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Lesson 44 Bipartisan Communication

Posted in Lessons Learned, Public Affairs on January 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Is bipartisanship possible in this day of polarized communication? These are indeed challenging times for those in the world of professional political strategic communication.

It seems that being a Democrat means that you believe in strong government, a growing middle class, worker welfare, help for the disadvantaged, and some regulation of big business.  It seems that being a Republican means you are pro-business, support a strong military, favor free enterprise, believe in little or no regulation, and think that less government is better.

In my way of thinking, bipartisanship does not begin with political ideology, but rather with the desire to solve social and economic problems. It accepts some  compromise in order to move forward, and acknowledges that every step forward will require adjustments along the way. It also accepts that some decisions could very well be temporary  and are likely to be significantly altered later on.

In my international travels I often encounter what I refer to as “the idea of America as seen from abroad.” It comes through to me this way: America stands for individual freedom, but not the right to infringe on someone else’s.  It imagines a government that will defend the US, regulate corporate greed, take care of those who can’t make it on their own…but is not a huge wasteful bureaucracy.

The reality in the US today is that the professional political communication strategist specializes in advancing either the Democratic Party’s ideology, the Republican Party’s ideology, or a bipartisan problem- solving strategy.  The latter exercise begins with brainstorming the major issues, putting them in priority order, developing a practical strategic and tactical plan for taking steps forward, and then evaluating and adjusting from there.

Some call this bipartisan approach to problem-solving “statesmanship.” I could not agree more, and it is missing all to often in our political discourse today. I hope and pray we will all come to our senses very soon.

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Lesson 43 When Governments Cut Back

Posted in Lessons Learned, Public Affairs on January 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It looks like I will be spending a lot of time in Austin this spring. As with most states, Texas is facing a major budget deficit. The word is that everything is fair game to be cut, including education. I work for a private institution, but even so, a state-funded financial aid program helps over 1,300 college-age Texan attend TCU.

How does one develop a communication strategy for this kind of situation?  Do you sound an alarm about how devastating a worst case scenario can be for these students and your institution? Or, is there a better approach?

I have faced financial crises on many levels in the past.  Sometimes it was a potential enrollment drop. Other times it was an anticipated institutional budget short-fall. More recently is was concerns about the potential impact of a declining economy on endowments.

Each time, even though each situation had its differences, what they all had in common was that the primary strategic message had to be: This institution is ready and able to manage the situation successfully, and it will be transparent about developments as the situation unfolds.

It is also critically important to demonstrate through these times that the institution’s leadership is talented and self-confident about staying the course. In other words, positive brand messaging becomes more important than ever.

In the case of what I will face in Austin, each student that enrolls in a public institution costs the taxpayer more than $7,500. With the Texas Tuition Equalization Grant (TEG), the taxpayer pays only $3,500 to help a student attend a private institution…saving more than $4,000 with each enrollment. Plus, it gives these students a choice, and helps maintain more financially-diverse student bodies in the private sector. In total, this program enables 30,400 Texas families with financial need to attend more than 35 private colleges, many with available spaces. This is a true win-win situation.

Because this program actually saves money for Texans, we will press ahead, asserting that we are confident that the state will continue to fund this program adequately. And along with this message, will be one that TCU’s leadership and best academic talent stands ready to be part of the solution.

Lesson learned: In any time of financial concern, be as transparent as you can, but also enhance the communication of your positive brand identity, and make sure that what ultimately comes though is that your institution has the talent and strength to continue moving a head.

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Lesson 42 A New Breed of Entrepreneur

Posted in International, Leadership, Lessons Learned on January 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Weather permitting, this week I will attend the second meeting of the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Blue Ribbon Panel on Global Engagement. 

Nineteen heads of universities from around the world will gather again in Washington to discuss the complicated implications of the internationalization of higher education. I must confess, I have been thinking about this issue nonstop.

I have previously discussed how I believe in the months ahead we are going to witness rapid change in our industry. The longer I study the situation, the more clearly I see it. We definitely will feel dramatic shifts in our industry from the content and organization of the subject matter we teach, to where that teaching will take place, to the migration patterns of students and faculty, to how new technology will bring a virtual dimension to the total international experience, to where and how our graduates will find careers, to how new media will change the way this worldwide story is told, to how our institutions are marketed, and more.

I have argued in earlier writings that as a consequence of the changing role of governments and sources of funding around the world, the field of university advancement will have new prominence in administrations everywhere. I now believe that the cutting edge expertise held by most modern advancement practitioners will be called upon to influence not just how institutional marketing and fundraising are accomplished, but to help shape the entire “look” of a whole new kind of global university.

A new day always requires new visionary leadership. So I now foresee the coming of a whole new breed of international advancement and educational entrepreneur. Here are just two of the questions that have been dominating my thinking:

1. Where will we find, or how will we develop, this new breed of leader for advancement and institutions… one that has international experience, resource development expertise, new media savvy, and the relentless drive and courage necessary to pioneer the way?

2. How can we build intelligent innovation and creativity into the ongoing challenge of advancing and leading institutions?  Creativity is now an area of academic study. Techniques for developing it in managers are being pioneered in many cutting edge industries. As we did a few years ago with integrated marketing, how can we adapt what these other entrepreneurs are learning to the visioning and planning of an internationalized academy?

The week ahead promises to enrich my thinking about these issues, I know. But, to draw conclusions too soon from ACE’s Blue Ribbon Panel will be premature. For that, we all will have to await its’ final report later in the academic year.

In the meantime, I will be sharing my evolving thoughts with you.  Fasten  your seatbelts, we are taking off! I can’t think of a more exciting time to be a part of higher education.

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Lesson 41 Rethinking College Football…Again

Posted in Branding, Lessons Learned on January 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

Of course, I would be thinking about football again. Who wouldn’t?  TCU just won the Rose Bowl, and questions abound about what this means for a high quality academic institution!

Some call this historic contest “the granddaddy of them all!”  In fact, the day after the game a New York Times article declared that with  this victory TCU “solidified its standing as one of the elite programs in all of college football.”

New visibility is happening nationwide, and that is truly exciting.  But this win is also a big challenge to keep it all in perspective. The real benefit is that such a victory definitely opens the door for more communication. But it therefore becomes critically important that all areas of the institution are prepared  to walk through that door and tell the institution’s unique and compelling academic story.

For all this to happen effectively, the athletic program must stay “integrated” with the insitution as a whole. This means that its management and coaching staff must reflect the leadership style and quality of the institution. Its’ brand identity and design must also convey that this is one institution, not two. An athletic program absolutely must not “look” and function like a separate organization. 

Athletic staff should promote campus and academic programs at games, and university marketing people should incorporate the vitality and benefits of college athletics into academic and campus materials.  Also, behaviors of fans should match the cultural values of the institution, since realistic lessons about winning and losing are important for everyone. The bottom line is that the ability of athletics to bring vitality to the total campus experience can be extremely positive, but making it happen is an integrated, campus-wide enterprise.  

Too often, however, althetic programs lose perspective. They operate as separate organizations. In fact, one college president once told me he didn’t even want his athletic program to be associated with his institution! In my way of thinking, there is no way to justify the existence of such a program.

This win was incredibly positive for TCU, there is no doubt about it. The visibiity and name recognition we are enjoying is beyond imagination.  But it is more clear to me than ever that academic, ethical, and financial integrity must be preserved. Only then will everyone continue to benefit.

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Lesson 40 Nonprofit Should be About “Cause”

Posted in Lessons Learned, Planning on December 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The field of journalism desperately needs a new lease on life in 2011. Otherwise, the public’s right to know the facts about what actually is going on in govenment and elsewhere in society is clearly at stake.

Besides higher education, I have been associated with public service broadcasting all of my professional life. Early on I was a program director and produced and hosted programs, and later became an active volunteer. I have a hands-on awareness of what motivates the nonprofit media sector, and its incredible potential to serve.

With the coming of cable, however, many people thought that public broadcasting was not likely to survive. After all, there were too many channels with too many choices, and all seemed commercially supportable. Besides, people were getting tired of the endless pledge-breaks and on-air fundraising now too common in nonprofit broadcasting, or so it seemed. 

But to me, the critical feature of “non profit” always was its focus on the cause rather than on a commercial profit for the organization itself. I never did have a problem with presenting a few tasteful commercial messages. 

But who would have predicted what is now happening to the commercial news business? Cable news is polarized and opinion-dominated, newspapers are losing subscribers and commercial viability, and traditional news network audiences are shrinking more and more every year. The biggest causualty of all in this drama is local news converage.

Interestingly enough, the Schieffer School of Journalism at TCU has had for many years a “community journalism” program which focused on small town newspapers. Who would have thought that what seemed totally “small town” then might actually be pointing the way to the future of the entire field?  This fact is that today the Schieffer School’s innovative community jounalism program has become multi-media platform in approach and is already ahead of the curve technologically.

It seems to me that the future of most fair-minded journalism just might be with the establishment of a multi-media platform-based “new” type organization. Such an organization would be a combined commercial/nonprofit operation with a variety of funding sources that are primarily focused on “the cause.” This organization would give ample promotion to commercial products and businesses, as well as to foundations and individuals. But rather than commercial profit, it would be driven mostly by the “cause orientation” more characteristic of the nonprofit sector.

Many today point to NPR as the best, most fair, news operation in contemporary journalism. Is it possible that with a slightly more flexible approach to commercial product and corporate underwriter recognition, support for high quality traditional journalism can be broadened and increased?

I believe multi-source funding like this could restore balanced news coverage on both the national and local levels.  Something like this is needed to assure the future of a high quality free press, as well as to revitalize the journalism profession overall. 

It is critically important that the best and brightest fair-minded thinkers in the nation continue to be attracted to this profession. It is the only way we can protect the public’s right to know in this time of overwhelming turmoil and global change. I suggest that a new kind of creatively financed nonprofit  organization just might be a viable solution.

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Lesson 39 Differentiating America

Posted in International, Lessons Learned, Public Affairs on December 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Public diplomacy is a topic I have discussed several times in my blog over the past few months. This is because I think doing a better job of it is critically important to our future as good and productive citizens of the world.

Simply put, public diplomacy for the U.S. is using integrated marketing and communication strategies and tactics to explain the “idea of America” directly to the citizens of other countries.

This week I had a thought-provoking conversation with a colleague who happens to be a Washington correspondent for one of the major Arab news networks. He has been living in the U.S. for ten years, and owns two cars and a house in the suburbs. Right up front he asked me: “How do you describe your idea of America?”

I responded by explaining the joy of living in freedom, and the superiority of a democratic form of government.  But he countered by saying that while this is true, these factors do not make the U.S. unique. Many other people feel they live a free life, and many governments practice some form of democracy. Then he abruptly and confidently asserted: “I believe there are three other factors that make the U.S. unique in the world,” and he startled me by proceeding to list and explain them! Obviously, he had been thinking about this for a long time. And I was impressed!

Here are his points, and his reasoning: 1. Individualism and self-reliance are fundamental. Most other societies see the family, or even a religious or social commitment, as far more important. 2. The admired role of the entrepreneur. Having an idea, finding the support to implement it, and taking the necessary risks, is not valued nearly as highly in most other societies. 3. Small government. Most people in other countries want more, rather than less, from their governments. While in this country we debate how much government we think we need, my colleague argued that all of us would agree that we prefer the least amount necessary to regulate greed and meet basic social and defense needs.  

There is no doubt that this conversation has had me thinking ever since. I must say that while I know my characterization of America was true, most of my factors did not really differentiate us from the rest of the world. However the three points, so clearly articulated by this Arab living in America, just might come close to doing so.

There is a big lesson to be learned from this conversation. Just what are the American values that truly differentiate us? My international colleague certainly has me thinking about this question all over again.

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Lesson 38 Plan for Up and Down Cycles

Posted in Lessons Learned, Planning on December 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This week I visited a former consulting client. I was asked to return to the institution to review and comment on the progress. We had restructured some of the operational units, put in place several planning groups to better integrate marketing and communication, and recommened new and traditional media initiatives.

Upon return I found that the new structure was working fairly well, but several of the reporting units are having their ups and downs. I also found that the use of an institution-wide taskforce to integrate marketing planning and implementation had gradually become only an email exchange.  But, on the positive side, a more coordinated and pervasive use of new and traditional media has been a grand success, and is still on the upswing.

I was also struck by the surprising discovery that one major unit, that several years ago was eager to cooperate with an overall integrated marketing  program, had completely gone off on its own. And in doing so, it alienated most everyone else in the organization. Not surprising was that all this happened with a change in leadership.

Sitting here reflecting on my visit has reminded me of the cyclical nature of most everything we do. Indeed, with a change in personnel, things sometimes really do suddenly take a nose dive. But I am also reminded that many times everything improves.

I am also recalling now how often over the years I have talked about these  institutional and personnel cycles in my seminars and classes. It’s a fact that entire institutions find themselves “on a roll,” only to peak and plateau at some point. For most institutions, this is a historical certainty. The question then becomes: Can current leadership re-energize itself, or will institutional and marketing progress have to wait for new leadership? Either way, another cycle starts all over again.

In many cases a new marketing campaign will generate a strong sense of forward movement, only to peak over time. Almost always you can track a campaign from initial audience awareness, to receiving the message, to acting on the message, to the feeling that the ad is getting old.  While it’s true that we get tired of our messages long before our audiences do, here too we are always working in up and down cycles.

What’s interesting is that while these cycles are so natural, we still seem to plan as if the roll we are on, or expect to get ourselves on, will last forever. My visit this week to a former client reminded me that we all need to step back, realize that cycles are natural and inevitable, and then take that reality into account in our strategic planning.

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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 36 Simplify and Stay Focused

Posted in Branding, Lessons Learned on November 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It’s always easier to write a long essay than it is to produce an accurate, concise one.  It also always seems more professional to produce a  complicated strategic plan than a simple action outline.   

In fact, many consultants feel they must provide pages and pages of analysis and recommentations.  This, it seems, is the best way to demonstrate their depth of knowledge and to justify their fee. The fact is that many of these plans are too complicated to implement, and fail to provide a simple road map ahead.

For me, the mark of a true professional is an ability to absorb and comprehend complicated details, and then present a perceptive and concise review of the situation, identify the most effective message points, and describe a few basic action initiatives that will most effectively move the organization forward.

Most organizations have collected more programs than are really needed. In fact, many activities may be needlessly draining resouces, talent and energy.  Deciding what not to do, however, often proves to be more difficult than adding new things to do. In time, by adding more and more programs, many organizations have actually drifted away from their most productive mission and vision.

The key is to simply answer these questions: Is this program or activity directly related to our core business? Are others doing it better? Is it an essential revenue source?  Answering these questions should make the decisions you need to make about your “product” line very clear.

Your brand is your “differentiated identity.” We have argued in other posts that clarifying it is the ultimate key to success. The programs and message points that collectively establish this identity are the ones you want to preserve.  Now, stay focused on them.

Over time, all organizations collect unecessary publications and engage in needless communication activities.  You will probably want to keep a “branding piece” that establishes your market position. In addition, you may also want to have a piece for each major “sub-brand” program and activity.  If you determine you need a tangible “hold in your hands” symbol,  you may still want a few printed pieces. But most other communication can take electronic form these days, especially current news and information about your institution. 

Segment and prioritize your markets and use only the media that each  segment prefers. Usually this will be a combination of both new and traditional multi-media platforms, and they should be focused to converge simultaneously on each segment. Remember more is not better in an already information-cluttered world. Concise, focused, repeated interactive messages is what you will need for success.

All these points have been individually discussed, or will be, in other posts. The point of this one is simple! Although it isn’t easy, simplicity is essential. And then staying focused is absolutely required.

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Lesson 35 The Power of Special Events

Posted in Lessons Learned, Planning on November 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A well crafted special event is an ideal marketing and communication tool. Theses days, however, I am aware of how many events are no more than very expensive missed opportunities.

I continue to be invited to galas and parties where the theme is in no way tied to the institution’s brand, and the remarks are unrelated to its mission, vision or values.  The purpose seems to be more being cute and different than advancing the organization in an exciting setting that supports the organization’s plans for the days ahead. I find myself walking around these events saying to myself, “What are these people thinking?”

Invitation lists should always focus on opinion leaders in key target markets. The invitation process should be seen as a direct and interactive communication opportunity. An impressive invitation will always establish a receptive message climate.  Therefore, the theme of the event should always be shaped to reinforce the institution’s brand identity. A “save the date” notice sent earlier, and/or a follow-up invitation reminder, will also provide additional direct communication opportunities.  When designed effectively invitations will achieve marketing objectives even with many who do not attend.

A special event can deliver an ideal captive audience. Brand message points should always be worked into the decor and theme. You can literally surround your audience with branding reinforcement, and this can be creatively achieved without seeming oppressive. Welcoming and concluding remarks should feature a few brief brand reinforcement points and a call for some kind of action…even if its only a request to help tell the institution’s story.

An evaluation of the event will not only gather important feedback, but it is also another opportunity to repeat your vision and add a few more message points. In addition, a “thank  you for coming” note, or a “we are sorry you could not join us” communication, is an opportunity to continue ongoing supportive relationships.

My conclusion: Purely social events or cocktail parties are a waste of time and resources. On the other hand, a social or other gathering of your most important opinion leaders, where every opportunity is taken to creatively reinforce institutional vision and brand, is potentially one of the most effective marketing and communication tools you have in your toolbox.

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