MARKETING HIGHER EDUCATION A periodic electronic Newsletter to help you market your school, community college, college, or university. Vol. XII, no. 1, January, 1998 -------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS Dredging Quantitative Marketing Research Findings for Qualitative Insights. by Robert "Bob" S. Topor & Professor Elizabeth "Liz" Pollard Topor Consulting Group International A Nontechnical Approach to Marketing Higher Education by Robert "Bob" S. Topor -------------------------------------------------- Dredging Quantitative Marketing Research Findings for Qualitative Insights. by Robert "Bob" S. Topor and Professor Liz Pollard, Topor Consulting Group International Higher education is a field where great emphasis has been placed on quantitative data marketing research techniques and findings. Often, hidden in this sea of information is powerful qualitative information. Using techniques of exploring (dredging), using qualitative techniques, data can yield useful information. Often, by dredging existing data using qualitative techniques, valuable relationships and conclusions can be drawn at low cost since basic research has already been accomplished. This technique requires knowing what to look for and how to get it. Often dredging can be quite shallow, not requiring great effort. Other times valuable information is buried deep in existing data, requiring substantial evaluation and interpretation. The higher education scenario is quite familiar: Research studies are conducted to accomplish specific tasks. For example, research may be used to answer admissions concerns. Pre-planned statistical analysis may include not much more than conventional cross-tabulation and correlation reporting. Buried in that information may be very valuable data for development (fund raising). Knowing what to look for and how to extrapolate it is all that is necessary to dredge the valuable information. Identifying, capturing, interpreting and applying valuable information is key to many marketing successes. Having already accomplished research available for re-analysis is a powerful and new idea for higher education. Start by inventorying research studies. Identify studies, purpose(s), dates, repetitive purpose if studies are part of an on-going effort such as institutional image study. Gather findings. Take a look at the data to determine if other information can be dredged. If you need help, call Dr. Moshe Engelberg at ResearchWorks (619) 487-8200. Dr. Engelberg will be happy to assist you in determining if information you have can be further dredged. Professor Liz Pollard: This seems like an excellent way to stretch scarce marketing dollars! Making one research effort do two or more things can more than double the results for the effort and expense! Of course, we're assuming that the data gleaned from the initial research has been carefully saved in a useful form, such as a computer database. Perhaps some examples would help readers see the advantages to this approach. Let's assume that Admissions research contains data on areas of the country, or socio-economic strata from which a college's student body is derived over a period of years. If the same data is further manipulated, using a sophisticated database program to determine relationships between records, it may be possible to determine other significant correlations, such as where the students come from who are retained through graduation, how many go on to graduate programs, and similar facts. This information might then be used to make decisions on where to concentrate future marketing efforts! Records of donors to the institution might be similarly mined to determine what subject areas, socio-economic groups, and geographical areas are contributing heavily to the institution's budget. It should also show what occupations these donors represent, and these data can be used to isolate groups of current and future graduates who may be sources of substantial gifts. Analysis of current registrations and majors may also yield some useful data for marketing purposes. It should show subject strengths of the institution, for example, which can be heavily emphasized in marketing efforts. Similarly, records of current and past research can be dredged to determine areas to be highlighted in marketing materials. Some of these examples are simple enough to be done manually and may already be used to some extent. How much more valuable would they be if complete databases of relevant research were mined to give more complete results? Perhaps by examining databases already stored in your institution's computers you will find areas rich in data you didn't know was available to you. With cooperation between departments of the college or university, these data could yield some startling results and improvements in enrollments and contributions! ********** Bob Topor * Topor Consulting Group International Higher Education Marketing Evangelist Web site: http://www.marketinged.com E-mail: topor@marketinged.com AND Professor Liz Pollard * Smoke Signals Enterprises Web site: http://www.smokesig.com Email: lpollard@smokesig.com ********* NOTICE: As a subscriber to this electronic newsletter, you have permission to reproduce and use this article on your campus. All others please note ©1997, Topor Consulting Group International. Comments about, or requests to reprint should be directed to Bob Topor at topor@marketinged.com. -------------------------------------------------- A Nontechnical Approach to Marketing Higher Education by Robert "Bob" S. Topor People at higher education institutions, secondary schools, community colleges, colleges and universities, traditionally have touted the technical aspects of their academies. That is, they have focused attention on what they believed their institution offered to its audiences. In Admissions that was courses, faculty, location, facilities, financial aid, dormitories, extracurricular activities, etc. Alumni administrators focused their attention on what they thought important; staff development, reunions, trips, magazines, etc. Development people focused attention on capital campaigns, unrestricted donations, annual giving, traditions, deferred giving, etc. Deans focused their attention on curricular matters, faculty, facilities, libraries, and all the details necessary for undergraduate and graduate education. It made sense to do this. Higher education, as you well know, is complex and very detail intensive. It was logical to focus lots of energy on internal matters. A new approach to higher education - Today decisions to attend, donate, participate, and study are made by people who often base their decisions on intangible factors. Some schools are discovering the values of marketing their offerings in the most non-technical ways possible. As part of their approaches they downplay all the internal technical factors that make up this complex business called higher education. Rather than defining their offerings from a specifications point of view, as if higher education were sets of mechanical processes and procedures, they are defining the emotional aspects of their products. In the commercial sector, by comparison, one of the first companies to bring this type of marketing into the high-tech arena was Apple Computer Inc. Apple appealed to its audiences' emotions by directly addressing business managers' fears about buying non-IBM products. Their advertising headlines addressed the issue directly: "MIS (Management Information Systems) Manager Buys Macintosh, Keeps Job." The ad showed a prominent MIS manager cradling a Macintosh to lend credibility to what was basically an emotional sell. Testing revealed that MIS managers liked Apple's advertising because it displayed a sense of humor while addressing their deeply-felt concerns in an emotionally relevant manner. Most importantly, the ad increased their willingness to consider Macintosh as a business machine. Since then, Apple and other highly technical companies have developed creative, non technical approaches to even the most technical of products. Let's take a look at the communications and marketing efforts produced by your school. What approaches to defining your offers do you take? Do you begin your marketing efforts by thinking about attributes and aspects of your services from an internal technical point of view? Or do you think about the emotional aspects of your school and its offerings as perceived by segmented external target audiences? If you don't you may wonder how you could go about doing that. How can you get at the emotions that make up decisions? How, for example, could you (if you are an Admissions staffer) really begin to understand the emotional aspects of your school as perceived by a 16 or 17-year-old? If you are an Alumni Director or someone working on an alumni magazine how can you best understand the emotional factors felt by someone from the Class of '42? If you are working in development (fund raising) what attributes of your institution, what emotional factors, are really felt by a member of one of your prime target audiences as she/he considers a gift? New thinking - First, to take a non technical approach to higher education you need to consider changing the ways you think about your school and your area of interest. Traditionally, people working in higher education have been concerned about technical aspects of the school. Facts such as the number of volumes in the library, how many acres the campus occupies, the academic structure of studies, faculty composition, prerequisites, and all the millions of other details and factors that you know make up your educational activities, have, no doubt, been foremost in your mind (and in the minds of those with whom you work). This is not intended as criticism. All those operational and technical factors are important since they make up what your school is all about. They define, internally, what your products are. However, when considered from an external point of view by members of external (and some internal) target audiences, your school is most likely perceived in very, very different ways. Asking yourself: Who are we (as perceived by our target audiences?) - Marketing research, specifically qualitative marketing research, is key to finding out how your target audiences feel about your school. Soft ideas, attitudes, feelings, impressions and perceptions can be identified by using marketing research techniques such as focus groups. Use the book The Complete Guide to Focus Group Marketing Research for Higher Education by Robert S. Topor, author of this article. In this book, the author describes how to plan, execute and evaluate findings derived from focus groups. Now, a word of caution: You have, no doubt been told that qualitative marketing research is not projectionable and should not be used for ultimate decision making. Of course that is true. However, given that ominous warning, many people in higher education have avoided qualitative marketing research totally, paying little or no attention to this form of inquiry. Unfortunately this has resulted in almost total disregard for the softer, non-quantifiable aspects of higher education. And, often, this is where deep-seated emotions of target audiences reside (and where marketing decisions are often ultimately made). These emotional factors contribute to important ultimate decisions. By relying predominantly, and in many cases exclusively, on quantitative information, the kinds of statistical and numerative information provided by many of the commercial testing service providers for example, many schools have overlooked critically important marketing factors... factors that can have great benefit to them. Looking from the outside-in - An important new book Marketing Communications: How to avoid Myopia and add Marketing Power to your Publications, by Robert S. Topor describes how an externally focused approach, addressing many of the emotional issues described in this article can make an enormous difference in ultimate success. The process, called PowerAnalysis©, begins with segmented audience study (marketing research) whose findings are then professionally analyzed and used to drive creative communications... including development of editorial copy, graphic design, production and distribution. The concept behind this book was actually quite simple. It was designed to answer the question: could qualitative marketing research derived from key target audiences be used to drive creativity and resultant communications in ways that would ultimately dramatically improve the effectiveness of those communications? Case studies showed that results could be improved. In fact, by using marketing segmentation ideas in conjunction with PowerAnalysis techniques, you are able to do more (achieve better results ) with less (expenditures) since you are able to target more concise groups and niches of audiences. Smaller is actually better and more powerful! Relying on information to help define communications by how a service offering is perceived (using emotional as well as factual information) on the part of ultimate target audiences and constituencies, the end result becomes much more powerful. In effect, the process of communications is reversed. It literally begins with the end (the target audiences' perceptions) rather than by some internal institutional seat-of-the-pants approach we most often find in higher education. It avoids this kind of in-house thinking: "Well, lets see. What will I do to describe my institution today?" Needless to say this approach results in marketing that reflects pre-conceived internal attitudes and ideas and often has little, or no relevance to the target audience. Products, services, and communications using this dated methodology may result in a terrible waste of time, money, and effort. The non-myopic concept (as defined in the book) presents a radically new and different idea for higher education. Not being accustomed to beginning with what has traditionally been thought of as the end (audiences), many higher education professionals will resist this idea. The standard excuse will be "We don't have research in our budget," or "we have done a lot of research and it just ends up sitting on a shelf" (which is, of course, exactly what often happens). However, given the fiscal reality that research can literally improve results, far above and beyond the investment of marketing research to help drive communications, and in some cases, help define actual services and programmatic offerings, these old attitudes and dated excuses will be difficult to promote. The prediction is that, in the very near future (some are already doing it), major marketing, outreach and internal communications efforts will be driven by this revolutionary new approach. The fallacy of relying on internal hunches, guesses, myths and seat-of-the-pants suppositions will be forced to give way to a much more logical, realistic and scientific approach, one that is destined to be much, much more successful. I have come to call the internal-driven, self and institution-centered approach- intellectual masturbation. Some suggestions: *Develop advancement concepts and materials that focus on benefits and attributes rather than on technical information. *Select terms, identifiers, and names that are easily understood by your target audiences. Avoid internal language, jargon, and acronyms. *Design communications materials that describe what your school offers, what opportunities exist, and how services and offerings can be acquired based on research of intended audiences. *Use information and ideas that guide the potential user through the decision-making process that is necessary. *Use user-friendly ideas. *A programmatic idea: develop distribution of services in places that are convenient to users. *Design communications and marketing strategies that speak directly to the people you are trying to reach. Use marketing research to determine perceptions, ideas, messages, and ways to communicate them. Determine media vehicles based on user needs. A new book, Media & Marketing: A New Alliance for Higher Education describes how to use media to achieve marketing results. *Use communications that help users understand your academy's personality (and its unique market position). Higher education users will continue to find it difficult to distinguish one institution of higher education from the next, while features of even the most simple institution become more and more complex. Consequently, higher education will continue to face the interesting challenge of developing creative and unique methods to market and differentiate their offerings from their competition. The challenge is yours! ***** For information about ordering the books mentioned in this article (The Complete Guide to Focus Group Marketing Research for Higher Education and Marketing Communications: How to avoid Myopia and add Marketing Power to your Publications and Media & Marketing: A New Alliance for Higher Education) call Topor & Associates at (650) 962-1105 or write Bob Topor at Topor & Associates, 280 Easy Street, Suite 114, Mountain View, CA 94043-3736. Or e-mail Bob at topor@marketinged.com. Bob Topor, Higher Education Marketing Evangelist topor@marketinged.com http://www.marketinged.com voice:(650) 962-1105 Fax: (650) 962-1155 280 Easy St Suite 114 Mountain View, CA USA 94043-3736 ********** NOTICE: As a subscriber to this electronic newsletter, you have permission to reproduce and use this article on your campus. All others please note ©1997, Topor Consulting Group International. Comments about, or requests to reprint should be directed to Bob Topor at topor@marketinged.com. ********** -------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL OFFER For Marketing Higher Education newsletter subscribers ONLY. Download the updated second edition of Bob's "classic" book, Marketing Higher Education - A Practical Guide, directly from his Web site at http://www.marketinged.com Special Deal: As a subscriber to this newsletter you have permission to make copies and distribute on your campus... a great aid for marketing committees! Make as many copies as you like (limited to your campus). You can get this book from the Home page on Bob's web site. It costs $40 (U.S.) It is easy to download to your computer, then you can reproduce it in your print shop or make photocopies. The first edition of this book has been one of CASE's best selling publications and has been used around the world. If you have questions call Bob at (650) 962-1105. -------------------------------------------------- NEW! "The Complete Guide to Focus Group Marketing Research in Higher Education" book is now available for downloading to your computer... Bob Topor's 55-page practical guidebook for running focus groups is now available for downloading. As subscriber to this electronic newsletter you have permission to purchase this book and make unlimited copies for use on your campus (copyright free). Regular cost is $32 in printed copy. You can purchase it for only $25. It is a great guide for how to do focus groups and has been Bob's best selling book ever! Don't miss this special offer! It's easy to order (secured credit card) and download... just log on to Bob's web site at http://www.marketinged.com and find it on his home page. Questions? Call Bob at (650) 962-1105 or e-mail him at topor@marketinged.com -------------------------------------------------- Original posting: 1/30/98 Marketing Higher Education Newsletter is published by Topor Consulting Group International (http://www.marketinged.com). Newsletter posted by WEBB Internet Marketing & Consulting (http://www.firstchapter.com). copyright 1998 Topor Consulting Group International