Convergence: Marketers as Masters of the Mix
Photo: “Love the Mixtape,” via www.flickr.com/photos/smmphotos/3345246852/
Charlie Melichar Marts&Lundy |@melicharlie
Andrew Careaga Missouri S&T | @andrewcareaga
#AMAHigherEd Nov. 11, 2014 Austin, Texas
How to move from this…
… to this
1. Get Rhythm 2. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood 3. I’ll Be There
• Every great song needs a powerful backbeat
• What’s the plan, the vision – where is your institution headed and who is leading the way?
Get Rhythm
There is planning going on
• An increasing number of CMOs in higher ed are on the senior management team.
• When this isn’t the case, it’s about influence – Advancement Model – Enrollment Model – Relations Model
Are you at the table?
Where the CMO adds value
Institution Speak
What People
Care About
• Are you involved in your college or university’s strategic planning process? Can you be?
• The earlier you are involved, the better.
Get into the mix
• Strategic plans don’t begin by thinking about audience, market or constituent.
• They’re all about “me” and, often, “me too.”
• You are an advocate for…
What you bring
Authenticity
Audacity
Achievability
• Before you’re asked to “market” the plan, push people to think of how the plan will play in the market
• What’s relevant? • What’s different? • What’s notable?
• Can we deliver?
Cutting through the clutter
1. Changes/Yesterday (medley) 2. The Way You Do the Things You Do 3. Leader of the Pack
Ch-ch-ch-changes
‘Turn and face the strange’
David Bowie, “Changes”
Smartphones killed the [_____] star
Image via q-ontech.blogspot.com/2010/12/apps-and-value-of-converged-device.html
News release production, yesterday…
… and now
Centralized ‘marketing’ then… Pu
blic
Rel
atio
ns
•Media relations •Crisis
communications •Alumni magazine
writing, editing
Pub
lica
tions
•Alumni magazine •Student
recruitment publications
•Photo services
… and now
Brand management
Digital/ online
Visual identity
Strategic communications
Public relations
Video production Photography
Marketing & market research
Third-party partners
Social media
‘What is it that you do here?’
Responsibility Primary Plays a role
Advertising 93% 7%
Media relations/PR 86% 11%
Photography 86% 13%
Media training 77% 12%
Crisis communications 75% 18%
Videography 68% 30%
Market research 67% 28%
What higher ed marketing orgs do
Source: SimpsonScarborough/The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Higher Ed Marketing Comes of Age,” November 2014
Responsibility Primary Plays a role
Issues management 47% 40%
Major campus events 20% 75%
Government relations 14% 46%
Open houses 13% 48%
On-campus recruitment events 11% 76%
Commencement 11% 76%
Sports information 10% 40%
What higher ed marketing orgs do
Source: SimpsonScarborough/The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Higher Ed Marketing Comes of Age,” November 2014
Org charts?
New skills for a new era
A converged marketing team: • Strategic • Opportunistic • Data-driven • Tech-savvy • Storytellers • Collaborative • Specialists and generalists • Client-focused • Customer-focused • Silo-busters
‘But, seriously: What is it that you would say that you do here?’
When you’re the boss…
The leader as …strategist
The leader as … analyst
The leader as … champion
The leader as … motivator in chief
The leader as … futurist
The leader as … trusted advisor
The leader as … negotiator
The leader as … silo-buster
1. Double Vision 2. Say You, Say Me 3. Come Together
Silos Create Tunnel Vision
Upside of a Silo • Focus is good – we need
partners who are experts, and passionate advocates for their programs.
• We also need partners who are willing to be good partners.
We speak with them
And them
And them
And them
And sometimes them
One message, one voice
• Our internal structures may be segmented, but we can’t afford that kind of disarray.
• We have to view things from a higher level, and have broader perspective.
Perspective
The Marketer’s Role
• In a central role, you are at the point where messages converge.
• Given time, and granted influence, you can create a truly integrated mix.
• And you should demand it.
Not The Marketer’s (primary) Role
• Gatekeeper
• Traffic Manager
• Bean Counter
Not The Marketer’s (primary) Role
• Gatekeeper
• Traffic Manager
• Bean Counter
• Because
It’s All ______________ College
Whether we are talking with prospective students, parents, alumni, reporters or our local community…
We need to focus on what we
stand for in the world,
and how that impacts our publics.
1. This Is the Modern World 2. Shake It Up 3. Who Let the Doge Out?
Source: Gini Dietrich, Spin Sucks (p. 38) and “PR Is More Than Media Relations” (spinsucks.com/communication/pr-media-relations/)
The modern media mix
The rules have changed
In converged media, one size (one approach, one message) does not fit all
Making the most of your media mix
• Determine your objective
• Define your audience
• Budget planning • Strategy-based
creative • Measure results • Modify as needed
Graphic: Bob Brock, Educational Marketing Group, “College Advertising Growth Spurt,” Dec. 19, 2013 (http://emgonline.com/blog/2013/12/college-advertising-growth-spurt/) List adapted from Jason Simon and Rachel Reuben, “Advertising and Media Buying Strategies,” CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding, April 2014
Making the most of your media mix
• Leverage your earned, owned and shared media
Marketing is more than advertising
PR is more than mainstream audiences
You are what you publish Authenticity, not spin Participation, not
propaganda ‘The Internet has made
public relations public again’
From The New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott
The rules have changed
Think like a media organization ‘From a brand point of view, what this means is rather than piggybacking on this really powerful brand with a huge built-in audience [i.e., television], we need to look for opportunities to engage by creating our own content. Thinking like a media company, not like an advertiser.’ David L. Rogers, author of The Network Is Your Customer
And this is today’s media
Source: John Herrman, “Cash and Anxiety on the Weird New Internet,” The Awl, Oct. 8, 2014 (www.theawl.com/2014/10/cash-and-anxiety-on-the-weird-new-internet)
Memejacking
meme (meem) 1. ‘An idea,
behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.’
2. A unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices.
Source: Wikipedia (naturally)
www.mst.edu/aprilfools/
‘The Missouri University of Science and Technology just won April Fool’s Day.’ Wired Tumblr (wired.tumblr.com) April 1, 2014
1. The Long and Winding Road 2. The End
All Together Now
‘If it’s got a backbeat, you can’t lose it’
Take the lead, but …
Join together with the band
A little help from our friends
Stop making sense
We Are Scientists
In the immortal words of Lynyrd Skynyrd…
Turn it up! (This one goes to 11)
Thanks! Andrew Careaga Missouri University of Science and Technology [email protected] @andrewcareaga Charlie Melichar Marts&Lundy [email protected] @melicharlie
Andrew Careaga Missouri University of Science and Technology [email protected] @andrewcareaga Charlie Melichar Marts&Lundy [email protected] @melicharlie