Jim Fong's Education Marketing Blog

Say it "ain't" so: Washington Post article: For-profit colleges urged applicants to lie to leverage more aid, GAO finds

2010-08-03T15:15:00.002-04:00

Makes me cringe to think about what this article says. My wife hates when I use the contraction "ain't," but say it ain't so.

For-profit colleges urged applicants to lie to leverage more aid, GAO finds

Using secret shopping approaches in its methodology, the Washington Post article states a number of cases of shoddy recruitment and application practices among for-profit education institutions. A side of me wants to hope that the article is based on the extreme weaknesses of journalism (but this is the Washington Post reporting) and the accusations are exaggerated or that an institution had a bad day. However, the article suggests otherwise and that in truth, something poor really did happen.

Knowing a number of credible leaders at some for-profits, I only hope that they are not part of this mix of questionnable practices. I also realize that some of these practices may also be present in the "not-for-profit" or traditional college/university experience.

Minimally, while no one wants to hear bad news regarding the education of our society, what I hope comes out of this is a higher standard for education, marketing and the recruitment process. I only hope that greater details come out regarding this mess and until then I need to show patience about over-reacting.

Great Resource on Engineering Education Trends

2010-07-09T09:18:00.002-04:00

My colleague Nelson Baker, Vice Provost of Distance Learning and Professional Education at Georgia Tech, recently presented at the International Association of Continuing Engineering Education (June 23, 2010 in Louisville). His presentation can be found off his blog http://www.dlpe.gatech.edu/blog/. It's a pretty impressive and entertaining presentation if you keeping abreast of engineering education trends. Very comprehensive. However, user beware, it is a 10 MB file. (Oh, that's no longer a problem, as engineers have fixed the bandwidth and storage needs of society!)

Kudos to Nelson for an inspiring presentation.

Balancing Change and Being Smart

2010-07-01T09:55:00.005-04:00

As I was helping a client with a presentation, I came across an interesting tidbit on how fast technology is changing. I don't live under a rock ... I know things are moving fast. I've got computers and televisions all around me. I Skype, Slingbox, Bluetooth, Crackberry, Facebook, LinkedIn, Wii, Playstation, teach online and all sorts of good stuff like that. The kicker for me comes from two contrasts 1) How fast Apple sold a million iPads (53 days with advance orders) as compared to how long it took for a million VCRs to be sold (See the chart, Source: Apple, Inc., Greystone Communication, The Yankee Group) and 2) Microsoft killing of Kin this week http://adage.com/article?article_id=144759.

The implication for higher education and marketing for me is how fast the rest of the world is moving in comparison to slower moving higher education. On the other hand, I blogged earlier about how the UT System was closing its centralized distance education operation in favor of decentralization. This I believe was too fast. However, wiping out Microsoft Kin after just a few months was probably a good idea, as rumour has it that it only sold 500 units.

While Apple probably did a lot of planning and we for sure know they did great marketing well in advance of its launch, the lesson to learn from all of this is that we need to move faster and smarter, not recklessly like Kin. For higher education marketing, we need action-oriented data and information that we can quickly and easily access, CRM systems that truly work, smart people who can do the job, a sustainable budget, support of strategy (as opposed to quickly diving into tactics and design) and a bit more for urgency. My soon-to-be released white paper on continuing and distance education websites shows many folks still in Web 1.0 formats.

Got to go ... my Commodore just finished booting up. :)

Marketing Budget Benchmarks

2010-06-15T13:18:00.007-04:00

Food for thought. In 2006, Tut Bailey and Kim Erickson, two of my former Penn State Outreach colleagues, conducted a study I had carried through in 2000, 2002, and 2004 ... The State of Continuing Education Marketing. Since then, the association (UPCEA, formerly UCEA) has conducted the study and recommends that 10% of gross revenues be set aside for marketing. This would include media, personnel and operating costs associated to marketing. In 2006, Bailey and Erickson said that number should be 8% and my number (and Tut Bailey's) in 2004 was 13%.

MarketingSherpa http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31641just released a report on B2B marketing regarding marketing budgets and suggested that 6% of revenues for larger companies (more than a 1,000 employees) be set aside, 9% for medium size companies and 11% for smaller companies (less than 100 employees). Acknowledging that B2B differs from continuing education marketing, the MarketingSherpa report provides yet another benchmark. Bailey and Erickson suggested, although with a different definition of small, medium and large, to be 8%, 6% and 7% respectively. The analysis that Tut Bailey and I did in 2004 showed 23%, 9% and 8%. The issue for smaller operations at the time was the trend to get programs online and invest in marketing despite the organization's size. It was a race for survival.

While it may not be anything new, it's more food for thought and confirmation if you need a benchmark. My read on this for continuing education is 8% to 15% for smaller organizations, 6% to 12% for medium size organizations and 6% to 8% for larger organizations.

However, it should not always be this type of cookie cutter ... you need to adapt your budget based on a number of considerations:

- Are you launching any new initiatives that you need to gain awareness?
- Are you spending more because of shifting media?
- Are you spending more or less based on digital initiatives?
- Do you have the right metrics to track the effectiveness of your spend?
- If you increase your budget, are you going to be spending it wisely? This translate into "what is your plan or strategy?" My good friend Judah R. once told me "Just because you say my organization needs to get to 10% doesn't mean that I am going to spend good money after bad."
- You should consider having a market research budget of 1/2 percent more or less. A 2008 Corporate Executive Board shows 0.62% while the American Marketing Association state 1/2 a percent in 2000.

Hope the numbers are helpful. Please consider them a starting point to move up or down from, as they need to be adapted based on your situation. Don't fall into the "me too" trap.

A Woman's Guide to College

2010-05-19T11:38:00.007-04:00

My good friend Carla Andrews-O'Hara recently published a book A Woman's Guide to College: Navigating the Terrain to a Better Life. There's probably no better person to write such a book, as Carla herself was a returning adult learner, earned a number of degrees and is now marketing pro and author. The book is grounded in sound philosophies regarding adults returning to college or going to college later in life. The twist is its special focus to women. However, many of her principles and tips can be helpful to both men and women, but Carla takes an interesting historical look at women in higher education and the challenges one faces. She takes her principles and topics and overlays interviews and research to help make the book even more applied and useful, but also more interesting as she get into the lives and experiences of others. Great job Carla. If you are interested, the book can be found at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Womans-Guide-College-Navigating-Terrain/dp/1439262411/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266861348&sr=8-1.

You can also reach Carla at carla@caoconsulting.net. To read more about the book, go to http://www.awomansguidetocollege.com/. Enjoy!

The Marketing Implications of the University of Texas' Telecampus Decentralization

2010-05-17T10:08:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, I was reading an article in the local paper about "Chip" (http://www.centredaily.com/2010/05/15/1978577/layoff-forces-changes-and-grad.html). I've met Chip ... nice guy. Our kids go to pre-school together. Chip graduated this weekend from Penn State, earning his bachelor's degree in organizational leadership by taking courses through Penn State Continuing Education (on-campus and online). He had twenty years of experience in manufacturing and like many other companies, the company he worked for moved operations overseas to tap into less expensive labor and raw materials or was acquired. While I am sure it was a difficult decision for the company, the key factor was clearly cost reduction.

On Friday, I read the Inside Higher Education story of the University of Texas decentralizing its famed UT Telecampus (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/09/telecampus). The campus has been a model for so many other institutions, as it has served many individuals, including the aspiring healthcare worker that can't predict his or her working schedule to the returning adult learner seeking to complete a degree he or she had started a decade earlier. The big issues for me from a marketing standpoint are:

Can the decentralized marketing activities of many disparate units provide a clear door for the prospective adult learner? Will there be contrasting websites, collateral and other advertising? I've seen fragmentation of the brand, but more importantly, competition for the exact same students by different units of the university.
Will the cost of marketing increase as each unit that markets their academic college scales up? Most likely, yes, unless you are the Business School and have your well-oiled marketing team in place, but if you are Liberal Arts, I doubt a true integrated marketing function exists. In the least, the stronger programs won't be there to underwrite the weaker programs. The richer will become richer and the weak weaker.
Will the talent pool or overall abilities to conduct marketing only reach a minimal level? As I have seen with other decentralized marketing efforts, some academic colleges are better suited to do a great job of marketing (as they have a marketing staff devoted to the serving alumni, traditional students and others), while others are not and as a result do not allocate enough or they hire an entry level marketer to do a strategic marketer's job.
Will the prospect see a better customer experience? Some might argue that they are closer to the product and not two steps removed. However, similar to the last bullet, the student service or enrollment management process may be strong to serve the adult or it might be cobbled together with duct tape and paper clips.

Sounds a bit premature for U of T to be pulling the plug, as the market for distance education is still evolving. We haven't even hit the evolution of Internet and the merging of television, telecommunications and computing. Smartphones are getting smarter ... by not keeping pace with how it interfaces with distance education, are we going to get dumber?

The article suggests that U of T TeleCampus was growing in enrollments, but also had increased costs to the academic units. I say you have to spend money to make money ... get ready to spend more money in a decentralized model to maintain enrollments or get ready to see your enrollments drop because you can't scale up the way you think. A centralized operation, run correctly, is typically a better model in a tight economy. In education, you only decentralize to either force underperforming units to become more profitable (or eliminate them) or to get intimately closer to the customer. You don't do it as a money saving strategy.

Congrats Chip!

My NAASS Webinar

2010-04-08T16:14:00.002-04:00

Thanks for attending the NAASS webinar on April 8, 2010. You can find the link on the right hand bar under "Presentations and Papers." Thank you for the opportunity to help increase your enrollments!

Back in Action ... Hospital Customer Service

2010-03-10T19:24:00.005-05:00

About a month ago, I visited my father at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Massachusetts. He had major surgery and was there for a good three weeks. Little did I know that a week and a half later, I'd be the one who would be in the hospital for 15 days. I had quite the battle and a number of surgeries, but came through with a long-term outlook that is very favorable.

The one thing I do want to say is that the customer service I received from Mount Nittany Medical Center and the Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania was outstanding. There was a strong sense of caring and customer focus as compared to going through the motions. I am not saying that Sturdy's care was bad, but the sampling I saw over three days was lower than that of what I personally experienced. The good thing with Sturdy is that my dad pulled through and the physicians seemed to be really on top of things.

Back to Mount Nittany and Hershey Medical Centers. The physician and nursing staffs were experienced, but also had a strong sense of caring. They were outcome focused, as opposed to going through the process. I will say that Mount Nittany, while smaller, seemed to be more intimate to the patient's needs. Hershey had a breadth of services and staff, but had good processes. There was a level of inexperience at times at Hershey due in part that it is a teaching hospital, but there were checks and balances to insure for a positive overall experience despite the pain people are going through and their need for healing.

I am on the mend and thankful for the expertise at both hospitals. The customer service experience was a bonus. A bonus on top of this was the awesome food at Mount Nittany. It was restaurant quality.

Back in action to serve the educational marketing community ... Thank God for a positive outcome.

A Failure to Fulfill the Brand Promise

2010-02-17T02:18:00.005-05:00

My blog was supposed to serve the education community, but has turned into my sounding board on poor marketing and customer service practices. The irony is that I just got in to Tuscaloosa and will be speaking on customer service processes. Along the way, I hit a real dinger ... Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I made a "reservation" with them about a week ago so that I could drive from Birmingham, AL to Tuscaloosa. It is about 70 miles, so having a rental car is a necessity. Well along the way, the plane had equipment malfunctions and arrived 2 hours and 40 minutes late.

If you're late Enterprise gives your car away. Over the last five years, I've averaged about 15-20 rentals that represent about 40 rental days a year. I decided that I'd try Enterprise this time ... never used them before. Never will again.

Being 2 hours and 40 minutes late and having my flight number on the reservation, Mr. Bonehead employee still decides to give my rental, along with at least six other late comers away. How many "no shows" does Enterprise go through? They say they overbook because of no-shows. I think they've made a huge mistake on lifetime value ... to get at 50% of my personal market share (as opposed to Avis) could amount to $1500 a year. Equivalently, I am worth 10 no-shows. Hopefully, they've done the math on this, otherwise, it is a poor business practice.

The brand promise or the perception that they've created is exceptional customer service, service that is premier that delivers a car to your door. It is a very polished message, but unfulfilled in my opinion. Where does your university stand on brand fulfillment?

I've done dozens of customer service audits and the research shows that the for-profit institutions are excelling, as well as those using outsource partners to manage prospects and applications. Some traditional universities are in fact doing a good job, but the vast majority are failing miserably. Why? Because colleges and universities are too afraid of the front line staff, measuring results or adopting the dreaded "sales" culture.

Many colleges and universities are openly opposed to a "sales" mentality. They don't believe that education should be sold and as a result choose words like "client development," "corporate manager," or "partner relations." Yeah, I'm all for a slick term, but when a culture is so afraid of the word "sales," it is indicative of bigger problems.

BTW, now that I work for myself, I was seeking more frugal alternatives than Avis or Hertz, thus my foray into what I saw as an upper middle brand ... Enterprise. Never again. They don't deserve 10-20 years of my personal 50% market share. 20 years x $1500 = $30,000 lifetime value. I'm back to Avis.

UCEA Marketing 2010: Digital PR and SEO, Fong and Gifford

2010-02-10T14:49:00.001-05:00

Mother nature kept me away from Tampa today, but Janet Gifford of Linfield College delivered our joint presentation. Thanks Janet!

Fong_Gifford_2bNotes.pdf

Musings from San Diego

2010-02-02T15:24:00.003-05:00

Just got back from speaking to over two hundred telecommunications companies on competitive trends. To put things in context, there are over 1,200 rural telephone companies in the United States, many of whom have transformed themselves from boring telephone line companies to Internet, wireless and cable companies. My speech last week in San Diego was about what is on the horizon for big companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable. In short, the future is entertainment, as Comcast, TWC and Sprint/Nextel have poured big bucks into Clearwire, which will deliver mobile television through 4G technology. It's too big to fail and do you know what that might mean?

Mobile television for the mini-van. It won't just be a DVD player in mom's minivan. It will be Disney channel and the Superbowl. (There are possibilities here for the education community as well)
There will be more television viewing, but also more instantaneous uploading and viewing given 4G. (Did you know that YouTube was the pay-on-demand provider for the Sundance film festival?)
With the positive mobile television trend, expect more commercials ... on your phones or laptops.
Increase in on-demand viewing. Comcast has sunk a lot into mobile television, but also with its relationship to NBC and recent acquisitions will be banking a lot on viewers to pay as they go.

Other meaningful trends include:

Increase in landline cutting and video calls. Skype already has improved voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) and VOIP will follow you. It already follows me when I am not on my computer, as my VOIP calls are forwarded to my cell phone. More landlines will also be cut due to a more favorable trend toward renting given the economy.
Internet blockages! With all this good stuff happening around mobile entertainment (except that I hope folks don't drive and watch television, let alone text message and drive), there's a downside. Some analysts predict that the Internet will slow down as a result. So, we get faster (with broadband) and then slower (with video) and then faster again.

I've uploaded my presentation. Just go to the link on the right hand side of the blog.

That's it for now. Had a blast in San Diego. Ate well, visited friends and even got my flu shot at the airport on the way home. Being a healthcare professional herself, my wife yelled at me for this, but I thought it was great. Just like online education, where it comes to the customer, I've got competent healthcare people conveniently waiting to prevent my personal breakout of H1N1.

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

2010-01-29T09:46:00.002-05:00

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

Posted using ShareThis

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.

Getting More Focused for 2010

2010-01-04T12:40:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blog entries over the past few months. Been busy changing employers. Moving out of the role of President with Diagnostics Plus and into a new role of consulting full-time. I will be a full-time consultant under the brand "Fong Strategy" and becoming more focused on marketing strategy and planning in the education sector. I will be primarily working with colleges and universities in continuing education, alumni research and online and distance learning, as well as some work with K-12.

With all the new changes in my life (and now working at home), my writing has tailed off. Well, the papers have been filed with the state, business cards printed and the website is improving. With these things in motion, in 2010, I anticipate tackling the issues of:

Marketing accountability and measurable impact.
The customer/student experience.
E-marketing evolution. Is continuing and distance education finally ready for it?
Organizational marketing readiness.

Wishing you and your families a prosperous 2010. We'll be talking soon!

UMass and Getting More Out of State Students ... Wish it were that easy!

2009-10-19T16:04:00.002-04:00

In today's Boston Globe, UMass Amherst announced a new plan to attract more out-of-state students. Sounds like a reasonable way to get additional revenues. Wish it were that easy is my read. The items that UMass Amherst fails to address or that the Boston Globe failed to cover are:

- What will the competition do? Roll over and die? Say, "Here you go UMass, they're all yours!" I don't think so. There has been discussion in almost every state regarding the "brain drain" and how students are leaving their home state for another. If all these colleges are saying this, then 1) what's the problem ... everybody's winning and 2) do we have a national catastrophe where everyone is losing their brains ... I doubt it.

- Great move UMass, but what about the demographic shift that we will see beginning in 2013 regarding fewer traditional age college students? In fact, beginning in 2009, we are going to see a slight decrease in the number of 18 year-olds. This will continue, albeit slowly until 2016 (barring changes in immigration and birth rates). (See: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/projections2017/tables/table_B04.asp?referrer=report)

- Why not court the adult learner more? Oh yeah, the percentage of degree holders is relatively high in Massachusetts. What about the online learner? UMass Online seems to do a good job at this. Getting a few thousand this way, as opposed to building more dorms might be a better alternative.

- What about the millions of dollars that will be needed to market more aggressively? I'll be interested to see this plan!

- Let's not forget the economy. UMass Amherst will have to better communicate its position and value to the out-of-stater.

When the rubber hits the road, the student is going to shop. They will look at value and alternatives. They will look at brand. UMass will have to not only get their attention, but convince them of value. It's not that easy. That's some HUGE marketing!.

It's not as simple as when Shoeless Joe tells Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in Field of Dreams ... if you build it, they will come."

Boston Globe article: (See: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/10/19/reinforcements_needed_at_umass_amherst/)

Midnight Classes? Great or Goofy Idea?

2009-09-11T09:34:00.005-04:00

The Boston Globe this morning reported on Bunker Hill Community College offering midnight courses. They did this to address demand issues, but more importantly (if profitable), it's a new stream of revenue for them. Obviously, not all colleges and universities can support this within a market, but it looks like a good old-school and novel idea. Without over-analyzing this, this is what I see ...

Are others in the market failing to meet demand, thus making Bunker Hill CC the winner (At least short-term until other institutions find a way to bring students back to their "normal" hours classes or do a me-too on the midnight thing)?
Does it offer effective learning? I would assume so, as I rock during these hours and I am sure there are others with similar mechanics and preferences.
What does the institution need to do in addition to instruction to support the adult learner? Outside of a lot of coffee, I am sure that security and food services are addressed (or they can take the vending machine or Starbucks route).
Why wouldn't online learning be a better alternative for BHCC? My guess is that it is high-touch audience. Kudos to BHCC for not trying to squeeze everyone into the online box.
Can enrollment be sustainable or is this just a fad? What is the long-term sustainability plan for this venture?

Let the debate begin! I'll be following BHCC on this to see how successful this new venture will be.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/09/11/these_bunker_hill_classes_make_late_arrival_mandatory/

Redbox, Blockbuster, Pricing and Continuing Education

2009-07-22T16:27:00.019-04:00

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:

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?

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.

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

2009-07-18T22:59:00.004-04:00

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!

Reflections from the B-52s

2009-05-26T12:59:00.014-04:00

It's been a week since the B-52's played in Boston and believe me, I needed it. Let me reflect on marketing musings of that weekend.

Customer service. I left my coat in a taxi from the airport to my hotel. Didn't realize it until the next morning. The cabbie left messages at three hotels where he dropped off folks that might claim it. I called the number and he was there in 20-minutes to deliver it. Result to the cabbie: He got 20 bucks and took me to my next appointment. Relevance to education: Customer service is important to everyone, but it can be differentiated (Call me or send me a note and we can talk about it).
Nostalgia. I remember the B-52s from twenty years ago. There's a trend, especially with the music industry, to go back to one's formative times. Relevance to education: Marketing is strategic. Once the strategy is mapped out, marketing toward the target market's key benefit or emotion has greater impact than feature-based marketing.
Target marketing, niches, technology and word-of-mouth. That's a lot to cover in a paragraph. After what turned out to be a great concert (they sounded as good as they did twenty years ago), we got the munchies. My friend Steve decided to drive to Chinatown. On the drive from the New House of Blues near Fenway, I fired up the Blackberry and found Shabu Zen, a Japanese hot pot restaurant with great reviews online. We headed in that direction. Upon reaching there, we saw simple signage. I asked a few folks coming out, "How's the food in there?" After receiving a positive response, we walked in and found the place packed (although we were probably the oldest people in the joint) slurping on soup and dipping raw meat into steaming broth. Relevance to education: Choose your market and own it. Don't fall into the university trap of marketing to the "universe" despite the fact that it is in your name "University of XYZ." As Shabu Zen proved, it can be successful by owning the niche, using technology and having happy customers that tell others.

As I wrap up this posting (with Rock Lobster playing on my Blackberry for inspiration), I had an epiphany ... not only did Shabu Zen do it, but so did the B-52's. They mastered their niche and have longstanding repeat customers. As college and university marketers, I don't need to say more ... you get it. So instead, I leave you with the thought of being bold but being strategic (and holistic) about your marketing ... otherwise, you'll be living in your own Private Idaho.

Don't Always Listen to C-Level Execs ... or Your Deans?

2009-05-15T16:26:00.003-04:00

I am not telling you to defy your dean and getting yourself fired. I am telling you to challenge and inform leadership. E-marketer just released a report issued by Heidrick and Struggles stating that the biggest marketing challenge of C-level (for those of you that do not know what C-level, it is "chief") executives is new customer acquisition. While I don't necessarily disagree, I do find it a bit surprising. There are many studies over the past few months which these same C-level executives state that they won't be increasing marketing budgets. So where do these know-it-alls think that new customers are coming from? Do they realize that the competition is also most likely ramping up their efforts? It's a zero-sum game unless the marketers or C-level execs come up with something different ... and hopefully it's strategic and not trickery.

My guess is that they are a bit disconnected to reality and look at things from the mountaintop ... possibly in similar to fashion to what deans might see. Without further disrespect to deans, marketers need to help deans and others within the organization that they need to take care of their own houses first ... their own customers and that if they want new customers, then it's about converting prospects higher.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, higher education is extremely inefficient in prospect management and conversion. Address this first before you chase a new marketing avenue. The ROI will be higher. While I often recommend to my colleagues in academia to listen to business and industry, this time I am not. Convert higher from within before you chase the moving car.

Hey marketers ... break your own internal systems to find the holes in conversion. Shop yourself or have others do so. Do it credibly and cautiously, but do it somehow. You're probably chasing more possibly customers away than what a crazy new business effort might do. Did I tell you about the academic dean that got advice from a person sitting next to him on the airplane? No? Well, he came back with a great new business marketing idea and derailed the marketing department for six months. Marketer -- stand up for yourself, but do so in an informed point of view ... just don't get yourself fired.

Sign of the Times, Coke Pushes for "Value-Based" Marketing Compensation

2009-04-27T11:42:00.004-04:00

I've had writer's block for a few weeks ... trying to find some societal thread to marketing continuing education, but in a way that would not necessarily repeat the same themes of the past. Something finally hit me over the head today, as I was reading my online version of Advertising Age. Today, AdAge reported that the Coca Cola Company is moving to a "value-based" compensation model for those marketing and advertising firms working with the company. This means that if you don't produce, they're probably out or they won't make much. If they do produce, the article suggests that the agency can make a 30% profit margin.

What the article also emphasizes is "value over effort." This is my link to continuing education marketing. All too often, college and university continuing education units put a great deal of emphasis on design and brochure creation and not enough on strategy and customer-centricity. Academia has allowed many of its marketers to react to advertising needs, repeat media purchases because "we've always done it this way," and not report the hard data and metrics of success. What is also lacking is the prioritized return on investment of the institution's many marketing efforts ... which one works better, which one reaches more and converts more and which one requires less effort to produce (while producing a reasonable or strong return).

What Coca Cola is doing is measuring and rewarding based on accountability. Gone should be the days of "we can't measure it because it is part of the branding initiative" at the continuing education unit. Gone should be "it is too hard to measure" or "we know it works well because students tell us." So what can universities and colleges do?

Challenge their customer relationship management and enrollment systems. Our systems should be able to track a person as they come in, leave or become stalled.
Have a strategic competency in your marketing staff or be building one.
Review the process where inquiries come in. This shouldn't be a black hole. They either call, leave electronic data or walk in. We should be able to capture it.
Sit in the seat of the prospect/customer. We secret shop the intake process for many of our clients. Might be a good idea for you to do the same.
Build a marketing culture that is based on science and not the back of a cocktail napkin regarding a "good marketing idea." Strategy starts on science.

While you as an educational professional might be saying "This is soda that we are talking about. This isn't relevant to education." It is relevant, as one of the best marketers in the world is changing its culture. It isn't just about selling soft drinks. It is about asking our marketers for metrics, measures and accountability. It's about asking for more science and discipline and not just creative ability (while it is important, it is just part of the puzzle). Coke is it ... we should follow suit.

Urban Legend on Adults Returning to College

2009-04-04T20:34:00.007-04:00

Ok, are you sick of reading emails on "Recession Strategies" or receiving discounts called "Your Economic Stimulus Discount?" I am. What also seems to be overkill is the belief that with this economic situation, that adults are going to enroll in masses to complete or seek their degrees. Continuing education is supposed to benefit from times like these ... don't buy it! Times are different and history doesn't necessarily always repeat itself. Until someone produces some hard data that adults will return to college in masses, consider it a myth of the past and not for the future. Let me offer up why we are in a different situation:

We happen to be in a war right now ... which makes economic factors for the nation different, as well as with individual attitudes and perspectives, as compared to the recession in early 2000's and in the 80's.
While we had a recession in the early 2000's, we as individuals, as corporations and as a nation also were not carrying anything close to the level of debt we are currently carrying. Much of this recession was caused by a loss in manufacturing jobs and the dot-com bubble burst.
For education, we have greater competition. Ten years ago, we had different avenues for revenues and differentiation ... we could offer distance education courses. We had a magic bullet if we needed it. Also, our universities as a whole were more financially stable.

For this recession, there's not a lot of extra money floating anywhere. In the recession of the 2000's, colleges and universities could find it. If it wasn't coming from the companies, it came from the individuals. The same held true for the recession of the 80's. Not today though. Both wells have run dry.

So, what's my point or how can I help. My earlier threads point to fixing the internal house and CRM. My presentation at UCEA this week pleads to colleges and universities to focus on better marketing and operations and not to chase the gadgets. Social networking, such as Facebook, mySpace, Twitter and blogging are great, but will they generate new enrollments? For the most part "no."

You need to focus your marketing on areas of strength. You need to do a better job at closing the deal with inquirers ... stop putting your least trained people on the other end of the telephone call and don't push them back to the web if they have questions.

Download my latest presentation at UCEA. Also, keep an eye out for my next whitepaper that further addresses the needs and expectations of marketing managers with their deans and vice versa.

UCEA, the Celtics and Marketing in a Tight Economy

2009-04-02T00:10:00.004-04:00

Well, I couldn't resist ... just got back from the Celtics game. I am attending the UCEA conference in Boston and couldn't resist tying in what turned out to be the best basketball game that I've ever been to with marketing continuing education. It may be a stretch and it may not be fully coherent, as the Magic Hat #9 may be talking. Here's the linkage ...

This is not about the co-promotion strategy of Dunkin Donuts and the Celtics, as you see it all over place, nor is it about cross-selling memorabilia with the experience ... although I almost bought a green foam finger. It is about marketing in tight economy. You've got to create value and the experience for consumers to spend on an experience. I must admit, when I bought the tickets to the game, I wasn't sure whether it would be a good experience for my guests, who were my past clients and prospects.

Can you say double overtime, come from behind victory by the Celtics? My guests had a great time ... we high fived, danced to Ferris Bueller music and tried to get on the Jumbotron. The end result was an emotional bonding with my guests through what turned out to be experiential marketing. Everytime they see the Celtics, they will remember the game. Hopefully, they will remember me when they need marketing assistance or consultation.

Without risk, there cannot be reward. My risk ... buying the tickets on my dime (not the company's as it might be perceived as excessive), inviting folks, guiding them to the game, committing to dialogue and friendship and then following up after.

Continuing education marketers need to look at whether they are centered on product or the end benefit to the adult learner seeking the degree. This isn't necessarily about your product and the degree that you offer, but what you can do for their lives. This means that you have to connect with them through advertising (not marketing), you need to welcome them and you need to show them the vision so they remember you when it comes to making a decision. In my travels, many colleges and universities don't have all these elements in alignment ... they address advertising, but fail to create experience. They create brand strategies that have a short-term effect. Customer relationship management and giving a proper greeting is lacking for many.

While the Celtics are a marketing machine, we can learn from them. The experience today was rare, but all the strategic planning better prepared them for a positive outcome. For continuing education marketers, it isn't about spending more on advertising, but fixing things internally with little additional cost so you can create a better experience. ... a double overtime come from behind win.

Ramblings Related to AIG

2009-03-18T10:33:00.004-04:00

While I just posted a blog entry yesterday, I couldn't resist doing another given the AIG situation. What troubles me most is that while AIG is getting big stimulus money and doling out the bonuses, one would think that AIG's brand is taking a huge hit ... much more than what the bonus money is worth. It's a PR nightmare spun out of control. If you are like me, you're watching this with disgust. Just think about the companies and individuals that will NOT consider AIG for their insurance, investments or financial planning needs. This will have ill effects for years if not decades. The lifetime value of a customer lost in this case or the hope or ease of new customer acquisition could be eye-popping. I'd also take a wild stab that given the financial condition of AIG, that this PR nightmare does nothing to stabilize the company, but makes it worse. You can't turn your back on $30B but how much will AIG lose as a result of this.

According to the Associated Press, AIG rewarded more than 70 employees with more than a million dollars in bonuses, saying it needed to do so to retain key employees. Eleven are no longer with the company but will receive their bonuses.

Message to education: Protect the brand. Have a plan. Don't invest in program development that you can't sustain long-term. Fulfillment and customer service are part of brand management. Hire good people. Retain and train them. Hold them, as well as yourself, to accountability and performance metrics. Don't reward bad behavior ... especially with a million bucks. :)

Changing Media ... The End of an Era: Newspapers?

2009-03-17T14:10:00.005-04:00

A sad note ... the Seattle Post-Intelligencer prints its last edition today. After a century and a half of operations, the newspaper ends a long history of service. Times change. Young people don't read newspapers and many older or middle-agers have conditioned themselves to read online. It's tough to imagine losing out on a great social pattern ... picking up the paper, pouring a cup of coffee and starting the day. Reading on the Blackberry has its place, but doesn't seem to be as fun ... also, the newspaper can't easily fall in the toilet.

I remember the day when I first identified that newspapers were on the way out ... Friday, May 17, 2002 on the Penn State Wilkes-Barre campus to a room full of a hundred business people. The jaws dropped. Just seven years later, the first major sign of it happened with a number of papers closing its doors in 2009.

Implication to marketers and continuing education? It's the continuing evolution of marketing skill sets for both marketers and deans. Download my recent whitepaper on "The Expectations of Marketing from Continuing Education Leadership" for more discussion on this. Deans need to make sure they know current and future marketing trends and marketers need to understand how new and existing tools connect to the marketplace and the institution's offerings. Marketers can't rely on skills built on the 80's and 90's. In the 80's, I learned the 4Ps of marketing and market research. In the 90's, I learned marketing strategy, advertising, media buying, geographic information systems, distance learning, websites, database marketing and public relations. In the 2000's, I learned about CRM, search engine optimization, electronic public relations and enrollment management. Marketers need to continue to feed themselves ... proactively. Continuing education marketers and leaders need to continue their own education and they need to be aggressive about it. Things happen quick, just ask the Seattle community, as they've lost one of their gems.

True Brand Strategy for Continuing and Professional Education

2009-02-23T09:17:00.004-05:00

Every time I open my email box or an industry magazine, I get an announcement for "Recession Proof Strategies for ..." conference, workshop, whitepaper or webinar. Without diving into negative message or strategy, I wanted to contribute in some way, shape or form to the education field or discussion. Here are my thoughts and some items I anticipate needing to address in the near future regarding how the recession impacts higher education:

High end brands: So, if you've been at the top of your segment, such as a University of Maryland, UMass or Penn State regarding distance education or Harvard, Yale or NYU regarding academics or higher cost private institutions such as Wesleyan, Babson or Middlebury, then your recession strategy might be creating more value. During challenging economic times, history shows that consumers are less likely to buy homes, cars or make luxury purchases. The fix-it-yourself market tends to thrive and people hold on to previously acquired high end items longer. While one can argue that education is different, it still shares the realm of a complex or information-dependent purchase. Therefore, to survive or thrive, one needs to combat the notion of deep discounting with the creation of value. It might be about saying what the return on investment is with a premier degree, as opposed to a degree from a state university ... or saying the message louder. Bag the feel-good, pretty "image" campaigns (i.e. I saw one premier brand university advertise passively the message of convenience, when in today's economy, that message needs to be translated more directly into dollars and cents for the student) in favor of the benefit message. Short answer: You need to say it better and louder with a potential message of great quality but with a long term return on investment.
Middle end brands: Seize the moment. While I can appreciate the budget crisis you are in, now is the time to invest if possible. Invest into market share by attacking the high-end brands with better value and return on investment. Short answer: You need to seize the day, but in a strategic manner that can gain market share. Time to hit the big guys below the belt with some smart spending creating a message of good quality and great value.
Lower end brands or new entrants to the marketplace: Inhabit where the middle end brands are leaving and where the high ends are failing. Given the economic changes, distance education is becoming more acceptable not only to the consumer, but also to the business professional. While the manager once would not allow his or her employees distance education, he or she might now accept it. In addition to this, lower or newer brands can also be quick and nimble ... beating out traditional, larger and slower institutions to the punch. Some community colleges have shown their ability to respond faster to workforce development initiatives. Many online universities are marketing a stronger message of work continuance to the busy individual while completing the degree. Short answer: Acceptable quality, but at a great price. Why waste your money over-paying for middle or higher end brands? It's almost the generic soup or over-the-counter medicine approach ... same product, but less obvious brand.

Depending on where your college or university is, now is NOT the time to over-think, over-process or get caught in committee work. It's time to have a strategy, a plan and to move swiftly (although not stupidly). I believe I have succeeded in avoiding negativity around the recession message! Now is the time for action.