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tv Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development
With support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W Richardson Foundation

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LOW COST/HIGH IMPACT MARKETING

Prospecting

A program without jobs for its graduates will ultimately have no jobs for its instructors. Even in a Just in
Case college, where it may take years for the message to seep through, programs which are training
students for non-existent jobs cannot be justified. If we lived in a world with unlimited resources, perhaps
anything could be justified, but we do not. Indeed, our world, specifically including our colleges and
institutes, has no other future than one with less resources. Thus, programs which can justify themselves in
terms of real demand, like the institutions which house them, have the best chance to survive.

A program head looking for ideas to promote her program may feel like a prospector searching for gold:
she knows there are some ideas out there; she just has to find them. If she is a networking sort, she calls
her colleagues in other colleges but probably finds them looking too. If she knows a useful troublemaker, he
may generate a few ideas, some fanciful and perhaps some practical. If she has a scholarly bent, she may
look into the literature. She will find a lot on marketing, but almost all of it is developed in the context of
the private sector. She looks a little further and finds some articles and books on educational marketing.
But hopes for gold disappear when she discovers that the work on educational marketing, virtually all
American, is based on finding students rather than jobs.

In any case, marketing probably depends more on attitude than technique. If you really believe—as
distinguished from your public rhetoric—that your program is designed to serve the needs of employers,
and if you can understand what they want, you are most of the way. On the other hand, if you think that
you know best, and employers are only to be placated on formal occasions like advisory committee meetings,
technique will be of no avail. No matter how skillful the promotion, it will fail if it’s not backed up with a
program which meets the needs of employers.

Mapping the Territory

A strategist would probably consider how the market can be viewed—as aggregated, segmented, or
disaggregated. Or, in non-technical terms, dealing with all employers the same way, breaking employers
into groups for marketing purposes, and approaching each employer as a unique entity.

This kind of approach is probably used by a geologist, but a prospector prefers more tangible techniques,
particularly those which can be implemented on a tight budget.

Of the four techniques outlined below, the first and second are most suitable for a collaborative effort,
preferably the whole institution. The third and fourth can be implemented by a program on its own.

The Dig

a. TIP SHEET
The tip sheet is a regular one-pager of story ideas with the names of college staff to call for more
information. The TIP SHEET is distributed to each newspaper, magazine, radio, and television station
in the region. The TIP SHEET is based on current and, wherever possible, upcoming events. For
example, if a major industry layoff is expected, one of the college administrators may have a comment
on retraining. If a major report is due on staffing problems in jails and penitentiaries, the head of the
law enforcement program could be named as a source.
The TIP SHEET is relatively easy to put together and inexpensive to do. However, the payoff in
publicity would be significant, because the TIP SHEET would be so convenient for story editors.

b. THE EMPLOYER BLITZ WEEK
This is a simple but powerful mechanism to revitalize the image of not just a program but the entire
institution. The idea is to obtain the name and address of every single employer in the city or region
and, during BLITZ WEEK, have a staff member visit every one of them. Staff could provide basic
information on the college and its programs, obtain feedback on the image of the institution, and
ensure that there is follow-up on any specific questions from the employer. More important than

 

MO} Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712