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Archive for the ‘Integrated Marketing’ Category

Lesson 65 “Looking” Innovative

Posted in Integrated Marketing, International, Lessons Learned, Planning on June 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Last week I had the privilege of leading a series of marketing discussions at the University of Queensland, a progressive public institution of more than 40,000 students in Brisbane, Australia.

I met with the  president’s executive team, as well as administrators and faculty from all corners of the campus. Many bright and talented advancement professionals and educators were in my groups, and I was reminded once again how very large  institutions can go about establishing an innovative reputation, and “look.” It was still one more example of how institutions in all parts of the world are quickly developing their marketing expertise. In fact, I am now finding that many are moving ahead of U.S. institutions in their innovative thinking.

So, just what does it mean when your institution does not “look innovative” enough to be competitive in a changing market?

It can mean that your program offerings are not seen as up to date. Or, it can mean that those leaders who speak on behalf of your institution are not positioning it as a change leader in an industry that is becoming more and more international. It can also mean that your use of  technology in marketing, or in the classroom, does not demonstrate how communication tactics are changing.  Or, it can mean that a clear brand identity is not reinforced by consistent design elements that are selected for both academic substance and gaining attention.  In other words, the design of your marketing materials might be too inconsistent, or even too trendy to be credible.

The president of  the University of Queensland has a vision of global leadership which he articulates around three  basic themes: learning, discovery and engagement. Further, he  “activates” his simple vision by bringing more than 100 key administrators and faculty together as an expanded “executive team.”  These internal and external opinion leaders are charged to become “word-of-mouth” advocates for developing what he calls, “an institutional culture of advancement.”  This means that he positions the field of advancement more centrally, and that through this team everyone in the institution is asked to accept advancing the institution, and telling its’ story in every way possible, as a central part of their job. In my mind, this is the highest form of “integrated” marketing, and it is a basic formula for achieving an innovative “look.” 

Once you have the right branding message for your leadership, the right communication technology, and the right basic design standards reinforcing that brand message, you will have the right competitive elements in place. Then, you will know you have achieved  an  innovative “look” when your key constituents are saying: “Those people are going places, and I want to be a part of it!”

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Lesson 53 Timing Makes a Difference

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Planning on March 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I just returned from spending an entire day with the trustees of a prestigious liberal arts university. In the recent past, several of those trustees had suggested that they change the institution’s name because they felt the name was geographically limiting. It was preventing it to be seen, they thought, as a leading “national” institution.  But after getting the results of research they commissioned, and much heated debate, they determined the best course of action was to keep the current name and allocate additional funds for marketing. The university then contacted me.

Frankly, my day there was the best day I spent in a long time.  The advancement committee was energized and ready to get on with discussing how the university they loved could step-up and step-out with new and significant recognition.  We talked all afternoon about brand clarification, and market segmentation, and new media, and research, and planning, and more. The passion in the room was contagious, and I could tell it was about to become a whole new day for this already high-quality institution. That evening, at a very inspirational dinner, the entire board became infected with this let’s “get-on-with-it” energy. 

As I reflected on all this, I remembered the number of times I facilitated the very same kind of meeting with other institutions, but this level of spark and passion was just not there.  Yes, these people would learn something, and some new things might eventually be tried, but it was abundantly clear that after I was gone very little would actually change.  There certainly was no institutional transformation in the wind!  The timing was not right.

It, therefore, became crystal clear to me this week that when the moment for change is right, change will happen with great passion.  But when the time is not right, very little real change will happen at all.  Discussions about needed change, or a crisis, or a serious institutional problem, must take place before I arrive.  Then, the meeting dynamic becomes totally different.  Participants don’t just sit there waiting for me to tell them what to do. They know what they need, and they draw it out of me. The experience for everyone becomes exciting, and being there at the right time is what makes this difference.

I had a similar experience recently with a major association.  In this case, I was  talking with a senior executive in his office about some education issues when the conversation shifted to the organization’s marketing program.  Knowing this was my field,  the executive started asking me questions.  He told me that what they needed was a total culture change, and that he was not the only one who thought so.  I talked with others and could see that this organization really was ready to change.  So by the time my visit was complete, I had agreed to do a marketing and communication staff seminar, as well as a comprehensive marketing audit!  The organization was ready to change, and I just happened to be there at the right time.  Had it been a few years earlier,  change would not have been possible.

My university won the rose bowl this year. Shortly afterwards, a  colleague mentioned that this win had taken the marketing pressure off of us for a while.  My instant response was:  “That is not true!”  The win opened a window, but now we will need to go through that window and tell the rest of our story. Events had created an emotionally charged moment in time, which also created the right time to motivate and orchestrate moving the institution ahead. 

Timing indeed makes the difference. When recent events and conversations have established a readiness to change, the timing is perfect for an expert to help produce  new and powerful marketing and communication initiatives.  This is when a whole new day becomes possible for institutions.

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Lesson 49 People Hear What They Want

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Internal Politics, Lessons Learned on February 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A reality of institutional politics is that we generally hear what we want to hear.   Most of us hold preconceived ideas about many issues, and what we hear from others just reinforces what we already believe. 

Communication researchers call this reality “selective perception.” 

Democrats become better Democrats when they hear Republicans speak. And Republicans become better Republicans when they hear Democrats speak. This type of polarization also occurs with many of our issues in the institutional workplace.  An example of polarization is the use of the  word “marketing.”

For many, the word means “commercialization,” and whenever it is heard in the context of the academy, the perception is that the consequence will be to turn the institution into a retail sales organization. The word “brand” is another example of this kind of selective perception. 

In Lesson 48, and elsewhere, I argue that it’s a waste of time to focus on converting detractors. It is also true that some people who have preconceived ideas are not totally committed detractors, and that over time they might change their minds. In other words, they are “on the fence” with respect to their opinion.

We are open to changing our minds when new information appears and begins to confuse us. We then seek more information to resolve this confusion. This state of uncertainty is often called “cognitive dissonance,” and we all seem to have an inner drive to resolve it.

The political strategy in this situation is to raise key questions, describe the complexity of the moment, and then articulate the best alternative solutions… those, of course, that support our objectives. Open forums, staff meetings, invited meetings, and other opportunities for dialogue, can be created for this purpose.

To summarize, committed detractors should mostly be ignored. It is a waste of time to try to convert them. But many people are only “on the fence,” and it is possible over time, through thoughtful, patient and persistent dialogue, to change their minds.

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Lesson 47 A “Learning” Organization

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Internal Politics, Lessons Learned on February 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

In his 1990 classic The Fifth Discipline:The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Peter Senge argues that the only way to remain a leader in one’s industry is to learn faster than the competition.  I am amazed at just how much Senge’s work has influenced my thinking over the years.

My interpretation of Senge suggests that inspired leadership involves identifying  organizational deficiencies, learning about latest industry trends and practices,  clarifying identity and competitive advantage, and then implementing an education and training scheme that challenges managers and opinion leaders to “out think” and “out learn” the competition. 

While I was determining how I would approach writing my most recent book, Learning to Love the Politics, I once again came upon the work of Dr. Senge. This book is about how to gain support for a more sophisticated and integrated approach to advancing academic institutions, and once again I encountered the idea that finding a way to “teach” the organization about what this means is critical. 

First, I realised that as a foundation to understanding internal “politics” I would have to describe how universities are different from other organizations. Then, I found I would have to analyze the different types and styles of leaders that emerge in academic institutions, and the specific challenges involved in influencing their thinking.  That led me to outlining some “grassroots” tactics. But in the end there was no way to avoid the fact that advancement professionals would have to find a way to “teach” key people in the organization the basics of what they do.

In the book I use the example of how marketing and communication professionals could go about doing this. But those in other areas of advancement– fund-raising, alumni relations, student recruiting, and government affairs– should also do the same thing. 

Peter Senge made the case to me a long time ago that organizational leaders must systematize internal learning about their own industry’s trends, issues, and latest thinking. Indeed, I have come to believe that it’s the only way all organizations can remain successful.

In Learning to Love the Politics, I make the case once again.

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Lesson 46 The Reform Dilemma

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Leadership, Planning, Public Affairs on February 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

After hearing about proposed deep budget cuts in Austin last week, I went to Washington to get briefed on the deficit-cutting consequences ahead of us there! It seems everyone is reform-minded, and everyone has an extreme idea. This all sounds depressing to an integrated marketing professional. 

Most of these reformer’s ideas are based on pure ideology, and not practical problem-solving. Many propose cutting the size of government, favor giving control back to local communities and institutions, but then go on to propose a one-size fits all solution based on a set of imposed national standards. 

All this can sound very contradictory. They want less regulation in some areas (i.e. big business, banking, Wall street, etc.), but then call for more regulation of something else (i.e public schools, higher education, etc.).

The Department of Education is a good example. For K through 12, and higher education, their idea is to set uniform national standards on matters of curriculum, contact hours with teachers, accreditation, information disclosure, and much more. What is missed here, however, is that diversity of systems and institutions is the strength and competitive advantage of American education, and that imposing these standards from Washington will unleash forces that will make every institution alike.

Here is where professionals in integrated marketing and strategic communication have a contribution to make.  Public schools and universities must analyze their specific circumstances and the exact needs of their marketplace, and then use task forces and action teams to find and mobilize the best administrative, teaching, and community talent to find solutions. These people are the only ones positioned to design creative and effective curriculum, teaching methodologies, quality standards, and communication strategies that will meet the needs of their specific students and families.

The best role for a national authority in education is to provide financing for creative experimentation and leadership development. It can also require local strategic action planning, results evaluation, and that all of this be totally transparent to the public. But, above all, it must also encourage institutional diversity in curriculum and methodology.

The fact is that each student has both special talents and performance limitations. One national standard of performance will never meet that need.  Developing individual potential is what education is all about, and yes, integrated marketing analysis can help find much-needed practical solutions.

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Lesson 37 Get the Train Moving

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Lessons Learned on December 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Colleagues often ask me how to handle opinion leaders, department heads and executives who won’t cooperate with initiatives to integrate institutional marketing.

I tell them that the biggest mistake I made in my work was to think that I would have to convert the critics before I could move ahead with my planning.

Early in my work with academic institutions, I came head-to-head with a very influential business school dean who decided to be an outspoken critic of my efforts. Clearly, he wanted others to think that, under his leadership, his school could step out in prominence and bring the rest of the university along with it. My belief was, and still is, that an individual school or program can only become as prominent as its university, and that building a distinctive program (sub-brand) reputation can be most effectively accomplished by simultaneously advancing the overall institutional brand. 

Building distinctive sub-brands, which tie to consistent institutional brands, is what integrating marketing really means. It is accomplished with multi-platform communication, and orchestrated group dynamics.

The lesson I learned was that converting determined critics is often impossible. They can become even more vocal, and many actually enjoy putting you on the defensive. It took a long time, but I eventually learned that I could form a team of those who saw benefits in cooperating with me, and together we could move an integrated marketing program ahead.

The key is in harnessing the power of group dynamics: Use your team to get the branding messages into the internal environment.  And when that happens, even when important people are not on board, the train will begin to pull out from the station. Now, the institution is on its’ way!

Make no mistake, on a given day it can seem like it is all crashing down around you.  Give it several months, and then look back. You will be amazed at how far you’ve come.

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Lesson 19 Each Medium Determines Its’ Best Use

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Lessons Learned, Planning on July 30, 2010| 1 Comment »

From my early days as a graduate student I have studied the nature and impact of various media.  It quickly became apparent that each medium inherently had a specific set of natural characteristics that literally determines how to use it for maximum impact.

For example, merely using print makes you aware it is a rational medium.  Structure is critical, and the basic “essay style” quickly reveals itself as the most natural way to approach it.  Thus, you almost instinctively build your communication with a beginnning, a body, and a conclusion.  The beginning is a preview of what’s to come, the body is an explained list of key points, and the conclusion is a brief summary. Ignoring all this usually results in content that rambles.

Using television rapidly reveals that it does not “like” detail. On television too many facts become boring. It was a hard lesson for me to learn. In my early days I produced a lot of television, and for a long time I could not figure out why my programs were not a big success.  As I experimented with the medium, however, I discovered that television “likes” to draw you into dramatic experiences. It is a picture medium, and the more dramatic the situations the better. My mistake was using print-style thinking when producing an image-based medium.

But, what about the internet?  This “new” medium brings both images and print together on the same screen. And it also provides opportunities to search for as much content as each user desires. It is a multi-media, engaging medium, influenced by both print and television. Thus, one learns by using it that internet images should be both dramatic and concise, and that text should be lean and concise.

I have even felt “the pull” of the nature of the internet when writing this blog. The longer I write the more it seems to be “telling me” to stay lean in the use of my language, develop my content logically, and above all, be concise.

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Lesson 16 Your Primary Product?

Posted in Branding, Integrated Marketing, Lessons Learned, Planning on July 10, 2010| 1 Comment »

Over the years I have come to believe that an organization’s brand is often its primary product. Executives think that what they need most is more program promotion but the real issue is to first clarify and intensify their brand appeal. 

In the case of universities, it’s true that most prospective students and parents are very interested in the quality of acadmic programs, and they are especially so if they know the student’s primary areas of interest. But I still suggest that much of their final choice will be based on the emotional satisfaction and pride they experience in associating with the institution’s overall identity.

I even found this brand power focus to be true when working with community organizations. For example, I was the chairman of the board of a community theatre a few years ago in a town with a number of other theaters. Here I became accutely aware that season ticket sales were often based on being associated with a particular theater. In many cases this was even more so than the desire to attend specific plays.  It was clear to me that each theater in this town had a unique brand identity defined in part by the decor of its physical home, the types of people who regularly attended, the style of favored productions, the nature of social opportunities, and even the personality of the managing director. Selling this theater was a matter of clarifying its overall brand appeal.

The examples are endless.  I am struck by the degree to which many people pick their professional association mostly based on brand identity.  Even though we are tempted to focus first on specific program benefits, I submit that the pride of associating with these particular people and with this particular organization is often the most compelling factor. Consciously or subconsciously I am asking: Is this the organization where I can complete my professional identity and achieve leadership recognition in my field?  So before selling memberships I will first want to focus on clarifying and fine-tuning the brand.

Usually organizations approach me primarily to help them promote their programs, services, and events.  But I now quickly turn the conversation to considering why someone would want to be associated with this organization in the first place, and what is the exact nature of the emotional satsisfaction they will feel?  In short, I tell them we first need to clarify your brand.

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Lesson 10 Don’t Always Call it “Marketing”

Posted in Integrated Marketing, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Planning on May 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Recently, I participated in an executive retreat where everyone immediately began raising questions and making comments about how the organization was perceived in the world. 

Comments ranged from identifying top reputation-defining programs to assessing the social trends most likely to impact the future. Participants even referenced the many communication challenges they will be facing in order to meet their goals.

But no one ever seemed to realize that what they were talking about was marketing 101. Everyone clearly accepted that dealing with these issues was their job, and yet no one ever turned to the marketing executive to ask what she would do.  

Reflecting on all this I thought: “The best way I could bring a big chill over this room would be to mention the “M” word right here and now! So I never did.

Rather, I noted to myself that sometimes you don’t even mention that word.  You let people talk about “their passion,” and then over time you help them see that what they were really talking about all along is called “strategic marketing!”

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Lesson 9 Beware of Benchmarking!

Posted in Branding, Integrated Marketing, Lessons Learned, Planning on May 20, 2010| 1 Comment »

Many university and nonprofit executives begin strategic planning by first listing the other similar institutions they admire– often referred to as “aspirant” institutions. They also list their direct competitors. Then they carefully study all the operations from top to bottom.

They study structures, staffing, salaries, HR practices, policies, marketing programs, budgets, all numerical success indicators, and more.

But this kind of benchmarking can be dangerous and misleading.  It can mislead because it can steer you directly into copying “best practices” and  blindly becoming just like the organizations on your aspirant and competitor lists.  When that happens your institution will always be number two and never have a truly distinct market position. 

Your study of other organizations should therefore be focused firmly on finding out how you can distinguish your institution from the others. You must find specific ways to behave differently. You should be searching for that very special market niche that allows you to be both different and better in some unique and compelling way.

Insead business school professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne wrote a book called Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant.   It is a brilliant description of how your organization with enough determination can find and reinforce that special difference that will allow you not to meet the competition head-on,  but rather to find the “blue ocean” and sail right past all your competitors on your way to an uncontested  number one!

Being the best in the world is simply a matter of finding your difference, being damn good at developing and polishing it, and then mobilizing  everyone inside and out to help tell the story!

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