Shoppers are ditching name brands for store brands - The Boston Globe

Shoppers are ditching name brands for store brands - The Boston Globe

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This is a great story about the impact of the economy on retail name brands. However, what does this mean for colleges and education? Some reports are show increased in enrollments at state colleges and universities, as well as community colleges. Private and premier brand universities in many cases are forecasting similar enrollments to 2008 and 2009, but their applicant pools may not be as strong or as deep. The same ole' same ole' messages and marketing just doesn't cut it in this tight economy despite signs of improvement.

College marketing and advertising must go beyond the same old boring hallowed halls marketing. My daughter is a high school senior this year and will be attending Penn State this summer. I look at all the pieces of marketing she receives and I've come to the following conclusions:

• Many look the same. Bricks and mortar and very little customer focus.
• No differentiation. Few institutions actually say what they are good at. In review, I believe they are too scared to go beyond the definition of "university," which means pretty much market everything to everybody.
• Lack of creativity and strategy. Folks, let's try something different than a picture of a young man and woman (of which one is likely to be Asian, African-American or Hispanic) with a backpack and books in their arms walking past an old building or the university's famous statue (that no outsider knows). Often times, a university communication department's answer to this is the dreaded "rebranding" effort. I am not against a rebranding effort, as long as it information-grounded and offers true differentiation. What I am opposed to is a six month creative process that results in new pictures for the admissions brochure that costs the university six figures to Madison Avenue ad agency.

Few institutions of higher education have the courage to stand on the merits of a specific program, its graduation rate, price/value or location. You can eventually find this out after some deep digging, but most institutions market "quality" or that the student will be happy, but don't explain. Quality is not a differentiator for most ... it is a prerequisite for offering education. However, explaining the differences in quality that are most relevant to the student and a true differentiator to the university may be a stronger tactic.

"Action This Day" is what Winston Churchill said. Actions for colleges and universities should include:

• A true study of their target market, rather than trying to market to everyone.
• An identification of message points and benefits that the target market would respond to.
• Studying true competition and learning where they stack up to the bullet above.
• Creating a positioning statement and marketing that identifies and supports strategic differentiation.
• Most importantly, a student/customer-focus rather than a stodgy, bricks and mortar, internal marketing effort.

Does it surprise you that consumers are going to generic cereal, snack food or diapers? Don't be an education snob and say that education is in a different category. While it is in a more high information search category such as a car or home, consumers are going to be more skeptical as to the offering. They aren't going to go to Harvard, Yale or Stanford just because it is the thing to do, let alone Penn State, UMass or Maryland. They are going to look to see if they can get a similar product for the next tier down at a better price.

Time to take a break and make a pot of coffee, instead of going to Starbucks today.