Over decades of marketing higher education, I have often been challenged by college and university people who are suspicious of marketing. Often their concern is the issue of QUALITY. They worry that marketing will be used to advance poor offerings (products... i.e., courses, curricula).

Without coming right out and saying it, they worry that some offerings are not quite "up to par," and should not be offered. They are thinking " so and so's course is not well-prepared or well-taught."

My answer to people like this is quite simple. I believe "the best way to kill a bad product is to market it." Marketing is a great equalizer. When well applied, marketing reveals shortcomings through consumer review. Courses that are poorly conceived and presented will be exposed by marketing. Marketing, through disclosure, brings out the best and (the worst) in products. In that respect it is self-governing. The consumer (student) is the ultimate judge. Or, in some situations, other faculty will be involved in the final judgment.

It has always been my contention that poor offerings will be weeded out through the normal activity of the marketplace. That may be too optimistic on my part. It is, of course, much better to install a review process to ensure that bad products never get to the marketplace. Internal reviews of educational offerings and the measured success (and failure) of them is the preferred methodology. Schools that install these kinds of self-examinations will thrive as consumers become more and more critical on issues of quality. The measure of ultimate success should be gauged by initial and eventual expectations.

External review by committee has its advantages. Curricular accreditation remains a key to higher education quality assessment. I believe these reviews should be welcomed by all. Unfortunately reviews have often been viewed with suspicion by administrators and faculty. Arrogance runs wild in higher education. I have experienced it first-hand on some of my assignments (full-time jobs) and sometimes in my consulting. The common belief among administrators and faculty is that "*I* know what they need!" The pronoun *I* is frequently used in higher education ! The focus has often been on the provider; not the user! I have spent my career, behind the scenes, observing this sort of arrogance and it has bothered me considerably.

The quality assessment problem has been compounded by popular magazines professing to be impartial in their analyses. Some do a better job in this area than others. The fact is that the consumer (student) is in the best position to evaluate how she or he feels about services rendered. This is why I feel that ultimately the consumer will weed out an inferior product and will vote with a checkbook or credit card!

1. The self-interest aspect of a transaction or exchange is important. Both the buyer (client) and the seller (your institution) need to believe that they are receiving greater value than they are giving up. The image or perceived value of your school is very important!

2. The marketing task stresses the idea of satisfying client needs. Your product (undergraduate and graduate curricula, research facilities, special interest programs such as ROTC, black studies, women's studies, continuing education, distance education) must match your clients' educational needs.

3. The marketing mix-the tools used to market your products-includes promotion, advertising, publicity, public relations, and publications. This mix is essential to success.

4. An effective marketing strategy stresses the comparative distinctive competence of an institution. What distinguishes your institution from similar institutions? What is your institution's differential advantage? (Your institution's differential advantage is the composite of all the factors that make your institution unique.) You can position your school, college, university or university system and highlight your attributes without judging your competitors. The idea is to sell yourself, not to malign the competition.

5. Successful marketing begins with the client-not the institution. It means looking from the outside in, not from inside out.

This is why I say, "The best way to kill a bad product is to market it!" I believe it. Do you?

This mini survey is confidential. Your name and institution will NOT be identified. Summaries of your answers will be published in a future issue of this newsletter.

1.	Do you believe your school offers any bad products?
2.	Does your school have any methods of checking quality of offerings?
3.	On a scale of one to ten (one being low; ten high) How do you rate the quality of your schools offerings (overall)?
4.	Do you think the "best way to kill a bad product is to market it?" (Yes, no or don't know)

E-MAIL your response to Bob Topor at: topor@marketinged.com No need to identify yourself or your institution. All responses are confidential. Thank you.

The following is an extract from my book, "Institutional Image—How to Define, Improve, Market It." This book is available from my web site (see Educational Catalyst Publications). —Bob Topor
Edited by Louise Dolfini Thornton

How can you describe an image for an educational institution? An image is the aggregate, or sum, of the feelings, beliefs, attitudes, impressions, thoughts, perceptions, ideas, recollections, conclusions, and mindsets people have of your institution. Considering this definition, you see that an image is not concrete and precise; it is abstract and complex. Various constituents will probably have different perceptions of your institution. Internal audiences (faculty, staff, students) may have different images of your institution than do external audiences (potential students, parents, alumni, local residents, corporations, foundations). Although these perceptions may have elements in common, an institution's total image is more realistically a collection of many images. Your first objective is to create and communicate some positive common image ideas appropriate to all audiences. Another objective is to create and communicate discrete image aspects to discrete target audiences. Think of your institutional image as a central theme with variations on that theme for various audiences. The common aspects are most critical. They will be the ones that position your institution in the marketplace- that is, these aspects will determine the perceived relationship of your institution to its competitors.

I believe that institutional image will be one of the most important marketing factors for this century. How is your academy perceived in relation to competitors?

Throughout my professional career I have kept a list of my awards, achievements and recognitions. At first, (In the olde days) it was in the form of hard copy on a typewriter. Then, as technology changed and I became a proponent of computers, it was on a computer disk. It is most important to keep dates because over time they can be easily forgotten By recording events as they happen and getting into to the habit of regularly doing this, you will be amazed how helpful it can be.

To what end?, you may ask. Consider job placement, advancement in your current position, your own personal satisfaction, etc. Keep track of important successes, achievements, training, and recognitions. It will serve you well in the future.

Good luck!

Consider this:

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Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin provides its faculty with an assessment of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen. Here is this year's report:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980. (You can tell this list is a little old. This year's students would be born in the year 1982, if they were heading to college RIGHT out of high school and had not taken any time off before college.)

·	They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably do not know he was once shot.
·	They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
·	Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
·	There has been only one Pope.
·	They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
·	They have never feared a nuclear war.
·	They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
·	Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
·	Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
·	Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums.
·	The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them because they have never owned a record player and have probably never seen one.
·	They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong. They may have never heard of an 8 track, and certainly have not seen one.
·	The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.
·	As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
·	They have always had an answering machine.
·	Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
·	They have always had cable.
·	There has always been VCR's, but they have no idea what BETA is.
·	They cannot fathom life without a remote control.
·	They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
·	Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
·	Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.
·	Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
·	They have never seen Larry Bird play.
·	They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
·	The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War.
·	They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
·	They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "you're not getting older, you're getting better."
·	They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
·	The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew where it was.
·	Michael Jackson has always been white.
·	Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not music groups.
·	McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.
·	There has always been MTV.

I applaud the faculty and staff at Beloit as they strive to understand their incoming classes. It is smart marketing to understand your target audiences!