Redbox, Blockbuster, Pricing and Continuing Education

While I like to consider myself up on technology, I will admit that I've gotten a bit lazy in a few areas, one of which is video rentals or on-demand movies. Heck, my generation (I am on the edge of being a Baby Boomer or a Generation X'er, as I was born in 1965), if I were to classify myself as a boomer, is lazy about change. Boomers don't change their telecom providers, won't give up their landlines and won't change banks, even when their banks have been bought five times over.

Where am I going with this? Blockbuster Video. My daughter got her wisdom teeth taken out the other day. She's sixteen and wants to lounge around watching videos ... was kind of miffed with my visit at Blockbuster. Their best offer was "as many videos you can watch one-at-time for $10" which translates into lots of trips back and forth. This is on top of the changes they've made with their mail-in program, which I still don't understand. Now that I've cancelled my video-by-mail subscription and went to the in-store, pay as you go program I thought I'd save some money. I found myself paying $4.95 for non-new release videos while getting myself an occasional freebie. NetFlix had a good offer, but wasn't the solution. I don't like On-Demand that Comcast offers. Some day I'll do the download thing to my phone or laptop. However, until then, there are too many options for me than to consider Blockbuster. For substitutes, I can almost buy the movie new at that price and certainly used at half.com. Along comes RedBox at the supermarket. I must admit, I was a bit nervy trying to figure it out, but once I did, it was great ... $1 a night per movie. Yes, there are distribution and convenience issues, but the value and price points are worth the trip.

What's this have to do with universities? For starters, college and university continuing education units have dismissed changing prices because it is mandated from the powers that be. However, if a private university with a higher price and premier marketing position doesn't effectively communicate value in its advertising, then certainly a disconnect between the consumer and institution is near. As with Blockbuster (which I can't understand what the added value is beyond the brand name), colleges and universities (especially those at the premier price point) need to either support the pricing strategy through more aggressive marketing or changing the existing marketing campaign ... or inject a price change to support the current situation.

The other link to college and university continuing education units is that you can't always reconfigure the same program. Some institutions either rename or repackage existing programs into something else or change the delivery (sounds like Blockbuster going from the store to mail), but miss out on measuring the value equation and truly creating what customers want and need.

Lastly, for the premier college in this economy and like Blockbuster, what benefits are you going to promote? Is your product different/superior? Do you offer more? Will the end experience be better? Or will you let RedBox (or the community college) take advantage of a good/acceptable product at a lower price?

Once thing I hate to do to my readers is whine and critique without giving some solution. My solutions are as follows:

1. Google what your audience might Google. Are you in the pack or breaking out of it? Do your competitors dominate? Has what you previously perceived as inferior competition now blanket you in the search?


2. Find ten people and have them go through a simulated process to enroll or inquire. Do you have a competitive advantage on service? Service strengths may not necessarily be visible in advertising, but can be an advantage as prospects start testing the waters with you and your competitors.


3. Identify your clear competitive advantages and promote the heck out of them. Don't say your competitive advantage is "quality" unless you really own the term and can measurable prove it. Quality is implied to play in the education game. I hear it all the time and nine times out of ten, it can't be leveraged effectively.

If you are now depressed, don't start slashing prices. The intent of my posting was not to cause cost competition. It's about turning the ship around. Be nimble (and humble) ... figure out first whether you have a problem, find the strategic solution and then be bold and act quickly and definitively (as it will take time for the market to react). For Kodak and Polaroid in the late 90's, it was right in front of them ... digital photography. They were both stubborn and late to the game. Bold prediction ... if Blockbuster doesn't figure it soon, they'll be like Circuit City ... closing down. Don't be Block-busted. Figure out your marketing and value proposition.

David versus Goliath: Mighty Linfield College Division of Continuing Education’s E-Marketing Effort

I teach a summer marketing course at Penn State. One of my students is a Linfield College student taking a summer course while at home in Pennsylvania. I was Google-ing a search term for a project and unexpectedly a link for Linfield College pops up. Seems like everywhere I turn, I run into little Linfield College. In the spring, I was eavesdropping at a reception and Janet Gifford, marketing director for Linfield College’s Division of Continuing Education, was humbly talking about how successful her e-marketing efforts were, especially regarding a post-baccalaureate accounting program. I was doubtful, so I in between bites of coconut shrimp I quickly Google’d a few terms in my Blackberry and low and behold … Linfield College’s post bac program was second on the first page, beating out a lot of the big boy business schools offering comparable programs. Months later, I did it again, but varied my search terms … Linfield again on the first page of my many search efforts and beating out UC Davis and Capella on some efforts and falling just behind Berkeley and Virginia on another.

One trick pony? Not at all! To further drive its online efforts, the division commissioned an online learners guide that has been very successful to date. They also have invested into search engine optimization, paid search advertising and digital public relations. In this tough economy, the college is holding its own on enrollments. When some colleges are down this summer, little Linfield is up 16% on its adult student enrollments. This continuing education unit’s marketing is about working smarter and not necessarily harder (or outspending competitors) and having a good team in place.

I’ve attended UCEA meetings for over a decade and have been involved with an age old debate ... little schools can't compete ... small colleges are at a disadvantage. I've seen smaller schools do great marketing and have the results to prove it. At WCET, I witnessed Rio Salado College (while a large community college with 13,000+ students) do some pretty amazing strategic marketing, brand evolution and e-marketing. Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama is doing it. Little Framingham State College’s MBA program is doing it with virtual open houses, Facebook advertising and other efforts. Linfield College is clear proof that the small college or continuing education department can knock heads with monsters on the Internet and the behemoths of the education sector. Go Linfield Go!