To piggyback on Kathryn’s post about the social media session at NACAC, I wanted to mention a blog called Servant of Chaos by a fella in Australia named Gavin Heaton. Gavin describes his blog as an “interactive diary capturing my thinking on branding, digital strategy and the art of storytelling.”

Gavin’s post from September 3rd is focused on best practices in social media. He shares a list of best practices compiled from a variety of sources and adds a new one of his own: Tell a story.

Those of us working in higher education marketing embrace storytelling in the publications we create, the web sites we manage, and the blogs we write…. and this now carries forth into the myriad other social media options available. His succinct list of best practices is definitely worth a read as you continue to build your brand online.

– Jenny Brower, Stein

Last week, AdAge ran an article about corporations rethinking the value of question-and-answer consumer surveys. While still spending lots and lots of money on survey-based research, major companies like Procter & Gamble and Unilever are starting to focus on “digital chatter,” the comments and insights provided on blogs and social networks, as better indicators of customer attitudes.

Why the shift?

“You can’t ask people what they want, because what they say and what they do are two different things,” said Artie Bulgrin, senior VP-research and sales for ESPN…. “We can actually improve our [initiative's] success rate if we just listen a bit more … on a passive basis.”

If what people say and do differ when it comes to something like laundry detergent and frozen foods, imagine the discrepancies when it comes to decisions they’re emotionally invested in, like choosing a school. And imagine the discrepancies when your respondents are seventeen years old. (Some schools are already engaging in this kind of digital listening and qualitative analysis for precisely these reasons.)

This article also reminded me of a terrific blog entry by John Bell on “digital listening” from August that’s well worth checking out (h/t Jenny): Digital PR Skills 2008: Deploy Live “Listening Posts”

The full AdAge article is here.

–Taylor Trussell, Stein

This time of year is like an early Christmas at Stein. Client projects are finishing up for fall delivery, and almost daily we get in samples of completed publications. Here are some recent printed pieces that are standouts.

Wesley College

Welsey College was looking for a complete redesign of its admissions campaign with a goal of shifting perception from a regional college to that of an academically innovative institution. 

We took a no-nonsense tone with the copy and created a sophisticated design to appeal to students pragmatism and high expectations. One cool aspect of the concept is that it uses atypical sizes. The viewbook is about 6 x 9 inches and the visit piece is conveniently back pocket-sized.  

Bo Uzzle, design; Taylor Trussell, writing; Kathryn Spruill, account. 

Wesley viewbook and visit piece
 

Woodberry Forest

The Woodberry Forest project involved extensive brand research and interviews. From our research we developed a brand narrative and key messages, the first expression of which is a new viewbook that captures Woodberry’s strong sense of brotherhood and academic rigor.

Bo Uzzle, design; Taylor Trussell, brand research and writing; Jennifer Bagley, account.

Woodberry viewbook spread

Arizona State University

ASU is being guided by a clear vision focused on the concept of the new American university. Our goal was to present this bold vision but without hyperbole, which could diminish its validity. Our concept for the resulting publications was storytelling with a purpose, defining the vision in the context of real people doing real things to make a real difference in the world.

Bonnie McQuagge, design; David Harrell, writing; Jay Williams, account.

ASU prospectus spread

– Terry Hamrick, Stein

Contributed by: Taylor Trussell
Strategic Consultant, Stein Communications

Many books dissect and analyze the Millennial generation, and the views expressed run the gamut from the starry-eyed boosterism of Strauss and Howe’s Millennials Rising to Huntley’s paradoxical conclusions in World According to Y to the sophomoric psychologizing of Generation Me by Twenge. It’s easy to find profiles of this generation, but divining how to translate these profiles into useful marketing strategies isn’t.

Then there’s Lisa Johnson’s Mind Your X’s and Y’s: Satisfying the 10 Cravings of a New Generation of Consumers. What makes this book so different is that it gives you a veritable road map for marketing to Millennials. (While the X in the title obviously refers to Generation X’ers, Johnson maintains that X’ers are more or less following the Millennials’ lead in terms of what’s hot.)

The ten fundamental cravings of this generation, according to Johnson, are:

• Personalization
• A sense of adventure
• Less formal, more focused communities
• Good design
• Ways to filter information
• Peer-to-peer recommendations
• Participation rather than mere consumption
• Brand experiences that create emotional connections
• A sense of spirituality
• Giving back with their time and abilities

All of these have clear applications to educational marketing, but in the interest of space, I’m going to focus on only those cravings most readily adaptable.

Personalization
At first glance, this one seems obvious. Everyone knows you have to personalize. But here’s the twist: Johnson’s point is that mass personalization — pulling names from a database — doesn’t cut it anymore. These kids are used to feeling like the center of attention and tapping into that sense requires personalization that clearly shows a living person was paying attention to them.

Now, of course, you don’t (and, realistically, you can’t) produce genuinely personalized materials for every prospect. Johnson suggests developing ways to personalize materials for “bull’s-eye customers.” How do you deliver a personalized message to bellwether students in new markets, for instance? Or, perhaps you target high school teachers with personalized messages.

A sense of adventure
“Adventure” here doesn’t mean learning to street luge. Rather, there is a craving for engagement that goes beyond everyday experience, and it comes from the fact that experience functions as social currency. Remember, this is a generation that notifies the world of their every move via Facebook and Twitter — uncommon experiences impart cachet, especially among undergraduates, who are really just stepping out into the larger world.

What is your school doing that takes kids out of their ordinary zone? And before you say internships or foreign study, keep in mind that every school can claim these in one way or another. These are requisite experiences, so unless they’re unusually prestigious or exotic, they’re not going to stand out. More importantly, how are you communicating these experiences?

Good design
Today, it’s all about design. Good design has become a competitive edge insofar as good design connotes the good life; it creates an emotional attachment. Just look at the iPod’s following. How many technology companies are churning out me-too products on the basis of Apple’s design?

You’re never going to have to design consumer products, but what Johnson is emphasizing is the high expectations this generation has when it comes to design. Strong and consistently designed communications are key to resonating with your audience. They build confidence in the very idea of your school.

Peer-to-peer recommendations
With so much marketing clamoring for our attention, the old push approaches are no longer as effective as they once were, especially among this generation of prospects who have been imbibing advertisements since birth. Instead, they’re sidestepping the usual channels and going straight to the source — their peers, your students. (Oh, and by “usual channels” I’m including the students blogging on your Web site.) They’re turning to Facebook and Flickr for an uncensored (in every sense) view of what it’s like to be a student. They’re using the recommendations on College Prowler and College Confidential to gauge how well they’ll fit in. And it’s not just your students — parents are also relying on Web forums to get an idea of what their child can expect.

This is a reversal from the traditional marketing formula of loud, often, and always positive. Now, the point is to recognize that there are conversations about you taking place, and if you’re not a part of them, you’re at the mercy of every ill-informed but opinionated joker with a Web connection. By joining in (or by having a work-study student join in) and offering a candid view of your school, you can build tremendously positive word of mouth.

Participation rather than mere consumption
With a reliance on peer recommendations comes the expectation that peer-generated content will flourish. Your audience has grown up using digital media to create and express themselves — whether they’re posting music videos to YouTube, blogging, or posting on friends’ Facebook walls. Organizations that embrace the participatory aspect of online communications engage their consumers and create trust. If I see that someone is so invested in her school that she’s shot a video herself and posted it on TheU.com, I’m going to feel a stronger pull toward that institution than I will from simply watching a Flash introduction on the same school’s Web site. Participation validates a sense of authenticity.

This is a difficult leap for most schools to make, in large part because an architecture of participation requires self-governance and openness, and schools are most comfortable with clearly defined hierarchies. But without self-governance, there’s no ownership; and without ownership, the community lacks the self-monitoring and self-repairing nature that makes them so dynamic.

How can you create participatory communities? What areas can you open up to let your students participate in the content generation? How about a turning your student life pages into a wiki?

There is much more here than these brief summaries suggest. The book is a terrific analysis of the mindset of your market. Johnson explains each craving and offers reasons for why a craving is so prevalent. She also provides numerous case studies to illustrate her points, and to make the application of these points even clearer, she ends each chapter with a “Workbook” section devoted to questions you should be asking yourself. More than a broad analysis, Johnson provides an idea generator and critical tool that will help you orient and evaluate your marketing efforts.

Contributed by: Denis M. Stokes
Director of Admission, Christ School

From Part I of this marketing article, we know that marketing is multidimensional, consisting of Product, Place, Price and Promotion. In the first article, we focused on Product and Promotion. From that discussion, we know that marketing is outward looking — recognizing unmet needs or underserved needs in the marketplace and the decision to meet those needs. And, we know that Promotion, while an important dimension of marketing, is just one dimension and thereby complemented by and dependent upon the other dimensions. In this article, we cover the remaining dimensions: Place and Price.

When discussing Place in marketing it is often in the context of distribution points for a consumer good or service. If you are selling a grocery store item, context of place is not only maximizing the number of stores carrying your brand — unless, of course, your strategy calls for somewhat exclusive availability — but it also pertains to product positioning within the store. Likewise, there may be other channels of distribution that add to the places at which your product is available.

With education, and particularly so since Place of our institutions is well established long before our arrival, our influence over this dimension is limited. This is not to say that we cannot influence availability of our service. Consider what some colleges and universities have done with distance education, for example.

The fact that Place for our service is well-established may or may not be a limitation. Is New York University’s location in Greenwich Village of Manhattan appealing to all? Is Swannonoa, North Carolina, home to Warren Wilson College, appealing to all? The point is to acknowledge that place is an important dimension and influences the very experiences we offer.

Leverage your Place as effectively as you can and let it naturally influence the experience offered. Know, too, that while important, Place is traditionally the dimension over which we have least control.

Price, on the other hand, is something over which the institution yields much control. One way to consider Price is to look at your institution in relation to your competitors using two dimensions: Price and Quality. (This graph and its analysis below is also considered a market positioning map; that is, an illustration of your institution’s position in relation to your peer institutions — your direct competitors.)

Positioning Map observations: Institution A is at a quality deficit in relation to its competitors. Institutions B & C, while perceived to be of equal quality, Institution B is priced at a premium. Institution D is positioned most favorably in relation to its competitors — its quality is strongest and its pricing is in line with relative alternatives. In this example, Institutions A – D are boarding schools, while Institution E is a day school, which explains the significant cost differential between a day school experience and a boarding school experience.

As the admission director at a boarding school, I must consider as competition my peer institutions — other boarding schools against which we compete directly — but I must also consider independent day schools and, to a lesser degree, parochial schools. The key here, in my case, is to recognize that we cannot compete with day schools on price. Therefore price, for me, is only a potential point of differentiation when I compete directly against peer institutions.

While Price should be reflective of the cost of delivering your service, it is also commonly used to position an institution within the marketplace. The ideal is to be positioned within proximity to your direct competitors. Being conspicuously more or less expensive than your direct competitors is seldom a wise strategy.

Education is an interesting service in that — with the exception of state-supported universities, which often represent tremendous educational value — pricing below what is expected for quality education can create negative connotations of perceived quality. Thus education is a service where price is an inverse relationship to quality. Two additional points about pricing and positioning:

While families take pride in gaining admission to the most expensive institutions — oftentimes the brand-name schools — and some readily pay the premium for the unique experience provided, there is evidence that families do respond to a lower price through acceptable ways of discounting, i.e., scholarships.

On positioning: Note the entire educational marketplace consists of schools ranging from perceived quality of 1 through 10 and the graph above simply looks at a segment of the market. Thus, unless your school is in the top tier, as you consider repositioning your institution, consider the related dynamic of how your institution may be repositioned. Note the second positioning map below, an example of a school desiring to compete against more selective schools (i.e., schools with more resources and with notably more selective admission standards).

Repositioning Map observations: Repositioned Institution A is now at a quality deficit compared to schools to be of perceived significantly higher quality. The outcome: It will be very difficult for Institution A to capture market share against its new competitors. Institution A is simply picking a fight it is likely to lose more times than not. If a school wishes to reposition itself, its best hope is to first assure that it is a recognized regional leader or market segment leader.

Each dimension of marketing plays a key role in your institution in advancing its mission. It is important to note that while a well-planned marketing strategy is necessary, such must be preceded by an honest institutional assessment of its strengths, weaknesses — things over which the institution has control, and its opportunities and threats — things over which the institution has no control other than to attempt to anticipate.

Marketing is discussed at great length on many campuses today. As an admission professional, it is important for you to not only be a part of that discussion, but to lead it, to foster it and to make known that true marketing goes well beyond cutting-edge Web sites, viewbooks, and fancy advertising campaigns.

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Denis M. Stokes is Director of Admission at Christ School, a traditional boarding and day school for boys, affiliated with the Episcopal Church, just south of Asheville, North Carolina.

Contributed by: Kathryn Spruill
Account Executive, Stein Communications

Authenticity is so important in conveying the true student experience at your school. Exposing the real lives of real students through a blogging program can have a much bigger impact than listing dozens of student organizations and intramural sports. It’s a careful balance, because to get authentic student experiences, you have to give up control. The following tips will ease your mind and reduce the risks associated with a student blog program.

Which students, which staff
The most important consideration is who you will ask to get involved. Choose more than two students, but less than six. If you have too many choices, a prospective student will be overwhelmed and not read any! You obviously want prospective students to relate to the bloggers. Choose students representing a variety of academic interests, extracurricular involvements, and areas of the country. Freshmen can provide insight into the transition to college and seniors can write about their job search, so strive to enlist at least one of each.

If you have student tour guides or admission office interns who already understand the big picture of recruitment, this should be your first stop. You should be able to trust them to tell the right stories about their weekends, meaning fraternity service day and not fraternity party, and they will probably be used to the typical questions prospective students ask.

An admission counselor can be assigned the role of project and content manager. He or she should be reading over every entry, making sure bloggers are posting regularly and appropriately. This counselor could have his or her own blog, although it’s guaranteed that prospective students are less interested in what their admission counselor is doing on a Thursday afternoon than in what current students are doing.

How often, on what medium
The key to blogging is fresh content. This will engage prospective students with the student bloggers and keep them coming back to see how Trevor did on the test he had been studying for all week, or if Julie got into the Study Abroad program she applied for. Three to four posts a week is great!

Many third parties provide platforms for student bloggers. Talk to your marketing partner to see what solutions they may recommend. The advantage to this approach as opposed to having students sign up at blogger.com is having oversight on the blogs: the ability to edit students’ entries directly. Many platforms can be set to require an admission counselor’s approval before the content goes live. Hopefully you trust the students you’ve chosen, but it’s always wise to have checks in place.

Incentives
What you are asking of these students is no small time commitment. Their job description includes not only writing their entries but also responding to the comments and questions that prospective students leave on the blogs.

Compensate them with a small weekly stipend, or give them a digital camera that they can then use to upload pictures onto their blog or video content. If you aren’t giving students an incentive to stick to writing on their blog, other things will quickly become their priority. Many students will love the fame factor – having their name after the official school URL (stateuniversity.edu/admission/blog/danny) will be the best part of the deal for them. It shouldn’t be the only carrot you are dangling.

Promoting the blogs
If your student bloggers interact with prospective students face to face, make them a photo business card with the URL of their blog and their email address. They can pass them out to their tour groups and when they connect with a family, they can add them to their readership.

Your blogs should be prominently advertised on your admission home page, and you can certainly send out e-mail communications to your mailing list with short bios of each student and links to their blogs.

There are some great success stories out there with student blogging programs. But if you look at just one school’s, check out MIT (http://www.mitadmissions.org/blogs.shtml). They were on the forefront of the blogging phenomenon and built a great interface for their student bloggers.

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For more on authenticity in student blogs and the benefits of blogs from the perspective of a prospective student, please see our article “New Marketing Models.”

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Kathryn Spruill was responsible for running a student blogger program during her time in admission at Tulane University. Is your institution putting a program in place, or do you have any additions to make to Kathryn’s list? She’d love to hear from you at kspruill@steincommunications.com.