, marketers have had to learn a lot of stuff that we would have sworn would never interest us; geeky computer stuff. And, that is especially true for high-ed marketers, many of whom are targeting the youth demographic.
But some want to go so far as to eliminate more traditional forms of communications...and I think that's really dangerous. The reason for the temptation is obvious. "Can't we just REPLACE our viewbook with some online tool or content?" Well, no...that would be too easy, you see. I think it's fair to say our lives are getting LESS easy or rather MORE complicated. And, trade-offs such as these are simply not realistic.
So, there's this article today called "Even Younger Demographics Prefer Direct Mail" on ChiefMarketer, which reinforces my feeling that print is actually not dead and probably not even dying. So, hey, I figure I'll blog about an article that reinforces my firm opinion!
The article loosely sites some research (my only criticism), that says that 18-34 year olds harbor "nearly the strongest preference for communication by direct mail." And, their preference for direct mail communication varies significantly by product category. I am sure they probably didn't test high-ed, but would be willing to be it's in the same universe as "over the counter medication," for which 18-34 years old prefer direct mail over electronic forms of communication.
My advice? Don't throw away your collateral materials yet......
The names in this blog have been changed to protect those who might want to be protected after reading this!!!! As I said goodbye to a friend's daughter, "Natasha", who was leaving for college, I decided to take her out for lunch to say goodbye. As we discussed all the details, I noted some interesting and amusing differences between 1986 when I was getting ready for college and 2008.
I asked Natasha if she was worried about her roommate recalling the panic all summer about who I would be stuck with or love... would she be mean, would she be weird, would she be really different from me? She said she wasn't concerned at all because her close friend that she has known since first grade who lives within walking distance would be one of her roommates and the other is a girl that they both picked from Facebook. No more waiting anxiously for the letter to arrive in the mail to find out which stranger would be sharing your room. Now you can hand pick your roommate. Natasha has over 900 Facebook friends many are people from her new college that she has never spoken to before.
As a freshmen, I remember having my papers typed by a woman in the local town while Natasha was busy getting her iMac ready to be at her side at any time. In addition, a 26" flat screen would be making the trip to her dorm room. Especially in the first two years of college, I hardly remember watching TV.
I told her the nightmare of long lines in the bookstore and books being sold out. Natasha said that all her books were already bought online and ready to be picked up. Her schedule is conveniently based on "good" times vs. the actual courses. Natasha said that she will take all the courses she needs by the end of the four years... having big gaps of times between classes was too much of a pain.Her
I remember spending one of my last nights with my high school friends with a case of beer in the woods as we all held on to our last minutes together. What did Natasha do? The Season Premiere of "The Hills" (the reality show following the life of a rich 20something girl in LA) was on that night so in the spirit of the show, Natasha and her best friend put on dresses, went to a nice French restaurant and proceeded to share a bottle of wine (without being carded) and eat steaks.
The anxiety about going away to college is still there along with the fear of homesickness but some of the little things are very different now!!!
-- Dana Edwards
Driving home from the airport yesterday I tuned into NPR and heard a rebroadcast of Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Terry was interviewing one of President Clinton's press secretary, Joe Lockhart. Just to jog your memory, he was the White House Press Secretary during the Clinton impeachment hearings and the Kosovo bombings. The interview was conducted in 2001, but I didn't realize that until the end of the conversation because I was captivated by what Mr. Lockhart was saying.
Regardless of your political preferences, if anyone has ever been tasked with messaging through a crisis, you should be interested in his insight. I found myself living each moment with him as he described it and relating it to my own experiences.
One key takeaway... he describes the need for a sense of humor, the potential for that humor to be misunderstood and his willingness to take that risk. I can empathize with all three parts completely, but I think the overall point is important. You take your eye off of your communications goal once you start to taking the crisis you are handling or your workplace too personally or too seriously. You need an outlet even when you are messaging through the direst of situations and stories. Remember that there is a place and a time for humor, but sometimes humor is what keeps you sane and able to meet the task at hand.
-- Teresa
Today is one of my favorite days of the year. At this moment I am brewing a pot of coffee the stronger the better!!) and I will spend the morning scouring the U.S. News & World Report rankings for 2009. If you are doing the same feel free to post a comment or drop me a line to let me know what you think.
-- Teresa
As I have written before on our blog, I tell my students in almost every class I teach that "you can fight change, invest in change or create change and the only way you are sure to lose is by fighting it." A debate is presently raging within the North Carolina's State Board of Community Colleges concerning the admission and tuition rates of undocumented students within their system (Inside Higher Ed, Aug 18, 2008). While I will not comment on that case specifically, I do believe this discussion brings up some interesting discussion points. Let me begin by asserting that an educated workforce is necessary to the future of the country. Presently our national education rates lag behind most of our "industrialized counterparts." For a really scary commentary on our knowledge base please see Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter by Rick Shenkman.
Second the projected growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. can not be denied (but it can be ignored apparently). I am one of those that believe putting up walls along the border is as effective as thinking a summer gasoline tax "holiday" will solve any of our energy problems. They are both symbolic, marketing based diversions that give the appearance of doing something rather than addressing the bigger issue that is too complicated for many to understand.
Denying access to our college's and universities to the increasingly larger Latino base is short sighted. Rather than blocking education to someone who wants it and it willing to work for it, we should be developing systems that encourage and reward it. (I love "TG's" suggestion in the Inside Higher Ed blog about tying citizenship to degree completion). Let's invest in change and focus on enhancing the education of all of our populace. We will all be better off for it.
-- Tom Hayes
As I have written before on our blog, I tell my students in almost every class I teach that "you can fight change, invest in change or create change and the only way you are sure to lose is by fighting it." A debate is presently raging within the North Carolina's State Board of Community Colleges concerning the admission and tuition rates of undocumented students within their system (Inside Higher Ed, Aug 18, 2008). While I will not comment on that case specifically, I do believe this discussion brings up some interesting discussion points. Let me begin by asserting that an educated workforce is necessary to the future of the country. Presently our national education rates lag behind most of our "industrialized counterparts." For a really scary commentary on our knowledge base please see Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter by Rick Shenkman.
Second the projected growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. can not be denied (but it can be ignored apparently). I am one of those that believe putting up walls along the border is as effective as thinking a summer gasoline tax "holiday" will solve any of our energy problems. They are both symbolic, marketing based diversions that give the appearance of doing something rather than addressing the bigger issue that is too complicated for many to understand.
Denying access to our college's and universities to the increasingly larger Latino base is short sighted. Rather than blocking education to someone who wants it and it willing to work for it, we should be developing systems that encourage and reward it. (I love "TG's" suggestion in the Inside Higher Ed blog about tying citizenship to degree completion). Let's invest in change and focus on enhancing the education of all of our populace. We will all be better off for it.
-- Tom Hayes
I just read yet *another* article about how students and parents feel the "government should do something to make college more affordable." This study was conducted by UPromise. 1,000 parents were surveyed and as we've heard before, most have not saved enough for their children's education. This time, we also learned that 67% say their voting decision will be influenced by the Presidental candidates' stance on the issue.
Am I the only high-ed marketer that finds these studies difficult to stomach? I moderate focus groups with students and parents all the time. Over and over again I hear about their expectations (extensive personal interaction with top faculty, residence halls with private rooms and baths, experiential learning opportunities in top companies, etc.) I am not sure that students and parents *really* want affordabililty. They say they do in surveys, but many base their college choice (at least in part) on "features" that are expensive to offer. Seems to me it's sorta like expecting to get all the extras in a new car while paying the base price. Tuition-driven institutions simply can't afford to do that.
I just found this Website called Youth Media Reporter. It looks promising, albeit a lil academic. YMR claims to be "the professional multi-media journal that serves practitioners, educators and academics in the youth media field." Of particular interest is the Youth Media Reporter Print Journal which you can download for free. It contains some interesting articles including:
* Rules of Attraction: Getting Teens to Your Website
* Finding Youth Voice in Print Media
* Engaging Youth with a New Medium: The Potentials of Virtual Worlds, and
* Youth, Professionals, and the Blog-o-Sphere
It's worth checking out.
...that you never see your mascot in cuffs!!! Poor Tinkerbell...
First, Bigfoot’s corpse is found in Georgia. Now, we have video of a chupacabra… Why couldn’t they have found footage of a unicorn instead?
I am excited for the “Bigfoot” press conference tommorow (you know you are going to watch it too)
I have a small piggie obsession, especially when they are cute and little wearing galoshes. Apparently this little guy has mysophobia (he is scared of mud), so his sausage farmer owners outfitted him with some cute little golashes. There are several things about this that confuse me, including the fact that the pig seems not to notice his back hooves are bootless and that the pig is actually scared of mud in the first place.
For this pig the phobia was a blessing. He will now be a pet and not someone’s breakfast.
I was standing in line at the movie theater on Sunday when a television overhead blared the new JC Penny's back-to-school ad, which attempts to re-create The Breakfast Club's look. Something about the ad bothered me but I was too concerned about buying Batman tickets to process my unease.
I just read the most recent Ads of the Weird blog and Allison Linn nailed it. By trying to appeal to parents' nostalgia for The Breakfast Club, the adds miss the whole point of the movie and therefore the analogy. The point was that TBC students were rebelling against the expectations and associations held by their parents. Guess what TBC fans... WE now are those parents! JC Penny's marketing to us is a waste! Molly, Emilio, Michael and the gang would be so disappointed!
If you don't know about Ads of the Weird, I suggest you check it out. Allison does a great job of breaking down advertising based upon how well the ads reach their audience or how well they stay true to their products. Her tidbits might help you the next time you are presented with creative designs. After all, for ads to do their job it doesn't matter what WE think... it matters what the intended audience thinks.
-- Teresa
I was captivated by the recent article in BusinessWeek entitled: "Brand U: Marketing the Alma Mater. When mainstream business magazines with the quality reputation of BusinessWeek write about the marketing of higher education, I get excited. This was especially true in this instance as it was the second in a proposed series on the business of education. (Isn't it amazing how many of our schools teach business administration and marketing and how few have traditionally applied it?) I love the fact that it is being addressed in such a prestigious business magazine! However, I have a few issues with the article that tells me that the field is not as mainstream as one might like.
Marketing colleges and universities is indeed an area on the rise but it is not something that was a "foreign notion" two decades ago. The first Symposium of Marketing for Higher Education began twenty years ago (it is still the largest conference in the world strictly focused on marketing in higher education.) The Journal of Marketing for Higher Education is twenty years old. This journal is an application based journal, (rather than purely academic or theoretical), that focuses on the topic. There have been thousands of participants and readers of these two outlets that understood the value of marketing for some time. Early adapters of marketing have resulted in some amazingly well executed strategy on college campuses (TCU and DePaul come to mind).
The article also tends to focus on branding as something that is communication based. The focus of brand guidelines has long categorized marketing efforts as the work of "logo police" rather than integrated efforts across campus. Branding manuals have their place but these should reflect the true brand of the institution that is based on the essence of the school and the promises it makes to its constituents in action as well as words. The brand is more than 'thousands of touch points available on the internet," it is represented by thousand of touch points with every faculty and staff on the campus.
When these articles reflect the nature of marketing colleges and universities from a services perspective I will know the field has arrived. As most of our readers already know, you should not market an institution of higher education the same way you would an IPOD. You would not know that from this article.
Brands "transcend" logos and marketing "transcends" branding. Soon we should see articles that capture the broader and deeper qualities of the field...but in the mean time.....thanks to BusinessWeek for bringing us one step closer.
-- Tom Hayes
The Denver Post is suing Colorado Bill Ritter "after the governor's refusal to turn over 19 months of cellphone records that would show some of who Ritter has called and been called by since taking office in 2007."
Note-- this is his personal cellphone, not his state-issued cellphone. If you live in a state with liberal open records laws, you need to follow this case.
-- Teresa
Over the weekend I received a brochure for the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll: Honoring Campus Engagement With Community. I have to admit a number of schools came to mind as I read that the honor recognizes an institution's commitment to "volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement." I was curious enough about the designation to read the website and this modern hippie was impressed!
I've pasted just a highlight of the selection factors:
- Reviewer evaluations of the scope, innovativeness, and evidence of effectiveness of the service projects described in the application
- Percentage of total student enrollment engaged in community service activities.
- Percentage of total student enrollment engaged in at least 20 hours of community service per semester.
- Percentage of total student enrollment engaged in academic service-learning courses.
- Extent to which the institution offers academic service-learning courses.
- Whether the institution requires academic service-learning as part of the core curriculum of at least one major.
- Whether the institution rewards the use of academic service-learning through faculty promotion and tenure decisions, or other means.
Sound like anyone you know? ;) Applications are due on September 23, 2008, so make sure you check out the site in the coming weeks. Award winners will be announced at ACE's annual meeting next February in Washington, DC.
-- Teresa
It is not uncommon for me to be asked during a crisis response if an institution should say they will not allow the incident to be repeated, or even promise there will not be a repeat event. My advice is... unless you can control all elements of the situation, don't do it. Instead, explain the situation clearly, say what you are doing to address the situation and explain that you are creating protocols to prevent something similar to happen. But, stop yourself from jumping off that cliff. You will lose significant credibility should the incident be repeated or your language is vague enough to come back to haunt you.
Examples abound in higher education, but I was struck by an example in yesterday's newspaper.-- the Department of Agriculture jumped off that cliff:
"Federal authorities last month assured consumers that a meat plant linked to nearly 50 illnesses caused by tainted ground beef had made enough changes after a recall to ensure that its products were safe. Less than a month later, the same processor has recalled 1.2 million pounds of other beef products that might have sickened more than 30 people."
In this situation, only the ground beef processing portion of the plant had the new protocols put in place. The meat "sold to retailers and other companies that planned to further process the meat" was not covered by the improved safety measures. This is where the Department of Agriculture could have used some help. Don't use vague language in your response, and if you say something is safe be sure you can back up your words. People don't have time to research what you are or are not including in your response, so keep it simple and truthful.
We all understand that bad things happen, but nobody appreciates when they feel they are receiving a story that has been "spun."
At first I laughed when I read about the City of Denver, host of the 2008 DNC, passing a "new law that prohibits people from carrying certain items if they intend to use them for nefarious purposes." These "certain items" are described in the article as "chains, padlocks, carabiners and other locking devices. It also prohibits the possession of noxious substances. Two of the most frequently used examples of a noxious substance are a bucket of urine and a 'feces bomb.'"
Of course, some believe this is silly and a waste of time. But, I think it is important for the city to think through all of the possible situations the police and event organizers might face.
Applying this concept to campuses, I always create a "what if" list for institutions that are making announcements that might be controversial. Think through which audiences will support or oppose you, and brainstorm all of the tools opponents have at their disposal to cause harm or negative press. Is there anything you can do in advance to prevent these outcomes and is there any way you can meet with the opposition in advance to allow for a peaceful event or message release?
When brainstorming with clients, the first "what ifs" often involve blogs, opponent press releases, mass emails, etc. Often I make us return to the obvious, like "certain items intended for nefarious purposes." Remember that you can cause just as much damage (albeit different) and receive more press with a 'feces bomb' than with a blog attack. Be prepared for both.
I was with Randolph-Macon College yesterday. Director of Marketing and Communications, Anne-Marie Lauranzon, invited me down to participate in a meeting related to the kick off of the College's strategic planning process. The group was a mix of administrators, alumni, parents, board members, other influentials.....and a legend; David Martin, founder of The Martin Agency.
David Martin is responsible for creating "Virginia is for Lovers" more than thirty years ago...one of the greatest taglines of all time. Of course, I AM a Virginian.
I was so curious to go and check out The Martin Agency's web site. I mean this IS the #3 advertising agency in the country according to Ad Age magazine. The site does not disappoint. Click on the link for "people" and you won't find typical photos and bios. You'll find a couple of videos. My favorite is called the "Martin Agency Battle."
