PS&L Blog

Last week’s horrific earthquake in Haiti has commanded the news headlines and sadly, changed the lives of the people of Haiti forever. The response to support rescue and relief efforts has been strong and it appears that resources are being distributed by such organizations as the Red Cross reasonably well. I’m sure to the people of Haiti, however, it’s not enough or fast enough.

I found an unexpected link between enrollment management and academic marketing and the Haiti earthquake while watching the news. An Army General was being interviewed regarding the Army’s role in aid distribution, security of relief personnel and residents, and rescue/recovery operation. His comment was that members of the military are trained to take on security and logistics in such emergency situations, and that they will do what they do best.

I thought that was good advice for a college or university, as well. As institutions strive to develop marketing and branding campaigns, conduct extensive market research to support initiatives and then allocate resources to implement the plans, it’s important not to lose your focus. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Identify what your college or university is good at, promote it, live it. Discover what students and families like about you, think about you, and where your strengths lie. At the same time, be determined to get better in all phases of the operation and experience and look for new opportunities.

If this sounds like a reminder or something you’ve heard before, IT IS. As I work across the country building marketing plans for universities, I am consistently surprised at how many institutions work to build brands that don’t reflect them or plans that can’t be implemented. I remind them to promote what they’re good at, even if it’s not a differentiator. It’s not unusual to see a higher education marketing plan that creates differentiators that are not true to their student’s experiences. On paper it looks good, but the promises fall flat. This jeopardizes the all important word of mouth promotion so highly valued and in today’s word of social media, a letdown on a promise can be quickly posted for you audiences to view.

Leave the gimmicks to others and build and promote a brand around who you are and what you do best.

Our thoughts are with the people of Haiti and those working to help them. Perhaps, in this time of need, you can reach out and do what you do best – raise awareness, donate money, donate goods, volunteer. If we all do what we are best at, we can make a difference.

For ideas about how to help, visit: http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_subsrc=RCO_ResponseStateSection