Robert Sevier has been an important voice in the world of higher education consulting. As Vice President for Research and Marketing for Stamats Communications, Inc., Sevier has routinely published information gathered from extensive survey research as well as personal information learned from working with numerous colleges and universities. The topics frequently covered deal with the concepts of marketing and recruiting. However, they are not designed to be regulated to university relations or institutional improvement offices. The information given should resonate throughout the institution. In “Those Important Things,” Sevier details the important pieces of the puzzle every college president works with: how do I ensure that my institution is externally recognized as the important force that I know it is? Too many times, institutions are swimming in data but lack the overall direction and principles needed to move forward. To this end, Sevier offers the following “most important things [everyone] should know about marketing a college”:
1. It begins with vision.
“Today’s colleges and universities suffer from too much vision rather than too little.” The difficulty lies in the will and initiative to bring the many competing visions together into a unified whole. What is needed is “a clear sense of purpose and process” not better ideas. The president’s responsibility is “to assess the internal coalitions and the external opportunities and obstacles that are before the institution and then declare that direction to the campus community and beyond.”
2. Marketing is more than promotion.
Institutions that only focus on promotion will fail. “Savvy institutions use a proper definition of marketing that embraces product, price, place, and promotion.” The product is defined as “the sum of the student’s academic, social, physical, and even spiritual value experiences.” Sevier’s research with student perceptions and desires routinely show that institutions have trouble differentiating their academic product and focus on the wrong items.
3. Image is everything.
From their extensive research: “More students choose a college because of its image or reputation than almost any other factor. It’s that simple.” The actual image may be a source of disagreement and contention, but “strong images don’t happen by accident; they occur because of design.” It is important to develop a clear and consistent image that is portrayed by all functions of the institution.
4. How students make decisions.
In higher education, we make this equation too difficult. “People, even students, make decisions in a predictable fashion.” We need to develop the discipline to listen to that data and “mercilessly calculate, from the perspective of the student, the cost/benefit analysis of your own institution” for every thing that we do.
5. Mind share must come before market share.
This point will come to the relief of the anti-business crowd. Decisions should always be made with the intent of continuing the mental connection and positive relationship that the institution has with its students. It is not essential to capture the largest share of the market, but to nurture and develop the people that you do have. This will develop the attraction and attention that the institution needs.
6. Competitive positioning.
Institutions are in competition to attract the best students as they are the best faculty and resources. “The fact is, students are very quick to compare one college with another, and institutions that fail to recognize this do so at their own peril.”
7. Segment whenever you can.
Everyone knows that the constituent list for higher education is long and, at times, confusing. Even student populations consist of many groups. However, “don't attempt to develop different strategies for more than a handful of your most meaningful segments.”
8. Choose a champion.
Every movement needs someone to carry the organization through the hard times. This person must have the “respect of the campus community...[an] understanding of marketing...power and clout...and be able to lead and motivate people.”
9. You need to write a plan.
This is the most basic. “A written marketing plan provides a detailed guide of what will be done, by whom, and when.”
Source: Sevier, R. Those important things: What every college president needs to know about marketing and recruiting. White Paper No. 2. Published by Stamats Communications, Inc.
