Finding your voice

Peggy Conway, Director of MBA Admissions, TCU Shane Shanks, Senior Communications Strategist, Zehno Karen Buck, Senior Marketing Communications Consultant, Zehno

Developing a strategic sub-brand to bring your institution’s academic experience to life

The sub-brand issue

The sub-brand issue

What we’ll cover !   How to make the academic experience the

core of your marketing

!   Different sub-brand strategies !   How to decide if a sub-brand is the right

move for you

Sub-brand strategy #1: To build upon TCU’S FULL-TIME MBA PROGRAM: !   Needs to build on strong university brand. !   Distinctive program that needs to get noticed. !   Defined audience makes sub-brand campaign

feasible (and compatible with overall brand). !   Works alongside overall TCU brand and

college materials.

Situation for TCU MBA program !   Great things happening at TCU !   Built truly exceptional MBA experience !   Consistently surprised visitors !   But how to stand out in the highly competitive

full-time MBA marketplace?

Who are full-time MBA students? !   Adults, professionals !   Giving up jobs (and salaries) to return to

school !   Covering their own costs !   Career-focused

What matters to full-time MBAs? !   Career change/advancement !   Salary impact !   Access to opportunity !   Long-term ROI

Importing selling points in our favor !   TCU brand !   Dallas–Fort Worth: fantastic business location !   Outstanding ROI: immediate salaries/

scholarship opportunities !   Unique hands-on experiences to transform

résumés !   Unique and meaningful networking

opportunities !   Power of small

How we told our story in person !   Neeley & Associates Consulting

How we told our story to the masses “What good is knowledge if you can’t put it into action? Lots of people can read and take tests. The real test is how you perform in a business organization. Will you seek out new ideas and bring them to life? Will you form plans, take action, assume responsibility and manage outcomes? Will you work cohesively alongside different personalities?

You will at Neeley, and not just in class. Companies turn to our MBA students as consultants to work on real-world projects, to identify challenges, evaluate opportunities and generate strategies. These projects intensify your business knowledge and sharpen your skills. They look pretty good on a résumé, too.”

How do we find our voice when we’re not in the same room? !   How do we talk about our experience to

broader group?

!   How do we tell our stories? !   How do we find a style that reflects who we are

(and stands out)? !   How do we make it all mean something?

Process

!   Analyzed MBA landscape and identified target markets

!   Audited current communications and scanned the competitive marketplace

!   Conducted focus groups and interviews with students, faculty, administrators and admissions staff

!   Surveyed why students choose or don’t choose TCU

Brand vs. sub-brand !   Decided early on !   Distinctive academic experiences demanded

differentiation from central brand !   Program-specific sub-brand needed to be

compatible with overall TCU marketing

Key messages

!   Experiential learning: stand and deliver !   DFW: learn here, go anywhere !   Small program = personal best !   Return on investment !   Career tools for life

Our sub-brand creative concept !   Stemmed from the experiential learning

programs grouped together.

!   Told stories so that people could see themselves in our program.

!   Needed a style that would stand out, communicate what our program is about.

TCU overall brand

Stand and Deliver sub-brand

MBA viewbook

MBA viewbook

Stand and Deliver piece

Stand and Deliver piece

Microsite

Microsite

Email flow

Email flow

Employer communications

Employer communications

Employer communications

Alumni/peers/general audiences

Facebook content strategy STORY TYPES:

!   Experiences: China trip, corporate jet, etc.

!   Company connections: interviewing, speakers, alumni, tours, etc.

!   Hiring/interviewing announcements

!   Alumni involvement and success

!   Program brags and deadlines

!   Family news: MBA babies!

Results – MBA applicants !   Stronger applicant profile in terms of test scores,

previous colleges attended, well-roundedness

!   Changed our competitive position !   Conversation changer !   Memorable pieces

Results – TCU MBA success

Results – TCU MBA success !   Ranked #5 for value at graduation

(salary vs. debt)

!   Stronger employer profiles !   Stronger employment results:

91% of 2011 grads had jobs within 90 days !   Ranked #12 worldwide for faculty quality in

The Economist (and Top 40 for MBA program)

Sub-brand strategy #2:To affiliate VANDERBILT’S PEABODY COLLEGE: !   Vanderbilt or Peabody: which should lead? !   College’s key messages—creating knowledge,

preparing leaders, supporting practice, engaging with the community—were compatible with overall Vanderbilt brand

!   Works alongside overall brand

Situation at Peabody !   Peabody College of Education and

Human Development !   Merged with Vanderbilt University in 1979 !   Five disparate departments ranging

from special education to psychology !   Strong regional reputation !   In 2004, broke into the top 5 in U.S. News

graduate schools of education

Situation at Peabody !   Brand continued to be Peabody College !   Vanderbilt overall making a move for further

prestige, a new “Southern Ivy,” joining schools such as: –  Duke –  Emory –  Rice

!   But Vandy brand overall leaned toward undergrads

Peabody’s goals !   Move reputation to the national stage !   Move up in the U.S. News rankings !   Increase applications to graduate programs

(undergraduate admissions handled through central VU office)

!   Increase test scores of applicants/selectivity= !   Fund more research !   Endow more professorships

Peabody’s audiences !   National education decision makers

(some who are U.S. News rankers) !   Prospective students for graduate and

professional programs !   Funding agencies: federal, state and private !   School systems and hiring managers for

teachers and other professionals !   Donors, alumni and prospective faculty

Peabody’s reality:Staffing & budget !   Facts present, but story not being told !   Associate dean of external relations !   Director of communications !   Director of electronic communications !   Director of graduate admissions !   Assistant responsible for web updates !   Content support from VU Public Affairs office !   Ongoing partnership with Zehno

–  and other communications vendors on a project-by-project basis

Brand vs. sub-brand !   Decided during major website redesign !   Survey sent to students, alumni, prospects !   Assessed relative strength of “Peabody” and “Vanderbilt” brands

!   Decision to go with “Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of education and human development” in all branded communications

!   Qualitative comments/responses guided ongoing design and messaging

The Peabody Difference sub-brand !   Knowledge creation/research !   Preparing the next generation of education

leaders !   Support of practitioners !   Community engagement !   The role of a world-class college of education

and human development

Telling Peabody’s academic story !   Re-purpose magazine and journal articles !   Interviews !   Overviews of breaking research !   Faculty Q&As !   Podcasts

Baby step: Web feature

Baby step: Web feature

Website

Peabody Reflections !   Short profiles of faculty, students and alumni !   Storytelling

reinforces key messages

Content push + pull !   Current trend: use feeds, blogs

with on-message content

Blog feed

Calendar feed

University news feed

Viewbook

U.S. News banner ads

More banner ads

Big-picture results !   No. 2 and now No. 1 ranking for multiple years !   Graduate/professional apps up over 10%; largest

enrollment in history !   200 media placements in 2007

Web outcomes

peabody.vanderbilt.edu 2001 2005 2006 2007

Total Visits 281,000 507,000 531,000 1,044,000

Page Views 1.09 million 1.75 1.88 4.97

Avg. pages viewed per visit 4 3 4 5

Avg. length of visit 2:43 3:21 3:23 5:46

Big-picture results

Tips: Are you ready for a sub-brand? !   Is the unit’s degree/program/product/service

truly different from the overall institutional brand?

!   Is the unit’s target audience different—and defined?

!   Does the unit have the resources to standon its own?

!   Is the unit’s story aligned with the overall brand?

!   Is the unit’s reputation strong enough to go on its own?

Tips: How can you position your academic program?

!   Don’t fixate on being 100% unique !   Look for academic “signatures”:

–  class, experience, instructor

!   Think about basic details that stand out: time, place, durations, classmate characteristics, etc.

Final tips !   Define how your school’s academic experience

stands apart

!   Tell your key brand stories !   Work your campaign concept across all

audiences using full range of tools !   Consider whether or not a sub-brand will build

identity for your program

Questions? !   Fill out a card for free Zehno white papers

!   Download our white paper: www.zehno.com/white_papers/higher-ed-sub-brands-5-questions-to-test-your-strategy

!   Pick up a sample of the TCU brags piece

!   Contact us with questions:Peggy Conway, p.conway@tcu.eduShane Shanks, shane@zehno.comKaren Buck, karen@zehno.com

!   www.twitter.com/zehno