It's All In Who You Know

Let's face the facts. If you want to be not only successful but serve your students the best, your enrollment success lies with meeting the needs of your core audiences. Student recruitment and retention, as a marketing endeavor, must be an audience- centered experience to be successful. In the enrollment profession, our clients are prospective students, seeking out the basic questions associated with attending our college or university. Prospective students have the questions-but do you have the answers? And, even if you do, can you grow the relationship?

The world of higher education-especially the admission and financial aid process must seem, at times, a bit unusual to our prospective students. I often like to compare the process of selecting a college, which is actually a consumer research project, to other kinds of consumer processes in which prospective students might participate. Selecting a new music album, for example, is simply a process of identifying a taste of music, determining if the consumer has enough cash (or credit) to afford it, and downloading it on iTunes. Buying a new pair of jeans could lead consumers to compare prices, try a few on for size at their favorite store, and purchase the pair they like the best. These are nominal purchases, for certain, but nevertheless they are intuitive, straightforward, and simple processes in which the consumer is really in charge of the exchange.

Enter the world of selecting a college. First, the student begins by focusing on colleges that might fit their interests and needs. As they begin narrowing their choices and considering their options, they run into a process that, I perceive, is pretty confusing and downright anxiety provoking. To "purchase" the product, the students find that they first have to "qualify" for the purchase. In other words, they must submit some pretty personal information - primarily their permanent academic record - to a committee for review. This "qualification" process is, of course, our admission process and it may also include, depending upon the institution, a personal essay, personal interview, and a review of extracurricular activities or community service projects in which the candidate participated.

After learning, let's hope, a positive outcome of the admission process, which of course could take several weeks to a couple of months, our consumer runs into another interesting process. Since the advertised price of our product is rarely the price most students pay, they must go through another qualifying process-called financial aid-to learn what the real price of the college will be for them. This "differential price" is determined after the students and their families share personal financial data with the government and the school. Finally, they learn their price only after becoming pretty adept at interpreting a complex variety of financial aid funding options.

I share these examples to emphasize a point, not to degrade the importance of the college search process. While I believe that choosing the right college is one of the most critical decisions in an individual's life, I also believe selecting a college is not a very simple or straightforward process and the audience is not particularly in the driver's seat of the exchange. While it is a really important decision and a significant financial investment, it is not particularly audience-centered in its approach. In fact, it is an institution-centered process, with rules and procedures developed by the government and institutions, leaving the audience, who likely as not has no experience in this process, to navigate some pretty challenging waters.

So, from a sheer marketing orientation, the enrollment process doesn't win the gold medal. How does this help us-or hinder us-in meeting our enrollment challenges? Do we, or can we, change our thinking and view our processes from an external point of view, just as our prospective students see us? Can we adapt our processes and communications to the needs and expectations of our clients?

I think one of the keys to solid, integrated marketing, including recruitment and retention efforts, is to truly understand the needs, expectations, and orientation of your institutions' core audiences. A few critical questions are important at this point.

1. First, has your institution carefully identified its core audiences? Do you know what segmented socioeconomic, academic, and geographic groups they represent?

2. Second, do you know their collective orientation, their value systems, what factors they consider when making decisions, or even how they perceive higher education?

3. And, finally, can you draw insight from the answers to these questions that lead you to take action? In other words, can the insight from what you have learned about your core audiences lead you to organize your recruitment and retention strategies and tactics around the needs of your audiences?

Answering these questions requires systematic study of your institutions' enrollment. It requires that someone or some group on your campus do the necessary research to identify the core subgroups of students who call your institution home. If that work has yet to be accomplished there is plenty of help within the institutional research community to assist your institution in answering those key questions. And, of course, ISA helps many institutions identify their core audiences as part of our research capabilities. 

This process also requires that your core audiences be systematically studied to learn their collective orientation. There are many research instruments designed to measure student satisfaction once students have enrolled and have some collective experience as a student at your institution. Again, this is valuable information and can truly assist you in developing sound retention strategies taking into account your clients point of view. Solid integrated marketing efforts, such as recruitment and retention, always have well- developed key messages. These key messages are born out of the insight gained by systematically learning the orientation of your audience and how they make choices. With insight comes the opportunity to effectively arrange resources around your clients and, especially important, the opportunity to influence their behavior.

So, how might this kind of thinking be put into operation in effective recruiting practices? How can an audience-based philosophy improve your institutions' recruitment effectiveness? One way is to think of the recruitment process as "courting" a student. In fact, recruiting has a lot of similarities with the ritual of dating or similar close interpersonal relationships. Both activities rely on three key components.

1. First, there must be reciprocity of information. A relationship with a prospective student will not grow if only one party shares information about themselves. There must be two-way communication that allows for a greater understanding of the other to grow. When a student fills out an inquiry card at a college fair, it is not only an act of interest but it also serves to verify that they are growing the relationship by providing more information about themselves. Are you listening?
2. Second, there must be increasing intimacy of the information that is reciprocated. In any interpersonal relationship, two parties grow to a deeper understanding of each other only through sharing more in-depth information about each other. At any time, if one party does not like what he or she hears, the relationship can be ended. For instance, when a prospective student shares that they are really interested in studying biology and playing lacrosse, simply responding that the sciences program is strong and athletics are popular is not enough to grow the students' interest. A strong approach might be to make personal connections between faculty in the biology program and coaches and current players on the lacrosse team with the prospective student.
3. Finally, take the relationship to the next level. In recruitment, the next obvious step might be for the student to visit your campus, talk to a professor, or apply for admission. 

It sounds obvious, right? Somehow, though, we often lose our focus. Admission officers and their staffs spend a lot of time in busy work: making the phone calls, sending e- mails, posting social media updates, visiting high schools, and sending out massive amounts of snail mail. We spend a lot of time with the outreach side of recruiting students. When we finally get the date, we often lose sight of the most important element, the information needs of our clients. We become so focused on our efforts that we fail to listen to what prospective students are really telling us. And, what they tell us is the key to taking the relationship to the next level.

It really is all in whom you know-and how well you know them. The more you know about your prospects, the better you can meet their information needs. Sometimes you just have to stop talking and listen.

The U2 Effect

Most people who know me well are well aware of my found appreciation for the rock band U2.  I have been a fan for nearly 30 years, love their music, and even took my kids out of school to see the U2 360 Tour live at the Rose Bowl.  But, what most don't know is why I appreciate them for far more than their music. 

U2 is perhaps one of the most strategic organizations I have observed.  From a pure marketing perspective, they have been operating under the same positioning concept for three decades: peace, love, and justice.  While their music has changed over the years, they have undeniably used this platform to not only sell music, but change the world.  Their activist strategy has push their ongoing relevance.  They have an uncanny ability to remain relevant through changing times and aging voices.  They insert their voice into issues that are relevant to the times.  They are still one of the few bands that you will hear all ages not only listen, but also relate.

For a dose of their most recent market relevance, check out this acoustic version of Sunday Bloody Sunday, just released by the One campaign, to focus on the elections in Iran.   

Communicating Authentically (and Effectively) to Prospective Students

If you are involved in marketing development or marketing management at a college, university, or independent school today, you are involved in a high stakes contest with tough competitors. Today, promotional campaigns in the recruitment effort - in particular - have become unusually sophisticated, with print, web, and email strategies all working - we hope - in an integrated fashion to directly reach, and influence, our core audiences. The education landscape is beginning to look a little bit more like the for-profit sector when you examine the promotional efforts we are all developing. But, despite the creative genius of social media, email, web portals, and print media - while critical to meeting our end enrollment goals - something doesn't seem quite right. Doesn't is occasionally seem like we are playing right into our core audiences' strong point? Maybe that's both the problem and the solution.

Prospective students today live in a more complex world than any generation before them. They enjoy unprecedented access to information and communication. The prospective students we are all trying to communicate with are tough customers on promotional media. They have very high expectations of websites, print media, and other promotional efforts. Why? They have had access to information and are more media savvy than virtually (no pun intended) any other generation. While they have had more available to them than any students ever before, do they know how to make sense of it all? Have they developed the critical thinking skills to sort this stuff out? Even more, are they finding real meaning through their interactions with your institution?

Here is the problem. Today's prospective student is a master of the superficial. It's not a criticism - it is a simple reality. High school students today, in particular, are experts in the virtual, and have great capability in evaluating an institutions promotional media or "curb appeal". They have great experience in this endeavor and are quite savvy customers when it comes to evaluating an institution's more superficial qualities. But, the buck stops when it comes to evaluating deeper meaning. Even though today's prospective student seems to be highly sophisticated, they often fall short of being truly capable of sorting out their own educational needs. Why? It is out of context. Most prospective students today are not capable of evaluating the quality of a faculty member, the value of a program, or the inherent virtue of a freshmen seminar class - all things we are all trying to sell them on - simply because they have no deep experience in doing so. Therefore, they cannot really evaluate the core qualities of an institution.

So, how can we respond? I believe there are three things that are important to know and utilize when developing promotional media for prospective students today.

1. Use your promotional efforts to lead to human dialogue whenever possible. Sounds obvious, right? But, few institutions really do this. In my mind, your web, print, and email campaigns should always have the goal of increasing the likelihood of person-to-person interaction. Through responses social media, email, and visits, human dialogue should kick in, allowing the institution to personally communicate with students and parents who have demonstrated an interest in their institution. When the personal effort becomes a reality, then you have an opportunity to educate the prospective student on the real context of their interest and how it relates to your institution.
2. Get real. In other words, focus on being as genuine and meaningful as possible in your promotional efforts. Your promotional media should reflect your true qualities, not some artificial reflection of your institution. In fact, sometimes the more quirky the better - it may just prove your institution is real and willing to be honest. And, you never know - the honesty and genuine approach might just resonate with your core audiences.
3. Hire the best. More often than not, some of the best communications firms have seen problems that are similar to your institutions before. Hire the best firm you can afford and let them do their best work for you. Keep in mind that - no matter how important it is to communicate with students with real context - you still have to get on their radar screens! These are highly sophisticated media consumers. If your communication campaign does not grab their attention, then you really can't have the next, more meaningful conversation with them.

Today's prospective student can be a tough client. They have high information and media expectations that are often not particularly grounded in true meaning. Your institution will be served well if you focus on getting on prospective students' radar screens with rich, meaningful dialogue, be genuinely interested in them, and hire the best firm you can find. And, in the end, perhaps you will have recruited a student just slightly better equipped to enjoy the value of your institution. 

A Proliferation of Choice

Famous positioning guru Jack Trout always writes about what he calls the proliferation of choice that defines American consumerism.  Whether it be 30 different SUV's, 50 different toothpastes, or 15 different ways in which pizza crust can be baked, Trout argues that competitive industries in American give the consumer a vast array of choices, each with different brand benefits and price points.  And, he would argue that this proliferation of choice requires greater positioning, such as product singularity (being the only one of a category) or differentiation (doing things differently than others). 

I have been continuing my thinking on the impact of the changing delivery platforms on our education industry. Consider the choices that students are increasingly having in their possession in every category, from elementary school through graduate programs. The current student may attend classes online, or hybrid, or low residence, or old school (in class or in residence) - or all of the above.  What will this proliferation of choice have on the future of the education industry?

If we take a moment to learn from other industries, my guess is that there are a few key things that will occur as a result. Here is my guess for where the proliferation of choice in education will take us in the future.

Increased Access - More students than ever will have access to private education due to the increased flexibility that it provides and the various cost structures and price points provided to the market. This might be a very good thing for the overall education industry.

Increased Stratification - As it education were not already very segmented, I would expect to see an increasingly stratified set of offerings. I don't see the vaunted, highly credentialed residential liberal arts college or highly selective and resourced independent school going by the wayside to the changing marketplace. Instead, I believe that those offerings will remain elite, expensive, and the perceived gold standard of education. But the real growth will come and is already coming in the diversified new offerings in hybrid and online education.

A Shifting Marketing Model - I really think we are seeing an inflection point at work here. While education has historically been a product-centric model of marketing (we build what we want and charge what we think we should for it), the greatest shift will be to a market-centric model of education. Entrepreneurial schools and colleges will continue to gain a competitive advantage by being disciplined by following the market demand on education.  This means what the consumer wants may drive the future delivery system, if it isn't already.  

What does this proliferation of choice really mean to education?  More access? More stratification?  A changing marketing model? And, what will these changes mean to the question of quality?  Can quality increase while choice and the pluralism of delivery increases simultaneously?   Regardless of the answers, the train has already left the station.

Is Independent Education Heading Toward Consolidation?

History tells us that when there is a market contraction - a lessening of demand for a product – service providers respond in a variety of ways. Companies may alter their pricing strategies (lower the price), create new products as revenue streams (line extensions), or they may consolidate their offerings. This especially holds true in some of the more highly competitive for-profit industries. For example, every time there is a decline in market demand for the airlines, they often respond by dropping their price (and revenue), charging us for more services (baggage or ticketing fees), or, when all else fails, they consolidate by merging with another airline.

This same market behavior applies to education, of course. When we have historically seen a softening of demand in core student populations, educational institutions have responded. For example, as the number of high school graduates declined in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, colleges and universities heavily increased their focus on adult and graduate learning programs. These low-cost, high revenue programs allowed them to subsidize their offerings at the high cost, low-revenue side of the house: residential, undergraduate programs. Fortunately, their increased focused coincided with a nice demographic shift: Baby-Boomers going to back to school for job training were the largest market opportunity in American higher education for 20 years. Fortunately, the higher education system had an answer – for a while.

I am increasingly concerned about independent schools located in moderate and large US cities. Nearly all demographic findings from our research with independent schools and colleges suggest that student-age populations are flat, and in many cases, on the decline. The economy is stagnant, and the consumer is cautious. Most importantly, I wonder if the educationally optimistic and idealistic decade of the 1960’s and 1970’s resulted in an overbuilding of capacity through the number of independent schools. Most American cities have more independent school seats than they have willing (not capable) customers. If one takes an honest look at the total capacity of independent school seats and the actual number of seats filled in most American cities, I am guessing that you would find a 70% to 80% occupancy rate. Interesting, unlike higher education, I don’t see similar nimble solution to growing alternative revenue for independent schools, such as adult learning. Online learning is an option, but there are already some free or collaborative players out there, making it harder to make money in this industry.

I am guessing that contraction will lead to some consolidation in the independent school industry in the future. We might find that the city with five or six unique independent schools has only four in the future, the result of wise and strategic mission and marketing decisions. And, I think this could be a good thing. Imagine removing redundant services and creating centralized admission, business, and human resource offices, yet each school keeping their own distinct identity and pooling their collective educational offerings. It might result in a really strong collection of boutique schools each with robust offerings and sustainable enrollment.

We might just see market contraction leading to independent school consolidation. Strategic alliances and collaborative financial models might be the future of private education. In these models, I think everyone has a chance to win. Higher education already has a case study in this area, well ahead of the curve. The Claremont Colleges in Southern California may have anticipated this challenge long ago. Or, perhaps their founders knew the value of finding a proper balance between individual identity and market sustainability. Either way, they are ahead of the curve and might well be a great model for independent schools to consider in the future. 

Is That Vanilla Ice?

Just in time to brighten your weekend, check out the newest viral video for independent schools and colleges to hit the market.  Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire is a coeducational day school that offers excellent academic and award winning athletic programs for grades 6-12.  Their communications team just put together a remix of Ice Ice Baby called DS Baby.  Check it out here.

What's Your Just Cause?

Eliminating extreme poverty is not an act of charity, but an act of justice.  It is unacceptable when poverty stands in the way of child's shot at a good future.  We have a role to play in ending the structural poverty faced by distressed children and youth.  Just Cause is our campaign to do it.  Here is an update our on Just Cause progress.

We are wrapping up our work with the Mississippi Children's Museum this month.  Working with our partners on the steering committee, we have revamped the mission and vision statements, enhanced the core values, and developed an ambitious strategic plan for the future.  In just two years of complete operation, the Museum continues to break new ground - and attendance records - for inspiring at risk youth in Mississippi.  The new plan will seek to reach more audiences statewide.

We are seeking a strategic partner for Just Cause for the 2013-14 academic year.  We continue to receive inquiries for our services.  Interested prospective clients should contact our firm and review our Just Cause page no later than July 15th for consideration for services in the next selection process.

The (FC) Friends Central Shake

Here's a nice way to get your week started.  This is the latest creative offering from Friends Central in Philadelphia - a brand new video that mixes a tremendous amount of student talent with Quaker values.  Check it out here.

The Missing Generation

Much has been written about the current generation of young people. Most people agree that they are optimistic and hopeful and really believe they can change the world for the common good. As I shared in our Ten Trends white paper "The Face of Change", the young people I meet on college and school campuses across the nation are greener, more politically and socially active, and more global in their views than just a generation before. Call them the active generation. They are on the move, seeking positive change, and leveraging technology and social networks to do it.

Interestingly enough, though, as they progress into their next stage in life, young professionals might also be dubbed the missing generation. Church leaders will tell you that young leaders are missing in their pews and in key leadership roles. Non- profit leaders will suggest that they are missing in key leadership roles. Fundraisers report that it is increasingly harder to gain their trust and financial support. And, college presidents and heads of school are often faced with aging boards with fewer rising stars. Is there something larger at work here?

When I step back and look at the current orientation and skill set of young professionals today, it becomes painfully clear where they are spending their time and energy - and where they are not. Young professionals today are looking for places where they can make a clear, distinct difference with their limited time and energy. This path often looks much more obvious in arenas such as social entrepreneurship, where there exists few limitations or structural barriers to their difference making. Just look at the rise of innovative fundraising and social activist programs through technology. Who is often leading the charge? Young professionals.

If my thesis is accurate, why are young professionals missing from the board room? I can think of three really good potential reasons why there is a lagging interest in serving in traditional non-profit leadership roles from this generation.

1) Structural - Young professionals see the built-in, slow to change psyche of education and other non-profits and don't have the patience for it.

2) Social - Young professionals are less interested in social ladder climbing and status attainment than they once were just a decade ago.

3) Systemic - Perhaps most concerning, young people have lost their confidence in long-standing social institutions, whether it be government, finance, education, or religion, and don't have the trust anymore or passion anymore to build them up.

Whether this is merely an educated observation, or a larger trend, I see an increasing challenge on the horizon. How will educational institutions grow and harvest the very talent and passion of those in their classrooms to continue to serve in their own 

industry? How can they capture the innovation and collective social network savvy of these people in order to advance the industry? Seems like a daunting task. I will be curious how we solve it. Or, if we can solve it.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to share your comments and share the article with your colleagues. 

Summer Time

Where did my summer of yesteryear go?  When I first began working in private education industry 25 years ago, summer signaled a time of analysis, reflection, and planning retreats.  Sure, there was some operational work to be done - clean up from the year, data management, and tying up loose ends.  But, by the time mid-June hit and until about mid-August, summer was full of more strategic and, dare I say, generative thinking.  It was in the middle of analysis and planning that great, new ideas were birthed and considered, and less effective programs were put on the chopping block.  Perhaps that was the day when the education cycle was roughly nine to ten months long and the summer was truly a change of pace.

Fast forward to today.  Something seemed to change about ten years ago in the summertime routine.  It seems that we have moved far way from the days of old, where analysis and planning was the summer.  Summer on most campuses means a simply a change of season, but not a change of work plans.  There appears is more operational activity occurring in the summer, from longer academic programs, more robust summer offerings, latent entering new student classes, and a full slate of registration and orientation programs for students and their parents.  The challenge is, though, the real strategic thinking that used to occur in the summer still needs to be accomplished.  It is critical to pause to analyze, reflect, and plan.

Private education is going through the same change of course in the area of research and planning that the corporate world did 15 to 20 years ago.  We have gravitated to a 12 month, more efficient model of operating where real-time, on-the-go analysis and planning have rapidly become both the need and the norm.  And, if this is so, that places a premium on the effective use of marketing research and data management.

How is your school or college handling the important need for analysis and planning?  How do you go about getting this important work done?  Drop a comment below or on one of our social media feeds.  We would love to know and others would really benefit from hearing.

Long Live Strategy - Is Planning Old School?

After the economic downturn, there was a lot of discussion about the efficacy of strategic planning and the proper time horizon for the future. As many schools and colleges lamented, the traditional five year strategic plan was old school, since change tends to occur so fast today. The thinking now for many schools and colleges is that the time horizon must be shorter and changes to the plan must be more nimble in order to navigate the changing environment. Yet, a strong, deep strategic plan with a long-term strategic direction often has great benefits to schools.

Strategic planning is an exercise in finding the intersection between mission and market opportunity.  Since mission rarely changes, but market realities shift and are constantly changing, the strategic orientation of a school or college - just like any business - needs to be agile.  The challenge is that most schools or colleges have not adopted this thinking and applied it to their planning processes.

The Ten Year Cycle of Strategy - Long Term Direction and Short Term Implementation

So, what's the best time horizon for strategic planning today? We've given this much thought and offer what we believe is an excellent ten year cycle of strategy, coupled with strong planning and implementation. It has three components, each playing a critical role in keeping a school or college on the right path.

• Transformational Planning - Every 10 years, I believe that an organization often needs to go through a transformational plan. This plan is often precipitated by a need for serious change, perhaps from leadership, direction, or mission. In this "once in ten years plan", an elongated process is adopted in order to be highly inclusive and extremely introspective. Heavy doses of research, both internal and external, are brought into the process. A serious examination of mission and core values occurs, and the adoption of a vision statement is often the result. This is the plan that sets the long-term strategic direction of an organization.
  
• Strategic Planning - Every three years (during this ten year period in effect under the new direction), I believe an organization should go through a shorter, more fluid strategy process. This is the three month, high level examination of progress on the long-term direction of the organization, followed by the establishment of shorter three year, more incremental goals. No serious edits or changes in leadership, mission, or values take place in this sort of planning process, and the process can be less inclusive and more stealth-like.
  
• Implementation Planning - This is the core of what makes schools and colleges less agile to changing circumstances.  I believe every year, as the administrative team or cabinet join the board of trustees in their summer advance (I like this word better than retreat), I believe schools and colleges need to think in terms of one-year increments. This is the time when they examine their annual progress on the strategic plan, making adjustments to their timeline, goals, or even tactics. This allows the organization to keep the plan close at hand, carefully monitoring it, but also fosters a sense of nimbleness and agility when it comes to external trends and forces.

When schools or colleges adopt a culture of planning, I believe they are essentially conducting strategic planning every year as an ongoing process. But, as they organize it - or make it an intentional part of the culture - they break it up into ten year increments, each with distinct levels of strategic planning and thinking. In other words, there is a meaningful planning activity for every season in that decade.

Planning is not old school.  What's old school is the thinking that you should publish a great plan and then everything will be fine for five years or more.  From my perspective, strategy thinking that sets a long term direction coupled with agile implementation on short term increments is the best of all worlds.  I think schools and colleges would be well-served to see themselves through this ten year model. It makes sense, saves energy, and creates a systematic cycle of both stability on long-term direction and short-term agility. 

Think Global School Selects ISA

Perhaps one of the most ambitious and innovative schools in independent education,  we are pleased to announce that THINK Global School has selected ISA for market research and planning services.  

THINK Global School is a path-breaking high school that offers teenagers a once-in-a-lifetime international experience. TGS students don’t simply “study abroad.” They immerse themselves in twelve countries over four years, undertaking a challenging curriculum that culminates in their official International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations at the end of year four. Throughout their studies, TGS students visit significant historical, cultural, and scientific sites, all while building new skills and relationships with those around them.

We initiate our work with TGS next month and will be working with the school throughout the summer and early fall.  

Cheshire Academy Selects ISA

Cheshire Academy has selected ISA for research and planning purposes.  Cheshire is a selective, co-educational college preparatory school located in Cheshire, Connecticut.

Founded in 1794 as the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, it was the tenth private school founded in the United States.  Cheshire Academy is one of the first private academic institutions to accept international students dating back to the 1850's and is currently the only independent school to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in the state of Connecticut.  The school has students from approximately 20 countries, and a total student body of 360 students. Cheshire Academy offers grade 8 to both boarding and day students, and the Upper School offers grades 9 through 12 plus a postgraduate year.

The Galloway School Selects ISA

The Galloway School in Atlanta has selected ISA to complete research and strategic planning for the 2013-14 academic year.  Established by Elliott Galloway in 1969 as an independent day school, The Galloway School serves a diverse student body of approximately 747 students in preschool through 12th grade. For more information about the school, visit The Galloway School on the web.

Mind the (Generation) Gap

Increasingly, I am coming to believe that we are in the midst of a generation gap between two distinct consumer groups:  parents and students.  While they may live under the same roof, I am beginning to believe that they may as well be living on different planets when it comes to what they seek from school choices.  It is true that parents and students have always been very different in their decision drivers.  But, it would appear that there is more than meets the eye on this generation and the potential gap between them. Our research on college and private school campuses leads me at least to some generational observations that are worth noting.

The purpose of education seems to be shifting for young consumers away from the traditional decision drivers for their parents.  Parents continue to want quality and excellence, placement in top colleges and graduate schools, and the ability to get a high earning job right out of the graduation gate.  Students are interested more in deep learning, value for the cost, flexibility in delivery, quality relationships, and using their skills as much, if not more, for the common good than for gaining economic advantages.  

The gap is visible and appears to be widening.  If you have recently interviewed a prospective student and parent together in an enrollment office, bets are that you have witnessed some of these observations coming through as natural tensions between the two parties.  How does an organization successfully communicate to two very different groups of clients?  It all starts with acknowledging their differences and building a platform for communicating differently to each group.  

What do you think?  Are you seeing a growing gap between decision drivers between students and their parents?  How is your school or college developing communication that works with each group?  We would love your thoughts.

Rowland Hall - Salt Lake City

We are excited to get back to the Rowland Hall campus on Thursday in Salt Lake CIty, Utah to launch a new strategic planning process.  This is round two of strategic planning, as we completed the last plan in concert with the school in 2008.  The prior research and plan we completed also inspired the Extraordinary Learning campaign, a school name adjustment, and a new graphic identity developed by our creative partner Robert Rytter. On Thursday, we will launch stakeholder listening sessions and focus groups, working through a planning process through next fall.  We'll post some pics of our visit on our Instagram and Twitter feeds on Thursday.

A Visible Reminder

Most of us have seen either clever or practical methods of keeping the mission of an organization in the forefront of our thinking.  I often see colleges and schools place their mission on a plaque in main offices, classrooms, or on the reverse side of a business card.  However, I saw a really interesting and simple idea today that was very effective as I facilitated a meeting of an executive team and board of trustees task force. 

Located in the middle of the rectangular conference room table in the boardroom sat a framed image of the mission statement of the organization.  It was placed strategically in front of participants as if to invite them to pick it up and pass it along to others in the discussion.  As we moved into important, mission-specific conversations, many would pick up the mission statement frame, point to a specific element of statement, and then pass it along to others.  Throughout the session, the framed document moved from person to person and silently yet symbolically informed both the conversation and the outcome.

There is nothing like a visible reminder of the mission statement as a active, guiding principle that should inform all strategic decisions.  The image of the mission statement in today's conversation was one of a durable, active, guiding force in the future of the organization.  Try it on for size.  Frame up your mission statement and leave in laying at the center of your critical discussion table.  I suspect it will shape the outcome of the discussion, assuming you buy into the statement.

GPS Seeks Head of School

A long time client of ISA, we are pleased to announce that Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, seeks a head of school.  GPS is one of the largest secondary girls' day schools in the United States and enrolls nearly 600 college-bound students in grades 6-12. 

The GPS Head Search is managed by Anne Coyle of Storbeck Pimental & Associates.  Questions regarding the search can be directed to Anne's email. For a complete position opportunity statement, please click here.  An official head of school search page is found here.

Seven Essential Characteristics of Market Sustainability

As we brave our way through economic uncertainty, a rapidly shifting education industry, and changing consumer mindsets, I have been thinking a lot lately about the most successful characteristics of private schools and and colleges. In our work with clients throughout the nation, what are the attributes of the institutions that are thriving? While there are numerous explanations for success, there are seven characteristics that set these schools apart.

Clear Value Proposition - Sustainable schools and colleges have a clear value proposition. They are client-centered, understanding their students and parents, what they want, and how they define success. They have identified a small number of important consumer benefits that differentiate them from their competitors, focus on them in their program development, and communicate them relentlessly to the consumers.

Strategic Enrollment Management and Marketing - Sustainable schools have learned how to effectively integrate the best practices of recruitment, retention, financial aid, information management, research, and marketing. They have identified funding sources - from the right fit audiences and proper programs - and they know the strategic relationship between price, aid, and their consumer. They are disciplined, hire excellent staff, and have a strategic enrollment and marketing plan in place. They take the guesswork out of enrollment and have effectively leveraged this area of the institution, funding it properly and self-organizing accordingly.

Clear and Established Identity - Sustainable schools and colleges have an institutional identity that is both remarkable and memorable. They understand who they are - and who they are not - and they long ago stopped trying to be all things to all people. They have short, memorable mission, vision, and core values statements, a mature and effective educational philosophy, and they infuse them into their promotional materials. In fact, their promotion is at best merely revelation, not quirky taglines that sound like other schools.

Distinctive Culture - Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Sustainable schools and colleges have developed a culture that attracts people. They have a "secret sauce" and have learned how to bottle it. They emote a palpable feeling to visitors, demonstrating that there is something different and authentic about them. Visitors can feel that there is something special about the place, and they share that feeling with others.

Excellent Product -  Sustainable schools and colleges  have an excellent academic program. Whether it is a small collection of flagship or signature programs, a distinctive setting for learning, or an unusually gifted faculty, they attract students from further distances and with higher capacity to afford them because they perceive the product is superior. And, it is.

Strategically Oriented - Sustainable schools and colleges are always strategically poised, operating with a three to five year strategic plan in place, but revisiting it year to year. They are culturally agile and externally oriented, reading the tea leaves of culture, and constantly challenging their assumptions about the future. They have set a strategic course of direction, but are nimble enough annually to make adjustments. And, they only focus on five or fewer strategic priorities at any given time. They are focused

Luck - Call it the X-Factor, but sustainable schools and colleges have some luck. Something external to them is working in their favor. Perhaps it is a booming city, a stunning setting, or deteriorating alternative choices in their market. They have identified this market opportunity or gap and have exploited it.

While there are many other elements of great schools and colleges, these are the characteristics that we see most often. Use it as a checklist and ask yourself and your colleagues how your institution stacks up. And, share it with others.

The Derryfield School

We are launching a school-wide strategic planning effort today at The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire.  The only all day, independent school in New Hampshire, The Derryfield School inspires bright, motivated young people to be their best and provides them with the skills and experiences needed to be valued, dynamic, confident, and purposeful members of any community. Derryfield has been a strategic marketing client of ISA for the past two years, working with our firm to build a new positioning and brand platform.  Today, we launch school-wide focus groups and listening sessions with students, parents, faculty, staff, and other key stakeholders.