MARKETING HIGHER EDUCATION A periodic electronic Newsletter to help you market your school, community college, college, or university. Vol. XII, no. 6, June, 1998 -------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS Storm Clouds on the Horizon; Musings by Robert "Bob" S. Topor, Marketing Higher Education Evangelist On WINGS OF ANGELS: Spirituality and Marketing by Robert "Bob" S. Topor, Senior Consultant Topor Consulting Group International Town-Gown marketing by Robert "Bob" S. Topor, -------------------------------------------------- Storm Clouds on the Horizon; Musings by Robert "Bob" S. Topor, Marketing Higher Education Evangelist Situational Analysis: During past years while I have been teaching, writing, doing consulting and seminars I have discovered what I believe to be a serious problem in higher education. I am finding cutbacks in college and university personnel, space, equipment and funding in marketing, communications, public affairs and advancement areas. Obviously there are Boards, Presidents, administrators and faculty who, while facing severe funding and scary "bottom lines," are looking for ways to cut and consolidate. Also, they feel pressure to shore up development and fundraising at the expense of communication and marketing. They have often chosen wrongly. A rising star? An indication of this is a shifting to development and fund raising. This is also evidenced by professional organizations and consultants who follow the dollar. Development is a rising star. The falling stars are marketing, public relations, publications, alumni relations, community relations, and legislative relations (for public institutions). I am finding migration of funding and personnel positions to support development. These are often "stolen" from communications. Beware audits: An early warning signal is the audit. If your activities are being audited you may be wise to consider why! Audits are early warning signals of problems on the horizon. They are often not innocent activities. If you are being audited, the "writing may be on the wall." Beware. Storm warnings: Fiscal studies are often warning signs too. Focus on internal organization (personnel alignments) often point to potential problems. Hiring consultants to take the blame is another ploy often employed by administrators. There are consultants who will, for a fee, take the blame. (We are not one of them.) Re-assignments from traditional areas to development suggest a form of re-thinking. Beware! This can be a sign of loss. Some may think it an advantage to report to development. Often it is not. Often it requires an "allegiance" to the fundraising function. An example: Many alumni magazine editors have found, after reporting to development, strong pressures to make the alumni magazine a promotional tool for development. The magazine loses objectivity and becomes a development "mouthpiece." Bob's Lament: For decades I have advocated effective and efficient marketing, research, image building and communications as ways to stave off fiscal problems. For some academies this has worked very well. Others, afraid to take the necessary gutsy moves, or who are "locked up" with internal politics, have floundered. We call this "hitting the marketing wall!" Or "marketing stalling." This article is intended as a "think piece" for professionals in the field. Much of what I write about here is not "politically correct." The only reason I can write about this is that I am independent of any educational institutions and am free to talk the talk as I walk the walk. This article may be very important for the newcomer to higher education. Those who have not had an opportunity to experience higher education for decades as I have, are particularly vulnerable. Often these "realignments" are masked as "opportunities." That can be false and misleading. Don't fall for it. What can you do? Prevention is the better part of success. I suggest you begin, right now, to network with friendly faculty and administrators to build networks of support. Communication is key to building support. Don't be shy about telling people what you do and the results of your efforts. Be smart about using research to substantiate your work. Honest, impartial information can be a very valuable asset. Don't think doing the good job is enough. It isn't if others don't know about it! Somewhat ironically, communications are key to what you can do. I recommend that you make sure you are communicating internally as well as externally. Focus on your achievements. Use research as a tool to assess problems. Report findings to faculty senate or to other top groups. Get advice from your President, of course. Don't try to outflank your leadership. It almost never works. Here are some issues and subjects to consider to advance your institution: enrollment and enrollment management attrition distance education institutional image marketing integration alumni relations athletics Web site infrastructure (politics) fund raising (ironically) advertising publications identity (i.e., logos) mission self-imposed fragmentation (see my article in the May, 1998 issue of this newsletter) There may be other issues you will want to consider. Be alert to what is happening on campus. Keep your antenna up! Listen. Ask! Communicating up and down systems: Often we forget to communicate down the system. We only focus attention on our "boss." She/he may not be your best target. Find out who the "shakers and movers" are. Be alert to changes in leadership. Remember to communicate both externally and INTERNALLY. Don't forget internal communications. That leads to visibility and positioning your services and achievements. I see examples where professionals, overburdened with work, focus total attention to external audiences while overlooking internal ones. This can lead to disaster. The job gets done but important internal folks don't know about it. New president? Change in leadership is another indicator of potential problems. Assess new leadership carefully. Find out if your ideas are compatible with your new leader. Change of president can bode good or bad. Any change of this sort is a warning signal. Consider it carefully. Find out why it happened. It may affect you and your work. What can you do? There are actions you can take to ride out the storms I write about in this article. Here are some suggestions: 1. Make yourself known. Don't be afraid to talk about what you do and what your colleagues do. Don't hide your successes under bushel baskets! 2. Build linkages. Find compassionate friends who will speak up for you and your efforts. Third party endorsement is best. 3. Act honorably. Have Faith. "Do unto others as you would wish they do unto you." Be compassionate. Be honest. Smile. 4. Saying "I don't know" is not bad. It is much better than the alternative (lying or faking it). There is no sin in honesty. 5. Saying "no" is possible. Don't try to please everyone all the time. It may not be possible (for many reasons). Just say "no." 6. Don't be afraid. I am told the most common idea in the Bible is "don't be afraid." There may be good reason for that! I wish you the best of luck. I am available for free consultation and phone calls or e-mail. See "Ask Bob" on my web site for an easy, automatic, electronic way to pose questions to me. I will do my best to help you. I want you to succeed. God Bless you. -Bob Topor (650) 962-1105 topor@marketinged.com A caveat: Some schools are blessed with Board and leaders who truly recognize the value of effective marketing and communications. If that is your situation, you are truly blessed. You can rest assured that much of what is written in this article does not apply to you. Enjoy working in a stress-free environment! Relax. ********** Bob Topor * Topor Consulting Group International Higher Education Marketing Evangelist Web site: http://www.marketinged.com E-mail: topor@marketinged.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. ********** -------------------------------------------------- On WINGS OF ANGELS: Spirituality and Marketing by Bob Topor, Senior Consultant Topor Consulting Group International "No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in may see the light." Luke 11:33 Many people feel, I think, that marketing is some sort of spurious activity, mean-spirited and stealth. I disagree. Admittedly, marketing can be cast as some sort of dark force, intent on deception. But marketing can also be a very positive force, a brilliant, sunlit one, promising and delivering wholesome and honest messages; achieving honorable altruistic results. I am led to this sort of thinking by my recent studies of the Bible. There I find many examples of how Jesus used marketing ideas to influence, guide and inspire people. Jesus was a fine marketer. I know that this may not be a popular idea in a culture disposed to crass commercialism and advertising, much of which is inspired by less than wholesome purposes. But you don't have that problem. You work in a field of altruism where the seeds you plant often bear wonderful fruit (higher education). Products of higher education abound. They are all around us. They are we and we are they. To take advantage of your powerful spiritual position you need to understand principles of marketing and apply them to your daily work. You will then have unleashed a force to do good, one which may be (I hope!) divinely inspired. Those creative juices will begin to flow, yielding strong new activities. They will truly be driven on wings of angels. Now, at this point, you may be wondering if Bob has lost his mind or has fallen off the deep end of some unseen intellectual abyss. I can assure you I have not. I have given this idea a lot of thought and attention. In some ways I have been afraid to write about it. I considered masking it in an article about religiously-affiliated institutions. I could have done that because I believe those schools have an obvious marketing niche advantage over others. But strangely, they do little to understand and explore it. They often seem to languish in some sort of never-never land, afraid to take a stance, locked up in their own insecure indecision. They often put "candles under bowls." Is it strange? Isn't it strange that institutions with the most spiritual potential are afraid to move on their base convictions? Most try, I find, to conceal the Truth rather than glorify it. Rather sad, don't you think? Of course secular institutions also seem to dodge the obvious. They are also pillars of Truth and Spiritual Power, but are indecisive in behavior. They prefer to duck their deepest emotions, afraid to trumpet their achievements, for fear of being wrongly judged. As a result, apathy and indecision stifle them in uncertainty, reluctance and passivity. You may wonder what all this has to do with marketing higher education (my area of interest). I feel it has a lot to do with it but most people are afraid to talk about it or even think or discuss it amongst their peers. Let's bring it out in the open and examine it for what it is. It may be a place to hang our hats. It may represent a light of hope in an otherwise darkened place of pain and reluctance. Cut and save: All higher education's retrenchments and repositionings have caused me great personal grief. It may have you too. All around us, it seems fiscal fires are burning. People, fine people, are being laid off, or their positions threatened. I saw my whole department, fifty people, at Stanford University swept away in one destructive action. Some of the people from that department have been saved by their own resourcefulness. Others have not been so lucky. Some have watched their loved ones die, health care benefits lost. It has indeed been a tragic situation. But we must not get mired down in the false belief that all is lost because it simply is not true. We have much to be grateful for despite the frequent fearful headlines in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the occasional derisiveness of colleagues and faculty. It is, I think, time to trumpet our successes and "gird our loins" with the Truth of our Convictions. I stand for the Truth and Goodness of our work. Do you join me? What should you do? I recommend you think about the ways your institution displays spirituality. Some of the ways may be very obvious. Others may be quite concealed. It may be wise to do focus group research using internal constituents such as students, parents, faculty and fellow administrators to get the answer to some basic questions. Ask the spiritual question: "How do you think XYZ College ) (your institution) displays spirituality? Make sure answers are not too simple such as "We have a chapel".: or... "There is a Christian Science Club" or "Our football team prays before each game for a victory." Those are "cop out" answers and may not get to the real core issue of institutional spirituality. This article was inspired by a recent course I took called Alpha (practical introduction of the Christian faith). This article is dedicated to the memory of Bill Cosby's son, Ennis. Love, -Bob Topor ********** Bob Topor * Topor Consulting Group International Higher Education Marketing Evangelist Web site: http://www.marketinged.com E-mail: topor@marketinged.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. ********** -------------------------------------------------- Town-Gown marketing, A Prediction for Marketing Higher Education by Robert "Bob" S. Topor In a recent e-mail I was pleased to see that Centre College in Danville Kentucky was practicing excellent town-gown marketing. Here is a posting by Patsi Trollinger of their advancement area (printed with permission): "Centre College is located literally on Main Street of a small, historic town and, while we are not dependent on the local area for students, everyone is happier when the town-gown relationship is going smoothly. Every college, town (university and city!) is different, and the key is to know your town -- and know what's right and what's wrong with the relationship. Centre doesn't need lots of students from the local area (our student body is national and international) but we historically have counted on local people for goodwill and financial support. A few years ago, the relationship hit a low ebb. The reasons were complex, but in essence, the local mood was that Centre was taking from the community instead of giving. We needed to get out information and ideas to refute that idea. As things have turned out, our best projects were low-tech and cheap. Some things that have worked... - Our students run a huge volunteer program that places from 300 to 500 students per year in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, humane societies, etc. We have launched a simple, cheap recognition program "Student Volunteer of the Month" which has been great. One Centre student is chosen each month, and we send a short release plus photo to the local paper (as well as the student's hometown). The release always stresses what the student is doing for our local town, and the paper always runs the release. (The hometown versions have resulted in some wonderful feature stories including a front-page color story around Christmas in a big state daily.) The winning student gets a framed certificate -- and is treated to lunch by one administrative office on campus. (That's been another good outcome... nine different offices sponsor the awards. Each month, one office takes the winner out to eat. That has produced some great conversations on campus -- and more staff members are aware of our volunteer program.) -- The other really simple thing we've done is buy advertising space in the local daily for a weekly calendar of college events that are free and open to the public. The calendar is a simple box and runs a good cross-section of arts events, lectures, and sports. We promote the college web site and provide phone numbers for public information and for admission. I've been amazed at the number of local people who have commented on the value of the calendar and expressed gratitude for it. -- Our acting president has instituted a series of dinners at the President's House in conjunction with major events at the arts center. He invites clusters of people (one small neighborhood or the board of the local community theater), feeds them and takes them to the evening's play or performance. These have been popular. And the most unpleasant recent experience... trying to keep people happy and provide accurate information to the local daily during a six-month period when construction at the college interfered with local traffic. (The county livestock yard threatened to dump a load of Herefords on the President's lawn!) My only advice is to remember that no one likes BAD surprises. Don't close a road (or quit admitting the public to your pool or rename a building) without giving people adequate and appropriate information." Patsi Trollinger. Centre College ******************* These are simple and imaginative ideas costing very little. I have, during my long career in higher education, known some very wise community relations people. One of the best was Andy Doty at Stanford. Andy was very "tuned in" to the community of Palo Alto. He was a respected and very visible citizen both on and off campus. He paved the way for a lot of positive town-gown work. This article is dedicated to my recently retired friend, Andy. ********** Bob Topor * Topor Consulting Group International Higher Education Marketing Evangelist Web site: http://www.marketinged.com E-mail: topor@marketinged.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. ********** -------------------------------------------------- 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: 6/29/98 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