How is your institution different?
Let me guess: The college you work at has outstanding academics, dedicated faculty, small class sizes, competitive athletics, robust campus life with lots of clubs (and students can create their own if you don’t have the one they want), and a great campus that is located in the most perfect location for a college student ever. And all of your marketing materials highlight these “distinct” points.
Am I close?
The problem, of course, is that every other college in the country is marketing these same points. And they all think that these points are differentiators.
Take this test: List the top five things that you think sets your institution apart from competitors. Then give them to a friend that doesn’t work in higher education and ask them the first college that pops into their mind when they read those points. If they don’t say your school, or say it with a knowing smirk on their face, then you have a problem.
Better yet, when you list those points, make an honest assessment of them yourself.
Some would argue that branding is irrelevant, but I couldn’t disagree more when it comes to colleges, particularly if those colleges don’t have a good sense of who they are or what makes them stand out in the marketplace. A solid brand assessment can help you find the things that make you truly stand out, and then show you how to utilize them to your best advantage.
Every college has things that set them apart from their competitors, and students those attributes appeal do. Identify those unique characteristics and own them. Don’t go after every high school senior in the country - go after the ones that are best suited to what you offer.
All else being equal, a prospect is likely to base their final college decision on price. Why let it get to that point? Find your true differentiators and set your institution apart from the beginning.
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September 7th, 2009
If only it were so simple. In many higher education categories, there are not differentiators that matter between schools. And the market doesn’t want differentiation. The market wants virtually indistinguishable alternatives from which it cam compose a selection set based on prestige. That’s why institutions have spent the last 20 years eliminating true differences and converging on a single model.
September 7th, 2009
When Greg Winter was the education reporter for the New York Times, he was perhaps my favorite conference presenter. He’d say: “We know you have caring faculty, bright students and interesting programs. THIS IS NOT NEWS!” It’s the kind of cold water every institution that thinks it’s special needs to hear.
But the stumbling block is creating anything resembling consensus in an institutional brand. Speaking to a wide variety of the campus community always reminds me of John Saxe’s The Blind Men and the Elephant. Are we a liberal arts college? A professional development school? A trainer of future leaders? Ideal for non-trads? Perfect for freshmen trying to find their way? Are we traditional? Cutting-edge? All of these things? What takes priority? Everyone will argue that their bit is more important than the rest, administrators will not want to favor one area more than the other, and everyone will miss the elephant in the room.
I think differentiation, on the other hand, requires a much more objective view. It’s one of those few areas where I’d say outsiders can do a better job, less beholden to various fiefdoms. The problem is the lengthy introductory phase, and making sure they work with the right people to come up with the correct assumptions about the institution.
September 7th, 2009
While strategy and marketing are obviously different aspects of a business, one of the fundamental tenets of strategy is that your differentiation points must require some sort of trade-off or they aren’t really differentiators.
For example, low cost and premium positioning tend to be differentiators. You typically can’t be both. Being a premium brand typically requires that you invest more in R&D, materials, human capital, and other things to achieve a higher quality product. That typically means you’ll have to sell your product at a higher price, making a low-cost position untenable.
The same is true for many differentiators among educational institutions. You obviously can’t be an urban school with access to all the trappings of big city life and a rural school with picturesque rolling hills at the same time. You probably have to invest more in your engineering department to be a pre-eminent engineering school. Assuming you have limited resources, that probably means your English department doesn’t get the funding it needs to be top notch also.
I agree that you can’t be everything to everyone. Look at where your school has made tough decisions between two options. These may be prime areas to set your school apart and create a distinct identity.
September 7th, 2009
@Mark N. - Bull. If you can’t find a differentiator you either aren’t looking hard enough or you haven’t tried hard enough to make one at your school.
@Mark R. - You can’t have low cost and premium position? Again, I call bull. Look at all the ivy league schools that offer full scholarships to those who’s families make less than a certain amount. High position. Lost cost. I also call bull on the point about not being able to be urban and picturesque at the same time - lots of colleges in suburbs do it (though it’s a bad example because those aren’t usually things that mean much to prospects). I do, however, agree entirely with your last paragraph
September 7th, 2009
Karlyn – Of course you can find a differentiator, but it’s not marketing unless you can find a differentiator that connects to the desires of your audience. It’s not enough to corner the market on left-handed widgets unless there is demand for left-handed widgets. The challenge for universities is that, for a variety of reasons, the public is not prepared to perceive or desire genuine points of differentiation. For most institutions, there is more danger in being over-differentiated than under. It’s usually just bad marketing to put all your eggs in one basket unless you know the public wants what’s in that basket.
September 7th, 2009
Mark, I don’t believe I’m remotely suggesting that you put all your eggs in one basket. Nor am I suggesting that a university invest money in a differentiator that doesn’t meet a demand in the marketplace. What I am saying is that there are unique things at every school that obviously meets a need in the marketplace, otherwise students would not attend. Sadly, many times school’s don’t harness them. Identify those characteristics and use them to your best advantage.
September 7th, 2009
[...] How is your institution different? (tags: highered branding marketing differentiation) [...]
September 9th, 2009
Since we’re talking about universities and things that differentiate them, I would have preferred that Karlyn’s have been a place that taught its students that plurals are not made with apostrophes (school’s) and that “who’s” is a contraction and “whose” is the possessive. Another challenge for universities, of course, is that students often come to them unprepared, even — or especially — in their own language.
September 9th, 2009
Ahhhh Chretien, a critique on typos and my utter lack of proof-reading ability, which i readily admit to. Do you have anything of substance to share with the class, or just here to be uppity?
September 11th, 2009
Hahaha…that last exchange was great! And I’ll be sure to check my grammar here just to be sure.
You’re 100% on point with the need for schools to position themselves in the market. And I think one of the barriers to this in the past is that schools have tended to exist in a vacuum. They have only been concerned with the higher ed market and emulating each other instead of braving new territory and becoming really extraordinary.
I also think you hit on a great resource that way too many schools ignore. Your students chose your school for a reason. Why not let them tell you what it was?
Ask your freshmen why they decided to come to your school. Ask your seniors why they decided to stay at your school. You’ll likely see a trend develop in the answers.
While you’re at it, ask your drop-outs why they’re leaving and actually do something with that information!!
December 13th, 2009
I agree with you completely. One of the things that our marketing department is starting to focus on is lifestyle. In Alberta there are many colleges and universities, especially in Calgary and Edmonton. Well, Lethbridge has a lifestyle that is quite attractive: less than 2 hours from the US border, less than 2 hours from the mountains and less than 2 hours from a large urban centre (Calgary).
Finding our Purple Cows is important and will help us stand out.