For way too long, saying “marketing” on a college campus could get you in hot water (unless, of course, you were a marketing professor or student). Saying “brand” led to strange looks and skeptical associations of how you might belittle serious work with silly slogans or advertisements. But times are changing.
Signs abound that marketing in higher ed is maturing and becoming more critical to institutional success. From the rise of the Chief Marketing Officer on college campuses to impactful social media efforts that lead to amazing fundraising success, marketing has continued to come into its own.
But higher ed marketers are still searching for the holy grail—being able to truly impact organizational decisions and strategy, being seen as more than promotion, wrapped up in a flashy advertising campaign, or just “telling the story.” Hope lives as marketers take their seat at the leadership table. While stories of Sweet Briar loomed large in the last several months, not told was how a new VP of Marketing drove the organizational reflection that led former Pittsburgh women’s college Chatham University to go co-ed and reverse years of declining applications and enrollment within a year.
"Chatham so far has attracted 1,678 undergraduate applications, more than double the 655 at the same time last year and the five-year average of 792. Student deposits as of last week totaled 256, versus 145 last year, and all but 46 are first-time, first-year students, a demographic that had become increasingly scarce."
At SimpsonScarborough we often discuss the brand continuum with our clients. Launching a campaign doesn’t equate to success. In fact, the ultimate success comes when institutions live their brands. Perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than at Arizona State University (ASU), where within the past year they have launched two notable initiatives (with notable fanfare) that truly represent their brand promise of being The New American University.
ASU, one of the nation’s largest universities, announced its partnership to help Starbucks employees earn and finish their degrees to much fanfare—and an equal amount of skepticism. Similarly, when it announced that it would launch a program with EdX to offer free (or nearly free) MOOC’s for credit (paid only when students earned credit), the naysayers piled on.
Despite the criticism, ASU and its trailblazing (and headline-grabbing) President Michael Crow were sticking true to their brand. You see, unlike so many colleges and universities that go into branding efforts by setting aside their missions and poorly articulating a vision, ASU made it crystal clear in making a visible change to its charter.
"ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed."
While I am confident that not all the changes on campus have been accepted with similar enthusiasm or led to imminent success (nor do I profess to know all the intimate details), I do know this—the Starbucks and EdX programs are true representations of living the brand. And—unlike nearly EVERY university in the country—ASU has been able to dramatically increase its enrollment by nearly 24,000 students in 10 years despite dramatic (and continued) funding cuts resulting from the great recession.
Living the brand has already led to results that are driving great awareness, brand reach, and new students for ASU. When the Starbucks program opened, more than 5,000 students applied. 1,012 enrolled for the fall semester. 87 percent of the first class went on to register for the spring semester, and the program could lead to 25,000 new graduates over the next decade.
That’s creating market opportunity. That’s living the brand. And that’s where higher ed marketing is headed.
You'll be able to hear more in-depth about how ASU is driving its brand at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education where Dan Dillon, Senior VP and Chief Marketing Officer, will be one of several terrific keynotes. Register now!