Download INTEGRATED MARKETING: THE PROCESS AND CHALLENGE OF

INTEGRATED MARKETING: THE PROCESS AND CHALLENGE
OF IMPLEMENTING THIS EVOLVING CONCEPT
AT THREE PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
by
L. MICHELLE MORRIS, B.A., M.A.
A DISSERTATION
IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
Approved
" '"
]
"
TT"
Chairperson of the Committee
Accepted
Dean of the Graduate School
December, 2003
Copyright 2003, L. Michelle Morris
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My committee chair and advisor at Texas Tech, Dr. Brent Cejda, has brought
great professionalism and insights to this process, and I appreciate all his assistance. I
have learned a great deal about higher education from Dr. Bonita Butner and Dr. John
Murray, and they have generously offered their time and guidance.
My family has sacrificed much to allow me to work on my doctorate. My
husband, Ric, and my children, Sara and Corinne, have been sources of constant
encouragement. My hope is that my daughters will be inspired and encouraged to dream
big dreams of their own.
1 appreciate the leaders at Abilene Christian University for allowing me the time
to achieve this dream.
Several ACU professors ensured 1 was prepared for doctoral work because they
taught me to think and to study: Dr. Merlin Mann, Dr. Charlie Marler, and Dr. RoUo
Tinkler. They are great teachers and great friends. And thanks to all my teachers in
Sweeny for nourishing my dreams.
Special thanks go to my parents, Jerry and Faye Murphy, for their love and for
telling me I could do anything if I worked hard enough, and to my in-laws. Bill and Oleta
Morris, who I have grown to love so much.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT
ix
LIST OF TABLES
x
LIST OF FIGURES
xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
xii
CHAPTER
I.
IL
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1
Introduction
1
Statement of the Problem
8
Conceptual Framework
9
Purpose of the Study
12
Definition of Terms
13
Assumptions
14
Delimitations
15
Limitations
15
Organization of the Document
16
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
17
Introduction
17
Changing Phases of Marketing
19
Link Between Strategic Planning and Marketing
20
Marketing Elicits Concerns
28
Marketing in Higher Education
30
Marketing Orientation Concept
31
Push Toward Integration
34
Integrated Marketing Communication and Integrated Marketing
35
Public Relations' Relationship to Marketing
35
Integrated Marketing Communication
36
Integrated Marketing
40
111
Summary
III.
43
METHODOLOGY
45
Introduction
45
Review of the Problem and Guiding Research Question
45
Research Design
46
Case Study Design
46
Multiple Case Study Design
48
Purposeful Sampling
48
Choosing the Cases to Study
49
Gaining Access
52
Data Collection
53
Data Collection Protocol
53
Data Collection Principles
54
Data Collection Methods
54
Conducting Interviews
55
Observation
58
Document Review
60
Time Frame for the Study
61
Data Analysis
62
Research Procedures
62
Analysis of Data
63
Conceptually Clustered Matrix
64
Theme Development and Coding
64
Narrowing the Information Base
67
Document Review and Analysis
68
Writing the Report
68
Methods of Verification
IV.
69
RESULTS
71
Introduction
71
IV
Case Study 1: Midcentral University
74
University Overview
74
Developing Integrated Marketing
75
Mission, Vision, and Plan
75
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
80
Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
83
Organizing for Integrated Marketing
84
Development of Marketing Structure
84
Marketing and University Relations
87
Marketing Communications
87
Marketing Strategy
88
Public Relations
88
Enrollment Services
89
Alumni and Career Networks
89
Enrollment and Marketing Research
90
Organizational Summary
90
Implementing Integrated Marketing
92
Planning and Goal-setting
92
Use of Research
94
Responsibilities and Priorities
95
Marketing and University Relations
95
Marketing Strategy
98
Public Relations
99
Enrollment Services
101
Alumni and Career Networks
102
Integration of Marketing Efforts
103
Assessing Integrated Marketing
106
Midcentral Case Summary
108
Case Study 2: South National University
110
University Overview
HO
Developing Integrated Marketing
Ill
Mission, Vision, and Plan
HI
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
116
Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
118
Organizing for Integrated Marketing
120
Development of the Marketing Structure
120
Partners in Marketing
122
Formation of Coordinating Team
124
Implementing Integrated Marketing
127
Planning and Goal-setting
127
Use of Research
129
Responsibilities and Priorities
130
University Advancement
130
Creative Services
130
Public Affairs
132
University Relations
133
Admissions
134
Development and Use of Positioning Statement
135
Integration of Marketing Efforts
137
Assessing Integrated Marketing
141
South National Case Summary
143
Case Study 3: West University
144
University Overview
144
Developing Integrated Marketing
145
Mission, Vision, and Plan
145
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
151
Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
153
Organizing for Integrated Marketing
155
VI
History of Marketing Structure
155
The Changing Face of Marketing
157
Formation of Coordinating Team
159
Implementing Integrated Marketing
Planning and Goal-setting
161
Use of Research
162
Coordinating Messaging and Graphic Identity
163
Responsibilities and Priorities
164
University Relations
164
Enrollment Management
166
Development
166
Assessing Integrated Marketing
167
West University Case Summary
169
Summary
V.
161
171
CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
172
Introduction
172
Conclusions
172
Purposes of the Study
172
Cross-case Comparison of IM at the Three Universities
173
Introduction
173
Name and Purpose of Marketing Division
175
Link of IM to Mission and Vision
177
IM Definition, Language, Plan, and Team
178
IM, IMC, and the 4Ps
180
Board and Presidential Support
181
Integration of Marketing Efforts
182
Strategic Integration
182
Organizational Integration
183
Message Integration
185
vu
Areas Not Integrated
186
Research and Assessment
187
Conclusions Summary
188
Procedures and Research Challenges
188
Implications of the Research
191
Recommendations for Future Research
195
Summary
196
REFERENCES
198
APPENDIX
A. QUALIFYING QUESTIONS
210
B. TEMPLATE FOR LETTER TO UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS
TO CONFIRM PARTICIPATION IN STUDY
211
C. DATA COLLECTION PROTOCOL AND PROCEDURES
214
D. INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CASE STUDIES
217
E. INTERVIEW LOG
221
F. INVENTORY OF DOCUMENTS
223
G. DRAFT LIST OF CODES
226
H. PRELIMINARY STRUCTURE OF CODES
228
Vlll
ABSTRACT
This multi-site case study conducted at three private, doctoral intensive
universities in three different states used a semi-structured interview guide to explore the
processes and challenges of defining, developing, organizing, implementing, and
assessing integrated marketing. In the mid-1990s, the phrases "integrated marketing
communication" and "integrated marketing" became popular in higher education, and
results of this study indicate that the two phrases are often used interchangeably, despite
their distinctive meanings. None of the universities in this study had integrated
organizationally to include marketing, student recruiting, and fundraising under one vice
president, as recommended by Sevier (1999b). However, all three universities were
actively engaged with alumni; had strong, directive presidents; had governing board
committees tied to the marketing efforts; had a clear institutional vision; linked marketing
efforts to the institutional vision; and found it challenging to integrate professional
schools and athletics into the central marketing effort. None of the participants had a
written definition of integrated marketing, and none of the institutions had fully
implemented the concept. Two of the three universities had formed a cross-functional
team to enhance integration. However, in both cases, the effort was directed at
coordinating promotion. Although one university had some influence on certain aspects
of academics, most effort being expended for "integrated marketing" at all three schools
related to communication and promotion. This study found little or no connection
between integrated marketing and the academic "product" at these three institutions.
IX
LIST OF TABLES
1. 4Ps and 4Cs of Marketing
10
2. Passages Coded by Theme
73
3. Research Findings Comparison
176
4. Functions Integrated Into Marketing Structure
184
5. Interview Log
221
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Integrated Marketing Iceberg Model
2
2. Strategic Integration Marketing Model
4
3. Strategic Planning Process Model
21
4. Strategic Marketing Planning Process
23
5. Marketing Management Process
27
XI
LIST OF ABBREVL\TIONS
AAAA
American Association of Advertising Agencies (4 A's)
AGs
Admissions Counselors
AMA
American Marketing Association
ANA
Association of National Advertisers
CASE
Council for Advancement and Support of Education
CAO
Chief Academic Officer
CEO
Chief Executive Officer
EVP
Executive Vice President
EM
Enrollment Management
HR
Human Resources
ICT
Integrated Communication Team
IM
Integrated Marketing
IMC
Integrated Marketing Communication
MBA
Master of Business Administration
MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PMS
Pantone Matching System
PR
Public Relations
SID
Sports Information Director
TQM
Total Quality Management
UPC
University Planning Council
USNWR
U.S. News & World Report magazine
VP
Vice President
Xll
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
Introduction
"Things will never be the same for private colleges," declared a national higher
education consultant and researcher (Dehne, 1998, p. 1). He explained that half the
college population was enrolled in private institutions in the 1960s, and only 17 percent
was enrolled in private versus public by 1992. A similar shift occurred with corporate
gifts, with 88 percent going to private colleges and universities 40 years ago, and only
49 percent going to private versus public institutions by the mid-1990s (Sevier, 1999b).
One college president said higher education has moved from the Golden Age to the Age
of Survival (Sevier, 1997a). In this competitive environment, many private universities
have chosen to wage war for students and dollars using a relatively new conceptintegrated marketing (IM)-as their strategic solution (Moore, 2000). Administrators hope
integrated marketing will help them attract quality students and faculty, create more
satisfied alumni, build a stronger image, increase support from various funding sources,
and leverage marketing dollars (Sevier & Johnson, 1999). Dr. Robert A. Sevier, higher
education researcher and consultant, described six key elements of integrated marketing:
an outward focus; desire to address strategic problems strategically rather than tactically;
strategic, organizational and message integration (Figure 1); active listening to the
customer; database dependence; and coordination of messages (1999b).
Within higher education circles, integrated marketing seemed to spring from
nowhere in the late 1990s. In 1998, Currents magazine published a running debate on
the value of integrated marketing (Arbeiter, 1998; Lauer, 1998), and the sessions on this
subject at the regional meetings of the Council for the Advancement and Support of
Education (CASE) were standing room only in 1999. IM is a "relatively recent addition
to the higher education lexicon" (p. 1) and there is not one generally accepted definition
of integrated marketing (Sevier, 1999b). The concept of "integrated marketing" is often
Integrated Marketing
Message
Integration
A
^
-a
s >=
.2 °
Strategic
Integration
•-3
M
S «>
c^
Figure 1
Integrated Marketing Iceberg Model
(Adapted from Sevier, 1999a, p. 13; Sevier, 1999b, p. 2)
•*-»
confused with "integrated marketing communication" (IMC), and the two phrases are
often and purposefully used to mean the same thing (Brock, 1999; DeChant, 1995;
Schultz, 1998; Sevier, 1999b, 2000b; Sevier & Johnson, 1999; Smith, 1995).
Although a popular misconception, Sevier (2000b) explained that IM and IMC are
not the same concept. Integrated marketing deals with the strategic issues of product,
price, and place, and the tactical issue of promotion; these issues also are described as
customer, cost, convenience, and communication (Schultz, Tannenbaum, & Lauterbom,
1994). Sevier defined IM as "a listening-first, database-dependent approach to marketing
that includes both a willingness to segment and coordinate such strategic assets as
product/customer, price/cost and place/convenience and to develop effective
promotion/communication strategies for key target audiences" (2000a, p. 1). This
definition is reflected in Sevier's Strategic Integration Marketing Model (Figure 2),
which will be explained further in the conceptual framework section of this chapter.
Integrated marketing communication, a subset of IM, is focused solely on coordinated
promotion or communication.
Too often, colleges and universities seek to enhance their communication and
image strategies when, in fact, they should be dealing with such strategic issues
as what's taught, when, how, and at what price. However dealing with strategic
issues is often political and time consuming. If the same problem is labeled a
communication issue then the long knives seldom come out. Stakeholders are
much more likely to support a communication plan than the decision to review
the curriculum. (Sevier, 2000b, p. 1)
Although a survey in 2000 showed a majority of colleges and universities claimed
to use integrated marketing (Moore), Sevier said "many people-and the institutions
they lead-will hop on the integrated marketing bandwagon with no real understanding
of integrated marketing and no real commitment to its tenets" (2000b, p. 1). Even
school administrators who were early adopters of the concept use IM and IMC
interchangeably. For example, Texas Christian University's Dr. Larry Lauer, who has
spoken on integrated marketing at CASE conferences and other professional gatherings,
defined IM in 1998 as "a holistic approach to organizational communication. It combines
Mission, Vision, Strategic Plan
Target Audience Definition
Demographic, Psychographic, History
Market Research
Assess Target Audience Needs and Expectations
Target Audience Segmentation
Creation of Marketing Mix
Customer
Ongoing
Evaluation
X
Cost
Convenience
Communication
Figure 2
Strategic Integration Marketing Model
(Adapted from Sevier, 1999b, p. 4)
the power of marketing, advertising, and public relations and involves the entire
organization in communicating a consistent message" (p. 12). This definition more
closely aligns with Sevier's definition of IMC.
One reason for the confusion may be the timing of the introduction of IMC and
M . In 1991, faculty at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University
completed the first research in the field of IMC (Caywood, Schultz, & Wang, 1991, in
Schultz & Kitchen, 1997). Dr. Don E. Schultz and others, in a popular 1994 book, said,
"Even a working definition of integrated marketing communications is hard to come by"
(p. xv). The authors described IMC as "a new way of looking at the whole... realigning
communications to look at it the way a customer sees it-as a flow of information from
indistinguishable sources" (p. xvii). Smith (1995), who used IM and IMC interchangeably, said the first practical challenge in implementing IM "can be arriving at
a working definition" (p. 1).
Throughout the 1990s, IMC - the communication and promotion aspect of
integrated marketing - received heavy attention in the popular and trade press (Brannan,
1995; Duncan, 1993, 1994; Duncan & Everett, 1993; Fawcett, 1993; Finn, 1994;
Goldstein, 1992; Harris, 1993; Hume, 1992, 1993; Schultz, 1993a, 1993b; Schultz,
Tannenbaum & Lauterbom, 1993; Schultz et al., 1994; Stanton, 1991). In 1996, a special
issue of the Journal of Marketing Communications was devoted to IMC. Virtually all the
papers focused on theory building or identification of key issues, indicating that "IMC
still appeared to be in a pre-paradigm as opposed to a post-paradigm state" (Schultz &
Kitchen, 1997). The September 1997 issue of the Journal of Advertising Research also
focused on this subject. In one of the journal's articles, M C is called an "emerging
concept" (Schultz & Kitchen), and other authors said the body of literature on the subject
was thin and mostly anecdotal (McArthur & Griffen, 1997). In 1998, Schultz, probably
the individual most widely associated with IMC, wrote, "Few concepts have generated as
much enthusiastic discussion as integrated marketing communication (IMC), yet had
such a paucity of documented successful implementations" (p. 20).
By the time Sevier began trying to help higher education administrators
distinguish between the concepts of IM and IMC in the late 1990s, M C was entrenched
in the collective consciousness of many marketing professionals. His main emphasis at
conference sessions (1999a, 1999b), in "white paper" reports (1995, 1997a, 1997b) and
in his two books (1998; Sevier & Johnson, 1999) was that integrated marketing involved
the full marketing mix of product, price, place, and promotion. In his presentations and
his books, he also tied the "new" trend of IM to 25-year-old marketing concepts
developed and advocated by Dr. Philip Kotler. Sevier (1997b) reminded marketers that
Kotler had described marketing accurately in 1975: "Marketing is the analysis, planning,
implementation, and control of carefully formulated programs designed to bring about
voluntary exchanges of values with target markets for the purpose of achieving
organizational objectives (p. 5). Kotler is a distinguished professor at Northwestern
University, author of 15 books, and an international marketing expert.
"Kotler noted, quite correctly, that marketing is a research-based, policy directed
activity designed to meet the self-needs of both the institution and target audiences
through the advancement of the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion," wrote Sevier
(1997b). He continued:
While it is tempting to assume that higher education has embraced Kotler's
definition of marketing, such an assumption would be wrong. On most campuses,
when the president asks for a marketing plan, it is highly likely that he or she
really means a plan that addresses only promotion and not the other three Ps.
For it is through promotion that presidents and other stakeholders reason that
their troubles will be overcome: PR [public relations], slick publications, special
events and advertising (especially advertising). These are the keys. The
possibilities of Kotler are largely ignored.... (p. 3)
Kotler-called "marketing's apostle" to the educational sector (Hunter, 1997, p. 1)emphasized organizational integration and marketing orientation in the seminal text for
colleges regarding marketing: Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions,
published in 1985 and reissued in 1995. In a review of the newer edition, Joseph Hunter
of Boston College wrote:
What is so amazing about this revised edition of Philip Kotler's indispensable
book... is that it is still so necessary. Long after businesses adopted quality
improvement as their marketing mantra ... many institutions and programs still do
not get it. (p. 1)
Sevier (1997b) also said colleges did not truly understand marketing and that
administrators had a limited and "lopsided" notion of it (p. 3). The idea that higher
education administrators do not understand marketing has been repeated in the results of
many doctoral studies since the 1970s, when marketing first became common on U.S.
college campuses (Adkins, 1999; Firoz, 1982; Martin, 1987; Mathias, 1982; Mulnix,
1996; Rubino, 1988; Sago, 1989; Sussman, 1979; Wilson, 1985). Despite some lingering
confusion and lack of knowledge about marketing, administrators have attempted to gain
from its use for 30 years. In the early 1970s, the Massachusetts histitute of Technology
(MIT) used marketing strategies to try to rebuild its dropping enrollment as did many
other colleges during that turbulent era (Kotler, 1975). But the beginning of a new
century brings new problems to colleges and universities. The focus has moved from
general enrollment to enrollment of more high-achieving or full-pay students, and from
general promotion to two-way, personalized communication with targeted audiences
(Dehne, 1998; Moore, 2000; Sevier, 1999b).
The first decade of research studies and journal articles about college marketing
focused on increasing the number of students because of the shrinking number of high
school graduates. After record high enrollments in the early 1980s, colleges experienced
an enrollment bust in the early 1990s (Hunter, 1997). In contrast, the National Center for
Education Statistics projected that the number of high school graduates in the spring of
2001 would be the largest since 1983 (Guernsey, 1999). Because two-thirds of those
students say they will attend college, the overall demand for a college education should
be high at many institutions. On the other hand, Raisman (1999) reported that annual
enrollment increases at community and two-year colleges was predicted to be only 31
students per school. He concluded that colleges must adopt aggressive marketing
strategies to promote themselves. Raisman said community colleges must abandon what
he called the "field of dreams" marketing focus on a traditional campus setting and
market themselves in new ways to attract the younger generation.
If the overall demand for a college education is high, why are administrators
expressing such strong interest in marketing? Some are concerned about their image or
national academic reputation (Dehne, 1990; Sevier, 1995). Others are concerned about
their reputation scores and overall rankings in various national guidebooks, which have
increased in importance to students and their parents in recent years ("Annual," 1996;
Haworth and Conrad, 1997; Kersten, 2000). Many of the guidebooks include the yield
rate between the number of applications and the number of students accepted-and
applications can be driven by marketing.
Also, the states with the most colleges (Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana) will have virtually no population growth through
2010, and they will be seeking students from the growth states of California, Florida,
New York, and Texas (Sevier, 1999a). From a broader perspective, families and
government officials are questioning the rising cost of education, customers are becoming
more demanding, and the demographics of prospective students are changing dramatically (Hunter, 1997; Sevier, 1999b). For these reasons and more, university leaders in
the 21st century are just as interested in marketing as those of the 1970s. As more
university marketers begin using IM to attract high quality students, connect with alumni,
and increase donations, they will need clear guidance on what integrated marketing is and
how to implement it successfully. And if the future of smaller, less distinctive private
colleges and universities is as unsure as Dehne (1998) describes, private institutions may
need integrated marketing to survive.
Statement of the Problem
In the past decade, private universities have been driven to compete more
aggressively for high-achieving students, alumni loyalty, donors, and national prestige as
gauged by various rankings guidebooks. To succeed, many universities have turned to an
evolving concept called integrated marketing. Although many schools claim to be using
integrated marketing at some level (Moore, 2000), marketers often confuse integrated
marketing with "integrated marketing communication" or promotion (Sevier, 1999b;
2000b). Also, many universities never fully implement integrated marketing because the
process is political and time-consuming (Sevier & Johnson, 1999). The overall issue is
that many private universities are attempting to implement integrated marketing with
little information and few successful role models to follow (Sevier, 1999b, 2000b).
Moreover, no formal research studies regarding the implementation of integrated
marketing in the higher education setting have been conducted.
Conceptual Framework
Various marketing studies have used Kotler's marketing orientation concept to
describe the level of marketing at various types of institutions in the past 20 years
(Adkins, 1999; Compton, 1980; Martin, 1987; Rubino, 1988; Sago, 1989; Sussman,
1979). Although Kotler's concepts seem to be the foundation for most of Sevier's work,
the newer Strategic Integration Marketing Model (Sevier, 1999b) and the related
"iceberg" model of integration appear to most closely match the modem definition of
integrated marketing espoused by colleges and universities. Therefore, these two related
models served as the primary guides for the development of the initial interview guide.
Another aspect of integrated marketing included in the interview preparation was
the 4Ps of product, price, place, and promotion (McCarthy, 1971; Sevier, 1999b). When
Sevier discusses integrated marketing, he often converts the 4Ps to the 4Cs (Table 1).
The 4Cs-consumer, cost, convenience, and communication (4Cs)-are frequently
associated with Schultz (1994). The 4Cs are important because of the customer-focused
orientation of integrated marketing (Sevier, 1999b). Sevier wrote that the 4Cs "are cast
from the perspective of the customer or target audience, rather than the institution....
A tme marketing orientation must be just that - oriented toward the market. Integrated
marketing, as evidenced by the 4Cs, has that orientation" (1999b, p. 5). Although Sevier
and others espouse the movement from the 4Ps to the 4Cs, both descriptions of the
marketing mix continue to be used (see Figures 1 and 2; Sevier, 1997b, 1999b, 2000a),
and the 4Ps are most familiar to most marketing staff and administrators (Sevier, 1999b).
Table 1
4Ps and 4Cs of Marketing
(Adapted from Sevier, 1999b, p. 5)
THE 4 P S OF TRADITIONAL
MARKETING
THE 4 C S OF INTEGRATED
MARKETING
Product
Customer or Consumer
Price
Cost
Place
Convenience
Promotion
Communication
10
Integrated marketing requires that strategic decisions are based on realistic assessment of
problems and opportunities. Sevier (1999b) said IM takes into account the institutional
strategic plan, ties the integrated marketing plan directly to the institution's objectives,
and integrates resources organizationally to achieve IM goals. Sevier believes integrated
marketing helps colleges and universities deal with strategic challenges because it:
•
•
•
Forces marketing issues up to the strategic level;
Is built on realistic assessments;
Operationalizes the strategic plan and stresses accountability and ongoing
evaluation. (1999b, p. 5)
Sevier's model includes ongoing evaluation. Therefore, this study explored ways in
which the universities were assessing and evaluating integrated marketing. Sevier also
stressed the importance of top-down commitment to integrated marketing. "If the
president doesn't aggressively support marketing, it will fail" (1998, p. 39).
Integrated marketing must, by definition, have three levels of integration:
strategic, organizational, and message (Sevier, 1999b). One way to evaluate the level of
implementation of IM at the three universities will be to explore each school's level of
integration. Sevier described IM's integration levels in a popular white paper titled
"Much Ado About Something" (1999b). Strategic integration means that marketers
assess and meet the needs of target audiences through the allocation of resources within
the constraint of their institutional mission. This high level of integration involves a
willingness to make data-based decisions. It also means the institution has a desire to
segment audiences and mix strategic assets such as product, price, and place, and it relies
on feedback to ensure that strategic decisions are on track.
Organizational integration, said Sevier (1999b), allows or encourages complete
strategic and message integration, with the institution working as one system. At this
level of integration, university staff members would coordinate resources and share goals.
Ideally, Sevier believes this type of integration would occur by placing all marketing and
communication functions under one vice president. He would include several key areas
under the broad marketing umbrella: Marketing (public relations, publications,
advertising). Student Recmiting, and Fundraising. Such a stmcture would be a dramatic
11
change for many institutions, and Sevier and Johnson (1999) noted that many schools
accomplish organizational integration through cross-functional marketing teams instead
of major stmctural changes. Message integration, according to Sevier (1999b), means
messages are consistent, coordinated, and driven by strategic decisions. Although the
messages may be targeted to particular audiences, they have a common look, sound, and
feel across various mediums and over time. All three levels of integration were reviewed
at the three universities in this study.
The primary question to be answered in this study was, "What processes and
challenges are involved in defining, developing, organizing, implementing, and assessing
integrated marketing at three private universities?" Subquestions included:
•
•
•
How does the university define integrated marketing?
Why and how has the university developed integrated marketing?
How is the university organized for integrated marketing?
What level of integration has the university achieved?
How has the university implemented integrated marketing and what
challenges has it faced in doing so?
How is integrated marketing assessed on an ongoing basis?
Purpose of the Study
This research explored the integrated marketing process in-depth at three private
universities to allow marketers at private institutions to learn from others' experiences.
The study sought to discover how private universities were defining, developing,
organizing, implementing, and assessing integrated marketing-a concept that is still
evolving. The implementation experiences of the administrators and staff were studied,
in addition to the level of integration at each university. The results should be beneficial
for scholars in the fields of education, public relations, and marketing, as well as for
marketing/communication directors, enrollment management leaders, advancement
officers, and other administrators at institutions of higher learning. Although the study
focused on private universities, the information gathered should prove beneficial to any
college or university considering the implementation of integrated marketing. This study
had several purposes.
12
1. To explore the processes and challenges of defining, developing,
implementing, and assessing integrated marketing in a private university
setting.
2. To explore the level of organizational, strategic, and message integration of
the marketing functions at three private universities.
3. To compare and contrast the experiences of administrators and staff at three
private universities as they implement integrated marketing.
4. To make recommendations for further research.
Definition of Terms
These definitions will be useful in understanding this research study.
Case studv-preferred research strategy when "how" or "why" questions are being
posed, when the investigator has little control over events, and when the focus is on a
contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context" (Yin, 1984, p. 13).
Differentiated marketing-offering different programs for different market
segments (Beder, 1986, p. 7).
Distinctive competencies-those resources and abilities in which the organization
is especially strong (Kotler & Murphy, 1981, p. 477).
Image-the way the public perceives the company [university] (Kotler, 1994,
p. 305).
Identity-comprises the ways that a company [university] aims to identify itself to
its publics (Kotler, 1994, p. 304).
Integrated marketing communication (IMC)-a subset of integrated marketing
defined as a coordinated, institution-wide effort to communicate mission-critical values
and messages in ways that audiences notice, understand, and respond to. IMC stresses
data-driven audience segmentation, message integration, and evaluation (Sevier, 1999b,
p. 3).
Market-a group of people who share a similar need (Kotler, 1994, p. 287).
13
Market positioning-process of developing programs that match the philosophy,
mission, goals, and resource strengths of your institution to the educational needs of
market groups that [a university] specifically wants to serve (Beder, 19986, p. 21).
Market segmentation-the process of dividing the potential market into subgroups
according to how they are expected to react to program offerings (Beder, 1986, p. 7).
Marketing implementation-the process that turns marketing plans into action
assignments and ensures that such assignments are executed in a manner that
accomplishes the plan's stated objectives (Kotler, 1994, p. 287).
Marketing mix-the combination of product, price, place, and promotion used to
market an organization (Sevier, 1999b, p. 2).
Marketing opportunity-an attractive area of relevant action in which a particular
organization is likely to enjoy superior competitive advantages (Kotler & Murphy, 1981,
p. 475).
Positioning-the act of designing the company's [university's] offer and image so
that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customer's mind (Kotler, 1994,
p. 307).
Public relations-the management function that evaluates public attitudes,
identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public
interest, and plans and executes a program of action to eam public understanding and
acceptance (Seitel, 1989, p. 10).
Strategic planning-the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit
between the organization and its changing market opportunities (Kotler & Murphy, 1981,
p. 471).
Undifferentiated marketing-treating the whole market as one homogeneous
group, ignoring segmentation (Beder, 1986, p. 7).
Assumptions
The following were the assumptions in this research.
1. Participants will completely and accurately answer all questions.
14
2. Institutions in this study have indicated they are using integrated marketing
strategies; it is assumed that they are.
3. The researcher will have some biases and preconceived understanding of
integrated marketing because of her work in this field and her background in
journalism and public relations.
Delimitations
The following were the delimitations of this research.
1. Only three private universities with religious heritages were included in this
multi-site case study.
2. Only anecdotal or perceptual evidence regarding the effectiveness of
integrated marketing was collected.
3. Participants were limited to individuals who had directly experienced or
guided the implementation of integrated marketing at each respective
institution. Four to nine administrators or staff members were interviewed
personally at each institution, including the president and the top marketing
administrator. Information from constituents not directly involved in
marketing (ie., students, board members) was not collected.
Limitations
The following were the limitations of this research.
1. Personal involvement in the marketing process at a private, Texas university
might have influenced the researcher's interpretations of the information
gathered.
2. Most participants were interviewed only once. Limited engagement can
impede the development of tmst, which can create an obstacle to eliciting
meaningful data.
15
3. Data reduction could have been a source of error if codes were applied
inconsistently or if inappropriate codes were used when evaluating the data
collected during the study.
Organization of the Document
This chapter contains a description of the growing popularity of integrated
marketing in higher education. It also describes the problem that little is known about
how colleges and universities define integrated marketing; how they develop, organize,
and implement the process; how they determine effectiveness of the process; or what
levels of marketing integration they achieve. Finally, the framework for this study is
outlined. Four additional chapters are included in the dissertation. In Chapter n, the
literature on higher education marketing, integrated marketing communication, and
integrated marketing is reviewed. The methodology for the study is detailed in
Chapter HI. Findings will be presented in Chapter IV. The final chapter includes a
summary and cross-case comparison of the findings, describes implications of the
research, and includes recommendations for further research.
16
CHAPTER n
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Introduction
Integrated marketing is a relatively new and unfamiliar concept, despite its
seeming popularity among U.S. colleges and universities. It has grown primarily from
marketing models advocated by Dr. Philip Kotler in the mid-1970s and has been tested
and expanded upon by various researchers in the past 25 years. This chapter reviews
marketing developments leading to the implementation of integrated marketing (IM)
strategies at many higher education institutions in America. Integrated marketing's
deepest roots are in traditional marketing, which is a management function that
developed in business early in the 20"* century (Silva, 1998). Marketing went through
three stages in its early years: product orientation, production orientation, and sales
orientation (Kotler & Andreasen, 1982). All these early marketing stages focused on
companies producing and selling whatever they chose to make. Making a profit was
paramount, and companies assumed customers would buy whatever they produced.
Customers became more sophisticated and demanding after World War n, and
some companies began to take customer interests and needs into consideration (Kotler &
Andreasen, 1982). From 1950-60, traditional approaches to marketing were
supplemented by increasing emphasis on managerial decision-making, the societal
aspects of marketing, and quantitative marketing analysis (Bartels, 1962). This decade
has been called the "period of reconception." Many concepts-some borrowed from the
field of management and other social sciences-were introduced into marketing. At the
end of this period of reconception, Levitt, in a widely quoted article, argued for a much
broader interpretation of the marketing function in society. "If the concept of integrated
communication has a starting point, it may well be with Levitt's article" (Mulnix, 1996,
p. 29). Levitt wrote:
The difference between marketing and selling is more than semantic. Selling
focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing on the needs of the buyer. Selling is
preoccupied with the seller's need to convert his product into cash, marketing
17
with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and
the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering, and finally
consuming it. (1960, p. 50)
The idea of applying marketing to nonprofit organizations and societal issues
grew through a series of articles between 1969 and 1973 (Kotler & Levy, 1969; Kotler &
Zaltman, 1971; Shapiro, 1973). Kotler and Levy broadened the domain of marketing
dramatically from the business activity it had previously been to "a pervasive societal
activity that goes considerably beyond the selling of toothpaste, soap, and steel" (p. 15).
By 1982, Kotler and Andreasen believed that marketing in public and nonprofit
organizations had reached a period of maturity after years of rapid growth. They called
marketing for the public and nonprofit sector a "radical management innovation" (p. 29).
Although many studies have been conducted on marketing in the business and
manufacturing realm, this literature review will focus primarily on marketing in higher
education, on integrated marketing communication, and on integrated marketing.
Canterbury (1999) described the market for higher education as having several features
that distinguish it from the markets for other goods and services. He said the significance
of college choice discourages open-mindedness, human development limits the decisionmaking process, family life is irrevocably altered by the choice process, and uncertainty
exists about the product of higher education. And though marketing for the business
sector and higher education have much in common, "the differences ... are critical in
considering the transfer of marketing activities from one to the other (Litten, 1980, p. 45).
Therefore, it is difficult to apply advice from business or product marketing to higher
education marketing. Some of the concepts and early models examined have been
applied to both business and nonprofit/educational situations, but purely business or
production marketing studies and models were excluded from this study.
Also, the literature review will begin in the 1960s because most marketing
studies, joumal articles, and other literature before that time focused on the marketing of
for-profit entities. The review is organized into six major sections: Changing Phases of
Marketing, Link Between Strategic Planning and Marketing, Marketing Elicits Concems,
18
Marketing in Higher Education, Integrated Marketing Communication and Integrated
Marketing, and Summary.
Changing Phases of Marketing
The AMA defined marketing as "the performance of business activities that direct
the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user" (1960, p. 15). This
early definition fit with what Kotler and Andreasen (1982) described as the first concept
of marketing and of business organization: a product orientation. When an organization
has a product or services orientation, it produces items or services and assumes the public
wants to buy them. Nonprofit organizations also practiced this orientation when they felt
they had a good product/service that would always be in demand. The next evolution of
marketing was called the production orientation, in which a company tries to become
more efficient in producing more items and distributing them to more people.
The sales orientation was the next phase of marketing. It was a production
orientation backed by sales and promotion aimed at generating more sales for higher
profits (Kotler & Andreasen, 1982). Basically, once a product or service was defined or
produced, most of the effort was expended selling the benefits to customers. The risk
was that the organization's offering could quickly grow outdated or irrelevant and
become increasingly difficult to sell. An example of the sales orientation in higher
education is when a college president reacts to a decline in enrollment by encouraging the
admissions office to hire more recmiters and send out more brochures without
determining why the "customers" lost interest. All three of the eariy phases of marketing
had one thing in common: "they all began their marketing planning with the organization
and what it had to offer" (Kotler & Andreasen, p, 40).
In the 1950s, consumers grew wealthier, more sophisticated and less willing to
settle for whatever the market tried to persuade them to buy (Kinner et al., 1995; Kotler,
1975; Kotler & Andreasen, 1982; Phelps & Westing, 1968). Kotler and Andreasen
described the need for organizations and companies to move into a new marketing phase:
customer orientation, which means the main task of the organization is "to determine the
19
perceptions, needs, and wants of target markets and to satisfy them through the design,
communication, pricing, and delivery of appropriate and competitively viable offerings"
(p. 41). Firms began to see customers as real people who were trying to satisfy specific
needs, and they began to invest heavily in consumer research to measure both consumer
needs and satisfaction. During this period, the "marketing concept" was defined by
Kotler as "a consumers' needs orientation backed by integrated marketing aimed at
generating consumer satisfaction as the key to satisfying organizational goals" (1975,
p. 46). He explained that the marketing concept forced companies to reorient from
looking inward to their products to looking outward toward consumers' needs.
Link Between Strategic Planning and Marketing
In 1981, Kotler and Murphy wrote that if colleges and universities were going to
survive the difficult years ahead, they needed a strong emphasis on planning specifically on strategic market planning. They called this type of planning "the most
revolutionary commercial sector development in the last ten years" which "promises to
be a potent tool for use in nonprofit organizations" (p. 470). Strategic planning and
strategic market planning were used interchangeably in the article to mean "the process
of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization and its changing
market opportunities" (p. 471). Kotler and Murphy applied this process to higher
education. The steps in the Strategic Planning Process Model described were: analyze
the environment, review major resources, formulate appropriate goals, choose costeffective strategies, determine appropriate organizational design, and improve system
designs (Figure 3). Kotler and Murphy explained that the most important benefit of
strategic planning was to force higher education decision-makers to undertake a more
market-oriented approach to long-range planning.
Kotler was first known for his work in strategic planning. Many of the ideas
involved in the Strategic Planning Process Model were included in his later marketing
management models. The concepts of strategic planning as described by Kotler and
Murphy also were included in Sevier's (1998) model of integrated marketing, which was
20
ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS
•
•
•
•
•
internal
environment
market environment
competitive
environment
public environment
macroenvironment
(threats and
analysis)
opportunities
GOAL
FORMULATION
-> -
mission
objectives
goals
RESOURCE ANALYSIS
•
•
•
•
STRATEGY
FORMULATION
-• -
academic
portfolio strategy
product market
opportunity
strategy
SYSTEM DESIGN
-•
-
personnel
funds
facilities
systems
(strengths and weaknesses
analysis)
Figure 3
Strategic Planning Process Model
(Adapted from Kotler & Murphy, 1981, p. 472)
21
information
planning
control
discussed in Chapter I and will be explained further in the hitegrated Marketing section
of this chapter. For example, Kotler and Murphy suggested that the planning process
should begin with the president stating organizational assumptions and coordinating or
requesting a thorough analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
(SWOT) (p. 472). They also stressed the importance of strategy formulation, organizational design and systems design. Organizations must devise strategies related to their
academic portfolio (their current programs) and to their products/market opportunities
(new programs or services). The article included a case study of Beloit College's
strategic planning process.
In 1982, Kotler and Andreasen partnered to write a new edition of Kotler's book
on marketing for nonprofits. They proposed a planning process similar in many ways to
the Strategic Integration Marketing Model proposed by Sevier in the late 1990s. Kotler
and Andreasen's model included various intemal and external assessments, goal setting,
strategic decision-making about target markets and the marketing mix, implementation,
assessment and feedback (Figure 4). They described the center segment, "set core
marketing strategy," as a "nested activity," by which they meant that marketing strategic
planning should be nested within organizational-level strategic planning (p. 160). Kotler
and Andreasen defined strategic marketing planning as "the managerial process of
developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization's goals and resources
and its changing market opportunities" (1982, p. 159). They described 10 steps in the
strategic marketing planning process:
1. Determine organization-wide objectives, mission, and specific goals to which
marketing strategies must contribute.
2. Assess extemal environmental threats and opportunities that can be addressed
by marketing in the interest of achieving greater organizational success.
3. Evaluate present and potential organization resources and skills to take
advantage of the opportunity to repel the threat identified in the extemal
environmental analysis.
4. Determine the marketing vision, objectives, and specific goals for the relevant
planning period.
5. Formulate the core marketing strategy to achieve the specified goals.
22
Determine
organizational
objectives
Assess
organizational
strengths and
weaknesses
Analyze
extemal
environment
1
. . i
1
'
Set marketing
mission, objectives
and goals
V
Set core
marketing
strategy
_^
w
4
4
Target market
Completitive
posit on
Mark 3ting mix
4
^r
1
r
V
Design
organization and
systems
Set
specific
tactics
Determine
performance
benchmarks
r->
^r
^r
Implement
strategy
1r
Assess
perfon nance
^
- -
Figure 4
Strategic Marketing Planning Process
(Adapted from Kotler & Andreasen, 1982)
23
6) Put in place the necessary organizational stmcture and systems within the
marketing function to ensure proper implementation of the designed strategy.
7) Establish detailed programs and tactics designed to carry out the core strategy
for the planning period, including a timetable of activities and assignment of
specific responsibilities.
8) Establish benchmarks to measure interim and final achievements of the
program.
9) Implement the planned program.
10) Measure performance and adjust the core strategy, tactical details, or both, as
needed, (pp. 159-60)
Kotler and Fox (1985) wrote a 400-page text specifically regarding strategic
marketing for educational institutions. They defined strategic marketing planning as
"planning the overall direction of the institution to respond to its markets and
opportunities" (p. 71). They also defined a professional marketer as a person "skilled at
understanding, planning and managing exchanges" (p. 7). They said university
administrators should take four factors into account: consumer needs, consumer wants,
consumers' long-term interests, and the interests of society. These factors make up the
societal marketing orientation, which means the main task of the institution is to
"determine the needs, wants and interests of its consumers and to adapt the institution to
deliver satisfactions that preserve or enhance the consumer's and society's well-being
and long-term interests" (p. 11).
The 10 steps outlined by Kotler and Andreasen and the strategic marketing
planning concept have much in common with integrated marketing steps as described by
Sevier-and with broader strategic planning. Sevier, a consultant on both strategic
planning and integrated marketing, said he is often asked if the two are closely related.
"In a nutshell, yes," was his answer in a working draft for a national conference paper
(2000b). "By and large, they deal with the same issues of mission, vision, what's taught,
quality of campus life, budgeting, etc." (p. 1). He said the follow-up question regards the
difference between IM and strategic planning. Sevier said there is little difference, in
theory. However, "in the work-a-day worid of higher education, the differences can be
significant" (p. 2).
24
First, the terms "integrated marketing" and "strategic planning" carry emotional
baggage (Sevier, 2000b). For example, many campus stakeholders believe strategic
issues should be dealt with only through strategic planning, and that marketing issuesas they often define them-are of a lower order and can be left to technicians. Sevier
(1999b; 2000b) emphasized that most administrators still believe marketing is another
word for promotion. He described the second difference between integrated marketing
and strategic planning as academic manifest destiny.
If you look at the history of strategic planning, much of it is focused on doing
more. Offering more programs. Building more facilities. Spending more money.
Marketing however, is interested in retums on investment and on issues of
efficiency and effectiveness. While marketing is very comfortable asking, "What
new programs can we offer?" it is also comfortable asking, "What programs
should we close?" (2000b, p. 2)
The third difference is accountability. In Sevier's view, accountability is not always
popular in higher education, and strategic plans rarely include detailed information about
who will do what, when. Good marketing plans, on the other hand, emphasize
accountability. The final difference between the two concepts is the idea of measurable
outcomes. Sevier said the IM process involves gathering solid baseline research data
early in the planning process, another area where strategic planning often falls short in
higher education. "We all know that many strategic plans are built on a breathtaking
shortage of solid information," he added (p. 2). Marketing stresses the need to establish
specific short- and intermediate-term goals. In Sevier's view, strategic planning goals at
colleges and universities tend to be "a bit more esoteric and their time lines are a bit more
vague" (p. 2).
Ferrari and Lauer (2000) discussed how Texas Christian University (TCU) used
participatory strategic planning to move integrated marketing out of the communication
office and into the entire institution. They defined participatory strategic planning as
"identifying all of an institution's intemal and extemal market segments and engaging
stakeholders and opinion leaders from each segment in meaningful conversations about
the institution's future" (p. 19). The process is designed to identify distinctive programs.
25
discuss financial realities, prepare for the next campaign, and enlarge the volunteer pool.
Ferrari and Lauer described a nine-step participatory strategic planning process:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
State program objectives.
Select participants and leaders.
Compile background information.
Select task force topics.
Set up a Web site.
Train task force facilitators.
Plan the kickoff event.
Create the final report.
Implement the best ideas.
"Just when it seems impossible to move integrated marketing beyond the communications office, participatory strategic planning allows an institution to provide a marketsensitive context for examining academic programs, facility needs, pricing and delivery"
(p. 22).
Kotler emphasized in 1975 that strategic planning in marketing requires constant
feedback and control, elements that were later picked up by Sevier in the Integrated
Marketing Model. He created a simple model (Figure 5) that demonstrated the
continuous process necessary to effectively manage a marketing program. The purpose
of marketing control, Kotler said, is to increase the chances that an organization will
achieve its short-mn and long-mn objectives in the marketplace. An effective marketing
control and feedback system allows organizations to make timely adjustments in response
to changes in the market. In discussing useful measures for nonprofit organizations,
Kotler and Andreasen referenced "image tracking," which they described as a "very
effective control device for monitoring programs aimed at final customers" (p. 623). In
most of Sevier's writings aimed at colleges and universities in the 1990s, he emphasized
the importance of finding out how key audiences perceive the institutions and their
offerings (1995, 1997, 1998; Sevier & Johnson, 1999), and then tracking that image
perception over time through market research.
Liu (1998) wrote that marketing strategies should be integrated into institutional
strategic planning. Responsible marketing in higher education is concemed with how to
bring students into contact with programs that are both beneficial and rewarding from the
26
Analysis
Planning
Control
Implementation
Figure 5
Marketing Management Process
(Adapted from Kotler, 1975, p. 5)
27
broadest sense of personal and societal fulfillment. The paper described how higher
education differs from other service enterprises in its social responsibility and context for
decision making. An integrated marketing strategy based on the identified position of the
institution plays a critical role in successful enrollment and long-term institutional
development. She concluded that marketing can make a significant contribution to
institutional strategic planning through its analytical, humanistic, and integrative
qualities.
Marketing Elicits Concems
Despite the apparent need for marketing strategies in higher education since at
least the 1970s, some researchers and higher education leaders expressed concems about
the application of this concept borrowed from business (Fiske, 1977; Hugstad, 1975;
Litten, 1980; Middleton, 1979; Trachtenberg & Levy, 1973). Litten looked at the
positive aspects and possible perils of the formal entry of marketing into higher
education. He acknowledged that colleges and universities have been marketing
themselves for years and that some of the marketing terms are simply synonyms for
existing concepts and practices in higher education. Litten said benefits can flow from
the responsible practice of marketing techniques, including the development and delivery
of educational and auxiliary services for which there is a desire or need.
Litten (1980) described the characteristics that should differentiate marketing in
business and industry from marketing in higher education, especially focusing on the
need for colleges to remember their educational and social objectives. The risks of
irresponsible marketing were explored, such as the potential for academic high-achievers
to be bombarded by marketing materials and the potential for universities' intellectual
tradition to be diminished. Finally, Litten described ways colleges and universities could
minimize the risks of marketing while gaining the benefits.
Kotler emphasized that marketing itself was not inherently bad for nonprofit
organizations such as colleges.
Administrators in nonprofit organizations-university presidents, hospital
administrators, government officials, museum directors, religious leaders.
28
to name a few-are increasingly becoming aware of the potential relevance
of the marketing discipline to solve their problems. Yet they approach
marketing with some skepticism because it has the image of being
exclusively a tool for use in commercial businesses and one highly
identified with selling and promoting, concerning which nonprofit
administrators normally feel uncomfortable.... The burden of proof of the
relevance of marketing to nonprofit organizations is on the shoulders of
the marketer. (1975, p. 4)
One longtime observer and sometime critic of higher education said the ovemse
and misuse of marketing activities has caused students to expect too much from the
faculty-student partnership (Fram, 1998). College and university marketing, along with
Total Quality Management (TQM), brought the student closer to the university. The net
result, Fram said, was to reduce conflict and ambiguity in students' lives-and to increase
their dependency on the institution. He referred to the ovemse and misuse of marketing
techniques such as simplified text materials, highly detailed instmctions, and hesitancy
by faculty to present challenging coursework because of fear about negative evaluations.
Fram reminded university leaders that the post-university world is full of conflict and
ambiguity, and it does not offer students the support systems often characteristic of a
university.
As marketing in higher education is explored in the next section, two points
become clear: (1) administrators have attempted to use marketing strategies to reach
strategic goals, such as increased enrollment, despite concems and lack of understanding
of the concept; and (2) many aspects of what is now called integrated marketing were
developed and tested during the past 25 years but were called "marketing orientation,"
"strategic marketing," "strategic market planning," and "marketing." The studies and
articles also show that by the 1990s, although much information had touted marketing as
a broad concept that included product, price, place, and promotion, most higher education
administrators still thought of marketing as promotion only (Lauer, 1998, 1999; Sevier,
1998, 1999a, 1999b; Sevier & Johnson, 1999).
29
Marketing in Higher Education
By the early 1970s, many of America's colleges found themselves with
enrollment declines, revenue losses, and instability as a result of the Vietnam War and the
ensuing chaos and anti-establishment feelings on many college campuses (Lucas, 1994).
With these challenges before them, administrators were forced to consider applying
techniques used successfully in for-profit corporations to their not-for-profit educational
institutions. In 1975, Kotler wrote, "By now it should be clear that nonprofit
organizations are involved in marketing whether or not they are conscious of it....
The issue is not whether or not nonprofit organizations should get involved with
marketing, but rather how thoughtful they should be at it" (p. 9). He believed
organizations should apply formal marketing principles to enable them to be more
effective in achieving their objectives. Kotler opened his book with an example from the
higher education field. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) experienced a
substantial decline in applicants in the early 1970s. In fact, in 1972 applications for the
MIT freshman class were down 20 percent. Kotler said MIT faced a classic marketing
problem-that of maintaining the demand for its services. They used marketing
techniques to deal with the problem.
In 1972, Krachenberg wrote a joumal article about bringing the concept of
marketing to higher education. He noted that every college and university "is carrying
out some amount of marketing activity, but it is often poorly done with a keen lack of
appreciation for all the tools of marketing and how they can be combined into a total
marketing effort" (p. 370). He described the "total marketing concept" as it relates to
higher education. Krachenberg said college and university administrators should view
marketing as an integrative operation and not merely a series of isolated activities. This
article, often quoted in research studies, suggested practical ways for college leaders to
borrow management techniques from business and government. The article was
significant because it made a strong case for colleges and universities to engage in market
forecasting and research, to define and develop the educational product, and to use
supportive marketing tools including promotion, distribution, and price.
30
Lucas (1979) also discussed the "total marketing concept" in higher education as
an integrated approach that included such elements as enrollment profiles, population
analyses, community needs assessment, student value surveys, feasibility studies for new
programs and more. Johnson (1979) defined a strategic marketing concept as that which
"brings people, programs, planning and processes together in an objectives-centered
system that asks difficult questions (pp. 1-3). Foxall (1981) spent a chapter of his book
describing integrated marketing management, focused primarily on the business setting.
He described the importance of market intelligence and the need for careful, informed
marketing planning and marketing control. Foxall's outline of marketing management is
similar to Kotler's 1975 model for nonprofits.
Other researchers and popular academicians continued to discuss the difficulties
and complications of implementing the broad concept of marketing. Stephenson (1975)
said marketing is easy to talk about but difficult to implement because it must be
understood and implemented by virtually everyone in an organization to be effective.
Berry and George (1975) said university marketing was in an era of crisis, adding that the
effective practice of marketing requires special efforts. "The central challenge for
marketing management in the organization can be thought of essentially as providing the
right product at the right place and time and at the right price to the right market segment
and effectively communicating this offering to that market segment" (p. 161). Berry and
George's concept of marketing was nearly identical to Kotler's and to Sevier's, although
Berry and George did not emphasize market research or continued assessment and
evaluation.
Marketing Orientation Concept
Kotler introduced the "marketing orientation concept" (1975) that became central
to numerous studies through 1999 (Adkins, 1999; Compton, 1980; Martin, 1987; Rubino,
1988; Sago, 1989; Sussman, 1979). During a 20-year period, these researchers talked to
a variety of sources-presidents, continuing education directors, staff members, vice
presidents, development officers, admissions directors, financial aid officers, and public
31
relations directors. They studied four-year colleges, continuing education programs,
advanced technology centers, proprietary schools, independent colleges, and four-year,
private universities. In nearly every case, regardless of source or type of institution, the
schools were not fully marketing oriented, according to Kotler's model. His concept has
become the most common framework for describing marketing in higher education.
Some researchers, such as Martin, referenced Kotler heavily but adapted his concepts to
fit for-profit proprietary schools. Kotler's marketing orientation model has five
attributes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A consumer-orientation philosophy;
An integrated marketing commitment;
Adequate marketing information;
A strategic orientation;
Operational efficiency, (p. 46)
Kotler defined integrated marketing as part of this model:
Integrated marketing means that various departments in the organization
recognize that the actions they take, and not just the actions of the sales and
marketing people, have a profound effect on the organization's ability to create,
retain and satisfy customers.... Some means must be developed to coordinate the
customer impacts of all the departments, (pp. 46-47)
Using Kotler's marketing orientation model, Sussman (1979) studied 300
presidents of four-year colleges to determine their perspectives on the extent and
adequacy of their schools' marketing efforts. While the majority of presidents believed
their institution's marketing effort was adequate, the study showed that most perceived
marketing as primarily limited to student enrollment. He also discovered two major
obstacles to marketing effectiveness: a lack of understanding of the marketing
orientation by administrators and poor communication within the organizations.
Sussman demonstrated the need for colleges to develop an institution-wide marketing
organization that integrates various functions under one vice president.
In 1980, Compton surveyed 14 of the nation's best continuing education programs
regarding marketing practices. All were using marketing extensively and had a clientneed orientation. Compton was somewhat surprised to find little or no faculty aversion to
marketing. The administrators perceived a strong, positive relationship between
32
marketing practices and the success of their programs. They also recognized that some
marketing practices needed to be more fully utilized.
Martin (1987) surveyed 54 CEOs of proprietary institutions in Indiana, including
business schools, tmck-driving schools, and independently-owned, for-profit schools. He
was the first researcher to assess the adoption of the marketing concept in proprietary
institutions in Indiana. Martin defined the marketing concept as consumer orientation,
integrated effort, and profit direction. In his study, more than half the CEOs selected this
definition of marketing: "satisfying consumers by providing products/services that
consumers need" (p. I l l ) , which indicates a greater marketing orientation. This was a
marked difference, Martin pointed out, from results by Murphy and McGarrity (1978),
who found that 89 percent of 350 private college and university admissions officers
believed marketing to be synonymous with promotion. Martin's results indicated that a
tmly integrated effort toward marketing existed in only a few of the schools. About 40
percent of the schools surveyed used marketing plans.
Rubino (1988) conducted case studies of five independent colleges and
universities to determine specific marketing strategies employed and to search for
strategies uniformly employed. He used Kotler's marketing orientation model as a
framework. Organizations that demonstrated high levels of commitment to these
attributes were considered to have effective marketing programs. At each institution,
Rubino (1988) interviewed the president, the vice president for academic affairs, the
director of admissions, the director of financial aid, and the director of public relations.
He found that leaders had little understanding of the concept of marketing and did not
possess the institutional integration necessary to practice marketing. Also, a strategic
orientation did not exist toward marketing at the majority of the institutions, and the
colleges and universities were unwilling to distinguish themselves from one another. The
administrators still equated marketing with sophisticated selling, evidenced by increased
promotions and PR activities.
Sago (1989) studied the relationship between perceived marketing effectiveness
of development offices at small, four-year, private colleges in Califomia. He also used
33
Kotler's marketing orientation model as a framework. Sago surveyed two development
officers at 15 schools (34 total) and found no significant correlation between marketing
effectiveness and success in fundraising. His results also indicated that marketing was
not well understood or utilized by higher education administrators. Sago speculated that
this general lack of understanding might have skewed the results regarding marketing's
impact on the office's ability to attract gifts. Results of the study indicated that factors
outside the control of the development office exerted more donor influence than
perceived marketing efforts. This study is significant to the integrated marketing
discussion because many schools are implementing IM in an attempt to impact student
recmiting and donor giving in a positive way.
Adkins (1999) used Kotler's marketing orientation framework to assess marketing
efforts of directors of advanced technology centers (ATCs) at community colleges.
Survey results indicated that directors were not effective marketers, collected little
information about customers, and did not integrate marketing activities with those of their
host colleges. Kotler's Marketing Effectiveness Rating Instmment (MERI) was used as a
survey tool. Also in 1999, Allen conducted a qualitative study of four small, private, fouryear, coeducational colleges. The research focused on institutional plans developed to
respond to financial distress in the 1990s. Allen found that schools attempted to improve
their marketing efforts as one means to deal with their financial stmggles. In doing so,
however, administrators stmggled to balance making their institutions more marketdriven as opposed to their faculty-driven orientations of the past.
Push Toward Integration
Enrollment at universities boomed in the early 1980s, but that boom became a
bust in the early 1990s. Educational institutions, feeling vulnerable again and suddenly
fighting hard for students, reputation and dollars, tumed to high-priced consultants to tum
things around (Hunter, 1997). "Ironically, the same lessons they paid big bucks for have
been quietly awaiting them in Kotler's work - at considerably less cost" (p. 1). Hunter
was praising Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions (Kotler & Fox, 1995), in
34
which the authors stated that focusing on customer satisfaction means an organization is
operating at the highest level of marketing. Kotler and Fox said everyone must become a
marketer who defines his or her job as responding to student needs. He said schools need
to look at students as valued partners in relationships that extend through enrollment to
graduation and beyond.
Integrated Marketing Communication and Integrated Marketing
Public Relations' Relationship to Marketing
Miklich (1988) was one of the first scholars to argue for the integration of
marketing and public relations (PR) in higher education. The terms "public relations"
and "marketing" gained common usage and understanding after the First World War. In
higher education, the terms are often used interchangeably, although careful scholars
would argue that the two processes are significantly different. Miklich defined an
integrated communication system as a "consumer-oriented approach by all departments
of an organization" (p. 16), where marketing and public relations efforts are coordinated
by one high-level administrator. Micklich suggested four actions top administrators
should take in building a successful integrated communication effort: (1) develop a
marketing-oriented attitude among all members of the organization, (2) place one toplevel administrator in charge of marketing, public relations, and communication
functions, (3) develop a strategic plan that integrates with the overall goals of the
organization, and (4) coordinate all promotional activities for greater effectiveness.
In the view of Kotler and Fox (1995), marketing and public relations should be
separate functions, with PR being subsumed under the promotional function of the
marketing umbrella. In a tme marketing-oriented institution, they wrote, employees work
as a team to meet the needs of their specific target markets. A 1994 survey of 564
members of the American Advertising Federation and the Public Relations Society of
America showed that both groups widely supported integrated marketing communication,
which they described as a merging of all communication functions under a single
organizational unit (Rose & Miller, 1994). But four years later, surveys of advertising
35
and PR faculty revealed that educators still had separate agendas (Griffen & Pasadeos,
1998). An IMC professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, Sandra Moriarty,
stressed that PR is a critical element in integrated marketing communication. She wrote,
"PR people... recognize the importance of focusing on more than just customers. They
understand that brand value is determined by the quality of the relationships not only with
customers, but with all stakeholders...." (Moriarty, 1997, p. 1).
Integrated Marketing Communication
The discussion of whether PR and marketing should be combined leads naturally
to a discussion of the integration of all communication functions. Prior to a study by
Caywood, Schultz and Wang (1991, referenced in Shultz & Kitchen, 1997), little or no
formal discussion or description of integrated marketing communication appeared in the
literature, although practitioner discussions and trade press articles likely began earlier.
Caywood et al.'s study was the first formal, well-defined attempt to bring understanding
of the concept (Schultz & Kitchen). It was funded by the American Association of
Advertising Agencies (AAAA or 4A's) and the Association of National Advertisers
(ANA). Most of the discussion regarding EMC is little more than a decade old. Although
practitioners have offered considerable debate on the subject, Schultz and Kitchen
emphasized that the formal presentation of research, theory development, and other
materials by academics or practitioners had been slow to develop.
Schultz (1991) brought focus to the IMC discussion in the United States when he
argued that nothing had received as much discussion and publicity at academic
professional meetings in 1990, while resulting in little real activity, as the concept of
M C . Duncan and Everett (1993) said the body of literature on IMC was thin and mostly
dealt with superficial case histories and anecdotes. A number of trade press and joumal
articles carried discussion about IMC, primarily focused on what it was and who should
be in charge of it-the advertising agencies or the clients (Duncan, 1993, 1994; Finn,
1994; Harris, 1993; Hume, 1992, 1993; Totorici, 1991; Schultz, 1993a, 1993b, 1993c;
Stanton, 1991). Schultz and Kitchen (1997) said much of the M C literature and
36
presentations focused on explaining M C in the marketplace, including what it was and
how it operated in the communications arena.
Communication practitioners in the corporate and agency worids viewed M C as
a valuable concept in 1993, but believed that organizational factors imposed restraints on
their use of it (Duncan & Everett). For example, capable people were often trained not to
solve problems but to "do advertising," "do public relations," or "do direct marketing"
(Schultz, Tannenbaum, & Lauterbom, 1993). This functional, silo mentality was the
antithesis of "integrated" marketing communication. Another barrier to the
implementation of M C was the tendency for communication plans to be developed and
implemented by the most junior and inexperienced employees (Schultz et al., 1993).
Duncan and Everett (1993) found that businesses were assigning multiple
communication tasks to a single agency and a single position internally. For example, an
agency employee titled "director of advertising" might be handling both public relations
and direct mail responsibilities for a client. The researchers did not explain how the
assorted functions were coordinated or controlled. They also left unanswered the
question: who should direct the M C program-client or agency? Goldstein (1992) argued
that the advertising agency should coordinate and control the M C function. But other
studies indicated that clients did not place a high priority on "full-service" agencies that
handled the various communication functions (Fawcett, 1993; Harris, 1993; Wackman,
Salmon & Salmon, 1986). These studies are relevant because many universities are still
determining which services to handle intemally and which to outsource to advertising,
design, or marketing agencies. Image control-and control in general-are major issues for
universities stmggling to create consistent identities in the marketplace (Sevier, 1995).
The use of M C by four business types was reviewed in a 1997 study (McArthur
& Griffen). The business types were consumer marketers, service marketers, business
marketers, and retail businesses. Marketing communication activities most frequently
considered in marketing campaign planning by consumer, service, and retail marketers
were point-of-sale material and mass media. Service marketers (universities would be
most similar to this category) also gave special attention to direct-response programs.
37
Special events received more attention from retailers. Business marketers gave top
consideration to a mix of four activities: product publicity, public relations, trade
publications, and exhibits and shows. McArthur and Griffen also studied the
coordination of seven major communication activities, and they found that the majority
were coordinated by a single person or through a reporting relationship. This was less
tme of service marketers than the other types. Businesses in this study tended to hire
full-service agencies for their creative design and advertising buys in media while
handling other communication functions in-house, including sales promotion, public
relations, publicity, and direct-response programs.
Although the concept of M C was fairly new in 1994, a survey of 200 senior-level
marketing and advertising agency executives revealed that nine of 10 were working on
M campaigns (Montague). The report showed that the idea of integrated marketing
carried a lot of weight with most executives, but the majority doubted they were fully
prepared to put theory into practice. The survey, conducted for Advertising Age by
OmniTech Consulting Group, also indicated that 75 percent of the executives thought
integrated marketing would be critical to their future success, 33 percent said they had
experience with the concept of M , and 88 percent said state-of-the-art technology was
the key to integrated marketing success.
A special issue of the Joumal of Marketing Communications (1996) was devoted
to M C . Virtually all the papers dealt with theory building or the identification of key
issues. Schultz and Kitchen (1997) said they expected this result because integration is
not the norm in Westem cultures, despite papers to the contrary (Duncan, 1993, 1995;
Duncan & Everett, 1993; Kitchen, 1993, 1994, 1996; Kitchen & Moss, 1995; Kitchen &
Proctor, 1991; Kotler, 1972, 1986, 1997; Novelli, 1989-90; Waterschoot & Bulte, 1992).
However, mainstream marketing texts and specialized books on marketing communication have nearly all adopted some type of M C approach or viewpoint (Belch & Belch,
1995; Kinnear, Bernhardt, & Krentler, 1995; Kotler, 1997, 1999; Schultz, Tannenbaum,
& Lauterbom, 1994; Sevier, 1998; Sevier & Johnson, 1999; Shimp, 1993; Zikmund &
D'Amico, 1996). Such prominence for the concept demonstrates that M C has
38
progressed into acceptability and "is becoming entrenched as perceived 'academic
wisdom' in general marketing" (Schultz & Kitchen, 1997, p. 19).
An exploratory study by Schultz and Kitchen (1997) determined the perceptions
of senior advertising executives about M C use and development in the United States. It
provided a perspective on the current state of M C and on the levels of implementation
and usage at advertising agencies. The study was a combined effort of the M C faculty
of the Medill School of Joumalism at Northwestern University; the Research Centre for
Corporate and Marketing Communications at Strathclyde University in Scotland; and the
American Association of Advertising Agencies in New York. They described the
continuing state of confusion about integrated marketing communication.
While various authors and researchers have developed some type of M C
approach or concept for their teaching and research, each appears to have done so
independent of the others, or at least has developed the concept from his or her
own view. There does not, at this time, appear to be any consistent or mutually
agreed upon definition, description, or process to identify what is M C and what
is not. Thus, while the subject is generally accepted in the marketing literature, at
this point there are many grey areas which are in need of clarification, (pp. 4-5)
Amid the groundswell of descriptive information about M C , some voices asked,
"what's new?" (Griffen, 1997; Hutton, 1995, Wolter, 1993) and others wondered what
M C actually means (Nowak & Phelps, 1994; Phelps, Plumley, & Johnson, 1994). Some
academics and practitioners worried that M C was simply another management fad,
similar to Total Quality Management (TQM) or reengineering (Kitchen, 1996). These
experts argued that M C was simply another term for many well-known concepts, such as
public relations, or was a way for certain fringe voices to differentiate themselves from
the mainstream. But Schultz and Kitchen (1997) argued that M C did not appear to be a
fad. They said it was being driven by client organizations to meet real business needs
and was not "the philosophy of the day" (p. 19). By 1996, M C actually had more
acceptance in other countries than the United States (Rose, 1996). After several years in
the marketplace, the executive vice president of a national advertising agency called
integrated marketing communications the "latest buzzword" in 1997 (Lindell, p. 1).
39
Despite concems by some practitioners and the lack of solid research data, the
M C concept continued to proliferate. In a 1999 speech by O. Burtch Drake, president
and chief executive officer of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA
or 4A's), he discussed "12 things to celebrate." The 4A's included 48 of the top 50
agencies and 86 of the top 100 agencies at the time. Number six on the list of 12 items
regarded progress in integrated marketing services achieved by the member agencies
since the 1991-92 U.S. recession. He said:
Six years ago when Keith Reinhard was chairman of the 4A's, his mantra for that
year was the need for agencies to get on the integrated marketing bandwagon.
While he noted that this was second nature for many of the smaller and mid-size
agencies in the 4A's, the large agencies, with one or two notable exceptions, had a
long way to go. Today, there isn't an agency in our membership, large or small,
that doesn't offer integrated marketing solutions to their clients, (p. 1)
Despite Reinhard's glowing reference to the prevalence of M C work among
advertising agencies, Schultz lamented in 1998 the scarcity of documented successful
implementations of M C . He added that M C had been expanded from the idea of
aligning all extemal communication programs to include the "organization's total sales
and marketing efforts" (p. 1). Schultz, when working on a national benchmarking study,
redefined M C as "a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute, and
evaluate coordinated measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time
with consumers, customers, prospects, and other teirgeted relevant extemal and intemal
audiences" (1997, pp. 2-3).
Integrated Marketing
Some confusion arises in trying to separate articles or studies related to integrated
marketing from those related to integrated marketing communication. As clarified in
Chapter I, M C is a subset of M and is primarily focused on communication or promotion (Sevier & Johnson, 1999). M includes the 4Ps of product, price, place, and
promotion, and requires strategic, organizational, and message integration (Sevier,
1999b). Because much of the literature uses the words interchangeably, care must be
taken to differentiate between the two terms. Complicating things further, well-respected
40
individuals such as Schultz continue to broaden the meaning of M C to include many
aspects of marketing or integrated marketing. Despite attempting to separate M C
articles and studies from M literature, some of the material reviewed in this section
includes information that sounds remarkably similar to M C language. This confusion
and continuing chaos regarding M , M C , marketing, promotion/media relations, and
public relations inspired the question, "What is integrated marketing?" ("What," 1998)
and caused Stamats Communications to try to "demystify the nature of integrated
marketing" in May 1999 ("Gearing Up," p. 1).
At least 10 years before Sevier picked up the integrated marketing mantle. Dollar
(1984) used the term in proposing a five-stage typology of community colleges based on
their level of marketing orientation. Each stage represented an increasingly integrated
approach to marketing. His position paper analyzed how marketing planning and control
were conducted, how marketing information was gathered, and how marketing personnel
and activities were organized and coordinated. Dollar's proposal was based on a review
of relevant marketing literature and observations of how selected community colleges
were being marketed. He examined specific recmiting and retention strategies associated
with each stage as indicators of how vigorous each school's marketing efforts were. For
each marketing orientation stage. Dollar looked at five dimensions: marketing
philosophy, information system, organization system, planning and control system, and
activities. He described the five stages as traditional college, selling-oriented college,
marketing-oriented college, total-marketing college, and integrated-marketing college.
Indiana University (lU) made the transition to integrated marketing in 1996.
Simpson (1998) explained why lU closed its news bureau and opened an Office of
Communications and Marketing in its place. This change moved lU from its "traditional
promotional mode" to an integrated marketing approach (p. 26). Nearly two years after
closing the news bureau, Simpson said the university had incorporated integrated
marketing into neariy every part of their eight campuses' public relations efforts. They
used qualitative and quantitative result as the foundation for M , and they have
documented that M is more effective than the old promotional methods. The keys to
41
success at Indiana University were a supportive president, a willing faculty and staff, and
a continuous effort to communicate goals, objectives, and strategies. At lU, they defined
integrated marketing as six steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Carefully target your audience.
Assess its wants and needs.
Use this information to shape a message that your audience will receive well.
Find the most creative and effective ways to deliver your message.
Deliver that message.
Perhaps most important, check to ensure you are effectively changing
attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs - for the better, (p. 28)
Simpson (1998) said lU saw promotion as informing, a passive way for the university to
shape its image. Marketing takes an active approach, "from setting goals to conducting
research to checking to see if you have indeed enhanced your image. Promotion, in other
words, is a means through which you hope to improve your image. Marketing
guarantees it" (p. 28).
Moore (1999) described the strengths and weaknesses of campus integrated
marketing efforts after conducting a nationwide survey. Robert M. Moore is a managing
partner at Lipman Heame, a higher education marketing firm based in Chicago and
Washington, D.C. He compared colleges and universities with no integrated marketing
program, those with an M program but without an alumni or tmstee committee, and
those with an M program and with an alumni or tmstee committee. In two areasalumni giving rate and total alumni doUars-the lowest increases were found at schools
with an M program that had no alumni or tmstee committee support. M programs with
an alumni/tmstee committee had slightly higher increases than those without any
program at all. In the areas of enrollment yield and applicant pool, an integrated
marketing program-with or without an alumni/tmstee committee-improved results.
However, the M programs with extemal committee support provided the greatest
increases related to both an enlarged applicant pool and enrollment yield.
A second nationwide survey, also conducted by Lipman Heame (Moore, 2000),
found that a majority of the 231 responding U.S. colleges and universities had increased
marketing budgets and had adopted integrated marketing methods. The article described
42
the results of the survey. Private institutions invest significantly more resources-people
and doUars-in marketing than do public colleges and universities. Private institutions
also hire more marketers than public schools, although the marketing communication
staff does not increase with enrollment. More schools reported having campus-wide
marketing committees, and enrollment continued to be a primary focus on these
committees. Overall, public institutions had broader representation on marketing
committees than did private institutions. More than half the schools had committees
monitor their marketing programs and set marketing policy. However, the least-cited
responsibility for any marketing committee was conducting or contracting marketing
research - "an essential component of any successful integrated marketing program"
(p. 41).
Moore (2000) said that because integrated marketing on college campuses is
relatively new, it is too early to measure quantitative results. However, many institutions
said they found immediate benefit from having broad-based campus coalitions that
understood the importance of marketing and worked together toward the same goals.
Although marketing committees linked with an alumni/tmstee committee had more
successful outcomes, only 27 percent of all institutions had an alumni/tmstee committee
focused on marketing (Moore, 1999). In Lipman Heame's overall analysis of the 2000
survey results, the firm suggested that the two most important missions for institutional
marketers today are to equalize the ratio of marketing staffers to students with that of the
admissions and development offices and to invest more in market research. "With
competition for students growing steeper every day, those institutions that don't seek to
improve in these areas are certain to fall behind those that do" (Moore, 2000, p. 41).
Summary
Studies and articles regarding marketing in higher education have proliferated
since the 1970s, when marketing became a common practice to enhance enrollment.
However, the newer term, "integrated marketing communication," was studied for the
first time in 1991 and still is not clearly understood, "hitegrated marketing," specifically
43
in higher education circles, has received even less formal review, with the primary
discussion being led by Robert Sevier, Larry Lauer, and Robert Johnson through
conference presentations and books. A gap exists in the literature regarding the
definition, development, organization, implementation, and assessment of M at private
universities. Chapter HI explains how I used case study techniques to explore integrated
marketing at three private universities.
44
CHAPTER m
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The methodology section describes how I conducted this multiple-case study.
This chapter includes (a) a review of the problem and guiding research question, (b)
research design, (c) data collection, (d) time frame for the study, (e) data analysis, and
(f) methods of verification. Three private universities that implemented integrated
marketing ( M ) two or more years ago were selected for this study. The experiences and
challenges of M at these institutions were explored in detail to provide insights and
guidance to other universities attempting to develop, organize, implement, and assess
integrated marketing strategies on their own campuses. Sevier (2000b) defined integrated
marketing as "a listening-first, database-dependent approach to marketing that includes
both a willingness to segment and coordinate such strategic assets as product/customer,
price/cost and place/convenience and to develop effective promotion/communication
strategies for key target audiences" (p. 1).
Review of the Problem and Guiding Research Question
Many private universities attempt to implement integrated marketing with little
information and few successful role models to follow (Sevier, 2000b). The primary
question answered in this study was, "What processes and challenges are involved in
defining, developing, organizing, implementing, and assessing integrated marketing at
three private universities?" Subquestions included:
•
How does the university define integrated marketing?
•
Why and how has the university developed integrated marketing?
•
How is the university organized for integrated marketing?
•
What level of integration has the university achieved?
•
How has the university implemented integrated marketing and what
challenges has it faced in doing so?
45
•
How is integrated marketing assessed on an ongoing basis?
The results of this study should help scholars and practitioners as they continue to study
and attempt to implement marketing effectively in the higher education setting.
Research Design
A qualitative, or naturalistic, research strategy was considered most effective in
studying the process of implementing integrated marketing because a naturalistic design
"strives to preserve the real-life context in which events occur and the manner in which
the many complex variables interact, with a minimum of intmsion and an absence of any
attempt to control or manipulate the variables" (Isaac & Michael, 1995, p. 219). As
Marshall and Rossman (1989) explained, questions and problems for qualitative research
often come from real-worid observations, dilemmas, and questions. They take the form
of wide-ranging inquiries as opposed to if-then hypotheses derived from theory. One
limitation of naturalistic inquiries, such as case studies, is "the possibility that the unique
differences in many such studies will allow a minimal amount of generalization and little
opportunity to derive conclusions of causality" (Isaac & Michael, p. 219). In qualitative
research, the investigator is the primary data collection instmment (Lincoln & Guba,
1985).
Qualitative studies use an inductive, evolving methodological design (Creswell,
1994). Because there is no one correct way to conduct qualitative research (Mertens,
1998), "the researcher needs to present a plan that includes a description of methods yet
makes clear that changes will occur as the study progresses" (p. 174). Yin (1984)
described a research design as "an action plan for getting from here to there, where 'here'
may be defined as the set of questions to be answered, and 'there' is some set of
conclusions (answers) about these questions" (p. 28).
Case Study Design
To move this study from questions to answers, I conducted case studies at three
private universities. Case studies can satisfy three tenets of the qualitative method:
46
describing, understanding, and explaining (Yin, 1984). As Yin described, "case studies
are the preferred strategy when 'how' or 'why' questions are being posed, when the
investigator has little control over events, and when the focus is on a contemporary
phenomenon within some real-life context" (p. 13). Because little formal research had
been done conceming the actual implementation of the integrated marketing process at
colleges and universities, and because the concept was still evolving (Sevier, 2000;
Sevier & Johnson, 1999), the exploratory case study design was appropriate to begin
answering the "how" questions proposed by this researcher (Yin). A case study
"investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context when the
boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and in which
multiple sources of evidence are used" (Yin, p. 23). Creswell (1994) said that in a case
study, a researcher explores a single entity or phenomenon (a "case") bounded by time
and activity and collects detailed information using a variety of data collection methods
during a sustained period of time.
The use of case studies has both advantages and disadvantages. Isaac and
Michael (1995) explained that case studies "pioneer new ground" and result in a
"complete, well-organized picture" of the unit being studied (p. 52). The case study
"contributes uniquely to our knowledge of individual, organizational, social, and political
phenomena" because it "allows an investigation to retain the holistic and meaningful
characteristics of real-life events, such as... organizational and managerial processes"
(Yin, 1984, p. 14). A major strength of the case study is the opportunity to use several
different sources of evidence, which may make the findings more convincing and
accurate (Yin).
Although using multiple sources of evidence may impose a great burden on the
researcher regarding time required to gather and analyze the data, Yin (1984) explained
that case studies do not necessarily take a long time. He said a case study could be done
well from a library or a telephone, depending on the topic being studied. Because of their
narrow focus on a few units, case studies are limited in their representativeness and
generalizability (Isaac & Michael, 1995). Although Yin acknowledged the difficulties of
47
generalizing case studies, he explained that "case studies, like experiments, are
generalizable to theoretical propositions and not to populations or universes" (p. 21).
Case studies are vulnerable to subjective bias because the case itself may have been
chosen for its dramatic rather than typical attributes or because it fit neatly into a
researcher's preconceptions (Isaac & Michael).
Multiple Case Study Design
Because this research involved case studies at three universities, it used a multiple
case study design (Yin, 1984). ^formation about both case study design and multiplecase study design is included because each individual case study at a university consists
of a " 'whole' study in which convergent evidence is sought regarding the facts and
conclusions of each case; each case's conclusions [will be] considered to be information
needing replication by other individual cases" (Yin, p. 52). I studied the implementation
process of integrated marketing at each university (a case), then studied the process in
comparison to the other two institutions. As Yin explained, a multiple-case study may
consist of multiple holistic cases. Multiple case designs have advantages and
disadvantages compared to single-case designs. Evidence from multiple cases is often
considered more compelling, and the overall study is considered more robust (Yin).
However, conducting a multiple-site case study can require extensive time and resources
(Yin).
Purposeful Sampling
Three similar, private, four-year universities that had publicly acknowledged
using integrated marketing or were recommended by higher education marketing experts
for their successful implementation of integrated marketing were purposely selected for
this study. Creswell (1994) explained that in qualitative studies, the goal is to "purposely
select informants that will best answer the research question. No attempt is made to
randomly select informants" (p. 148). Purposeful sampling is considered particularly
appropriate for naturalistic research because the goal is to understand specific cases in
48
their own right rather than to generalize results to a population (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
The power of purposeful sampling is in selecting information-rich cases for in-depth
study, "cases from which one can learn most about issues central to the purpose of the
evaluation and the needs of decision makers" (Isaac & Michael, 1995, p. 223). My goal
was to select universities that provided rich details about the processes and challenges of
implementing integrated marketing.
Yin (1984) explained that multiple-case design is replicative design, meaning that
the phenomenon is being studied in slightly different contexts. Studying multiple cases
strengthens the results by replicating the pattem-matching, which should increase
confidence in the robustness of the themes revealed through the study. Yin states that
case studies do not need a minimum number of cases or randomly selected cases, but the
participant pool should remain relatively small. Stake (1995) recommended that the
cases selected should offer the opportunity to maximize what is leamed, given a limited
amount of time. Therefore, the cases selected should be easy and willing subjects
(Stake). Using a small, homogenous sample allows the focus of the study to remain
on the issues and processes under review instead of the vast differences between the
institutions (Glesne, 1999; Isaac & Michael, 1995).
For these reasons, I studied three similar, four-year, private universities, focusing
on the integrated marketing process at each and maximizing what was leamed. Although
one case is adequate for a successful case study (Yin, 1984), a multiple-site case study of
a concept not yet well understood allowed cross-case analysis and comparison of the
processes at three universities. Also, interviewing individuals, reviewing documents, and
observing at three universities provided more depth and richness of data while remaining
manageable (Yin).
Choosing the Cases to Study
To choose the private, four-year colleges and universities to be included in this
study, I reviewed published reports from the American Marketing Association (AMA)
higher education marketing conferences since 1998; reviewed articles since 1998 in
49
Currents, published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE);
asked for suggestions from marketing practitioners on the Council for Christian Colleges
and Universities listserv; and reviewed articles in the CASE International Joumal of
Educational Advancement since 2000. She compiled a list of schools from the initial
review and sent it by email to three individuals who had frequently spoken at national
conferences regarding integrated marketing.
The experts who reviewed the list and made recommendations were Bob Brock,
president of Educational Marketing Group, and M presenter at conferences sponsored by
CASE; Dr. Robert A. Sevier, author of two integrated marketing books, consultant,
presenter at CASE and AMA conferences, and senior vice president of Stamats higher
education marketing firm; and Dr. Robert E. Johnson, vice president and director of
strategic development for Creative Communication of America. Johnson served in
leadership positions at two private universities, co-authored a book on integrated
marketing communication, and chaired the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of
Higher Education since 1994.
I asked the three experts to review the list, add to it if needed, and recommend
three four-year, private colleges/universities they believed were successfully
implementing integrated marketing as defined in this study. One of the three experts
gave a cursory glance at the Web sites of a few of the schools on the list, then provided a
list of his company's clients, which were mainly public and two-year universities. None
of the clients recommended fit the criteria and none were included in this study. The
other two experts strongly recommended two schools from the original list: Midcentral
University and West University (pseudonyms). These schools had similar characteristics.
Therefore, a search began for a third university with similar attributes. I used the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to compare Midcentral and
West to other four-year, private colleges and universities.
Because both Midcentral University and West University were doctoral intensive
institutions (Camegie classification) with religious affiliation, those characteristics
became important in the search for a third university. To allow the study to focus more
50
on integrated marketing and less on the differences between the universities (Glesne,
1999; Isaac & Michael, 1995), 1 sought a doctoral intensive, religiously-affiliated
university. Midcentral and West were located in two different states, and I sought a third
university in yet another state to improve transferability (Mertens, 1998). Using IPEDS
and the IPEDS College Opportunities On-line section, I added the search characteristics
of full-time enrollment, endowment, tuition and fees, and level of urbanization of the
institution's locale. A few schools were eliminated because they were in the same state
as Midcentral or West University. Working closely with my doctoral advisor, I chose a
few doctoral intensive, religiously-affiliated universities closest to Midcentral and West
in enrollment (challenging, because they were both exceptionally large for private
universities); and in level of urbanization (mid-sized or large city). Tuition, endowment,
and national rankings also were compared for the short list of schools. The rankings were
found in the fall 2002 edition of the U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best
Colleges" online guide.
I sent the short list back to the two experts who had provided the names of
Midcentral and West University. They had some information about three of the
universities. My dissertation advisor prioritized the list for qualifying calls, and I
called the first two universities to determine their level of involvement with integrated
marketing. The first marketing director said her university had recently begun integrated
marketing, but her team had not implemented it at least two years before. A vice
president at the second university said enrollment was booming because of the school's
reputation, and the university did not need to use integrated marketing.
The third vice president contacted said her university had been using integrated
marketing for several years, and the marketing leader had actually made conference
presentations in the past about her university's marketing efforts. This doctoral intensive,
religiously-affiliated university, located in a mid-sized city, had a lower enrollment than
the other two universities, a median endowment, higher national rankings (top tier; the
other two were second and third tier), and similar tuition and fees. It was located in a
51
different state from Midcentral or West University. I, and my advisor concurred, that this
school (called South National University) was the best candidate for participation.
In summary, two of the universities selected for this study had made highvisibility M presentations at AMA and CASE conferences, and had been acknowledged
in publications as leaders in higher education marketing innovation. These two
universities also were strongly recommended by two higher education marketing experts.
The third university was first discovered through a comparison of characteristics. When
the marketing leader was contacted, 1 found that the university also had a mature and
visible M program. These cases met Creswell's (1994) criteria for purposeful sampling
that the informants should "best answer the research question" (p. 148), and Isaac and
Michael's (1995) suggestion to choose "cases from which one can leam most about
issues central to the purpose of the evaluation" (p. 223).
Gaining Access
I gained access to the three universities in this study by contacting the president's
office of each institution (Berg, 2001). Berg recommended negotiating access with a
respected individual of high rank or authority to make access to the research site easier.
I asked permission to contact the highest marketing executive to ask brief qualifying
questions to determine if the universities implemented integrated marketing at least two
years ago, to gain a sense of how the schools defined integrated marketing, to determine
who coordinated the institutions' marketing efforts, and to ask whether the president
considered M one of the institution's top 10 priorities (Appendix A). Because top
marketing officials at Midcentral, South National, and West all said their schools
implemented integrated marketing at least two years ago and were agreeable to continue
with the study, further plans were made for data collection.
An email letter with an attached document including the abstract of the study, the
primary question and the subquestions was sent to the top marketing official at each
university to confirm interest in the study and willingness to participate. All three
universities continued to express strong interest in participating. Early follow-up
52
questions were answered by phone or email. Once approval was gained, a schedule was
set for interviews and other data collection opportunities (Berg, 2001). Requests for
various documents were made in writing, by phone, and in person as the study evolved. I
presented a formal letter of confirmation to the top marketing official when I arrived at
each university (Appendix B).
Data Collection
Data Collection Protocol
As recommended by Yin (1984), a data collection protocol was designed that
described the process operationally and outlined the formal data collection techniques
(see Appendix C). Strauss (1987) described data collection as "the finding and gathering
-or generating-of materials that the researcher will then analyze" (p. 20). Appropriate
forms were completed for the Texas Tech Institutional Review Board, and all university
research requirements were followed in collecting data. I requested and received
permission to use the models pictured in Chapter I and used for the conceptual
framework. To increase reliability, interviews were recorded, and I wrote notes and field
observations in a field notebook (Stake, 1995), which were transferred to a word
processor. On a limited basis, I maintained a field diary to track my perceptions,
feelings, and experiences during the research process (Creswell, 1994).
Data analysis was simultaneous with the data collection period and continued
after data was collected (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). Also in this study, information
was "collected from existing people and institutions, not within the controlled confines
of the laboratory, the sanctity of the library, or the stmctured limitations of a rigid
questionnaire" (Yin, 1984, p. 6). This type of study, therefore, required me to be flexible
as real-worid events interacted with the research plan (Yin). In qualitative research, in
contrast to quantitative, Yin (1984) explained that the researcher does not have control of
the environment and must negotiate with the participants to effectively complete the data
collection.
53
Data Collection Principles
As Yin (1984) recommended, three principles of data collection were followed:
multiple sources of evidence were used, a case study database was created, and a chain of
evidence was maintained. Interviews, observations, and document review were used to
collect information for each case study (Creswell, 1994; Yin). The second principle of
data collection concems creating a case study database. Yin described a formal, retrieval
database that is helpful for the researcher during the study but would also provide
evidence beyond the written report for later review by other investigators. All electronic
files were collected onto a CD-Rom, and documents were organized and maintained in
personal files. I kept a bibliography of all documents collected during the case study
(Yin).
The third principle of data is to maintain a chain of evidence, which increases the
reliability of the information in a case study. I maintained a chain of evidence "to allow
an extemal observer ... to follow the derivation of any evidence from initial research
questions to ultimate case study conclusions" (Yin, p. 96). I kept my interview schedules
and logs, my handwritten notes, the audiotapes, the various iterations of code lists, the
coded documents in NVivo, original materials collected, and all notes explaining how I
sorted and reduced the large amounts of data collected in this study. These materials are
organized so they can be found again and linked to quotes or sources in my final report.
If the three principles of data collection are followed, "a case study will have addressed
the methodological problem of determining constmct validity, thereby increasing the
overall quality of the case" (Yin, p. 96).
Data Collection Methods
Qualitative studies typically use three main methods for collecting data:
interviews, participant observation, and review of documents and records (Mertens,
1998). The unique strength of the case study is "its ability to deal with a full variety
of evidence" (Yin, 1984, p. 20). In this study, I focused primarily on interviews, with
supplemental data being collected through participant observation and review of
54
documents provided by the insfitution and obtained independently by me. Participant
observations included notes taken during self guided tours of the campuses, reflections
while visiting casually with students or staff in various campus buildings, and
observation of meetings focused on integrated marketing at one of the universities.
Conducting Interviews
Semi-stmctured, in-depth interviews were the primary data collection method in
this study. An interview is "a conversational method of collecting data face-to-face"
(Isaac & Michael, 1995, p. 140). Marshall and Rossman (1989) described an interview as
"an interaction involving the interviewer and interviewee, the purpose of which is to
obtain valid and reliable information" (p. 82). As Fowler and Mangione (1990)
suggested, interviews in case studies require less stmctured interviewing techniques.
They described a typical approach as one in which the researcher enlists respondents as
collaborators in the research, explaining to them what is wanted and asking them to
provide the needed information.
I interviewed 21 individuals at the three universities, with all but one interview
conducted in the individual's office or a conference room located on campus. The top
marketing official at Midcentral University was unavailable at the time scheduled for the
personal campus visit, and he participated in a two-hour phone conversation with me
prior to my on-site visit. Interview arrangements were made in cooperation with the
office of the top marketing official at each university after approval was given by the
three presidents for the schools to participate in the study.
The president and top marketing official were interviewed at each university, and
others were selected through conversation with those two individuals and other
interviewees in a cascade method (Berg, 2001; Yin, 1984). The original plan was to
interview three to six individuals, but the cascade method resulted in additional
interviews at two of the universities. When the same data, themes, and examples began
to be repeated, I knew enough sources had been tapped (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
55
Because West University was in marketing leadership transition at the time of the
study, I was encouraged to interview specific individuals who had greater knowledge of
the integrated marketing process - as it was before the transition and as it was evolving.
Four individuals were interviewed there, including interviews with the top marketing
official on two different dates. 1 interviewed eight individuals at South National
University and nine at Midcentral University.
The interviews lasted between 45 minutes and six hours (more than one session).
A typical interview lasted 75 minutes. The West University campus was visited twice;
the others were visited once. 1 spent at least three days on each campus, communicating
additionally with phone calls and emails before and after the trips. None of the campuses
had been visited prior to this study.
During the four research trips, handwritten notes were filled in while the
interviews were still fresh. Also, some tapes were reviewed at that time to fill in gaps in
the notes. Each respondent's interview was read several times after the interviews were
completed. I transcribed all handwritten notes into a computer word processing program,
then filled in question marks by again listening to the audiotapes. Because I am a former
joumalist, I was able to rapidly take fairly complete notes during each interview. I
organized the transcripts by the institution visited and by the individual who was
interviewed. The notes were entered in the computer using short paragraphs with spaces
between to allow for easier coding.
An interview guide was a starting point for the interviews, and the resulting notes
often followed the pattern of that guide. The primary sources used to design the
interview guide were Kotler and Andreasen's Strategic Marketing Planning Process
(1982), Sevier's Strategic hitegration Marketing Model (1999b), and Sevier's Integrated
Marketing Iceberg Model (1999b). These models served as guides for writing questions
and determining areas/processes to be studied. The initial questions were reviewed by
integrated marketing expert Dr. Robert A. Sevier and found to be appropriate and
relevant.
56
With each interview, the information became more customized to the institution,
and new questions and issues emerged. As Berg (2001) explained, this is typical and
expected of qualitative case studies. In semi-standardized interviews, a number of
predetermined questions are asked of interviewees in a systematic and consistent order,
"but the interviewers are allowed freedom to digress; that is, the interviewers are
permitted (in fact expected) to probe far beyond the answers to their prepared and
standardized questions" (Berg, 2001, p. 70). Isaac and Michael (1995) described semistmctured interviews as being built around a core of stmctured questions, but branching
off to explore some topics in-depth. In this research study, the specific areas to be
covered were explored using an interview guide (see Appendix D), and follow-up
questions were used freely to obtain further explanations on topics about which I needed
more information.
Both closed-ended (yes/no) and open-ended questions were asked during the
interviews (Berg, 2001). I scheduled face-to-face interviews with individuals at each
university, including the top marketing executive and the president. The number of
interviews conducted ranged from four to nine (Appendix E). Face-to-face meetings
provided the best opportunity for a complete and accurate exchange of ideas between me
and the individual being interviewed (Berg).
Interviews as a data collection method offer both strengths and weaknesses.
Interviews are personalized; permit in-depth, free responses; are flexible and adaptable;
and allow the researcher to record impressions of respondents' gestures, tone of voice,
environment, and more (Isaac & Michael, 1995). Research interviews also allow the
researcher to probe for more complete data, make it possible to establish and maintain
rapport with respondents, and provide a means of ensuring the effectiveness of
communication between the interviewer and respondent (Isaac & Michael). In addition,
interviews allow a researcher to gather large amounts of information quickly, to ask
immediate follow-up questions, and to check description against fact (Marshall &
Rossman, 1989).
57
Interviews also have some drawbacks. They can be expensive and timeconsuming, may intimidate or annoy respondents with a background different from the
interviewer, and are open to overt manipulation or the subtle biases of the interviewer.
Isaac and Michael (1995) continue with other weaknesses of interviews: they are
vulnerable to personality conflicts, require skilled and trained interviewers, and the
findings can be difficult to summarize. In addition, interviewers may not ask the right
questions, interviewees may not be willing to share all the information that is needed, and
interviewees may not always be tmthful (Marshall & Rossman, 1989).
To overcome the possible weaknesses of interviews, I drew on my advanced
joumalistic training and interview skills honed as a previous newspaper reporter and a
public relations official in higher education. In my current work, I often conduct in-depth
interviews with individuals of varying status and background. My career experiences
enhanced my skills in rapid notetaking, intense listening, careful observation, and data
synthesis. Some weaknesses of interviews were overcome through the use of observation
and document review as 1 compared information gathered from the various methods to
spot inconsistencies.
Observation
As a supplemental data collection method, I used both casual and participant
observation. Casual observation occurs whenever a researcher informally watches what
is happening in a setting to get a feel for the situation (Herzog, 1996). These casual
observations were written in the field notes as soon as possible after making them
(Herzog). While on each university campus for a few days, I also served as a participant
observer. This role "entails a way of being present in everyday settings that enhances
your awareness and curiosity about the interactions taking place around you" (Glesne,
1999, p. 60). During participant observation, the researcher can watch the "naturally
unfolding worids of the population under study" (Berg, 2001, p. 117), including times
when individuals gather to have spontaneous conversations, discussions, or arguments.
58
In this study, I observed one integrated marketing meeting and took notes after
impromptu meetings and casual conversations. Information about the physical
environment also was collected. Researchers may observe physical features, social
interactions, typical behaviors, and products or outputs observed-"anything that may be
relevant to the goal of in-depth understanding" (Herzog, 1996, p. 39). During participant
observation, a researcher is striving to understand the system under observation, but is
not testing a specific prior prediction (Herzog).
Observation offers both advantages and disadvantages to a researcher.
Observation methods do not require conversation - although observation is often
supplemented with conversation-therefore, it can be less obtmsive than other methods
(Herzog, 1996). Also, observation methods can be economical in terms of money and
equipment because only paper and a pen are required to note what is seen or heard by the
researcher. A third advantage mentioned by Herzog is that observation is usually done in
natural settings and is more likely to produce results that are valid for the real world.
Disadvantages of observation include the time required and the discomfort that results
from extended periods of waiting and watching (Herzog). Also, observers may become
aware of illegal activities and must face the ethical stress of deciding what, if anything, to
do about them. Also, added Herzog, observers may face stress from emotional
involvement with those observed or they may lose their objectivity and be tempted to
abandon the role of observer and become an advocate.
In this particular study, observations occurred on the three college campuses.
Although some controversial, political, and emotional issues emerged in casual
conversations among staff and with the interviewer, I was never in danger and was never
asked to leave a meeting or location during the study. Because the top marketing
executive on each campus served as a liaison between me and those being interviewed or
observed, the tmst level was high. For example, in the integrated marketing meeting at
South National University, the VP for Advancement introduced me and encouraged me
to listen to the presentations and participate in casual, small-group lunch conversation.
59
Document Review
Before traveling to the campuses, I requested marketing planning documents,
reviewed the universities' Web sites, and reviewed available materials used in marketing,
such as recmiting and fundraising publications. I also reviewed documents, displays,
and signage while visiting the universities. Documents included strategic plans,
organizational charts, marketing plans, faculty senate minutes, student newspapers,
university/alumni magazines, vision documents, recmiting brochures and various others
(see list in Appendix F). Documents were used to discover additional information and to
compare data gathered through interviews and observation. "Documents corroborate your
observations and interviews and thus make your findings more tmstworthy. Beyond
corroboration, they may raise questions about your hunches and thereby shape new
directions for observations and interviews" (Glesne, 1999, p. 58).
Document review, an unobtmsive measure, has strengths and weaknesses.
"Unobtmsive measures actually make up a particularly interesting and innovative
strategy for collecting and assessing data" (Berg, 2001, p. 189). They can provide access
to aspects of social settings and the people in those settings in ways that other measures
do not (Berg). Documents can be reviewed away from the case study site, in many cases,
and they can be used to prompt additional questions or lines or inquiry (Berg; Yin, 1984).
In this case, significant information was found on the universities' Web sites and
through the searchable, online version of the Chronicle of Higher Education. At each
university, the institutional research office Web sites were particularly useful. Several
times, information I discovered prompted follow-up phone calls or emails. At my
request, various presentations and plans were emailed as attachments and stored as part
of the case study database.
Although documents can serve as rich sources of information, they also can
contain false or misleading information, or they may have critical sections missing (Berg,
2001). Unfortunately, when using archival data, researchers may find it impossible to
determine what or why pieces of data are missing from a set of records (Berg). Also, it is
sometimes difficult to determine if the documents are biased-either intentionally or by
60
what was included or excluded. Berg added that researchers also cannot gauge the
reaction of the original readers or audience merely by examining the archival records.
One additional challenge for researchers may come when they are unable to access
records, despite knowledge of their existence. Because some archives include identifiers
such as names and addresses, researchers will need to be careful to ensure confidentiality
(Berg).
To overcome the disadvantages or challenges of document review, I changed the
name of the universities and the titles of specific publications or vision documents, used
no individuals' names, and left out certain details that could affect anonymity and
confidentiality (Berg, 2001). For that reason, the documents reviewed at each institution
are not included in the References list. The researcher maintained the original documents
in private files and in the computerized database. Documents that appeared to provide
contradictory information were used as a resource to prompt additional cross-checks
through follow-up phone calls and emails with the primary sources at each site.
By using three methods of data collection, I improved the likelihood of recognizing biased documents. When information was missing or unclear, I sought additional
data to fill in the gaps to allow complete, accurate records on which to base reporting of
results and conclusions. In a couple of instances, the top marketing official or other
campus resource was contacted for additional planning documents, descriptions of
programs, and other details to confirm and clarify information gathered through
interviews and general document review.
Time Frame for the Study
Interview data in this study was collected between May 13, 2003, and June 18,
2003, and additional information continued to be sent to me through September 19, 2003.
Glesne (1999) explained that the research process may take longer than planned, but in
this study, participants were helpful in scheduling interviews and following up in a timely
way. All universities that originally agreed to participate in the study followed through to
completion. Representatives at each university were called in mid-spring to request their
61
participation, and I traveled to the three research sites in late spring or eariy summer.
Two sites were out of state, and one was located in my home state. I spent at least three
days on site at each institution, in addition to phone interviews, online research, and
review of documents in advance of the trip. Many additional hours were spent in followup phone calls, document analysis, and email dialog to confirm findings and clarify
information. Analysis and writing were completed by the end of September 2003. The
total time engaged in this study was approximately five months.
Data Analysis
Research Procedures
Marshall and Rossman (1989) described data analysis as "the process of bringing
order, stmcture, and meaning to the mass of collected data. It is a messy, ambiguous,
time-consuming, creative, and fascinating process" (p. 112). They added that qualitative
data analysis is a search for general statements about relationships among categories of
data. In qualitative studies, a balance must be stmck between highly efficient, organized
data gathering and design flexibility that allows the researcher to discover the unusual or
surprising fact or event. In this study of integrated marketing, I was guided by initial
concepts and a guiding framework but did not try to fit data to a particular model or
stmcture.
Data gathering and data analysis go hand in hand (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
I generally followed Miles and Huberman's steps of qualitative data analysis:
1) Affix codes to a set of field notes drawn from observations or interviews.
2) Note reflections or other remarks in the margins.
3) Sort and sift through these materials to identify similar phrases, relationships
between variables, pattems, themes, distinct differences between the
subgroups, and common sequences.
4) Isolate these pattems and processes, commonalities and differences, and take
them out in the field in the next wave of data collection.
62
5) Gradually elaborate a small set of generalizations that cover consistencies
discerned in the database.
6) Confront those generalizations with a formalized body of knowledge in the
form of constmcts or theories (p. 9).
For this study, 1 gathered data through interviews, observations, and document
review. With one exception, the interviews were recorded. I entered all notes taken
during the interviews into Word and completed the interview files by transcribing the
tapes. Printed transcripts and electronic files were available for analysis, as well as
various original documents such as magazines and reports. In addition, the transcripts
were downloaded into NVivo, a respected qualitative analysis software (Richards, 1999).
Both the Word files and the NVivo files were maintained in the case study database
(Yin, 1984). Field notes, observations, and documents were entered into or stored in the
computer as appropriate. Some documents, such as magazines and complex plans, were
maintained in their original digital or printed format but not converted for analysis in
NVivo. Charts outlining early lists of themes, NVivo analysis reports, and conceptually
clustered matrices were created in Excel.
Analysis of Data
As suggested by Marshall and Rossman (1989), I read the original interview notes
and observations multiple times to become familiar with the material. I also reviewed the
purposes of the study, the primary research question, the subquestions, and models
comprising the conceptual framework. Because 21 interviews were conducted at three
locations, and many documents were collected, I had a large amount of data to analyze.
Data from multiple sources "piles up geometrically. Worse still, in the early stages of a
study, most of it looks promising.... That's why we think conceptual frameworks and
research questions are the best defense against overload" (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p.
55). Because of the volume of data to be sorted and coded, I followed Miles and
Huberman's suggestion to focus on the purposes of the study and the conceptual
framework while remaining open to unexpected information.
63
Conceptually Clustered Matrix
To began sorting through the large quantity of data, I created what Miles and
Huberman (1994) called a conceptually clustered matrix, which involved placing themes
and text in a grid of rows and columns to group items that seemed to belong together
conceptually. Down the left side of the matrix were common ideas that emerged from the
data, and across the top were the three universities. Some of the early themes were
"president's support/strong president," "clear vision/ strategic plan," "marketing
champion," "annual marketing plan," "coordinating team," "board support," "level of
integration," "areas not integrated," and "marketing office name." I began to enter notes
from the text about each theme. Although these issues were later merged into larger
categories, every theme here was later used in the case study report. Also, the original
chart was later adapted for use in cross-case analysis. This matrix provided an early
indication of which aspects of integrated marketing were common to all three
universities, and which were distinctive.
Theme Development and Coding
Although the matrix later served a useful purpose, I needed to code all the
interviews and other materials to take the analysis to the next stage. Codes are "tags for
assigning units of meaning to the descriptive or inferential information compiled during a
study" (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 56). Researchers should review data to "identify
salient themes, recurring ideas or language, and pattems of belief that link people and
settings together" (Marshall & Rossman, 1989, p. 116). First, I wrote out a list of key
words and phrases that derived from the purpose statements, the subquestions, the
interview guide, the conceptual models, and the conceptually clustered matrix. I focused
on the primary research question: "What processes and challenges are involved in
defining, developing, organizing, implementing, and assessing integrated marketing at
three private universities?" I began with a list of approximately 25 words, such as
integration, responsibilities, definition, messaging, vision, cause, and strategic plan.
64
I printed the typed notes/transcripts of all the interviews and began freely coding
sentences and paragraphs using the draft list of themes I had created (Miles &
Huberman). As I coded, new themes continued to emerge, and they were added to the
list from which I drew my initial codes. Miles and Huberman explained that it is natural
in qualitative inquiry for themes to emerge, to subdivide, and to merge throughout the
research process. By the time I hand-coded 21 interviews, the code list had grown to
approximately 80 words and phrases (see Appendix G).
Among the 80 themes that emerged, many were similar or overlapped with other
ideas. They also were uneven, in that some were broader themes and others were more
specific and narrow. Complicating the analysis was the perceived need to code many
paragraphs with multiple themes. For example, something related to "organization"
also connected to "integration" which also related to the reason why an institution began
integrated marketing. 1 realized that analyzing data using 80 themes was an unrealistic
goal, and I began sorting the lengthy list into groups of codes (see Appendix H). This
challenging and creative process required many iterations, as is typical in this type of
analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). One example of a broader grouping involved
"organization." Under that heading, I placed responsibilities, staffing, organizational
chart, stmcture, and specific areas such as media relations and enrollment management.
This draft chart later helped me organize the five core sections within each case study
report.
To validate my initial analysis of the data and provide insight into the coding
process, a professor of integrated marketing communication and vice president for a local
marketing agency agreed to review the material and provide feedback. Glesne (1999)
suggested that qualitative researchers "ask friends and colleagues to work with portions
of your data - developing codes, applying your codes, or interpreting field notes to check
your perceptions" (p. 152). The professor received the purposes of the study, the
research questions, uncoded transcripts of two interviews (with a president and a top
marketing official), the hand-coded copies of the same transcripts, the 80-item list of
codes, and the initial chart organizing the codes into broader categories. After reviewing
65
the materials and coding sections of the interviews, he recommended that I simplify
the codes, returning to the basic categories deriving from the primary question and
subquestions. While awaiting his review, 1 had continued to search for the best
configuration of codes by which to organize the data.
I imported one interview transcript into NVivo, a respected qualitative analysis
software program (Richards, 1999). Based on my observation of the complexity of the
initial coding, I revised the 80-item coding list to 15 primary or broad themes with
multiple subthemes. The 15 primary themes that emerged were: (1) Assessment-Results,
(2) Cause, (3) Challenges, (4) Description, (5) Definition-M, (6) Developing, (7)
Implementing M , (8) Importance-M, (9) Integration, (10) Managing M , (11)
Organization, (12) President's Support, (13) Promotion/4Ps, (14) Reputation, and (15)
Vision/Planning. Each of these 15 primary themes had related subthemes drawn from the
80-item list, and I added more subthemes as well.
This new coding system was even more complex, resulting in a system of 105
total nodes or themes. "Node" is the word used for a theme in the NVivo software.
The number grew primarily because I divided the "description" section into many parts,
such as "board," "administration," faculty/staff" "campus," "students," "donors," etc.
Despite the complexity of the code list, I used it to code the four interviews from West
University. The list was overiy cumbersome and resulted in reports with small amounts
of information. This complex coding stmcture was not ideal in reaching the goal of
sorting and coding to gain holistic understanding of the cases (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
After receiving the professor's recommendation to simplify, and after working
through several iterations of coding schemes, I merged the 15 themes and related
subthemes into a smaller set related directly to the primary research question and
subquestions (Miles and Huberman, 1994). I tested the themes (a) developing, (b)
definition/language, (c) organizing, (d) implementing, and (e) assessing, and found that
all the information coded within the 15 smaller categories would logically fit within these
broader themes. In fact, merging themes helped overcome the challenge of overiap I had
66
been experiencing. I coded the remaining documents in NVivo using the five broader
themes.
Narrowing the Information Base
All interviews, the interview guide, observations, and field notes were imported
into NVivo as rich text (rtf) files, which allowed the documents to retain their original
formatting and to be edited within NVivo. I completed a thorough review of all 21
interviews, plus the additional material. However, when I hand-coded the interviews, it
became clear that some respondents provided information more directly relevant to the
study than others. Some focused more on the technical aspects of the area in which they
worked (Admissions, for example), and others provided information stated more cleariy
or accurately by someone closer to the marketing program. In addition, I had conducted
four interviews at West University with individuals who were involved in or familiar
with the M process, compared to eight and nine at the other two universities.
To equalize the data reports for each university to be produced by NVivo, which
counts coded sections, I selected the top four interviews at each institution that provided
the most information relevant to the research questions. In each case, the four interviews
included the top marketing official and the president plus two others. These were coded
in NVivo using the five core themes: developing, definition/ language, organizing,
implementing, and assessing. Because the hand-coding used initially was so complexwith most paragraphs coded to multiple themes-the 12 interviews were coded in NVivo
using the broader themes without regard to the initial coding scheme. Upon later
comparison of the hand-coding to the NVivo reports, I found the coding schemes to be
highly congment. Again, although only 12 of the interviews were coded for the purpose
of mnning NVivo reports, all 21 interview transcripts continued to be reviewed
throughout analysis and were used for information during the writing of the final case
reports.
67
Document Review in Analysis
In addition to coding the interview transcripts, I reviewed a number of documents
provided by the universities or collected by me. These included organizational charts,
university Web sites, student newspapers, the alumni magazine, the catalog, student
recmiting brochures, vision and mission statements, strategic plans, marketing plans, and
a variety of other materials. News articles relevant to this study also were reviewed. The
primary purpose of document review was to confirm and clarify the information received
through interviews and observations. Documents were used throughout data analysis to
gather more information, to confirm facts, to supply support quotes, and to verify other
sources of information.
Writing the Report
The final step was to write the report, for "in the choice of particular words to
summarize and reflect the complexity of the data, the researcher is engaging in the
interpretive act, lending shape and form-meaning-to massive amounts of raw data"
(Marshall & Rossman, p. 119). A case study report was written for each university
(Yin, 1984). Then I conducted cross-case analysis on the data gathered from each
university to determine similarities and differences that should be noted in the findings
(Yin). Integrated marketing was implemented differently in each case, and information
that did not match among the three cases was not discarded or discounted (Yin). In the
cross-case analysis section, summary charts of findings were used that illustrate the
similarities and differences among the universities. Some of the variations in data may
provide important insights for marketing practitioners and scholars.
Throughout the case studies and in the cross-case analysis section, the integrated
process as described by the three schools was compared to conceptual models presented
by Kotler & Andreasen (1982) and Sevier (1999a, 1999b). This fulfilled the sixth step of
analysis suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994). The data analysis process required a
thorough search through the data, during which I challenged initial ideas and concepts,
searched for negative instances of the pattems, and incorporated these pattems into larger
68
constmcts (Marshall & Rossman, 1989). As suggested by Marshall and Rossman, I also
searched for, identified and described altemative explanations for the findings. Some of
these alternatives are explained in the case study summaries and in Chapter V's
discussion of findings.
Methods of Verification
In case studies, triangulation can occur by using multiple sources of data (Yin,
1984). Stake (1985) explained that the need for triangulation arises from the need to
confirm the validity of the processes. 1 interviewed multiple individuals at each site,
read documents before I entered the sites, and reviewed marketing documents provided
by the staff or found while visiting each university. When possible, I attended marketing
meetings, observed, and took notes. To ensure clarity, I discussed unclear ideas or
processes with the top marketing official or others at each institution during the research
process and during the analysis stage (Stake). A draft of a particular institution's case
study was reviewed by the top marketing official and at least one other participant from
each university (Berg, 2001; Yin). Only minor changes in chronology or interpretation
were suggested, and the requested changes or corrections were made. These verification
processes also helped overcome any possible bias I might have brought to the analysis
because of my work in higher education marketing.
As a method of triangulation, information from various interviews at a single site
was cross-checked for consistency of responses (Stake, 1985). When varying data was
provided, I talked to the sources again, asked a second source, or reviewed documents to
double-check the facts (Stake; Yin, 1984). A couple of brief follow-up interviews were
accomplished with emails or with phone calls, which Berg (2001) explains can be "quite
productive when they are conducted among people with whom the researcher has already
conducted face-to-face interviews, or with whom they may have developed a rapport
during fieldwork" (p. 83).
To ensure the highest likelihood of translatability and comparability of this
research, the methods and characteristics of this study were explained in great detail to
69
allow comparisons to be made across groups and disciplines (Borman, LeCompte, &
Goetz, 1986). Also, terminology was carefully defined, based on research, and the
boundaries and specific characteristics of what was being studied was clarified (Goetz &
LeCompte, 1984). Triangulation based on multiple sources of information and multiple
methods, as mentioned above, strengthens reliability as well as intemal validity
(Merriam, 1988; Yin, 1984).
Chapter FV explains the results found in this study. The chapter includes an
introduction, three case studies, and a chapter summary. Chapter V includes an
introduction, a discussion and comparison of findings, implications of the study, and
recommendations for further research.
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CHAPTER IV
RESULTS
Introduction
The results section describes the findings in this study, organized into three
separate case studies. Chapter IV includes: (a) a review of purposes of the study, the
primary research question, and the organization of the case studies; (b) explanation of
the usage of pseudonyms, titles, marketing language, and vision information; (c) three
case studies; (e) a summary. This study had several purposes.
1. To explore the processes and challenges of developing, defining,
implementing, and assessing integrated marketing in a private university
setting.
2. To explore the level of organizational, strategic, and message integration of
the marketing functions at three private universities.
3. To compare and contrast the experiences of administrators and staff at three
private universities as they implement integrated marketing.
4. To make recommendations for further research.
The primary question to be answered in this study was, "What processes and
challenges are involved in developing, defining, organizing, implementing, and assessing
integrated marketing at three private universities?" The sections within each case study
were organized to answer this primary question. The organizational stmcture ties directly
to the first two purpose statements. These sections were included in each case study: (a)
university overview; (b) developing integrated marketing; (c) defining integrated
marketing; (d) organizing for integrated marketing; (e) implementing integrated
marketing; (f) assessing integrated marketing; (g) summary and conclusions.
To maintain anonymity for the participating universities, the schools were given
pseudonyms based on the general geographic region of the country in which they are
located. In addition, individual names have been changed to a title or pseudonym, or
deleted if necessary. If an individual's name was deleted from a direct quote and
71
replaced with a descriptor, the replacement phrase was placed in brackets. Although
correct titles were used, especially when explaining a promotion or organizational
change, shorter versions of the titles or descriptive titles may be used in subsequent
references. For example, the vice president for university relations may be called the VP
for university relations, the marketing leader, or the top marketing official.
Divisions and departments were identified accurately to help explain each
school's organizational stmcture. Because the universities are prominent and distinctive,
some details were written less precisely than individuals described them. For example,
the specific religious heritage of the universities was not given. Avoiding this simple
descriptor caused me, on occasion, to write awkwardly-to say, for example, "members of
the mainstream Protestant domination with which the university is affiliated" instead of
merely saying, "Methodists," "Presbyterians" or "Baptists."
In the section regarding ways the universities define integrated marketing and the
language people use to talk about it, I explained the precise words used on the campusessuch as communication, public relations, integrated communication, or promotion.
However, in general descriptors of the process, I used "marketing," "integrated
marketing," or " M " interchangeably. When necessary to make a specific point or to
describe the nature of the process on a specific campus, the exact language was used.
In studying these three universities, each school's vision and plans were tied
closely with the marketing strategy. Therefore, each case study has an extended section
describing the university's vision and its effect on marketing strategy. Sevier (1999b)
said that M in higher education begins with the university's mission, vision, and
strategic plan. Kotler and Andreasen (1982), in explaining the strategic marketing
planning process, encouraged university leaders to determine organizational objectives,
analyze the extemal environment, and assess organizational strengths and weaknesses
before setting the marketing mission, objectives, and goals.
The coding of text passages for this study was completed in NVivo, a respected
qualitative analysis software package (Richards, 1999). Table 2 is a listing of the number
of passages coded to each primary theme in this study, as determined from the purpose
72
Table 2
Passages Coded by Theme^
South
Midcentral National
Theme
Developing
Definition/Language
Organizing
Implementing
Assessing
Total
87
52
111
125
20
395
72
52
107
149
22
402
West
Total
66
24
77
75
17
259
225
128
295
349
59
1056
Average Number of Passages Per University: 352
Average Number of Passages Per Theme: 211
^ Four interviews were counted, including the president and top
marketing official.
73
statements and the primary research question. The passages were not of equal length, and
some passages overiapped and were partially coded in two categories. The coding results
from four interviews per university were counted for this chart, although all interviews
were coded by hand and in NVivo. West University was coded first, and codes evolved
and become more complex as coding continued. The codes originally used for West
were later merged, using NVivo's merging capability, into the five broader codes. For
Table 2, the interviews with the president and top marketing official at each university
were counted, plus two others. Information and quotes from additional interviews were
included in the case study reports. This chart was created to provide a general sense that
the findings regarding the organization and implementation of integrated marketing were
lengthier and more complex than those regarding the development, definition, or
assessment of M . The primary purpose of this table was to reinforce that interviews
were coded to central themes. The findings of that coding and of the analysis process are
outlined by the five key themes in each case study.
I studied three private universities that implemented integrated marketing at least
two years ago. For the purposes of this research report, they were named Midcentral
University, South National University, and West University. An Intemet search revealed
that no actual institutions use those names. The experiences and challenges of integrated
marketing (M) at these institutions were explored in detail to provide insights and
guidance to other colleges and universities attempting to implement integrated marketing
strategies on their own campuses.
Case Study 1: Midcentral University
University Overview
Midcentral University is a doctoral intensive institution in the central region of the
United States. Located in a large city, Midcentral has two main campuses and six
suburban campuses. Founded more than 100 years ago, this university's mission ties
closely to its religious heritage, which values service and concem for the poor.
Midcentral emphasizes a practical education that prepares students to develop solutions
74
to society's challenges. The university offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate
programs through nine colleges and schools.
Midcentral University enrolls more than 15,000 students from its urban region, its
state, and 43 other states. This university has experienced rapid growth in the past six
years, with enrollment growing 30 percent during that period. Forty percent of
Midcentral's undergraduate enrollment is comprised of first-generation college students,
and the university places a strong emphasis on adult leamers and graduate students.
Two-thirds of Midcentral students are over age 23, and most students work while
attending college. Graduates live in 50 states and 70 countries, but 80 percent of the
100,000 living alumni reside in the region near the university.
Midcentral focuses on teaching and service. The university has a 19-to-one
student-teacher ratio. The SAT range for students entering this university is
approximately 1000 to 1200. A specific program in the College of Law and the part-time
graduate business program have been ranked among the nation's best (America's Best,
2003). The university's athletes participate in Division I sports. A growing number of
students are requesting on-campus housing, so the university is adding a new high-rise
residence hall. A student center recently was completed on the more traditional campus.
As of June 2002, Midcentral University's endowment was approximately $200
million. The budget for 2002-03 was about $350 million, and tuition comprises 92
percent of operating revenues. Tuition and fees are approximately $19,000 for 2003-04.
Developing Integrated Marketing
Mission. Vision, and Plan
With one main campus located in the heart of the urban business district and a
second nestled amid historic brownstones and tree-lined streets, Midcentral is one of
America's largest, most diverse private universities. Six suburban campuses extend the
school's reach into surrounding counties. In 1996, the executive vice president for
Academic Affairs expressed his hope that Midcentral would become a model of Emest
Boyer's "New American College" that serves the public good (Coye, 1997). In the
75
spring issue of the university's quarteriy Academic Affairs publication, he wrote:
In this university, teaching and leaming are primary; scholarship is broadly
defined; interdisciplinary work is encouraged; and service to the larger society is
part of the mission.... Faculty, staff and students are representative of the larger
society. The definition of faculty is also broadened; faculty are both mentors and
academic leaders of this university with responsibility of leaming being shared
with staff and students.
His ideas became the heart of many discussions in the next year, eventually becoming a
springboard for a long-term vision, called "an integrative strategic plan."
The vision built on the foundation and successes of earlier planning efforts. The
10-year 1988 Strategic Plan had focused on significant enrollment growth, and that
growth allowed Midcentral "to become a nationally recognized [religious] university and
a premiere urban university," according to the vision publication. During the last phase
of the successful growth strategy, between 1995 and 1998, the university adopted a fiveyear financial plan to balance debt with endowment and to provide funding to complete
the facilities identified in the 1988 plan. In preparing for an accreditation visit in 1997,
"we asked what kind of institution we wanted to be in 2006," said the vice president for
Enrollment Management. "The formula for our current strategic plan was set then."
After various planning retreats in 1997, three academic goals of the strategic plan
emerged. Later that year, 12 initiatives were developed to support the three goals as well
as the process needed to implement the initiatives. The three academic goals, plus one
financial goal brought forward from the 1995-2000 Strategic Plan, were formally
articulated and presented to the Midcentral Community as part of the vision. The vice
president for Enrollment Management described the goals.
•
Goal I: Improve and enhance holistic education for full-time undergraduates.
This goal included the need to strengthen the liberal arts curriculum, enhance
career services, and ensure students an experiential education.
•
Goal H: Become the dominant provider of part-time graduate education in the
region. To achieve this goal, Midcentral needed to develop suburban
campuses, create a marketing strategy for graduate programs, and increase
alumni engagement.
76
•
Goal ni: Be an active agent in social progress and social justice. The
university made plans to create some new civic outreach initiatives and
programs, develop partnerships with schools, and create special centers and
institutes.
The continuing financial goal called for the university to move from a "financially
leveraged position to a position of financial strength."
Goals I and n "changed the vemacular of the campus," the VP for Enrollment
Management said. "People began relating everything to one of these goals, especially
folks in the budget, administration, and alumni areas." The assistant VP for Public
Relations said:
Every person here could tell you our three strategic goals: holistic education,
become the dominant provider of adult and professional programs, missionoriented community service. Those things manifest themselves in different ways
for different departments; we fit them in. We could all buy into those goals.
The vision framework integrated enrollment growth, financial performance, and
academic plans and priorities, explained the VP for Enrollment Management. By 2002,
the university had completed many of the vision initiatives slated for 2006, including
achievement of the targets for admissions and financial aid. In those areas, the staffs
were called upon to increase diversity, maintain solid test scores among entering students,
increase the total number significantly, keep the university accessible, and accomplish all
this without increasing the tuition "discount rate" and without raising the percentage of
the overall budget used for financial aid, the VP explained. "Those conflicting goals
were challenging, but we've accomplished them," he said. The assistant VP for Public
Relations said implementing the vision has changed Midcentral.
We used to be underfunded, a little school that could. Now we're the largest
school in the nation [affiliated with our religion]; we're like a huge corporation,
but we're nonprofit. We have a $350 million budget, and we're heavily tuition
driven.
Because Midcentral has overcome challenges and made significant progress in the
past 15 years, it has drawn the national spotlight on several occasions through media
attention and special recognitions. The university was one of seven finalists for "College
77
of the Year" about five years ago, as named by two national magazines. Although the
university overall ranks in the third tier among national universities in the U.S. News and
World Report's "Best Colleges" guidebook, the school's leaders say their rapid growth
and their reputation in the city's business community are better indicators of their quality.
Although the university has received some extemal accolades, some insiders
believe the president's passion for enrollment growth and students detracts from his
concem about faculty and undergraduate excellence. "Faculty here sometimes feel
under-loved," the president said. "There is a tremendous demand for education. Where
I tangle with the faculty-I say where there's tremendous demand, there must be
tremendous innovation. They don't always agree." One campus administrator explained
that the faculty sometimes gets upset because the president makes decisions without their
input.
Active listening has not been a hallmark of the administration in the past,
explained the assistant VP for Public Relations. "This is not an executive culture that
seeks input. We are instmments of implementation for the leaders," she explained.
Implementation implies forward movement, and the administrators at Midcentral talk
often about the future-and rarely about the past. "The university is changing; we're also
coming to the end of a strategic plan," said PR leader. "It's just a matter of time before
we achieve the rest [of our vision goals]. So we really need to be looking at 2012. We
will start in eamest, probably this fall at the next planning session. We'll start that when
the new executive vice president for Academic Affairs comes in." The VP for Academic
Affairs who served as the architect of Vision 2006 retired this past year, and the EVP for
Operations is gone now, as well. "The fiber of the university has changed with two
retiring VPs; we've experienced an arch of change, a new vision," said the VP for
Enrollment Management.
Recently, the vice presidents for Human Resources, Finance, and Information
Technology also left Midcentral. "There's a whole new crop of VPs making up the
executive team," said Enrollment Management VP. The new executive team is making
plans for the future, and the university's president is comfortable leading the way. "My
78
role in the vision is to say, 'It's high risk, but let's do it,' " he said. The VP for
Enrollment Management said the president has a bold vision. "We want to own [our city]
- take it away from [our competitor]. The president will stop at nothing short of worid
domination; that's his favorite phrase," the VP said.
Domination at Midcentral is often equated with continued growth in student
enrollment. "Enrolling and educating students is our only business," said the VP for
Enrollment Management. "What is a university with no students? What business would
we be in? Marketing is everything. It's at the core of it-being seen as offering a valued
educational product and creating that access." Because of the school's particular
religious heritage, providing access to students from lower-income families and to firstgeneration students is "considered very important," the VP said. He continued:
Quality measures demand that we become more selective; our values say "no."
As we increase demand, we must also build capacity to serve more. Public
universities are tuming students away; privates are becoming more selective. We
have doubled our freshman applicant pool in five years, and we have also built
capacity. Through growth we can do more good.
The university's drive to increase enrollment and build capacity is reflected in the
addition of suburban campuses. "We want to be a stronger competitive presence in other
areas near [our city]," said the VP for Enrollment Management. The university acquired
a residential campus in a nearby town, and it will be fully integrated as a part of
Midcentral by 2005. "Each so-called 'growth school' has to substantially increase
enrollment in degree programs," he said. "That requires us to grow in the suburbs as well
as in the city." Although staff members within Enrollment Management understand the
growth philosophy, some individuals see challenges in it as well. "I think we are a very
exciting institution, but often our eyes are bigger than our stomach," said the assistant VP
for Marketing Communications. "We have the vision and stmcture, without a doubt. I
think our challenges are more of fine-tuning, of sort of quieting the beast a bit."
With success at Midcentral has come a positive attitude about change. "We now
have the confidence to try things," said the VP for Enrollment Management. "We
reframed our vision through analysis. We've opened up to new opportunities, and the
board approves that." The university has focused its efforts on computer science, the
79
adult education program, and the Graduate School of Business-and those areas have
grown substantially, he said. "We're working on competitive market positioning and
prominence," said the assistant VP for Public Relations. "We're dealing with reputation
issues, and we're getting results."
The university's reputation made its acquisition of a small, residential college in a
nearby county more profitable, said the president. "We took over a little school [that]
charged a total of $7,000 a year per student. We took over in Febmary and started
classes there in September [2002]. We charged $16,000 with the [Midcentral] name and
attracted 100 more students." Before Midcentral acquired the school, it had 28 faculty
and 32 majors. "Their mistake was thinking that curriculum attracts students. Some
universities try and lead with curriculum; I say lead with your brand," the president said.
Leading with the brand means a serious focus on marketing at Midcentral, but
integrated marketing was not listed among the three top goals or the 12 initiatives drafted
by university leaders. "The goals of an institution shouldn't include marketing; it is a
means to an end," said the VP for Enrollment Management. "The goals should be
educational and academic. Clearly marketing strategy and positioning strategy are within
that." Because of the desire to tie marketing closely with the academic enterprise, the VP
driving the marketing efforts answers to the EVP for Academic Affairs and meets
regularly with the president. When the university restmctured, opening the door for a
new model of Enrollment Management, some people suggested the VP for Enrollment
Management should become a third executive vice president reporting directly to the
president. "I didn't want that," the VP explained. "We could inadvertently create
marketing strategy at odds with academic strategy. We can more effectively achieve our
vision if my area is organizationally, stmcturally, and strategically a part of the academic
enterprise."
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
Midcentral's integrated marketing operation was organized into a new
configuration a few years ago. "Marketing wasn't precipitated by anything negative,"
80
said the VP for Enrollment Management. "At the best of times, the chairman of the
board and president have always been pretty aggressive on marketing; the deans think
about marketing and revenues. To expand is in our blood and in our mission." Integrated
marketing "began to gel" when the VP for Enrollment Management came to Midcentral
in 1997, he said. The chair of the Board of Tmstees was also the chief executive officer
(CEO) of a national retailer, and the past chair was the CEO of a national restaurant
franchise. "Both men were marketing-oriented; things moved at an extraordinary pace,"
the VP explained. "We were growing faster, adding facilities, enrolling students, offering
great experiences, and gaining more prominence."
Despite the successes, however, the university faced a challenge. "At the time,
we did not tell the story in an integrated way," the VP for Enrollment Management said.
"I spent time with the past CEO from [the national retailer] outlining what to do. His
expectations required a new level of discipline; I agreed we would take it on." While
these planning discussions were occurring, changes were taking place within the
institution. "It started with one event-the vice president for Advancement resigned," said
the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "Rather than just hiring someone, the
president started high-level discussions about where we were, where we wanted to be,
and how we might look at this picture differently. [The VP for Enrollment Management]
was instmmental in those discussions."
The assistant VP for Public Relations described how the changes evolved.
I came to [Midcentral] in 1990 and at that time we were with the University
Relations group, which was the group I supervised. We reported to the vice
president for Advancement, the fundraising VP. We do not have a fabulous track
record in fundraising, so we've had a series of VPs there - five or six of them in
the first five to six years I was here. At some point, our executives discussed
whether we should just keep filling this post with another VP or should do
something else. The president felt that we should really be focusing on major
gifts, so he said, "This is what I want Development to concentrate on. So I'm
going to take some of these other things away so they are not distractions. I'm
going to put them in other areas to create synergies in other areas." The primary
goal wasn't to integrate marketing; it was to help Development to concentrate on
major gifts.
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With the resignation of the VP for Advancement, and the president's decision to
have Advancement focus on major gifts, a major reorganization began. "Given the
history of Advancement, and what had worked and what hadn't worked, and given the
direction our vision was taking us, the University Relations and Alumni staffs were
merged with Enrollment Management," said the assistant VP for Marketing
Communication. "It could not have happened with a different kind of person than [our
VP for Enrollment Management]. He was the catalyst." She said the organization might
not have evolved in that direction-and not as quickly-if the Advancement vice president
had stayed a few more years. "This situation and its resolution are indicative of the kind
of place we are," she said. "At the time the VP resigned, there were some very
interesting discussions that started with, 'How do we look at things now?' The decision
to try something different is very consistent with the kind of place we are."
The president said integrated marketing "formed here in pieces, not like the Ten
Commandments that God wrote all at once." He praised the vice president for starting a
"unique approach to Enrollment Management in higher education." The innovations at
Midcentral have led to public acknowledgements that the university has a "best practice"
stmcture. "[Midcentral] is giving more than lip service to integrated marketing efforts,"
said the president of a national communication company that works with the university.
"The inclusion of PR activities within the Enrollment Management area makes so much
sense in a tuition-driven institution." Another national consultant called Midcentral's
approach, "very unusual and highly likely to be successful." The assistant VP for Public
Relations said marketing is "very important" for the university. "We are in a
sophisticated market, and there are a lot of universities out there. We must discipline
ourselves to spend money reaching the right students," she said. Although the
Enrollment Management area continues to handle the traditional functions of recmiting
and financial aid, the vice president said the mission of the area is broader. "Our goal is
to improve [Midcentral's] market position and prominence," he said.
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Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
The individual responsible for marketing at Midcentral is the VP for Enrollment
Management. When he meets with his top staff leaders to create or evaluate marketing
plans, he meets with the Marketing Strategy Group. The assistant VP for Marketing
Communications said "integrated marketing" is the best description of the marketing
process at the university. "However, it depends on who you're talking to," she said. "In
this area, we talk about integrated marketing, or just marketing, sometimes. What we'll
talk about more overtly is the brand, although we almost don't have to do that because it
is such a big part of our thinking." The assistant VP for Public Relations said, "When
people ask me to speak, I say I work in an integrated marketing communication
environment. I don't talk to joumalists or faculty about that. When I'm making a general
presentation to faculty, if it came up, I would discuss communication or public relations."
The marketing committee began talking about marketing strategy three years
ago, the assistant VP for Public Relations said. "We give so much lip-service to
integrated marketing; there's a lot of misunderstanding," she said. "It's a very new
concept for us." The president said, "We don't use 'integrated,' but we want it to be.
We use 'marketing.' " He defined integrated marketing as "strategic branding with an
understanding of the competition." The president is "intensely interested, but not an
expert in this area," said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "He has lot of
ideas, however."
Although the president said people at Midcentral often drop "integrated" and
simply speak of "marketing," the VP for Enrollment Management said, "more often
than not, we refer to 'integrated marketing.' The integration is between the brand
marketing and the competitive positioning of our academic programs-the promotional
strength of our enrollment and alumni engagement." He said M is a three-legged stool:
(1) institution-wide brand marketing, (2) positioning strategy for each academic program,
including language, pricing, delivery, and distinctiveness; and (3) achievement of
business objectives, which are typically enrollment goals but also include alumni
participation and institutional rankings.
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During a senior staff planning retreat last year, the assistant VP for Marketing
Communications was asked how things would look if they were working really well. "I
am more of a visual person than a verbal person, and I described a painting," she said.
"Integrated marketing is a weaving together, within a defined stmcture, of all sorts of
elements to produce a greater whole. I think to be successful in M , you need to be more
inclusive than exclusive." She described integrated marketing as more than integrating
the staffs. "It's also how you draw clients into that process. But first you start with your
folks." The assistant VP for Public Relations agreed. "First, we have to have people who
understand what we're working toward. We must have resources and talents to focus on
goals."
Although the Enrollment Management staff agreed they are working in an
integrated marketing environment, the VP for the areas said, "The agenda and perspective
continue to crystallize." His interests reach well beyond promotion and branding.
For example, the Marketing Committee of the Board of Tmstees wants to
establish tuition and approve new academic programs. While these issues
formally rest with other committees, the Marketing Committee should sign off on
a five-year pricing strategy. That group should review which academic programs
give us greater marginal net revenue and what needs to happen with financial aid
and scholarships in order to improve our market position. We don't need to limit
what is perceived as marketing.
He concluded, "Marketing is not just promotion, but involves product and price.
[Midcentral] lives and breathes that."
Organizing for Integrated Marketing
Development of Marketing Stmcture
In the mid-1980s, Midcentral University created an Enrollment Management
stmcture that combined student recmitment, financial aid, and retention practices and
process. That organizational stmcture, in place from the mid-1980s until 1997, became
an example of "best practice" in the field and helped the university achieve enrollment
growth, the VP for Enrollment Management explained. However, "by the mid-1990s,
[Midcentral's] breakthrough innovation had become the de facto industry standard in
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colleges and universities nationwide," according to a 2002 Academic Affairs Quarterly
special report about Enrollment Management.
Three realizations led university leaders to consider reorganizing, according to the
2002 report. One, it appeared that the current stmcture had lost its competitive edge.
The 3 percent annual enrollment growth that occurred from 1985 to 1990 averaged only
2 percent annually from 1990 to 1996. Two, the administrators recognized the need for
a different enrollment mix. They wanted to keep a high percentage of full-time
undergraduates while significantly growing the number of graduate, adult, and part-time
students who contributed the highest marginal tuition revenue. And three, the planners
recognized that certain functions and activities might better serve Midcentral's "strategic
ambitions" if they were more closely aligned with the core business of the university: the
enrollment and education of students and the production of credit hours.
In 1998 and 1999, Midcentral University undertook a substantial reorganization
"intended to create new strategic alignments and integration," the report said. The VP
for Enrollment Management arrived in 1997. At that time. Enrollment Management
included Admissions, Financial Aid, the Registrar's Office, Student Assessment, and the
Career Center. "The VP for Advancement left, creating a void," said the VP for
Enrollment Management. To create new synergy and develop some areas more fully,
the president assigned the new VP Intemet Development, Alunmi, Marketing, Media
Relations, and the existing Enrollment Management mix, he said. "Ultimately as they
were thinking it through, the leaders felt alumni and career had potential for great
synergy," said the assistant VP for Public Relations. The marketing area has developed
more fully in the past three years, and new staff have been added recently to focus on
branding and on new program initiatives, the VP said.
The four broad areas that make up Enrollment Management (EM) at Midcentral
are Marketing and University Relations, Enrollment Services, Alumni and Career
Networks, and Enrollment and Marketing Research. Three assistant VPs within
Marketing and University Relations answer directly to the vice president. They oversee
Marketing Communications, Public Relations, and Marketing Strategy, and they
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comprise the Marketing Strategy Group. The associate VP for Enrollment Management
and associate VP for Alumni and Career Networks also report to the vice president for
EM. "Our approach to enrollment management is not defined by an organizational
stmcture; rather it is reflected in the overarching strategy and purpose that integrates the
efforts and activities across the stmcture," explained the VP in the 2002 Academic Affairs
Quarterly special report.
The vice president for Enrollment Management's role "transcends both academics
and operations," he said. "I have a large operation." He brings a marketing voice to the
Joint Council, which comprises deans and vice presidents. The VP for Enrollment
Management met with the previous chief academic officer once a quarter and with the
president weekly. The EVP for Academic Affairs/Chief Academic Officer (CAO) is his
official supervisor.
The Board of Tmstees includes a Marketing Committee, the VP for Enrollment
Management said, and he is the liaison for it. It began as a subcommittee of the
University Advancement board committee, but "spun off on its own two years ago," he
explained. The board committee would like to have a more active role in the marketing
decisions of the university, "and sign off on things," he said. "They help me ask for more
money." In addition to its four annual meetings, the board's Marketing Committee meets
"offline" through informal communication with the VP. "The vice chair is a marketing
guy and a strong advocate. He helps push a certain agenda with the president and
provost." The brand and integrated marketing initiatives proposed by the VP have been
endorsed by the Board of Tmstees.
The VP for Enrollment Management has to manage his relationships with the
president and the board, and he also manages a large staff One change that made a
difference to the integration of some units within Enrollment Management was the
physical relocation of several groups onto the same floor of a downtown office building.
"Two dozen staff members who perform marketing and communication duties on
[Midcentral's] behalf have been pulled together and moved to the same floor with a
single reporting line to foster better teamwork and coordination," wrote the assistant VP
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for Marketing Communications in the 2002 special academic report. She later described
the advantages the move has brought.
When we're all in a conference room eating lunch together, and we're talking
about what we did over the weekend, it is utterly amazing the way we educate
each other about what we do. It happens often. Someone will say, "Well, I'm
working on this project and I don't know which direction it's going, and what do
you know about that, and do you have any tips on this other thing...." It's hard to
do when you don't know people very well who are in your area.
The assistant VP for Public Relations agreed that the move has enhanced integration.
"When University Relations moved out of Development and under Enrollment
Management, we were in two different buildings, but we knew each other. Since we
moved here, with the new configuration, we have synergy; we know what's going on.
We're leaps and bounds closer to being integrated."
Although synergy has resulted because of the organizational changes and physical
moves, some intemal struggles have arisen as well. "When we came over, we had to
work hard to understand how we fit together under this umbrella," said the assistant VP
for Public Relations. She added:
There were strong fears among the Media Relations staff. They were concemed
that the new leaders would ask us to use media to directly affect enrollment. We
know what's newsworthy, and we feared our work would be changed in a way
that has not happened. We were worried that [the VP] didn't know media
relations. But he's a big thinker; he can see the big picture. He helps us see how
to fit things in. When working together, in general we're working toward the
same goals-just using different tools.
Despite occasional difficulties, the VP said the university's marketing takes a "much
more integrated approach now." The assistant VP for Public Relations described the
collaborative effort: "In our team, no one dominates. Marketing is so complex that it
takes all of us to succeed."
Marketing and University Relations
Marketing Communications. The assistant VP for Marketing Communications
supervises a number of areas. She oversees student recmitment publications, which
she calls "Enrollment Communication." This area is managed by a director and an
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associate director who manages the direct mail process. "We outsource everything from
a production standpoint," she explained. Intemet Communication is handled by her staff,
as well. They are responsible for the home page, the upper layers of the university's Web
site, and the entire enrollment site. A director, a content manager, and a Webmaster
fulfill those responsibilities. One staff member handles recmitment advertising for the
university, which includes general advertising and college-specific promotion through a
dollar-matching program. Editorial Services is comprised of two individuals who are
responsible for broader alumni communications such as the university magazine, as well
as helping other areas of the university with writing projects. She said her budget has
remained about the same for the past five years in terms of operating dollars, but "three
years ago, no one worked for me. Now 10 people work for me. I've had some
tremendous things happen in my area."
Marketing Strategy. This area was created three years ago when the staff received
a permanent budget. It includes the brand strategy and integrated marketing efforts,
which flow from Goal n of the university's Vision 2006 plan calling for significant
growth in graduate and professional programs. "The first thing I did was to create [the
assistant VP for Marketing Strategy position]. I brought [someone] from the corporate
world. She's very impressive; she mns circles around most people." Her background
includes experience in advertising, sales, and marketing, plus five years developing and
implementing strategic corporate initiatives.
Public Relations. The leader of this area is the assistant vice president for Public
Relations and the director of Media Relations. She and her staff handle media relations,
special events, and intemal and executive communication, including the faculty/staff
newsletter. They were expecting to hire a new position, director of Executive
Communication, in the summer of 2003. All the staff in this area are former joumalists,
and they work with local, regional and national media.
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Enrollment Services
The Enrollment Services office, led by the associate VP for Enrollment
Management, includes Admissions and Financial Aid. The VP for Enrollment
Management also added an innovative Community Outreach program for minority
recmitment and has expanded the telemarketing program to pursue more part-time, adult,
and graduate students, said the VP Enrollment Services emphasizes personal service,
statistical profiling, and technology to target the students most likely to enroll and
succeed at Midcentral. Enrollment efforts also include a Title IV-funded Special
Services program for first-generation college students, and this function is managed by
an assistant VP.
Alumni and Career Networks
The Career Center was moved to Enrollment Management in 1997 with the
expectation that it would shift from a traditional student service orientation to a focus on
developing career networks and improved employer relations, explained the VP for
Enrollment Management. Early success with that new model resulted in the Office of
Student Employment begin realigned with the Career Center in 1999. A University
Intemship Office also was created, he said. Both moves were designed to support Goal I
of the Vision 2006 plan, which is aimed at providing a holistic education experience for
full-time undergraduate students.
In 2000, Alumni Relations and Alumni Giving were added to Enrollment
Management to expand networking. "We brought Alumni Relations into Enrollment
Management with the Career Center to ensure alumni communication is tied in with the
integrated marketing strategy and messaging," said the VP for Enrollment Management.
This change also focused on Goal H, targeting adult students. "This integrated alumni
and career networking strategy challenges many of the traditional organizational
assumptions in higher education," the VP said. "Yet [several organizations] recently
have highlighted [Midcentral's] new model as an illustration of a provocative new
direction that's right for the times."
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This area is led by the associate vice president for Alumni and Career Networks.
"I took over Alumni two years ago," she said. "We were more traditional before, with
sports. Homecoming, fundraising events. It was very traditional alumni relations, but we
didn't have students and alumni wanting those kinds of experiences. Now we are
centered on their demonstrated interest in career networking and professional
development." About 85 percent of Midcentral students work, and "they are careeroriented and pragmatic," the assistant VP said. "Most remain local, and they came here
for a better job and career. We needed services that were relevant to our alumni." The
goals of this area are clearly focused. "We want alumni to be connected and to come
back as graduate students; to give money; to hire our graduates; to offer intemships to our
students; and to contribute service. That's our agenda."
Enrollment and Marketing Research
Marketing and enrollment management processes at Midcentral are dependent
on data, and the research and reporting team has grown from one to five full-time staff
members since 1998. All the positions were reallocated from other departments, the
VP for Enrollment Management said. The role of this staff is to develop, manage, and
share information and information systems that support the university's enrollment,
networking, and marketing initiatives, he explained. "We want to enable people to make
informed decisions based on the best information available so we can leverage our
strengths to reach our enrollment goals," said the director of Research in the 2002
academic report on Enrollment Management.
Organizational Summary
The vice president for Enrollment Management said the organizational stmcture
is working "as well as can be expected. Creating the integrated marketing effort in
Enrollment Management has been fabulous. There's a huge demand for our services.
Even Athletics is asking for help." The VP credits the success to the strong individuals
leading the various areas. "Our staff is business savvy. The assistant VP of Marketing
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worked in consumer products. Our Media Relations staff are joumalists. Our research
staff are 'datoid' folks. And our Alumni and Career Services people have backgrounds
in relevant fields outside higher education." The assistant VP for Marketing Communications said the staff has bought into the integrated marketing concept, "but how
successful are we with it? Occasionally, we'll have conversations about that."
Many universities that implement integrated marketing also create a team to
coordinate marketing efforts. However, at Midcentral, this coordination happens within
the Enrollment Management Division. The Marketing Strategy Group meets regularly to
create and evaluate plans, and the entire Enrollment Management Division uses meeting
time to talk about marketing issues and plans as well, said the VP for Enrollment
Management. "In general, we meet as seldom as possible," he said. "We've got too
much work to do to stop and talk about it."
Being organized under one leader has worked well, said the assistant VP for
Public Relations. "It's most effective if integrated groups report to the same vice
president. If we were still under the VP for Development, we would be less effective.
This could not have happened." The leader for Marketing Communications agreed.
"[The VP for Enrollment Management's] leadership has been absolutely, absolutely
instmmental," she said, adding:
We've had this organizational stmcture for three and a half years. I think for
who we are, it works very, very well. I don't think it's something you could
necessarily replicate other places. It was an organic process; it came out of our
institutional character and circumstances and leadership. When you talk about an
organization and how it works, you've got to look at all of these elements. When
you look at other institutions and you think about taking this model and applying
it, well, in some institutions it might work, but I know you'd have to sort through
all the bits and pieces that make it work for us.
The VP for Enrollment Management summed up his feelings this way: "We've got the
team and the talent. We're growing so fast, and I know we're just dollars away from new
and neat opportunities."
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Implementing Integrated Marketing
With the primary goal of enhancing Midcentral's competitive market position and
prominence, the Enrollment Management Division has organized to leverage its
resources, the VP for Enrollment Management said. "Our plans mn so counter to the
primary mental model of how to organize higher education," he said. "The new
executive team and the president's leadership make it possible. We try to have best
practices in management. I refused to settle when hiring my managers because they
make all the difference." The vice president said Midcentral is not a typical university.
"[Midcentral] moves fast, and I've tried to increase the capacity of this division to keep
up." The assistant vice president for Public Relations agreed that the environment
inspires a sense of urgency. "We are in a constant hurry; this can be a bumout culture
here," she said. At Midcentral, a small percent of the budget is spent for marketing, the
VP said, "but a very high percent of the energy."
Throughout the university, marketing has inspired interest and involvement. The
president "is an idea mill," said the assistant VP for Public Relations. "He'll crank out a
ton of ideas; [the marketing leaders] will listen to him and implement ones that fit our
strategy." She explained that the president talks to CEOs at other places and brings
marketing ideas back to Midcentral. The president is typical of university culture, she
said. "In this environment, people feel a sense of ownership. Some things are
centralized, and some are decentralized within marketing, but lots of people are interested
in what we're doing."
Planning and Goal-setting
In June 2002, Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management funded a brand
consultant to identify the essence of Midcentral's brand and to identify opportunities for
improvement in brand marketing. Working with a select group of administrators and
deans, the assistant VP for Marketing Strategy and the VP for Enrollment Management
developed the university's first integrated and brand marketing plan that included 18
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specific recommendations. The spring 2002 executive report about this initiative said
that after a year of dedicated resources to the effort, Midcentral:
1. Clarified its brand equity and developed consistent marketing language for
university-wide communications.
2. Assessed its current marketing efforts and identified opportunities for brand
leveraging and message coordination.
3. Developed the university's first integrated marketing plan and achieved Board
of Tmstee support for, and enthusiasm about, the initiative.
The executive report explained that the 2001-02 M communications plan
produced outcomes including: (a) a university image advertising campaign, (b) new
integrated and strategic marketing plans for the leading "growth" colleges, (c) more
efficient and effective use of current advertising dollars to maximize Midcentral's
message exposure, (d) a new Web-based brand standards resource for the university
community, and (e) a marketing foundation and focus for Midcentral's new interestbased alumni networks and alumni communications.
Other goals set for year one of the integrated and brand marketing plan included
increased advertising awareness; improved perceptions and clarity of Midcentral's image;
increased interest for graduate programs; improved integration of marketing messages,
look and feel; and increased alumni involvement. The 2002-03 plan focused on:
1. Improving the university marketing presence, especially around Goal n
initiatives (adult, part-time, graduate students).
2. Increasing the effectiveness of Midcentral's primary marketing vehicle, the
Web site.
3. Gaining support and marketing integration with additional Midcentral
academic and administrative areas.
4. Establishing standardized metrics for measuring marketing effectiveness.
5. Implementing new consumer-based marketing research to help Midcentral
refine and sustain the competitive edge.
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The assistant VP for Marketing Strategy explained that the staff is making plans to
implement integrated marketing initiatives outlined in the updated plan for 2003-04.
Use of Research
The Enrollment Management Division at Midcentral focuses on the use of data
and the tracking of results, said the divisional leader. For example, before a new
marketing communications campaign is launched, focus groups are used to test the
concepts. In advertising, to help target the right message to the right group of potential
students at the right time using the right medium, the university now conducts research,
said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "Research is now the driver for all
of our advertising projects, rather than gut instinct or personal preference for a particular
media outlet," she explained. "We're making much smarter content and placement
decisions based on the resuUs of focus groups, various extemal databases, and
information we glean from prospects and current students."
Midcentral leaders created the network of six suburban campuses after hearing
from focus groups that the university was not convenient for suburban students. "I
attended several focus groups and listened to what they were saying," explained the
assistant VP for Public Relations. "All of us had that opportunity. We got reports on
each one, and we leamed about things important to students."
In Enrollment Services, research data is used to target audiences, to target
messages to those audiences, and to determine top competitor schools, among other
purposes. Data also helps frame opportunities in key areas such as financial aid, and the
Enrollment and Marketing Research staff plays a central role in data mining and
information management, the VP for Enrollment Management said. "When I got here,
our goal was not to grow undergraduate enrollment at all, but to cap it," he explained.
"They said, 'We can't grow because we'll have to increase financial aid.' But I told them
that if the percentage doesn't increase, it's OK. We've doubled the freshman class and
reduced the percentage of financial aid using research to guide our strategies."
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The Vision 2006 plan calls for Midcentral to improve its alumni networking
opportunities and increase alumni engagement with the university. Research is the key,
said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "We must figure out exactly what
alumni need to feel connected to the university and engage them in activities that
contribute to their current careers and future educational needs," she said.
Research also is being used to test the key themes of the brand identity with
extemal audiences, to test marketing messages, and to guide the next phase of marketing
efforts, said the assistant VP for Marketing Strategy. Consumer-based research,
including focus groups and perceptual studies, will be used to gain insights in the
attitudes and opinions of audiences who make and share value judgments about
Midcentral. "The ultimate goal is to establish endorsed marketing metrics that will
become an integral part of the annual planning and evaluation process," she said in the
2002 special report.
Responsibilities and Priorities
Marketing and University Relations. The Marketing Communications office,
using freelancers and outside agencies, produces more than 100 enrollment publications
annually, including viewbooks, departmental brochures, and course catalogs. The
assistant VP for Marketing Communications said her early job at the university was
to produce publications full time, mainly student recmiting publications. "As the
competition became stiffer, marketing became more complex and my job became more
complex. It's gone from producing only publications to overseeing advertising, the Web,
and key alumni communication," she said. But the goal has remained the same: "We
hope to increase the likelihood that people think about [Midcentral]." The Marketing
Communications area controls the logos, type fonts, colors, and style standards for the
university.
Although the Marketing Communications staff has grown in recent years, the
operating budgets have not increased much, the assistant VP said.
The operating dollars have been very hard. We are absolutely doing more with
less. Inflationary concems are real, and I have a kazillion different things now we
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need to market. So we have more or less stayed the same from an operating
standpoint. Sometimes people say, "This gives you an opportunity to really
streamline things, to cut out the fat." Unfortunately, the fat was gone long ago.
The single greatest challenge for Marketing Communications with clients outside
Enrollment Management is getting them to respect the process and understand it, said the
assistant VP for the area. "I tell them their work can't be mshed because it has to be done
right," she said. "If you want to bake a cake for someone's birthday, do you stick it in the
microwave?" When the workload is too heavy and people are pushing hard for eariy
deadlines, the assistant VP said she is comfortable saying "no" if necessary. "If they
want quality work, I tell them, 'Here's what you need to bring from your side.' On the
other hand, there are a million hoops we jump through to make things work."
The Marketing Communications staff produces the alumni magazine three times
a year using a freelance graphic designer who lives in Atlanta. The intemal staff offers
major art direction and writes all content. "We have an award-winning magazine," said
the area's assistant VP. The staff also produces three focused newsletters for colleges
that have been targeted for growth. The colleges pay for the designer and printing, and
the Marketing Communications office writes content and coordinates with the designer
and printer. Since 1985, recmiting publications have been outsourced to a communication company specializing in higher education. The company helps conceptualize the
recmiting publications and provides production; the Enrollment Communications staff
director oversees the entire process and gives final approval. "We use many, many
people externally," the assistant VP said. "It has worked out well for us."
The assistant VP for Marketing Communications said the alumni magazine is a
good example of the type of integration that occurs at Midcentral. She calls an annual
meeting where the magazines are planned for the year.
Everybody comes to this meeting; it's fascinating, stimulating and interesting
because it includes alumni, media relations, special events, marketing
communication, marketing strategy. It never ceases to amaze me how creative
these discussions are. We talk about the goals of the institution, we talk about
current events-we throw anything out there that could be or should be useful in
figuring out what our yearlong approach is going to be.
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Whether the staff is working on the Web site, a radio advertisement, an ad in the
newspaper, or any other communication to an extemal audience, "somewhere in the back
of our heads, we know the brand characteristics that need to be considered," the assistant
VP said. "We use those as a filter for any messages we send, asking, 'Does it fit?' "
One important area managed in Marketing Communications is advertising for the
university. Advertising funds came after the initial marketing organization was arranged,
said the assistant VP for the area. "We have $750,000 to $1 million a year to spend, and
that's not much in this market," she said. "In [this city], radio costs a lot of money. In
relation to our competition, we have a very small budget." The staff has tried to leverage
its advertising dollars by using the "match plan," through which Marketing Communications would match dollars spent on advertising by the colleges. Actually the colleges
only have to pay a fourth of the cost because Academic Affairs covers a fourth as well.
Three colleges have taken advantage of the dollar-matching plan, with mixed results, said
the VP for Enrollment Management.
Advertising is used almost exclusively for "Goal II" students-part-time, adult, and
graduate students, said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "With
traditional students, we wouldn't waste our dollars on advertising," she said. Advertising
is used to drive prospective students to open houses and to invite alumni to attend
networking events. "Because we have centralized messages, we are trying to improve
our image through recmiting ads," said the VP for Enrollment Management. "If we do
an image campaign, we find additional dollars. In any given year, we do spend money on
image advertising. This year, the president has about $250,000 for an image strategy that
has been floating out there." Generally, the VP said, all advertising is designed to compel
action and create results. "We are a tuition-dependent institution," he said. "Maybe
Coca-Cola can afford to mn obtuse ads with no message, but we must drive enrollment."
The Office of Intemet Communication within Marketing and University Relations
works with the marketing team and an intemal Web design team. The Enrollment
Management staff actually pays fees for certain Web services through an intemal chargeback system. The VP for Enrollment Management said the various colleges have "tried
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to make their own statements through their Web sites, and now we're trying to integrate."
When the university moves to an easier-to-use content management system, the VP said
he hopes the Web can offer more personalized, two-way communication. "We're trying
to integrate the Web more fully, and we want a system that's easy to navigate and update.
Some of the systems on the market are out of our price range, but this change is a high
priority."
Marketing Strategy. The Marketing Strategy area, led by an assistant vice
president and three directors, focuses on brand research and integrated marketing
strategies. The planning details were described above in the "Planning and Goal-setting"
section of this study. The marketing plan prepared by this team "is designed to clarify
and leverage Midcentral's brand identity by focusing on the key themes of innovation,
connection, diversity, and values," the assistant VP for Marketing Strategy said. "Brand
image is the most important factor in an adult prospective student's decision to enroll in
classes." Goal n is the focus of branding at Midcentral - part-time, adult, and graduate
students. Several of the colleges have their own positioning, developed in partnership
with the assistant VP. "Although perceptions among the deans are all different, they've
come to realize that we have a common thread that's Midcentral," she said.
Development of the brand messages began with a study of the university's
strengths and weaknesses. The assistant VP, in conjunction with an extemal firm,
conducted interviews with the deans, discussing Midcentral's core identity and
commonalities in aggregate. After many discussions, an initial draft of the messaging
was shown to some intemal groups. The assistant VP for Marketing Communications
reflected on that review process.
When we were developing the brand statements, people said, "Gosh, that's not a
surprise to me." I'd look at them and say, "That makes me feel good. I'd be
surprised if it was." Frankly, when you start talking about your brand and the
folks around the table go, "Aha, I didn't know that," you have a problem. It's not
organic to the institution. A brand must be organic to the institution. It's got to
resonate, it's got to make sense, and it's got to be comfortably who you are. That
doesn't mean you don't redefine it in some way or have some very high
expectations for where you want to go with it.
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The Marketing Strategy leader says she is just beginning her work with
Midcentral's branding and integrated marketing. "Brand loyalty is built over time and
it is not just about advertising," she said. "If we are tme to who we are, and we are
consistent with how we answer the phones and how we teach in the classrooms, etc.,
we'll build a strong brand. It's every touch people have with you." The leader of
Midcentral's marketing strategy said, "I love my work. I like being a change agent, not
knowing what we're coming into. Here, the staff are all very smart, type-A people. They
say, 'Let's embrace change and go!' I'm saying, 'Let's stay focused. We have some
fragmentation. We must keep focused on the end-game.' "
Public Relations. Although the Media Relations and Public Relations staffs
generally focus more on stories than strategy, the assistant VP for the area said, "Our
hearts are in the right place, and we're team players. We reinforce the brand messages;
we tell stories that illustrate the brand tenets." She said one of the biggest barriers her
staff faces is that people perceive "marketing" as the strategic people, so they think
marketing should be dominant over all. "I have heard the media staff criticize the
marketing strategy team, saying, 'They are always picking our brains and putting our
material in their plans.' But I know we're terrible at plans. We think in paragraphs, not
spreadsheets." She said the strategy group asks, "When are we doing it? Who are we
targeting? How is it timed with events?" Midcentral's writers and media specialists-all
former joumalists-do not think that way, she said. "We need to build mutual
understanding and respect for each area," the assistant VP said.
Eventually, the assistant VP for Public Relations hopes her Media Relations team
will more closely link the timing of press releases with events or with specific strategic
efforts. "We're not there yet, though we do work to time things appropriately when it is
possible," she said. When the Advertising staff buys paid ads that allow free
"advertorial" space, her staff writes the text for the free space. Generally, however, the
Public Relations group focuses on news-related press releases. The campus community
has trouble distinguishing Media Relations from Marketing Communications at times.
"People don't understand the difference between advertising and media relations," said
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the assistant VP for Marketing Communications, whose staff handles paid advertising.
"People are always asking me, 'Can you get me a story in the New York TimesT "
Although the Public Relations leader said she and her team were hesitant at first
about moving to Enrollment Management, they have found their niche. "Just because
you're integrated and you have a goal to increase enrollment doesn't mean you're
soliciting students on the street with press releases," she said. In fact, the PR staff
uses standard news judgment to determine what stories to spend their time writing.
"Having all been joumalists, we are skeptical. People have a harder time convincing us
that something makes a good story. We are gatekeepers, and we must ensure the stories
we present to the media are worthy of placement in the media," she explained.
The VP for Enrollment Management understands that different components of his
division play different roles. "The Media Relations team is not into enrollment
management; that doesn't energize them. They care about prominence for [Midcentral].
Others are energized by other aspects. For Media Relations, achieving direct enrollment
goals is not their primary goal." The main thmst for the Media Relations staff is to place
significant stories about Midcentral in local, regional, and national media. "The vast
majority of our media coverage is local, which is actually good for us because the vast
majority of our students are local," said the assistant VP for Public Relations. "Roughly
75 percent of our students come from [our city] and the nearby counties."
Stories take time to produce, and the assistant VP for Public Relations said she
would like her staff to work on fewer stories "but get more hits." If one of her writers
commits to a story, it might take 20 hours, she said. "We need results from it. Can we
afford to spend that time and not get anything?" The university has received national
press coverage about an unusual housing arrangement it made with other universities
and about a major renovation of one of its buildings. "When we have a story that we feel
has some relevance beyond our local market, we pitch it," she said. The staff does not
spend much time promoting faculty research because we are primarily a teaching
university. "The faculty do some research, but we're not competing in that arena," the
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PR leader said. "We can't compete with area universities when we [only] have [a few]
doctoral programs.
The Public Relations office handles intemal and executive communication, and
this has become more of an emphasis, said the assistant VP for Public Relations. "We
take pride in the time and effort we have put into developing an intemal communication
stmcture. It's still in progress, but we're definitely paying more attention to our intemal
community." A new director of Executive Communication was scheduled to be hired in
the summer of 2003 to support administrative communication needs, she said. This
position was created by deemphasizing events and reallocating an events position, she
explained. The budget in her office has not increased. "Public Relations-we are dirt
cheap. I have not asked for dollars for years," she said.
Enrollment Services. A central purpose of Admissions is to elevate Midcentral's
position in the high school senior market so that the university has sufficient demand and
a pool of qualified applicants, said the VP for Enrollment Management. Midcentral
purchases lists of prospective undergraduate students and markets directly to them.
"The freshman class has doubled since five years ago, from 1,200 to 2,200," the VP said.
"Real marketing for undergraduates relates to pricing and campus life." Part of the
marketing to recmit students is "place-bound," the VP said, and the staff targets certain
populations by geography. "We have a densely populated recmiting area with a heavy
alumni base in our region," explained the associate VP for Enrollment Management.
The university uses sophisticated qualifying methods to help a limited staff focus
on the best prospects, the associate VP said. "We focus on high-yield groups with a 98
percent predicted likelihood of attendance," the president said. "They get the $7
brochure; that's where we focus our staff time and resources." The assistant VP for
Public Relations added, "We must reach out to fewer people, but the right people. We
know who's most likely to come." The recmiting staff uses highly selected direct mail,
targeted for the School of Music and the School of Theater because "those schools are
very competitive," said the vice president. Targeted direct mail also is used for the law
school. For graduate programs, the Enrollment Management staff targets specific
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markets-generally entry-level to mid-level professionals. To attract "Goal H" part-time,
adult, and graduate students, the EM staff partners with the advertising team to promote
the various programs.
Much like in Marketing Communications, "the need for agility drove us to
outsourcing," said the VP for Enrollment Management. An outside company provides
recmiting fulfillment, which means it sends publications or materials requested by
prospective students within 24 hours, he said. Intemally, an integrated inquiry
management team ensures processes mn smoothly. "We couldn't provide the same level
of speed and service in-house," the VP explained. Now, the staff is moving toward a
centralized graduate and undergraduate response and application center, which also will
be outsourced, he said. All the work is driven by a core philosophy, the president said.
"We segment, we do yield management, and we use integrated marketing to shape the
message."
Alumni and Career Networks. As the Enrollment Management group expanded,
added alumni relations, and continued to research alumni, the VP for the area saw clearly
that traditional alumni activities were not appropriate for Midcentral's former students.
"Students work during school, they don't have time for as many social and sports
activities during their undergraduate years, and they are eaming degrees to get jobs," the
VP for Enrollment Management said. With the combining of Alumni Relations with
Career Networks, the staff began finding new ways to engage and to serve the alumni80 percent of whom still lived nearby.
Midcentral has several career-based networking groups, including ones focused
on business, technology, and the arts, said the associate VP for Alumni and Career
Networks. "We cancelled the standard golf event we had always had for alumni, but
we've had tremendous success bringing them together to talk about their careers," she
said. The university offers assistance with job searches, and it links alumni with current
students in creative ways, the associate VP said. "We're enrolling students, tying them
into the career network, helping graduates get jobs, helping alumni move up in their
careers and eam master's degrees, and encouraging them to come back to speak. It's
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very cyclical," said the assistant VP for Public Relations. She described the activities that
occur through the Career Networks.
They host events. For example, I spoke on a 10-person panel for the Marketing
Networking Group. We had about 150 students and alumni who talked about
what companies we work for, the qualifications needed, the job process, how to
find a job, all different aspects of marketing, etc. Interpersonal communication is
the most personal form of communication; if people have a great experience at an
event, you have them for life. It's the same if you talk to them directly. Direct
mail, they can throw away.
The president said Alumni Relations was moved into Enrollment Management
"to create the communication channels to encourage alumni to become word-of-mouth
advocates of [Midcentral's] educational programs. We use our communication network
to say, 'Get a degree or tell a friend,' " he said. The associate VP for Alumni and Career
Networks said the staff is still working toward full integration through all alumni
magazines and publications. However, "we do have ongoing alumni communication,
events and promotions." Direct mail is used to invite alumni to events and to solicit gifts
for the annual fund, which provides unrestricted gifts to the university's operating budget.
Currently, less than 10 percent of alumni are donors.
Integration of Marketing Efforts
Midcentral does not have a cross-functional integrated marketing team, but
the staff members in Enrollment Management reach across divisions to work with
individuals in other areas of the university. One area specifically designed to reach
out to other offices and department is Editorial Services within the Marketing
Communications area. "I conceived of it as a way to help the institution outside of
alumni publications. We've had a lot of fits and starts with Development. I am currently
working on a proposal with our Development people for us to help them produce their
publications, whatever they need," said the VP for Marketing Communications. "That
would help in a couple of ways: we'd be able to more closely integrate messages being
sent and we could elevate the overall look and feel of their publications."
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The Office of Development has new leadership, which opens a door to a new
relationship between Enrollment Management and Development. The Marketing
Communications leader said, "We need to build bridges, and they need to bring us in on
their publications. We could integrate them much more intentionally into what we do,
the big picture, and that would be fabulous." Several areas of the university produce their
own publications, said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "As much as we
try to centralize through Marketing Communications, we have no university mandate."
Enrollment Management handles solicitation for the annual fund as part of
Alumni Relations, mainly through direct marketing, said the VP for Enrollment
Management. "We already had the expertise. The old way, in Development, aspiring
fundraisers were trying to leam direct marketing, which was not their skill set," he said.
On the alumni side, "we do pretty well with the look and feel. They are similar but not
exactly like Admissions publications," the VP said. "Our messages and brand themes are
integrated." Because Admissions publications are driven completely by the Enrollment
Management group, all Admissions communication is highly integrated and consistent,
he said.
Athletics has historically been "off on their own, but we've made some serious
inroads," said the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "We've worked really
hard to bridge the gaps with them." Athletics has new leadership, and some members of
the Enrollment Management staff have begun talking to the leaders in Athletics about
their challenges - such as filling seats at games and figuring out who they want to appeal
to in their marketing. "We did a survey for them," the assistant VP said. "We asked,
why are people at events? What are they thinking about?" The Marketing Communications staff has worked with an Athletics marketing representative on a marketing plan
and has introduced her to a small advertising agency. "We've offered to pay for it," the
assistant VP said. "In the beginning, that's OK, especially if they come to value what
we're giving them."
Athletics now reports to the president. "They are inside the integrated marketing
plan," the president said. "If you play Division I sports and don't use that opportunity of
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national TV coverage, you're crazy. We share messages during games, finally. It was a
fight for a long time." The president specifically mentioned that the winning basketball
team is a part of the university's marketing plan. "We're Division I. Through televised
games, we're in 70 million households with that team every year. It's a carrier wave for
other messages."
The assistant VP for Public Relations works closely with the sports information
director (SID) when needed, she said. "If the institution hires a new Athletics director or
coach, we'd work together. The SID will deal with sports reporters. But I am the official
university spokesperson." The Marketing Strategy Group and the staff in the Marketing
Strategy area also work with Athletics on special projects.
From a legal standpoint, the campus stores are separate from Midcentral
University. The marketing representative in Athletics has guided the store leaders about
proper logo and signature use, and about using the logo only on appropriate products, the
assistant VP for Marketing Communications said. "You can't mess with the font or the
signature logo," she said.
The president said marketing leaders also "want to get the colleges roped back
into a brand identity that is consistent." The law school "was the first on board; the dean
said they were scrapping the old images and other marks," said the VP for Enrollment
Management. The business school was slower to participate in the integrated marketing
process, but the VP said those partnerships have improved as the marketing staff has
helped them find greater success in their recmiting efforts.
Academic departments and colleges have been reluctant partners with the
Enrollment Communications office since the 1980s when a chief academic officer
centralized the printing budget. "Some departments had their own recmiting
publications, but after that, they had to go through our area," said the assistant VP for
Marketing Communications. "The move was unpopular at the time," she said. The
assistant VP said her staff currently has leverage with departments because they have the
printing funds, "which is, in some ways, better than a presidential mandate. If things
changed tomorrow and we didn't have the recmiting budget, it would be fascinating to
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see who would talk to us and who would not." Some areas still handle their own
publications, using their own funds, and they do not always follow the university's
graphics or message standards, the assistant VP explained. "One area that doesn't work
closely with us produced postcards that were good from a graphics standpoint, but had an
embarrassing headline. We would have caught that. You can communicate brand
standards all you want, but there's no substitute for good judgment," she said.
One challenge for the marketing staff occurs when they are called to market
projects already developed without their input. "Marketing is often after the fact," said
the assistant VP for Marketing Communications. "Projects are brought to you in a panic
mode. 'You know, we've got to fill 700 beds in this new dorm and we don't know how
we're going to do it,' for example. It's a crazy way to go about doing this." She said
even when the projects are high quality and marketable, she prefers that the marketing
team be apprised early in the decision-making process so they can help think through the
implications. "I would like us to be a little more deliberate in the future about where we
choose to go and what we choose to do. That will permit us to spend more time and
effort and really take what we do to the next level," she said.
Assessing Integrated Marketing
The vice president for Enrollment Management, as the liaison to the Marketing
Committee of the Board of Tmstees, ensures that an annual cycle of planning and review
occurs throughout the four formal committee meetings. This planning cycle is managed
intemally by the individuals who report directly to the vice president, through review of
their area and individual goals, he said. The bottom line, however, is results. "Did we
enroll the number of students we set out to enroll? Was the quality and diversity mix
right? Did we grow the programs we meant to grow? Did we leverage our financial
aid?" Since the Vision 2006 plan was presented in 1997, total enrollment at Midcentral
has increased 30 percent. "That is how we measure success," the VP said. "We
redefined enrollment management, but the keynote is still enrollment, or 'head count.'
We also tum a profit. No margin, no mission."
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In addition to tracking enrollment success, the university collects and monitors
information about gifts and donors. Enrollment Management is primarily concemed
about annual fund donations and about alumni engagement. "With our area handling the
annual fund, we've had our first two consecutive years of gains in the past decade.
We've also seen a 10-15 percent increase in dollars in the last two years, although the
percentage of givers is not up appreciably." With the rapid enrollment growth of the
university, he said, "even holding the percentage at 7 to 8 percent is a stmggle." About
30 percent of Midcentral alumni graduated since 1990, he said. The university has had
increased retention of donors, the average gift size has increased, and "we have reduced
the cost to raise a dollar," the VP for Enrollment Management said.
Making comparisons to previous years regarding the annual fund is extremely
difficuk, the VP said. "Development didn't track most of this info, so we don't know
how the annual fund was before we had it." Now, the research office tracks alumni
participation, communication, online subscriptions, attendance at events, and more. "We
think it will take three years of working the alumni front to make real progress," he said.
"Alumni success is about market positioning. Enrollment outcomes are the result of
market positioning. Career outcomes are the result of positioning in the employer
network." The VP described "market position" as "share, programming, visibility,
competitive overlap, and extemal rankings."
Using research, Midcentral leaders have begun tracking the university's position
in the state in specific areas, the VP said.
Nobody knew that we had the largest master's enrollment in [our state]. I had
to find that out through research. That's market share for the graduate program.
How many total students are in master's programs in the state, and what
percentage do we have? We've had growth at the graduate level. Enrollment
is up in the School of Education, but it's growing because the market is growing.
Which programs are growing where the market is holding steady? Computer
science is growing even though the market is flat.
Some areas are more difficult to assess because of the nature of their work,
explained the assistant vice president for Marketing Communications.
Media Relations sometimes feels they are a hard fit [in Enrollment Management]
because the rest of us are so enrollment-driven. They have more challenge in
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metrics. Theirs is a far longer process, but it is key; it is cmcial. They don't
always see immediate outcomes. It's harder for them to understand why they
need to sit in a two-hour meeting when ultimately we're talking about enrollment
goals. They can measure stories and track improvements in this or that, but it
might be harder for them tie their goals to the overall measures. We have the same
problem in advertising.
The assistant VP for Public Relations said her area does no research, but she and her staff
are using various assessment methods. "Before our goal was story, story, story. Place it
and never look back; it's not our culture to look back. Now we track who's calling,
among other things, and we use the data to see who is too busy, where can we shift work,
who needs help. We track the value of our news clips. Tracking is opening our eyes."
Although Midcentral's leaders said they are always working to improve integrated
marketing, they also believe it works. The assistant VP for Public Relations said.
Is marketing successful? Absolutely! About six or seven years ago, the
predecessor to [our Marketing Strategy leader] spoke in so much marketing
jargon, no one understood what she was talking about. We had no idea what to
do. It was like meeting with an alien. She didn't last long here; we were not
ready then. But we are ready now. Marketing is critical to our future.
The assistant VP for Marketing Strategy said, "I don't think we've achieved it at all, but
we're on the right track." And the president added, "Marketing is interactive; try, see, try
again. We must consistently do it, keep iterating, keep getting better." Midcentral has
been successful for many different reasons, including quality teaching and facilities, said
the Marketing Strategy leader. "From the graduate standpoint, we have the product right:
quality part-time education for people who have to work. When others get the product
right, it will get tough."
Midcentral Case Summary
Sevier (1997b) said when most university presidents request a marketing plan,
they actually want a plan that addresses only promotion. The process of implementing
integrated marketing extends beyond promotion at Midcentral because the president
understands that marketing is more than promotion. He has given his support to an
unusual organizational configuration that allows the Enrollment Management staff to
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have greater than average impact on alumni relations, career networks, and professional
and graduate education. The university is driven by strategic planning and by a longterm vision for its future, and the president is a clear leader in the visioning process. M
processes at Midcentral are driven by a strong marketing leader, the vice president for
Enrollment Management. The marketing planning process is not cross-functional but is
driven by the staff members integrated under the Enrollment Management umbrella.
This university has not integrated Development into its marketing organization, as
recommended by Sevier and Johnson (1999). Although integrating the major-gift
fundraising arm of the university with the marketing and recmiting segments would be
challenging, the university has seen an improvement in annual fund gifts since this small
segment of fundraising was merged into the Enrollment Management area. With the
challenges of a relatively small endowment and high dependence on tuition, Midcentral
could benefit from a boost in major gifts-which could reduce its tuition dependence by a
few percentage points. This large university is driven by enrollment growth, with 92
percent of its operating budget dependent on tuition. It has chosen to integrate areas to
focus on recmiting students, with special attention on part-time, adult, and graduate
students because they provide higher marginal tuition revenue.
Midcentral has a fast-moving administration, although comments and intemal
documents indicate that faculty may not be keeping up with the pace of change. The
change processes within this university appear to move faster than in a typical university
setting, and this creates some fmstration for faculty when they are not included in the
decision-making for the university. Within the Enrollment Management staff it appears
that all the integrated areas have bought into the vision for Midcentral and for their role in
its future. Despite some continuing integration challenges, and the lack of a crossdivisional marketing coordination team, the university's marketing wing seems to be
thriving. As indicated by several comments, a strong, decisive leader in Enrollment
Management is a key part of marketing's success.
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Case Study 2: South National University
University Overview
South National University is a doctoral intensive, private institution in the
southeastern region of the United States. Located in a mid-sized city on a 340-acre
campus, this university has passed its century mark. It has a long association with a
mainstream Protestant denomination, but no formal ties. Although it qualifies for the
doctoral intensive category, university leaders describe South National as a liberal arts
university focusing on academic excellence. The university offers 34 academic majors
through two undergraduate schools, a law school, a medical school, a graduate school of
management, a graduate school of arts and sciences, and a divinity school. The medical
school is on a separate campus.
South National University enrolls more than 6,000 students, including 75 percent
from out of state. The university has 48,000 living alumni. Some college guides describe
the student body as conservative and the campus as a close-knit community where
service to others is valued. Approximately 350 faculty teach undergraduates, and campus
leaders and students value the faculty's diversity. Quality teaching is a top priority, and
the academic environment is considered extremely challenging.
The university has a 10.5-to-one student-teacher ratio. The SAT range for
students entering this university is approximately 1250 to 1350 (America's Best, 2003).
South National University is ranked among the top 100 "Best National UniversitiesDoctoral" by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" guide (America's
Best, 2003). The law school and the graduate and undergraduate business programs also
are nationally ranked. The university's athletes participate in Division I sports.
South National University's endowment is approximately $750 million. A $600
million capital campaign has an expected completion date of June 30, 2006. The budget
for 2003-04 is $235 million, excluding the medical school-an additional $500 million.
Tuition comprises approximately 70 percent of operating revenues. Undergraduate
tuition for 2003-04 is approximately $27,000.
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Developing Integrated Marketing
Mission, Vision, and Plan
Standing on the Quad, amid the stately trees and the red-brick buildings, the
campus of South National University seems much older than its 47 years. In the mid1800s, the institution began in a mral southern town as a religious, liberal arts school
with a tradition of attracting first-generation college students. A generous gift of land
and substantial perpetual annual funding from an area foundation allowed the college to
move to a nearby larger city in 1956, but campus leaders maintained the school's
traditional architecture. Hidden within the classic facilities are classrooms where
personalized instmction is the priority and technology is considered critical to leaming.
And hidden amid a lush forest in a growing region of the country is a university that has
transformed itself from a small, regional school to a top-tier national university within
two decades. The president described South National.
We are like a college and a university. [South National] feels and operates like a
high quality liberal arts college. Any anomaly in higher education is a
disadvantage because people don't know where you fit. We have [4,000]
undergraduates, yet we have Division I sports with two recent winning football
seasons. We've been in the top 10 in the Sears Directors Cup.
The director of Admissions added, "[This university] still has a very southem feeling in a
positive way-graciousness, community-plus a 'northeast' academic reputation."
Leading the distinctive university is a long-term president and an experienced
team of administrators who "have a long history and are well-established," the president
said. "We have tenure together and work informally quite well. Few things reach me as
a surprise." The president has led South National University for two decades; the
national average tenure for presidents at private universities is seven years, according to
the Chronicle of Higher Education. He was president when the university ended its
formal denominational relationship, and he has weathered a number of storms because of
his school's historical religious ties-from dancing to gay rights to academic freedom
issues. The president said his strong collaboration with the tmstees has allowed him to
persist in the top job. He also works closely with the provost and faculty, and he has
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maintained the university's focus on students and academic excellence as he led four
major phases of strategic planning.
The first planning initiative (1988-92) emphasized space needs and the physical
configuration of the campus. The second major planning effort focused on strengthening
the law schools and professional schools to raise their quality to that of the undergraduate
departments. Also during the second wave, the president and vice president for finance
and administration changed the campus approach to planning. They created three
ongoing, institutional planning processes: (1) annual departmental reports to the provost
that are used to make recommendations on major academic initiatives; (2) a master
physical/campus plan; and (3) an institutional financial plan used to make 10-year
financial projections based on extemal economic factors.
The third wave of strategic planning (1992-94) was initiated by the president and
VP for finance and administration but led by the provost. The program planning
committee researched the needs and wrote the later report. This campus-wide process
was informed by student satisfaction data and information about faculty needs. A report
outlining academic goals and recommendations for the next decade emerged, and it
resulted in a major initiative to improve undergraduate education at South National
University-a plan for the class of 2000 that has extended beyond that graduating class.
It is now called the undergraduate plan.
An undergraduate focus seems appropriate at South National University, where
the undergraduate school of arts and sciences is described in the mission statement as
"the center of the university's academic life; through it, the university carries on the
tradition of preparing men and women for personal enrichment, enlightened citizenship,
and professional life." The mission statement for South National continues:
[The university] is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in
graduate and professional education. Its distinctiveness in its pursuit of its mission
derives from its private, coeducational, and residential character; its size and
location; and its [religious] affiliation. Each of these factors constitutes a
significant aspect of the unique character of the institution.
South National's "pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts" lay at the heart of the
comprehensive undergraduate plan, which focused on first-year seminars, smaller classes.
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collaborative research with faculty, study-abroad opportunities, new course offerings, and
a computer-enriched curriculum. The university provided a laptop computer and printer
to each student, raising tuition to pay for them, and ran a fiber-optic cable to every
residence hall and classroom. "For an institution with a liberal arts culture, we go most
dramatically and wholeheartedly into technology," said the president. The specific
strategies to enhance undergraduate education resulted in priorities for the $600 million
capital campaign launched in 1999. "The [undergraduate] plan was one of the best PR
opportunities," said the vice president for University Advancement. "We got great
publicity, including PR in technical reports, and we were named first among 'most wired'
schools for about two years."
As the third wave of planning and implementation was ending in the mid-1990s,
the university jumped onto the national scene by moving from the No. 1 ranking in its
regional category to the top tier of "Best National Universities" as published in the U.S.
News and World Report's (.USNWR) guide to "America's Best Colleges." It its first
showing on the new list, the school ranked in the top tier between No. 26 and No. 57.
The move occurred because the university added new doctoral programs, which changed
its Camegie classification. "South National has become one of the very best national
universities in less than 10 years," said a consultant who works closely with the
university and co-chairs the Integrated Marketing Committee. The president explained
his perspective on the popular college rankings system.
U.S. News is a sort of "consumer reports" of higher education. It's wrong to
manage an institution to change the rankings. If we had a choice, we would still
be No. 1 in the regional category. Now we're in the "best in the world" category.
It's tougher. Camegie decides that. But some of the qualities required to rank
well are important to us. For example, we want to protect the integrity of our
undergraduate program, with its 10-to-one student-faculty ratio.
At the time that South National moved from regional to national status, its leaders
were focused on enhancing graduate and professional programs. "We've had a natural
evolution toward better and better faculty, and an evolution toward higher quality," the
president said. The Creative Services director explained that the reputation and stature of
the faculty, the positions alumni hold in society, and the medical school's research have
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enhanced the university's image as well. "We are a national research university, but not
a huge research university," said the VP for Advancement. "We have a rigorous
curriculum that [our dean of the college of arts and sciences] has never tampered with
except to make it stronger. We are still relatively affordable. We have quality and price
going for us." Also, she added, the provost is hiring a national faculty with a research
perspective who love to teach.
In addition, the school has sought or created opportunities to become more
nationally known. "We had a [national political] debate at [South National]. We had
a huge increase in new-student applications that year. In the 1990s, we had great
basketball success, especially with one of our graduates. We'd had the undergraduate
plan, and we were 'looking for the next thing,' " said the VP for University
Advancement.
The president has described the university's vision as wanting to "be on the short
list of the best educational institutions." In an alumni magazine article in 2001, he said
the fact that South National has emerged into this cluster of institutions "is one of higher
education's most remarkable modem stories." The long-time university leader is often
given the credit for driving the university toward the top. "[The president] had a vision
for [South National] as one of the preeminent liberal arts universities in the nation. The
strategic plan fell out of that," said the university's consultant. To propel the strategic
plan forward, the president said the university must recmit and retain top faculty and
attract and enroll top students.
During 2000, the President's Cabinet, deans. Board of Tmstees, alunmi, and
faculty participated in preliminary meetings regarding a new long-range plan. Input from
students and prospective students also was gathered. As a result of those meetings, the
leaders created a set of nine "critical success factors" designed to help the university
continue on its path toward the vision of becoming an elite national university. The nine
elements were based on predictions about the future of higher education, consensus on
the university's vision as it moves into the future, and an understanding of South
National's strengths and weaknesses, according to the March 2001 long-range planning
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document. The President's Cabinet and others continue to develop full-blown action
plans for all the factors, the consultant said. The critical success factors are:
1. Establish and maintain [South National's] point(s) of difference (positioning).
2. Increase academic excellence.
3. Increase financial resources.
4. Increase marketing and visibility.
5. Stay at the forefront of technology.
6. Ensure athletics teams are competitive.
7. Enhance organizational effectiveness.
8. Develop strategic alliances.
9. Fully understand the implications of [South National University's] heritage
and ethical foundations.
Two critical success factors designed to achieve the university's vision
specifically deal with marketing: No. 1 (positioning) and No. 4 (marketing and visibility).
"The strategic plan and marketing plan fit well," said the director of Admissions.
"There's a common understanding of what we are. Some of the same people worked on
both." The Advancement VP said the president is "very attuned" to how strategic
planning and marketing fit together. "The nine factors are tied to the vision, and the
marketing plan is tied to the critical success factors," the consultant said. Marketing is
critical to the vision's success, according to the Creative Services director.
We've been here a long time. In the past we were perceived as a small, religious
school where people had to be really smart to get in and they could get a good job
when they graduated. Now some see us as a "Southem Ivy." Yet it's essential to
have a marketing plan to tell our story to people who need to hear it. We can't
rely on Uncle Bob or Aunt Mary to tell it. We must build our own case, and we
must do that through marketing.
The next long-range plan is in progress, and the leaders have not yet engaged the campus
community at the level they did for the undergraduate plan. The university hired a new
provost about a year ago, and he will be a key player in the continuing development of
the fourth wave of strategic planning, explained the university's director of Institutional
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Research and Academic Administration. Whatever direction the leaders go, said the VP
for Advancement, marketing will be involved.
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
The president took the first steps toward integrated marketing when he became
South National's leader. "When I was first appointed nearly 20 years ago, 1 received lots
of letters of welcome. Every piece of letterhead was different. I had [the university's]
bar logo designed and became the chief logo cop. We fought a war of attrition but kept
promoting it." He believed that creating a consistent graphic identity would begin to
unify the campus.
Two decades later, with the same standard logo firmly entrenched, the president
believes the university is dealing with different issues. "We are in the position as a
regional and state institution that we are now required to be seen as a national resource in
higher education. It's more important to talk about the brand," he said. Also, the
president explained, the educational landscape has changed, and the "South has become
a place where the action is. It's had fast growth rates, and the schools in the area have
knock-out quality." The changes in the South impacted the university's national
reputation, and they also helped set the bar higher, he said. "With the consumer
movement, people have grand expectations and are shopping for the best colleges."
The "best colleges" rankings in college guidebooks are one measure by which
families judge the quality of universities, according to the VP for Advancement. South
National's leaders hope to influence the reputation rankings using marketing. When
South National held the first-place ranking in its "Best Colleges" regional category, it
consistently scored a 3.9 out of 5.0 on the academic reputation rating voted on by
presidents, provosts, and admissions directors at similar universities in the South. When
it moved to the national university category, its reputation score dropped to one of the
lowest among the higher priced, competitive private institutions such as Harvard,
Princeton, and Yale. "We're working on that. Despite that rating, we rank very well
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overall," said the university's consultant. The vice president for Advancement said
improving the academic reputation score is a goal.
One of the reasons the president focuses on marketing is because he hopes it can
impact the perceptions of the university among important peer groups and other key
constituents. "If you have a respected name, it must be protected, nurtured. You must
understand the fundamental messages that are associated with that name," the president
said. Since 1941, the medical school associated with South National had been named in
honor of an individual. Although the medical school was well respected, university
leaders believed it would gain in prestige if it carried the name of the university.
"We changed the name of the medical school," the president said, adding:
The campaign to change the name began intemally, with the medical school
faculty. They were putting the [previous] name out there, and it didn't have the
same credibility as [South National]. When we proposed the name change in
1997, we received a standing ovation from the faculty. The next year, after
touting the new name of the medical center, the U.S. News rankings jumped.
What is in a name? Everything.
In addition to enhancing the university image and protecting its name, the
president has strengthened marketing's hand because he wants to ensure the university
attracts top students and donors who will keep the school accessible. "As the price goes
up, are we disenfranchising our primary constituents? Though we're still need-blind, we
don't want to be the school for rich, marginal kids or just the school for middle- to uppermiddle kids. We want to show diversity," said the VP for Advancement. Although the
university's undergraduate enrollment is capped by the Board of Tmstees, the director
of Admissions said the competition for top students is fierce. "Admissions officers have
gone from ivory tower gatekeepers to marketers, even at the most selective colleges," she
said in a spring 2002 alumni magazine interview. "The consumer movement has had a
tremendous impact on the worid of admissions. We are all seeking the same bright,
committed young people and that does make the competition keen, even when we have
many more applications than we have spaces in the class."
Because of the positive impact marketing has had on South National's enrollment
and image, the Board of Tmstees discussed the need to enhance marketing at a retreat in
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2000. "At the Tmstees' planning meeting every four to five years, they have a weekend
meeting where they talk about [South National's] strengths and weaknesses. They saw
marketing as a strength as we had tried to bring messages closer together. One of their
top five issues was to raise visibility and awareness; this mandate came from the
Tmstees."
In 1997, the president combined public relations and fundraising into University
Advancement. The VP for public affairs, who had become the university's first female
vice president in 1988, took on the additional responsibilities. "It's a very powerful
combination," the president said. "1 decided to put the areas together to simplify
administration. [The vice president] can do both. She does outreach phenomenally.
She sits on the administrative oversight committee that deals with Admissions and
Academics. She's a star. 1 have all the confidence in the world in [her] and in our
organizational stmcture." And one purpose for the stmcture is clear. "The public
perception matters," the president said. "We do marketing studies and we hire marketing
help to help us gauge and improve the perceptions of [South National]."
Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
The formal name of the coordinating group for marketing at South National is the
Integrated Marketing Committee. The organizational stmcture within which the team
leader resides is University Advancement. Staff and administrators discuss the brand,
positioning, marketing, communication, promotion, public relations, and integrated
marketing in relation to the process of promoting the university. "When I talk to faculty
about the position of the university, I discuss the central strategic question at South
National: 'What does it mean to be a national institution?' This is a question about who
you are and how you're perceived. Based on the changes you make, you are perceived
differentiy."
hi general, the president is comfortable discussing marketing in the higher
education environment. "Do we talk about this? Yes. But not because we're trying to
give lectures on marketing. We're trying to change our self understanding through
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marketing and communication with our intemal audiences, then the extemal worid." The
VP for Advancement explained, "With marketing, there's some skepticism among
faculty. It's easy to talk about the 'customer' among the administration. Sometimes we
say consumer or customers, other times we don't, hi general, we use the language,
'integrated marketing.' At times we won't use the word marketing, but instead will say
communications."
When speaking to a business school conference, the president said he "talked the
marketing language. I do think the word has lost its sting; it doesn't connote the
problems it used to." The Creative Services director added, "Marketing was considered
nasty, but that has changed in the past several years." The director of Admissions
disagrees. "Marketing is still not a good word in Admissions," she said. "I still bristle at
that word; we're academic. I don't see myself in the business aspect of it. It's almost
subconscious." The director of the News Service said his staff usually talks about
marketing or integrated marketing. However, "with faculty, those discussions don't
come up. With faculty, we discuss awareness for or attention for their research," he said.
The challenge of choosing the proper term may ease over time as new faculty are hired,
the Creative Services director said. "The younger faculty are more accepting of
marketing," she said.
The phrase "integrated marketing" is most often used to describe the marketing
process at South National, "with the hope that people will take to heart 'integrated,' "
the Creative Services director said. "It was dis-integrated." She defined integrated
marketing as "integrating all branches of the institutional community with their various
messages and in a way that's consistent and accurate. Everyone saying the same thing.
Publications looking reasonably similar. Leaming the same information, using the same
information." From her perspective, "It's communication and promotion-the message,
name awareness, brand awareness-with the ultimate goal of establishing ourselves as one
of the top schools in the country." She said the other aspects of marketing-product,
price, and place-are not the responsibility of University Advancement.
Integrated marketing is promotion, not the other 3 Ps. We're not over product,
price and place. I don't think the M Committee would have any influence over
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product, price, or place. We're not charged by the board to handle those areas.
Those decisions are not tied into promotion. A lot of people think promotion
would be easier if the price was lower. What we have to do is take the price and
do the best we can with it-promote it as an investment.
The vice president for University Advancement agreed that integrated marketing
is primarily promotion, although she said she does have some influence in the areas of
product and price through her roles on the Admissions Management Committee and the
Budget Advancement Committee. She said, "Integrated marketing is ensuring that the
core values of the institution are communicated accurately and consistently to all the
various constituents." The president said integrated marketing is effective because South
National has a quality product with superior undergraduate programs. "Substance is
more important than style-student outcomes, climate, and culture. What we say is tme,
and that's the most important thing." The Admissions director also believes in the need
to paint an accurate picture of the university's academic power. "In our day and time,
marketing is very important. It makes me somewhat sad, and I'm sorry, but marketing is
a reality."
Organizing for Integrated Marketing
Development of the Marketing Stmcture
The vice president for University Advancement said the move to consolidate
Development and Public Relations began about 21 years ago. The Conununications
Office was separate and was led by the assistant to the president. "The staff spent a
majority of their time promoting faculty achievements and academic events, which was
great," she said. "But we needed to expand on their work." The office changed to Public
Affairs in 1987, including media relations, the university editor's office and the print
shop, the VP said. At that time, she served as director of Public Information. For many
years, no Creative Services office existed. Public Information staff produced the alumni
magazine and handled media relations. In 1988, the director was named vice president
for Public Affairs, becoming the university's first female vice president. Upon the
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retirement of the Development vice president in 1996, the VP for Public Affairs added
the title of interim VP for University Relations.
The president named the female vice president to the VP for University
Advancement role in May 1997, combining the Public Affairs Division and the
University Relations (fundraising) Division. Reporting directiy to the vice president for
University Advancement in the University Relations Division are the associate VP for
capital support, assistant VPs for university relations, major gifts, alumni activities/
annual funds, and development, and an advancement technologies director. Seventeen
professional staff members plus support staff work in this division. This team is
responsible for reaching the $600 million capital campaign goal.
In the Public Affairs Division within University Advancement are the assistant
VP/director of Creative Services (eight-person staff) and the assistant VP for Public
Affairs/director of Media Relations (four-person staff). The Creative Services director
said having University Relations and Public Affairs together has advantages. "[Our vice
president] knows of particular initiatives we can support through our publications and
stories. When there's a conflict-a story we want to do that [the University Relations
staff) doesn't want us to do because it might make some donor mad-[the VP] helps
resolve it."
Although creating University Advancement brought together two key areas public relations and fundraising - other areas of the university with critical marketing
roles are not integrated. "We have this issue-should we centralize all efforts? Or are
some services better provided separately but efficientiy? We're somewhere in the
evolutionary process," the president said. The consultant explained the challenge.
Each school's organization is different. Each has a role to play in marketing.
The issues break across the silos. Who has to get the message out there?
Everyone. Direct mail alone won't be enough. The university needs to make
thousands of impressions with the same basic message through many different
channels.
Despite the somewhat decentralized marketing efforts, the president said, "In a certain
sense, everyone does marketing... just not always thoughtfully or systematically."
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Not everyone agrees on the level of centralized leadership required for successful
integrated marketing. The Creative Services director believes there needs to be a
centralized marketing office, "one for the whole university, through which all must go for
discussion and approval. One area." The consultant who works closely with University
Advancement said.
We've accepted the fact that [one person] can't be in charge; that does not work.
We just try to keep people from doing it wrong. [The Advancement VP] cleariy
has evolved as a person who makes everything happen. If South National had a
Chief Marketing Officer, how could you tell the medical school what to do?
Instead, the university has someone who coordinates the effort with the med
school, athletics, etc.
Partners in Marketing
The medical school, with its teaching hospital that is not owned by the university,
forms a regional medical center and has a separate marketing and fundraising arm, said
the VP for University Advancement. Public relations for the medical school is funded by
the hospital, and the medical center's focus is filling the beds and increasing revenue, she
said. The medical center has writers, seven to eight designers, and several photographers
to handle its publications and public relations-a staff larger than the university's Creative
Services. The CEO of the medical center corporation is a senior vice president to whom
the dean of the medical school reports. The medical school moved from its mral location
to the nearby mid-sized city 15 years before the university relocated there, and it has
received national recognition for some of its research.
The business school began in 1949 with its own dean. It received the nation's
most prestigious business accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate
Schools of Business in 1954. However, when it later became a department within the
undergraduate college in 1970 without its own dean, it relinquished its accreditation. The
Graduate School of Management gained its AACSB accreditation in 1980, when the
undergraduate department became a School of Business and Accountancy. The
undergraduate School of Business was once again accredited by the AACSB in 1985 and
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has Its own dean. Both schools have separate logos, and the graduate business school
handles its own publications and public relations.
The Divinity School opened in 1999, and it continues to rely heavily on
University Advancement staff to assist with its marketing efforts. Creative Services
developed the Web site and the academic catalog for the Divinity School. The viewbook
and the application were outsourced for concept, writing, and design. The school has a
development officer dedicated to it, as do the graduate and undergraduate business
schools. These fundraising officers all report to the VP for Advancement with a "dotted
line" to their respective deans, the VP explained. The development officer in the Divinity
School works closely with the school's dean to manage fundraising efforts, the Creative
Services director explained.
The Athletics Department handles its own marketing and public relations. The
university plays 16 men's and women's Division I sports in an athletically and
academically competitive conference. "Our athletics rivals are in the best athletics
conference in the world," the president said. Representatives from Athletics Media
Relations and Athletics Marketing are members of the Integrated Marketing Committee.
The Athletics director reports to the president, and he is included on the President's
Cabinet, which meets weekly.
Admissions and Financial Aid both report to the provost. The Admissions Office
is staffed with the director, three admissions counselors, two associate and two assistant
directors, and student tour guides. Although the recmiting functions do not have a
formal, organizational connection to University Advancement, the VP for Advancement
and director of Admissions work closely together. "The partnership between
Advancement and Admissions occurred because of relationships," said the university's
consultant. "They know each other. They're on committees together. There are strong
relationships at the highest level that are quite cordial." The partnership between
Admissions and Advancement is more formalized in the marketing missions statement
created by the Public Affairs office, which is part of University Advancement. Public
Affairs "supports institutional, academic, and administrative priorities, with special
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responsibilities to the President's Office, the Office of Admissions, and the Office of
University Relations." The Faculty Committee on Admissions, which includes faculty,
the dean of the college, and the provost, sets major policy, and members of this
committee help involve faculty in Admissions marketing.
Although the Creative Services director noted "there are lots of areas within our
own office that are not integrated," she said the emphasis on integration within the Office
of University Advancement and across campus is important. "We need to partner more
and have more collaboration," the Creative Services director said. The president believes
the organizational stmcture "works well," and the Advancement VP gives the president
credit for that. "I think the success we've had came first and foremost because of the
president's interest in it. He moved us in this direction. The ultimate test will be getting
continued buy-in from the deans as they change and tum over."
Formation of Coordinating Team
To enhance collaboration without complete organizational integration, the South
National VP for Advancement and the extemal consultant created a plan to begin an
Integrated Marketing Committee. The director of Admissions explained why the group
was created.
Part of the reason we started the M Committee was because we were not always
together, not 100 percent on the same page. We operated with our own fiefdoms.
People did their own publications. [The VP for Advancement] has done a great
job of saying, "We're all in this together." We've had some rocky times, and
we'll have more. But we keep in pretty close contact, daily almost, with [the key
individuals in University Advancement].
The president endorsed the plan for the M Committee and sent a letter of
invitation to each member. "We first tried to identify everyone we could think of who
had some primary marketing responsibility, then we asked the deans to provide a
representative. At first the [graduate business school] said, 'We're fine. We don't need
anyone on it,' but they later sent someone," said the VP for Advancement. The Creative
Services director said the Advancement staffs tendency "is to focus on the undergraduate
college, although we have graduate and professional schools. It's good [graduate and
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professional school representatives are] on the M committee. They probably think,
'Hey, we're a part, too.' "
The 27-member Integrated Marketing Committee has met monthly for about
a year. "From my experience, we have far more organization and far greater
communication through this M committee," said the director of Public Affairs. "We
have greater awareness and understanding of what the various marketing elements are
doing on campus. The committee helps us be more collaborative; it's formalized the
process a bit more." Areas included on the committee are:
Admissions
Athletics Marketing
Athletics Media Relations
Business School - graduate
Business School - undergraduate (2)
Conference Center
Consultant
Creative Services
Divinity School
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Information Systems
Intemational Studies
Law School
Medical Center
Medical School
Provost's Office
Psychology
Public Radio Station
Research Alliance
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•
University Advancement (5)
•
University Stores
The VP for Advancement described the organizational stmcture and innerworkings of the M Committee. "The graduate business school representative doesn't
come to the meetings very often. The marketing director for the medical school does not
attend, but he does send a representative who reports to one of his managers. The SID
[Sports Information Director] is on the committee, and the head of sports marketing
attends." She said the M Committee includes Human Resources (HR) but not Financial
Services because HR handles new-employee orientation.
The president believes the M Committee serves a specific purpose within South
National's particular organizational stmcture. "Anything you're dealing with in the
centralized versus decentralized quarrel, you need key players in the room to state their
concems," he said. The M Committee focuses on the nine critical success factors that
were discussed and agreed upon before the group met, said the university's consultant.
"Through the meetings, we communicate and raise awareness," he said. The director of
Admissions added, "We get together to talk about messages and issues."
At each M Committee meeting, different areas make reports and either the VP
for Advancement or the consultant discuss research results or critical marketing issues.
At one meeting. Athletics presented for 45 minutes, with reports from Advancement and
Student Life, the consultant said. "The M Committee is a good plan and a great idea,"
said the Creative Services director. The VP said the group has made rapid progress.
"Because [the president] has been vocal about it, it's happened faster," she said. At the
May 2003 meeting, which the researcher observed, the M Committee discussed a
presidential conference planned to help boost visibility of the university (and possibly
USNWR rankings); reported on national media efforts; described the upcoming "theme
year" for campus speakers; reported on surveys conducted with admissions directors and
provosts to try to boost reputation rankings; brainstormed creative ideas for image
building; and talked about the need to benchmark other schools' branding efforts.
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The VP said she does not expect more organizational change in the near future,
nor does she expect required integration of all marketing efforts. "Unless a new president
or provost integrates people or projects by mandate, it will still be the team focusing on
integrated marketing," she said. The university's consultant said the M Committee
helps keep awareness up and helps the participants remember they are marketers. "There
is no Chief Marketing Officer. It's [the VP for Advancement] and [the director of
Admissions]. They think about how to spin it in their worid." The Admissions leader
said it works well when the individuals develop personal friendships and communicate
well. "Athletics... not so much. And not at all with graduate schools. But as far as the
undergraduate college. Admissions, Advancement, and the news bureau-we stay close."
Implementing Integrated Marketing
Planning and Goal-Setting
The University Advancement Office, with intense engagement by the VP for
Advancement and the consultant, developed the first Integrated Marketing Plan published
in April 2001. Annually, the VP for Advancement updates the marketing plan with the
president, setting goals for the year. The University Advancement staff reviews the
strategy and results at six-month and one-year increments. The M Plan also is a
foundation for discussion during Integrated Marketing Committee meetings, the VP said.
In the 2001 plan, initial priority targets selected to receive integrated marketing
messages were prospective students and their parents; high school counselors; college
presidents, provosts and deans; current faculty and staff; and the media. The plan
outlined intemal and extemal goals for the integrated marketing efforts. Externally, the
goals were to:
1. Increase the number of qualified student applicants.
2. Increase the number of qualified faculty and staff candidates interested in
[South National].
3. hicrease the in-depth awareness of and appreciation for, the university among
key targets.
4. Maintain interest and up-to-date perceptions among alumni.
5. Attract special audiences to campus (athletics, drama, art).
6. Increase the amount of financial support given to the university.
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Intemal goals were to:
1. Increase in-depth understanding of the university's marketing message
(positioning, point of difference) by all faculty, students, and staff
2. Create greater efficiencies (more activities for the same cost).
3. Generate more awareness, by all who are involved in marketing, of individual
marketing efforts, knowledge and ideas across the various campuses and units.
4. Develop more synergistic marketing communications.
In addition to the overall Integrated Marketing Plan, the VP for Advancement said
individual, annual goals are set for each person in University Advancement. "They are
pretty much specific and measurable," she said. "We're always thinking about how to
evaluate the news service. They track stories in a matrix. Creative Services is more
anecdotal." The vice president said the Administrative Management Team [the
President's Cabinet plus the deans] looks at results overall, but finds it challenging to
directly connect outcomes to activities. "You can't ever attribute an application jump
directly to a publication," said the Creative Services director.
Action plans grew out of the marketing goals. The first action plan was to
"develop and use a positioning statement that captures the essence of [South National]."
Other action items included increasing communication among everyone involved in
marketing, increasing communication with leaders in higher education, and implementing
additional admissions activities. Although the Admissions Office is not organizationally
a part of University Advancement, the two areas began to develop some shared goals
through the M Committee and M Plan. Marketing partners are needed to accomplish
many of the goals, the VP for Advancement said. Two current marketing goals that
require partnerships are improving the USNWR reputation ranking and keeping the
alumni giving level high, she said.
All marketing goals are ultimately approved and implemented with the oversight
of the vice president for Advancement. The Creative Services director described the
VP's role in planning, accountability, and implementation.
In [her] position, [the vice president for Advancement] holds ultimate
responsibility for the success or failure of marketing plans. She sets them up,
monitors them. [She] has to delegate to department heads. She has regular
meetings with department heads to discuss planning, progress reports, challenges.
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Once a week, the [University Advancement] department heads get together University Relations on Mondays, Public Affairs on Tuesdays. We have a full
University Advancement staff meeting monthly, and a full Public Affairs meeting
monthly.
Use of Research
South National University has developed a cycle of research that gathers
information about some important trends in higher education while boosting its image
among the individuals who vote for the university's U.S. News reputation ranking. The
consultant helped the university with two online surveys. Each was easy to complete
within five to seven minutes. One survey asked provosts and deans about the state of
liberal arts in higher education. The second survey concemed trends of admissions, and
it was sent to admissions officers. The university achieved a 30 percent return rate on the
survey of provosts and deans, and a 25 percent retum rate on the admissions survey. The
surveys were sent to specific officials at the top 500 national universities based on U.S.
News rankings because those individuals vote on South National's academic reputation.
The VP for Advancement conducts alumni surveys with a fundraising emphasis
every two years. The consultant's firm handles the surveys, which are promoted to
30,000 alumni, parents, and donors by email. Participants take the surveys online. The
consultant's firm also regularly conducts various surveys of prospective students for the
director of Admissions. Recently, he completed a survey among students who applied
and were accepted at South National but did not enroll. He wanted to discover why they
chose another college to attend.
Research was used to help redesign the Web site home page to focus on
audiences, not subjects. "We defined the audiences, then piece by piece, we took each
audience and tried to figure out what they were looking for and what they expected to
find," said the Creative Services director. She believes the University Advancement
office needs to have enough money to conduct market research for a variety of purposes.
"We can set some lofty goals, but without research, we don't know what we're doing."
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Responsibilities and Priorities
University Advancement. At South National, the vice president for University
Advancement makes most major marketing and fundraising decisions. "If we changed
our identity, the president would give the final OK," she said. "When we developed the
positioning statement, he gave feedback and approval." However, "on 80 to 90 percent
of marketing communications decisions, I'm ultimately responsible," the VP said. In the
Athletics area, the director of Sports Marketing makes decisions that fall below the vice
presidential level. For the professional schools, the deans made key decisions about
marketing. Within University Advancement, the assistant and associate vice presidents
handle most of the day-to-day decisions needed to implement goals and strategies.
The University Advancement office has an Advancement Committee of the Board
of Tmstees focused on fundraising, marketing, and public relations. "I talk to the chair
and say, 'Here are the things going on,' " said the VP for Advancement. The Creative
Services director described the VP's role.
[Her] job is to do what the Board of Tmstees wants. She relies on department
heads to implement, so she's not really involved day-to-day. [The associate VP
for Public Affairs and I] report to [her]; we come up with ideas, but approval
comes from her, especially on marketing strategy or policy or message strategy.
Creative Services. Within University Advancement are areas that provide
services to the entire university. For example. Creative Services produces all
publications for Advancement, including work for Public Affairs, Creative Services,
and the News Service. The office also handles departmental brochures. Admissions
publications, and the alumni magazine. In addition, they "coordinate the efforts of other
people who produce the products to make sure they speak the same language," said the
director. Creative Services, with a staff of eight, handles graphic design, photography,
Web development, and the production of key extemal image pieces.
A year ago, the marketing staff reorganized as a direct result of the integrated
marketing plan and three fortuitous resignations, said the VP for Advancement. A parttime editor and a designer were added in Creative Services; the area had operated with
one designer for nine years. A half time person was hired in Public Affairs to give the
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staff more time for regional and national media relations. The vice president hired a Web
development staff member as well.
South National's Web site is an important part of its marketing effort, and
Creative Services now has two people working on the site's design. "We daily look at
other pages on the site; if they don't conform to our style, the Web people will contact the
page owners, but some keep doing their own thing. There are rogues, some we never
know about, at South National," the Creative Services director said. The president said,
"The Intemet is changing everything. Now I worry about our Web site." The Integrated
Marketing Plan called for the Web site's home page to become audience-driven instead
of topic-driven, and the University Advancement staff discussed what audiences they
needed to target. "Who is it that keeps us in business?" the Creative Services director
said they asked themselves. The list they developed included prospective students and
their families, current students and their families, alumni, faculty/staff and visitors.
"We're redesigning to become more user-friendly and interesting. The home page will
be different. We'll do most of the work in-house, 95 percent, but some will be
outsourced," the director said.
The Web site is considered a top priority by the Creative Services staff. "It takes
a lot of our energy-writing, designing, the online newsletter, parents Web site, video and
audio clips.... But the Web is cheaper than mailings, and it has to present our image
well," the director said. She produces a daily online newsletter that was initially meant
for faculty and staff members, but has expanded as interest has grown. It features daily
headline news and leads readers deeper into the university's Web site. The current
complaint about the site, the director said, is that it is too "undergraduate focused." She
said the staff broadened the home page to tie into the medical and law schools, but "the
undergraduate college is still the engine that drives the train."
The Creative Services staff also assists with advertising as needed. The
University Advancement area occasionally will advertise for special events. The
graduate business school is the only academic area that advertises, and the business
school staff produces its own ads. Those ads focus on the part-time Master of Business
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Administration (MBA) program. The director of Admissions said, "[South National]
does no advertising; it's a very conscious decision. Look at the league we're in; these
schools don't advertise; we don't need to advertise."
To build up the school's visibility, "we rely on the news media or electronic
media," said the Creative Services director. "I think we purchased a half page ad in the
guide to independent colleges for $1,000 for political reasons. But 1 think if we had the
money and would spend it for appropriate advertising, we'd be amazed at what it would
do for us." Currently, she said, "the university's reputation carries us along on its own,
and marketing capitalizes on that." Athletics spends money on advertising, and "it gets
them visibility," she said. Unfortunately, she explained, when Athletics advertises and
when games are shown on national TV, they want to use [a one-word version of the
university's name] "because they think it's catchy. This office and the president, say,
'[South]' is not our name."
Public Affairs. In the Public Affairs office, the assistant VP also serves as the
Media Relations director. Three staff members assist with local, regional, and national
media relations, and the office is supported by an administrative coordinator and a halftime writer. All the writing staff members are former newspaper reporters. "[South
National] has been aiming at national publicity since the 1980s," the Media Relations
director said. "Once [our VP] had oversight of Public Affairs, that's where she was
headed. She had made a lot of progress by the late 1980s." The director believes the
university's image is "strongly shaped" by the news media. "My actions and the actions
of my staff affect how we're perceived," he said. "Most people in the worid get their
perception of us through the news media."
Although the VP for Advancement pushes the Public Affairs staff to aim for
national media, the director explained, "We have several roles to play here; some very
local, some national." In the market where South National is located, a variety of media
outlets are constantiy looking for trend stories or for faculty/staff experts to comment.
"A lot of local media depend on us for sources," he said. "We are their first call because
we are the highest caliber institution." The director said many stories that begin in local
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newspapers or on local TV eventually are picked up by the networks or wire services and
carried across the country. "The one thing we do remember is that sometimes local
becomes national or state becomes national. When people encourage us to focus on
national stories, I tell them to define 'national.' "
The Media Relations office continues to prepare and send announcements about
individual students who graduated, who made the dean's honor roll, and who eamed
special scholarships. "I don't see us at all moving in the direction [of only doing national
media relations], but we target some stories to national media and we track our regional
and national coverage," the director said. Because the Public Affairs office includes
Media Relations and the university's News Service, it is "the critical place for publicizing
campus events for faculty, staff, and students. We have endless events," he explained.
The Media Relations director also plays a key role in crisis management. The students
who work in this office do not write press releases, but the director said having the new
half-time writer has helped ease the load on the other staff writers.
University Relations. The fundraising staff is focused on completing the $600
million campaign by June 30, 2006. Approximately $470 million has been given or
pledged, said the VP for Advancement. Although the budget for the Office of University
Advancement has remained the same, the office has received some funds from quasiendowment, the VP explained. The university continues to focus on major gift
opportunities and planned giving, in addition to pushing for a higher alumni giving
percentage, she said. The alumni area is divided into Alumni Activities and
Development/Annual Fund. Some direct mail is sent to solicit for the annual fund,
and Development sends some mail solicitations for professional schools. During the
campaign period, a campaign newsletter is mailed out periodically, the VP said.
The Alumni Activities/Annual Fund Office handles special events and campaign
programs, annual support/college fund, alumni programs. South National alumni clubs
and the birthplace society, which is an independent nonprofit organization that maintains
the museum at the site of the university's founding home, said the VP for Advancement.
A Development writer works with Creative Services on Web design and content, but the
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Alumni Services office has its own Web site "that doesn't look anything like the others,"
the Creative Services director noted. The Alumni and Development Web pages are
supported by Advancement staff members in the Records/Technology group.
Occasionally, alumni publications, such as the annual fund mailer, are sent to a local,
off campus designer. "We do not use large consultants often," the VP for Advancement
said. "It takes so long to bring an outsider up to speed."
Admissions. The Office of Admissions, which answers to the provost, manages
its own market research but works closely with Advancement staff on its publications and
messaging. The Admissions publications budget is now centrally managed by the
director of Creative Services "because she could never find out how much money she had
to spend," the VP for Advancement said. Although Admissions focuses its recmiting and
communication efforts primarily on high school students, the Admissions director said
her office has begun to extend its efforts to students in the eighth grade.
Three admissions counselors (ACs) who are recent South National graduates
handle on-campus information sessions for families. "The ACs present group
information sessions, as many as five a day, in the conference room that holds 60
people. Those might be night or weekend sessions," the director said. One of the two
associate directors manages the application process-the mailing calendar and the
software. All Admissions information is stored in the university's primary database.
A second associate director and two assistant directors manage geographic territories and
read thousands of student application essays. Student tour guides handle all campus
tours. South National staff do not do telemarketing and "never call prospective students,"
the Admissions director said. "Once a student is admitted, we have a student telethon to
welcome them." She emphasized the recmiting process at South National is designed to
be extremely personal.
The Admissions office provides various types of on-campus programming for
prospective students, and Admissions representatives travel on a limited basis. Alumni
and Admissions partner to host Admissions Fomms across the country, the VP for
Advancement said. The South National University development office is out [traveling].
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too. In the spring, Admissions hosts receptions for admitted students, sometime before
May 1. In the summer, they host events in homes for admitted students, the VP said.
The university needs to do "consistent work to get more people really excited about
[South National]," said the consultant. "From Washington, applications have doubled in
the last decade, but the yield is the same. Most people send direct mail to families; at
[South National], not so much. But they have moved from a little bit to a lot with a select
group. They hit them over and over with messages."
Development and Use of Positioning Statement
South National's positioning statement says the university offers "a liberal arts
education greater than the sum of its parts." One of the first goals established by the
president and the VP for Advancement for the M Committee was to create a positioning
statement, the VP said. "The push came from the tmstees that we need to really position
ourselves as a national institution with what we are and what we offer," said the Creative
Services director. "With the whole effort by [our president] to take us to national
university status, we needed a plan." Thus, she said, began the evolution of the
positioning statement.
The Admissions director said, "What we wanted to come up with was, 'How
should we describe [South National]? How do we articulate who we are to make us
distinctive?' " The director of Media Relations explained that "we thought about who we
are and what we do. We were already going in that direction when the president spoke
the vision; it helped us prioritize." The positioning statement describes how South
National offers the best of a large, research university and a small college. "Our
positioning statement put into words the culture of this place," said the Admissions
director. "Students say the No. 1 reason they choose [South National] is its academic
reputation. It's so imperative that we say this."
South National's branding or positioning project began three or four years
ago, the consultant said. The positioning statement was created by a subgroup of the
M Committee, the full committee reviewed it, and the president and his Cabinet
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approved it, he explained. Once the positioning statement was approved, the director of
Creative Services determined how it could best be used in publications. "Our motto is
'for humanity,' and the positioning statement said, 'Here's how we're going to live that
motto a little more specifically' " she said.
The positioning statement more clearly articulated and prioritized the work of the
Public Affairs office, the director said. "Generally, in working with media before, we
made decisions on the same principles. Now when we decide how to spend our time,
and decide what we will say to help people know about us, we look to the positioning
statement," he said. However, he said, faculty at South National are not asked to share
the message presented in the positioning statement. "If you asked a lot of faculty about
our strengths, who we are, they might hit those points. They're just real to faculty, staff
and students. Not an invention, but real. We are communicating clearly, 'That's who we
are,' " said the Media Relations director.
The Creative Services office does not have a mission statement, explained the
director, "except to judge everything we do by the standards of the positioning
statement." She said whether she is producing a newsletter or the alunmi magazine, she
thinks, "Does this illustrate the points of the marketing statement?" Some of the key
messages include academic rigor, faculty/student interaction, beautiful campus, small size
but big resources, and technical resources. "I think, 'Does this photo, brochure, Web
page, speak to these points?' It sounds good in theory, but it's difficult in practice," the
Creative Services director said. Despite the challenges, however, she said using the
messages consistently is important because "we may have name awareness, but we want
brand awareness. We want people to know who we really are."
The positioning message has been printed in several brochures and on the Web
site. Also, the Admissions staff uses the key messages when talking with families,
the Admissions director said. "When we set up a slide presentation and produce
publications, we want a consistent message," explained the Admissions leader. "We train
tour guides and admissions counselors on this message. We understand what makes
[South National] different; we don't bash other schools or compare ourselves to them."
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The law school's associate dean for extemal affairs said the positioning statement was
written with the undergraduate college in mind. To be consistent with the university, she
said she has adapted aspects of the statement to the law school. For example, a focus on
small classes, personalized attention, and enhanced technology are appropriate for the
law school as well as the undergraduate college, she said. "I haven't read the mission
statement in a while, but the mission sets forth goals for the university as a liberal arts
institution-well-rounded, serving humanity.... The marketing statement ties back to
that," the Creative Services director said.
Integration of Marketing Efforts
The Creative Services office partners with other areas of the campus, with varying
success, the director said. For example, the undergraduate School of Business works
with Creative Services sometimes, but "right now we are stmggling with them because
they are trying to create their own logo. We do some of their publications, but we would
like to do them all. They feel justified in [using outside designers] because they have
marketing experts on the faculty and among their alumni," the director said. When the
professional schools do use outside expertise, they are supposed to meet the graphics
standards of the university, the VP for Advancement said.
The university has no policy stating that departments on campus must go through
Creative Services, the director explained. The Art Department's recently produced
brochure did not represent the university's graphic identity. "Some choose to go outside
even though we have a written policy that says people should use our office," the director
said. "Here, we offer our services for free and say, 'You should come and use us.' We
think we're able to draw more departments because we offer our services free of charge.
We handle 150-200 print projects a year with two designers."
The Creative Services director said her office could not produce every design or
Web project on campus without additional help. Beginning in the summer of 2003, the
Creative Services office began charging intemal design clients a 15 percent project
management fee, she explained, but said their services are still much less expensive than
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those of outside agencies. Despite having the Creative Services option for inexpensive
design services, many offices and departments still choose to use their staff members to
design projects or outsource them. The director described the challenges her staff faces
in trying to create a graphic identity for South National.
We all report to [the VP for Advancement], and she wants us to maintain a
consistent graphic identity with business cards, letterhead, envelopes, etc. But
the medical school has its own print shop. They have [printing and design
representatives] who come visit their campus daily. We developed a template for
letterhead and business cards. But again. Athletics is an exception. There is no
clear mandate that they can't have business cards that look like this or that. The
medical school can say its doesn't follow the same standards. Sometimes they
just don't give a rip.
The president agreed that standardizing the university's graphic identity and
message is challenging. "We've had notorious offenders who do things their own way;
it's mostly territorial," he said. The Creative Services director said her office has no
control of the mascot or any other athletics symbols. Her office has a "reasonable
amount of control" of the logo, colors, and visual images for South National. "Word has
gotten around that if you want to use the logo, call me," she said. Her staff is protective
of the university's seal, allowing it to be used only on official documents.
To help maintain consistent use of the various symbols. Creative Services has
created a CD and a Web site that include the mission statement, the marketing statement,
the logo, the seal and information about their appropriate uses. "We retain control, but
we lose some, too," she explained. "Now certain information is out there for anyone to
use, and the logos can be downloaded." The VP for Advancement said her division has
"pretty much total control over what logo and colors are used. The president decides
what the logo and colors should be, and then we control their use."
In terms of graphic design and promotion, the law school and the graduate
business school work independently. The law school has an outside design firm create its
publications, but has begun to cooperate with the Creative Services office regarding
graphic identity issues, the director said. The graduate business school has its own
PublicationsMedia Relations office, and all its publications are done within the graduate
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school or through agencies. "They do not work through us, which is a major sore point,"
the Creative Services director said.
One unusual boost to South National's reputation has been the research park near
the university. Scientists at the research park use patents developed at South National.
"We are key partners," said the VP for Advancement. "But partnerships do create some
challenges. Are these South National employees? How will they work with the
marketing director? We did agree that someone from there would join the Integrated
Marketing Committee."
The university's affiliated medical center "is wonderful for this school, the
[undergraduate] campus, with its quality care and research on many important health care
concems, including cancer and the human genome," said the VP for Advancement. The
medical center staff creates synergy by offering yearly media training for doctors and
inviting faculty to attend. Announcements about research breakthroughs or other major
news are made at the medical center, and the center does its own media relations. "When
press conferences are planned, the medical center may call our Media Relations office or
I might just hear about it in a Cabinet meeting. About 80 percent of the time, they call,"
said the VP for Advancement.
In South National's effort to become one of the best universities in the nation,
"the medical school played a big role," said the Admissions director. "It's a big place
with a budget close to the entire undergraduate college. With its sheer size, it has more
opportunities to be in the news." That opportunity can be a mixed blessing, according to
the Creative Services director. "When the medical center has a great story to tell, we
need to tie into that and get attention on our campus. The challenge is that the medical
school's first and foremost goal is to fill hospital beds, not promote academic rigor. The
kind of stories they use aren't what we would use," she said.
Occasionally, the Media Relations director in University Advancement assists the
Athletics Media Relations director with major announcements. The Media Relations
director also serves as the university spokesman and is concemed about major issueswhether at the college or in Athletics. Sports marketing is one of our "formeriy low-key
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but now developing areas," said the VP for Advancement. Athletics works directiy with
the campus bookstore to create and sell athletics merchandise. The Creative Services
director said the bookstore is an "OK partner, but their approach to marketing is quite
different. Their goal is fashion and selling; ours is the promotion of [South National]."
During a recent holiday sales period, the campus store had Christmas omaments
promoting South National's cross-admit universities, "and people were buying them,"
said the Creative Services director. "[The VP for Advancement] called, and they stopped
selling them."
Both the graduate and undergraduate business schools present a special difficulty
in integrated marketing because they are named for individuals, said the VP for
Advancement. "It's much more challenging to have a consistent identity and to market
the university as a whole," she said. With the graduate and undergraduate business
schools both ranking high in national college guidebooks, the deans and faculty do not
feel the same sense of urgency as the medical school faculty did to connect with the
South National name, the VP explained. "We've been very fragmented," the Creative
Services director said. "We need to be recognized as one university. When a
professional school has big news, or we do, we need to work together. We've gotten
much better, but it still needs some work."
Another issue that causes some natural separation between the graduate and
professional schools and University Advancement is the tendency for Advancement to
focus on undergraduate programs and students. The vice president for Advancement
said, "We've been focused on the undergraduate college for many years. The other
schools - medical, law, graduate business - were small. The medical school admits 100 a
year. The law school's class size is small, too. Until 1967, we were [South National]
College." The consultant added, "The [undergraduate] campus - that's [South
National]."
At the heart of the integration issue, the VP for Advancement said, are the deans.
"What we need is more serious buy-in from the deans. We got a new provost last fall,
and I haven't taken the issue to him yet." She said when they have a change in deans, it
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always provides them an opportunity to educate them and gain buy-in on the marketing
initiatives. "We need to do a better job of complimenting each other, of playing off each
other's strengths," said the Creative Services director.
Assessing Integrated Marketing
The vice president for University Advancement described her area's system of
accountability. Annually, she updates the Integrated Marketing Plan with the committee
and with the president, setting goals for the next year. She and the consultant, who is the
M Committee co-chair, prepare a summary for the Cabinet "of all things accomplished
in marketing." She keeps the Advancement Committee of the Board of Tmstees updated
on the successes or challenges in marketing. "The board would push for centralization of
marketing efforts, but they know that's not their role," she said. To ensure marketing
goals are "owned" and implemented, the VP sets goals for individual staff members.
Those goals are reviewed and updated each year. Occasionally, she sends a special report
to the President's Cabinet about marketing activities or achievements, she said.
Some areas present greater challenges in assessment. For example, both the
consultant and the Media Relations director noted the time and expense required to
measure perceptions and to track changes in perceptions back to actual activities. "It
costs a lot to measure perceptions and awareness, and this money would be better spent
creating the changes and increasing in-depth awareness," the consultant said. "That's a
reality of marketing in higher education." The undergraduate plan generated "great
publicity and increased enrollment," the VP for Advancement said. "We could track
that." Currentiy, the Public Affairs office tracks the number of stories published and
watches rankings. An outside company is used to track university stories that are
published or aired.
In Creative Services, the director said:
We rely on verbal feedback, not results. How should we assess results? We
really don't have a way to know if we're successful or not. It's just anecdotal.
We don't know if we had 50 more people who applied because of the viewbook.
We know we get 1,000 to 1,200 hits on the online newsletter per day. We don't
know what they are reading or how much they're reading.
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Despite the difficult in tracking exact results, "marketing is successful. I think so, in
terms of goals we've set for our office related to the online newsletter, the Web site, and
pages, and the magazine," the Creative Services director said.
The Admissions office can track specific numbers to show success of its
marketing efforts. For example, the consultant said, the number of applications received
by Admissions "came up nicely for the last several years." He said both applications and
yield [the percent of students who actually enroll compared to the number accepted] are
up, and student quality as measured by test score has increased. The university receives a
few hundred more applications every year, with the total hitting more than 6,000
applications for 980 open freshman slots, said the VP for Advancement. "We have been
on an upward trajectory since the 1980s, and that's very positive," she said.
To help in assessment, the Admissions director often commissions research to
gather the perceptions of prospective students. The university surveys alumni, surveys
students who were accepted but did not enroll, and surveys current students. The
consultant also conducts research with students who visited the campus. The Admissions
director appreciates actual enrollment success as a key measure. "Admissions is bringing
in the right kind of students," the consultant said. "Over time, the university has built up
its reputation. It's a long-term issue that has long-term recmiting impact." Students who
enroll at South National tend to stay. "We have a 98 percent freshman-to-sophomore
retention rate," the Admissions director said.
The VP for Advancement said she considers the marketing efforts successful. "If
you just judge from the Admissions applications, we have lots. The yield is good. And
we have strong alumni loyalty. Forty percent of them give to the university." She wants
to keep alumni giving high and continue to improve the university's academic reputation
score as reported in the U.S. News and World Report's college guidebook. The Creative
Services director said it is difficult to determine whether what her office does impacts
overall results. "We do get feedback on the Web, good and bad. If 1 evaluated our
performance, based on the marketing strategy and goals, I'd say with more money and
more staff, we could do more."
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The top marketing administrator, the vice president for University Advancement,
said marketing is "far more integrated than it's ever been. 1 would consider our efforts
successful." The president believes he has the right marketing champion in place to
coordinator the efforts. "[The VP] is very good, a terrific administrator and leader." The
vice president said that on a scale of one to 10, "I'd give us a six and a half I think we
accomplished most of what we wanted to in the first year with our positioning
statement." The positioning statement is at the heart of South National's marketing
effort, and it grew out of the university's vision and plans. The Creative Services director
reflected that "marketing communication is not designed to develop the vision but to
implement the vision." Is integrated marketing successful at South National University,
according to the president? "If you are meeting objectives, and being thoughtful and
deliberate, you are successful. Look at students. Do they say good things? That's the
heart of the matter in what we're doing."
South National Case Summary
Although South National University's staff members use the phrase "integrated
marketing" to describe their marketing processes, they define M in terms of promotion.
The school's integrated marketing plans tie closely to the university's vision and strategic
plans, as recommended by Sevier (1999b) and Sevier and Johnson (1999). The staff uses
research to develop integrated marketing programs and to measure their success. The
planning and evaluation processes are important at South National, with the annual
reviews helping the leaders to adjust the M plans on a regular basis.
At South National, the areas organizationally integrated are public relations and
fundraising. Admissions is considered by its director as a more "academic" office
answering to the provost. However, the Admissions Director and the VP for
Advancement work closely together to market to and recmit undergraduate students.
This informal partnership helps overcome the challenge of not being organizationally
integrated. Ideally, Sevier and Johnson (1999) recommended, public relations,
fundraising, and recmiting/admissions would be merged under one marketing champion.
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The university is led by a strong president who has a clear vision for the
university. He has been the impetus for and a supporter of integrated marketing, and he
often expresses confidence in the marketing leader he appointed. However, his vision for
integrated marketing is focused on promotion, creating a potential challenge if South
National marketing leaders strive to impact product, price, or place. Driving goals for the
university include recruiting top-quality students, attracting national caliber faculty,
increasing gifts to the university, and improving South National's academic reputation.
The M Committee, and its related integrated marketing plan, provides support for these
key goals. The meetings of this committee play a key role in the implementation process
at South National. Integrating all marketing efforts at South National is challenging
because of the independent marketing work of the law school, medical school, and
graduate and undergraduate business schools. An additional challenge facing the
university is its ongoing need to communicate its historic religious heritage as it
influences the teaching, the values, and the identity the university will promote to its
national audience.
South National is driven by the excellence of its undergraduate college, and
promotion of the academic product appears almost extraneous. Before integrated
marketing ever began, the president's vision, a strong public relations program, and the
addition of new doctoral programs pushed South National into the top tier of national
universities. Now, the hope of leaders there is that marketing efforts, over time, will
firmly place the university among a handful of the country's most elite institutions of
higher education.
Case Study 3: West University
University Overview
West University is a doctoral intensive, religiously-affiliated institution in the
westem region of the United States. Located in a mid-sized city on a 700-acre campus,
this university has passed its century mark and has a long-standing affiliation with a
mainstream Protestant denomination. Its mission links academic excellence and
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Christian commitment. The university is comprised of 10 academic units, including a
law school, a seminary, and a graduate school enrolling more than 1,000 students.
West University enrolls more than 10,000 students total from every state and 85
countries. Although it has experienced rapid growth in the past 10 years, its enrollment
of new students is currently flat or declining slightly. This is typically attributed to the
general economy and to a large tuition increase in recent years that may have caused
students from the university's traditional denominational constituency to attend
elsewhere.
Ninety-five percent of the 950 faculty are full time, and nearly all faculty
members are Christians. Quality teaching is a top priority, but the university is placing
an increasing emphasis on research. West University has a 17-to-one student-teacher
ratio. The SAT range for students entering as freshmen is approximately 1100 to 1300
(America's Best, 2003). The school is ranked in the top 100 "Best National Universities
- Doctoral" by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best Colleges" guide
(America's Best, 2003). The university's athletes participate in Division I sports. West
University is a residential campus, and the Greek system is popular. Chapel is required
twice a week for freshmen.
As of May 2002, the university's endowment was nearly $600 million. A $500
million capital campaign has an expected completion date of Dec. 31, 2005. The budget
for 2002-03 was nearly $300 million, and tuition comprises approximately 70 percent of
operating revenues. Tuition and fees are approximately $18,500 for 2003-04. Several
new facilities were under constmction at the time of the study.
Developing Integrated Marketing
Mission. Vision, and Plan
Integrated marketing in higher education begins with the university's mission,
vision, and strategic plan (Sevier, 1999b). This section gives a detailed account of vision
development at West University because the drive to create and implement the 10-year
vision was intricately intertwined with the marketing plans, stmcture and operations since
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1995. The same individuals have been closely tied with both projects, and integrated
marketing both led to and was driven by the vision. Because the marketing stmcture at
West has undergone a transition, both the current and past marketing leaders were
interviewed for this study. The current leader is the acting vice president for University
Relations and the previous leader is now a business faculty member. He is often referred
to as the former VP for University Relations or the former VP for Marketing.
In 1994-95, West University was remembering its past and envisioning its future
during a major anniversary celebration. An advisory council launched during that
celebration period encouraged the university to become "worid-class" and to push toward
a goal of being the "foremost Christian research university in the worid." When West
University's long-time president stepped down at the end of the anniversary year, a new
president was called from his role as dean of the seminary to carry forward a vision that
as yet was only a dream. He began in June 1995.
The fall 1995 edition of the alumni magazine gave readers the opportunity to
consider three possible visions for West University. This material was developed from
research conducted by an academic administrator. In one possible vision, the university
would maintain its current status and programs. In a second, the university would
improve incrementally. In a third, the university would push toward the vision of "worldclass," which would force changes in tuition, programs, faculty, students, and the
campus. Although this article was distributed widely and discussed among higher
education leaders, it did not create intemal change. The university did not have a
strategic planning stmcture in place to collect and use feedback on the possible directions
for its future.
The West University president met a few times with the University Planning
Council in 1996 to listen to their ideas and discuss the university's direction. This group
was a logical place for the vice president for Marketing to test his early ideas about
strategic planning, and he did so in the years to come. The vice president was growing
increasingly fmstrated with the university's lack of a written vision or plan. "As chief
marketing officer, I needed a clear vision from which to derive a clear message. We were
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making changes, but they weren't anchored in anything. This deficiency was crippling
me in my job." So for about a year and a half the university's top marketing official
worked on marketing all day and strategic planning in the evenings. He reviewed the
1994-95 Self-Study and all the reports from the Council of 150, which had been
composed mainly of deans and academic representatives. He summarized the key ideas,
and his analysis uncovered 12 categories of ideas or proposals for the university's future.
"1 began with the need to do marketing. I realized that to market well, we needed a
vision. And to accomplish the vision, we needed a strategic planning process."
Apparently others on campus felt the need for campus leaders to explain their
plans and vision in more concrete terms. In the spring 2003 issue of the university
magazine for alumni and donors, a story outlined the history leading up to the 10-year
vision document. The writer explained that the president, even before taking the top
office in 1995, had been participating in campus conversations for several years about the
importance of integrating faith and leaming. Speeches during the major anniversary
celebration in 1995 touted the need for a dual commitment to academic excellence and
Christian commitment. Therefore, the writer explained, the president had an "eyeopening experience" in 1999 when-at a University Planning Council meeting with about
40 faculty and administrators-someone asked him to define the university's vision. "I
remember being so surprised," the president was quoted as saying. "We'd talked about
it-that we're a Christian university committed to excellence.... We had changed our
scholarly expectations, we'd talked about making sure we hired outstanding Christian
professors. We'd begun some significant building projects." He realized then, according
to the story, that although changes were in progress, a formal document was needed.
The VP for Marketing had been persistentiy insisting that the Executive Council
take the 12 ideas he had gleaned from previous planning documents and sort the wheat
from the chaff Nine of the ideas eventually became part of the highly publicized 10-year
vision. The vice president also believed that a strategic planning process needed to be in
place for a vision to be effectively implemented. In spring 2000, after many discussions
with the president and the Executive Council, the vice president hired the university's
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first director of Strategic Planning. That spring, the top marketing official led a
discussion on strategic planning implementation with the University Planning Council
that stressed the need for the campus to develop a five- to 10-year vision that was
strategic and longer-term; to prioritize the strategic goals; to create better linkage between
plans and budget allocations; and to find ways to increase faculty and staff involvement
in implementation.
During a town hall meeting with faculty, staff and students in August 2000, the
president discussed his intention to launch a well-developed vision and strategic plan.
He solicited faculty members' input. In October 2000, the University Planning Council
focused its attention on targeted areas of improvement, which included students,
academic reputation, and financial resources. They begin to ask the questions, "Who are
we?" and "Who do we want to be in 10-12 years?" In the early draft of the vision
document, the VP for Marketing (later University Relations) included the aspiration to
increase the university's standing in the national rankings. "For some, the rankings goal
is really our rallying cry," said the now former vice president. "But we never intended to
be driven by U.S. News rankings. It's just a benchmark." He said the original goal was
to be the best university in the world affiliated with the school's historically linked
denomination. "But we realized we were already there and asked, 'What next?' " These
conversations were university leaders' early attempts to create a positioning statement for
the university-a simple declaration of what the university wanted to become in a decade.
The university invited a former Notre Dame University provost to the campus to
talk about the school's vision and plans. The provost had helped Notre Dame reshape its
future a number of years before, and he helped the West University administrators
understand the possible repercussions of their vision choices. The vice provost and a
committee of deans presented ideas about the academic portion of the vision at a spring
2001 University Planning Council meeting. Representatives from various areas of the
university, including Campus Life and Physical Plant, developed sections of the vision.
The vice president for University Relations worked on segments regarding the
community, alumni, communications and development. He said he had the least input
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on the development section. At the time the vision was developed, a $500 million capital
campaign was already underway, and the vision and campaign were tied together in later
materials.
The vision built on the university's mission, which remained the same. The
mission is "to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by
integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community."
The vice president for university relations went on a "walk-and-talk circuit" to explain
the vision and to solicit input. Town hall meetings were held with faculty, students, staff.
Alumni Association leadership, and the Board of Regents. Faculty members were
encouraged to submit ideas through their department chairs and deans. However, the
Faculty Senate did not have the opportunity to vote on the document, "and they
complained about that," explained the former vice president who has retumed to his
role as a faculty member.
With comments from the broad university community in hand, the president's
chief of staff completed the vision document. The Board of Regents approved it in
September 2001, and the vision was officially released a month later at Homecoming.
Despite some faculty discontent, the president and his Executive Council pushed ahead in
implementing the vision. "As the president, it's my job to set the overall vision and
direction of the university," he explained. "I need ideas, but it's up to me to make a
decision and move forward. I believe we can be a great university that's faithful."
West University intends to become a top-tier national university during the course
of a decade while retaining its Christian emphasis. The vice president for Development
said he does not like the term "top tier." He explained, however, that he believes the
qualities defined by that term are important to West University:
We've had some criticism about wanting to be top tier as defined by some secular
magazine. Let's talk about the criteria. We're a much better university today
trying to achieve that criteria. You can't argue with lower faculty-student ratio,
better alumni support, and better faculty pay.
The president also explained the vision as much more than a drive for rankings. "I
believe that as a by-product of being faithful, we will be excellent and our ranking will
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reflect excellence." In the spring issue of the university magazine, he was quoting as
saying, "We will not compromise the character of West University to chase some ranking
system."
Through the vision. West University determined what competitive position it
wanted to hold in the marketplace, said the acting vice president for university relations.
He explained:
Through the vision, we want to break out of the regional denominational mold
and be seen as a national Christian university. But we don't want to alienate our
traditional denominational base. As we broaden out, we must hold onto our
traditional base and add to it. This joumey is fraught with perils and is very
difficult. It's an experiment.
The president added, "There are many fine Christian universities, but not many with
comprehensive programs and Division 1 sports." The vice president for Development
said that when he explains how the vision will improve the education of students, "people
want to be a part of it." He said in the spring issue of the university magazine that the
vision has created more excitement about the university than he has seen in all his years
there.
The vision reaffirmed and strengthened the university's Christian mission
message, but not without controversy, said the acting VP for University Relations. Some
faculty have said in newspaper articles and public fomms that they wish the Christian
mission was deemphasized. But their concems have not deterred the president. All new
faculty are interviewed by the president before they are hired. The acting VP explained:
Before, we just said, 'Here is our mission. Can you support that?' Now, the
president wants faculty who actively think about how their faith informs and
inspires their work. The president is bound and determined to hire faculty who
are dedicated to faith and their discipline.
The vision is drawing people in academia from across the country and around the globe,
including a worid-class mathematician who tumed down an appointment to Oxford so he
could teach and conduct research at West University. In fact, the lure of a Christian
research university has been a powerful draw. The university hired 64 new faculty in Fall
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2002, even though the budget only called for 24. "We have outstanding candidates for
new faculty positions," said the top marketing official.
West University's leaders believe that publicly stating a vision is as important as
what the vision actually pushes the university to become. "A vision gives us a sense of
where we're going, plus it announces to others our intentions," said the former vice
president for university relations. "In pool, 1 found out that if you call your shots, people
respect your game. I think it's the same with a great vision." For the vision to be
realized, marketing is "absolutely critical, but can't overcome a bad product," the
president said. "We must substantiate who we are and what we are. It's very important
to tell our story." The top marketing official agreed. "Marketing is critically important,
now more than ever. Because of the vision, we have to market the university effectively
to accomplish it. We cannot achieve the vision without marketing communication. We
have to generate buy-in to be successful."
Motivation for Integrated Marketing
Today, the West University campus is green and sprawling, with red-brick
buildings, traditional towers, and new constmction projects on nearly every street-highly
visible reminders that the 10-year vision is moving full-steam ahead. But the bold vision
had not yet touched the campus in 1995 when the new president took charge. That fall,
enrollment had dipped slightiy compared to the previous year. The school ranked in the
second tier of national universities overall in the U.S. News & World Report college
guidebook, but ranked much higher as a "best value." The school had passed a major
anniversary milestone in 1994-95, building expectations among constituents for a bright
future.
In April before the new president took the reins in June, two professors had
released a case study focusing on religion and higher education in general and West
University in particular. Based on an extensive review of documents, individual
interviews and surveys, they concluded that the university was experiencing a serious
identity crisis-not sure how to balance "Christian" with its striving for academic
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excellence. The study's main point was that West University was destined to become a
secular private university if it followed its present course of separating the academic
coursework from the religious emphasis felt most strongly in extracurricular activities.
The new president, having served in faculty or academic administration roles
at his alma mater since 1983, understood the school's unique complexity. He began
to tackle the challenges by building his executive leadership team. He was not
satisfied with the school's communication and promotion. The vice president for
Communications was asked to move to a faculty position in the joumalism department,
and the president began searching for someone new to take the public relations helm.
First, in the summer of 1995, the president asked his director of Govemmental Relations
to supervise the Public Relations staff in addition to her other duties. After several
months, she asked to be relieved from the PR role. The president then moved Public
Relations to Development as a temporary solution, explained the former VP for
University Relations.
On Christmas Eve 1995, the former VP recalls, the president called his friend and
former faculty colleague and asked him to come to his home. The marketing professor
left that day as interim director of Public Relations, a role he formally began Jan. 1, 1996,
while still teaching his courses. During his five months in the interim role, the top PR
official developed a strategy for improved results using integrated marketing. He
presented his plan to the president, who saw potential for positive change. In March
1996, the president named the interim PR director as vice president for Marketing, with
expanded responsibilities. Although this decision by the president integrated many areas
that affected extemal relations, other areas with major marketing responsibilities
remained outside the marketing stmcture - including Development, Athletics, and
Alumni Relations. The new vice president realized he would have to develop
partnerships across divisional boundaries to be fully successful in his marketing efforts.
One impetus for improved informal integration across the campus came from
1996-97 priority goals set for the University Marketing division: (1) recmit, enroll, retain
and graduate the most qualified students; and (2) coordinate communications with other
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units of West University, such as Development, Alumni, and Athletics. One of three top
priority goals for University Development that same year was that "all units with extemal
interfaces will work together to present a professional, unified image of West University
to constituents." Progress toward that goal was to be measured, "initially, by how well
Athletics, Development, Alumni, and Marketing work together and coordinate their
efforts." The second measure was, "a// units of the university working together and
coordinating their efforts."
Definition and Language of Integrated Marketing
The former VP of University Relations continues to receive calls from the
American Marketing Association and other higher education marketing organizations
about West University because it has been considered a model for implementing
integrated marketing in a college setting. Since the reorganization in January 2003,
however, the university no longer actively uses the phrase "integrated marketing." Even
at the height of integration and of marketing, the former vice president for university
relations said he and his team never defined M . The previous VP for University
Relations used the phrase "integrated marketing" to talk about the functioning of his
organization. "My concept for integrated marketing grew out of simple ideas. I stole
from many different industries." Building on his academic background in business
marketing, he made several conference presentations in which he explained how West
University had implemented M on its campus.
By the time of this study, the university continued to perform some functions of
integrated marketing, including research and communication strategies for targeted
audiences, but the staff members involved did not use the phrase "integrated marketing"
or have a written definition of M , marketing, or integrated marketing communication.
A new team formed at the end of 2002 was named the Integrated Communication Team
(ICT); its mission is to "foster coordination of communication initiatives that impact the
university's diverse constituencies." Marketing is not mentioned in the mission
statement.
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When the president was specifically asked by the researcher how he would define
integrated marketing, he said it is "an attempt to have a consistent understanding of who
we are and what our messages are, and in an organized way, move across the
organization through whatever the budget areas are with a consistency of messages,
intemally and extemally." At West University, "the president used to talk about
marketing; now he talks about communication," said the acting VP for university
relations. The former vice president for university relations echoed researchers (Rubin,
1988; Sevier, 2000b), explaining that, "The vast majority of people still think of
integrated marketing as integrated promotion."
The acting VP defined integrated marketing as "identifying common objectives
and outcomes, and linking resources intemally-financial and people-to jointly work
together to achieve those outcomes and objectives." In University Relations, the acting
vice president said, "We are cultivating and managing relationships-with alumni,
churches, donors, friends. In an ideal world, you have a cohesive relationship
development model." He described his staffs work as constituency relations.
"Basically, our responsibility is to communicate to our constituents the mission of West
University. That involves informing, interpreting, promoting, and listening to our
constituents in order to generate buy-in."
The vice president for Development also talked about the importance of
communicating with constituents, and he described the work of the Development
Division in his own language. "I like marketing," he said. "That's just not what we do."
In many ways, explained the acting VP for University Relations, integrated marketing is
a worthy ideal but somewhat of a "buzzword" that became popular through the Council
for Advancement and Support of Education. "It's been a hot topic or fad. The bottom
line is that integrated marketing means different things to different people and still lacks
cohesion as a discipline in higher education."
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Organizing for Integrated Marketing
History of Marketing Stmcture
For about seven years. West University created its own "integrated marketing"
organization called Marketing then University Relations, led by one vice president.
During that period, the organizational chart changed several times as various offices
moved in and out of the division, explained the former VP for University Relations.
This section explains the changing stmcture of marketing from 1996 through the summer
of 2003.
In March 1996, when the president named West University's first vice president
for Marketing, he expanded the new VP's role to include Admissions Services, Financial
Aid, Public Relations, Public Safety, and University Host/Visitor Center. The president
also invited his new leader to join the Executive Council, the university's administrative
leadership group. The former VP explained the importance of this access.
The biggest advantage of the stmcture with a Marketing VP is that you have
someone at the table who can speak multi-dimensionally about various aspects of
the university. You need this person on the Executive Council. You get to the
point where you've educated the whole table about the sensitivities to customersmeaning students as customers; about third-party quality; about grading, etc.
There's a reason why different people are coaching and refereeing games in
athletics. You need that Marketing VP to bring the "customer" perspective.
In 1997, an alumnus of the university was hired as the new associate vice
president for Communications, reporting to the vice president for Marketing. (That new
hire is now acting vice president for University Relations.) In 1998, the president named
the vice president for Marketing as the new vice president for University Relations,
giving his division responsibility for Govemmental Relations and Institutional Research
and Testing. In August 1999, the VP gained responsibility for Church Relations, Youth
Programs, and the public radio and TV stations, and the staffs expanded in Public
Relations and the Welcome Center. In 2000, he hired a new director of Strategic
Planning.
In June 2001, the University Relations division added the Success Center, which
included Academic Advisement, Student-Athlete Services; Student Retention; Career
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Services, Access, and Leaming Accommodation; and the Registrar's Office. A new
assistant vice president position was added to manage the center. The associate VP
for Communications was named associate VP for Extemal Relations, assuming the
responsibility for Church Relations, Govemmental Relations, and Youth Programs. He
continued to oversee the Public Relations office and the public TV and radio stations,
answering to the VP for University Relations. Also in the summer of 2001, Admissions
Services and Financial Aid/Scholarships were combined into Enrollment Management.
The Welcome Center added conference services, special events services, and campus
tours/visitor services. UR retained the Department of Public Safety, and Institutional
Research and Testing moved to another division.
"The stmcture in 2001 was close to ideal, but we were missing the alumni piece,"
the former vice president said, "1 was trying to build all I could while in the VP role. I
was talking about planting grapes in vineyards. In an average vineyard, it takes eight or
nine years before you get wine grapes. You have to watch for several years to see
results." At a heavily tuition-dependent institution like West University, results means
students. And it was a lack of positive enrollment results that caused the president to
reevaluate the marketing stmcture in 2002.
The Board of Regents, in October 2001, approved a move to a flat tuition rate for
12-plus hours, which meant the rate for new students taking 12 hours in Fall 2002 jumped
about $7,000. Early indicators through the year showed student enrollment might be
down somewhat the following fall. The vice president for University Relations voiced
his concems to the Executive Council that the tuition increase, combined with a sluggish
economy, was creating a significant enrollment challenge. While the vice president
watched the student numbers closely, changes continued to occur to the organizational
stmcture. In July 2002, Alumni Services and Career Services were moved to University
Relations. The Success Center moved to Student Life, and Strategic Planning moved to
another area. A new university magazine was added in public relations.
Fall 2002 enrollment of new students came in about five percent below goal,
creating a $6 million budget problem. The president announced a realignment of
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Executive Council responsibilities to better utilize the skills and capacity of his top
administrators. Continuing Education was added to Alumni Services in the University
Relations division. The Enrollment Management area, including Admissions, Student
Recmitment, and Financial Aid, moved under the vice president for Human Resources
because she had the "confidence and capacity." In January 2003, the vice president for
University Relations stepped down from his administrative post to retum to full-time
teaching in the business school. The former vice president described the situation:
I don't think you can guild the lily. I think what happened, happened. I think we
disintegrated marketing; now we only have naturally occurring integration or
disintegration by developing solutions to individual sub-problems. Most
universities have promotional efforts or recmiting efforts-mostly sales and
advertising. But most have never gotten the pieces together that are typically left
out. Marketing, research, consumer behavior, product, price-with the move to
integrated marketing, it was a call to arms to add the pieces that have been
neglected. The vast majority of people still think of integrated marketing as
integrated promotion. For seven years, it was more than that here.
The president named the associate VP for Extemal Relations as acting vice
president for University Relations, which gave him responsibility for Public Relations,
Alumni Services, including Continuing Education and Career Cervices; Youth Programs;
University Host; and Public Safety. The acting VP also continued to serve as president of
the public broadcasting foundation, which operated the public radio and TV stations. He
described his primary responsibilities as communication and constituency relations, but
he continued to oversee areas beyond public relations. In the sununer of 2003, Career
Services was moved out of University Relations.
The Changing Face of Marketing
The former vice president believed something was lost in the reorganization.
"West University will have to start over," said the former vice president. "Largely, I
spent my time convincing the president that integrated marketing was innovative enough
to do. The president was behind it until the dollars started falling out of the bottom."
The acting vice president said integrated marketing succeeds or fails on the strength of
personality. "In the business environment, it might be easier to make integrated
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marketing succeed; universities have a different environment-pohtical, free-spirited.
It's more challenging in this setting. We made a noble attempt."
The open vice president's job was posted as vice president for University
Relations; the president referred to it during this study as the vice president for
Communications. The purpose statement for the position said.
This position exists to support West University's mission by serving as the
university's chief communications strategist to enhance extemal and intemal
knowledge and support of the university's mission and vision, including
coordination of all communication efforts across the academic and administrative
units of the campus.
The job description lists the areas to be managed as Alumni Services, Conference
Services, Continuing Education, Public Relations (which includes the university
magazine, media relations, publications and creative services, photography, public
TV/radio stations, and special events), and Youth Programs. This individual will advise
the president and senior administrators on "issue management and strategic constituency
opportunities," and will serve on the Executive Council.
With the transition in January 2003, Enrollment Management, University
Relations, and Development moved into three different divisions under three different
vice presidents. Development had operated separately from the Marketing operation
during the past seven years, and the vice president of Development said it is an
appropriate separation.
Marking is in University Relations. We had that name at one time, and [the top
marketing leader] came and asked if we minded if he took that name and we
became Development. I told him I didn't care what we were called as long as we
raised money. We're in Development. If you've got a hammer, everything looks
like a nail. [The vice president for Marketing] came from the business school,
and to him everything looked like a marketing problem.
Development is about raising money for the university. There's no PR in there,
no marketing in there. Just go raise the money, and tell them why you're there.
We did have Govemment Relations and PR, but we needed to have focus. I don't
even let email get on my desk as a distraction. We shed PR and other stuff but
we still build relationships.
Athletics, the law school, the seminary, and the new museum complex all have
separate marketing operations, as well. "Athletics is a major marketing machine, and it's
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separate. They're in separate administrative offices at the football field. They are not
integrated with the university," the acting vice president said. The university's law
school has its own marketing staff "The law school has a history of excellence. I
wouldn't want to be quick to push wholesale change on them. They're a Tier I law
school, and they've shown tremendous leadership," the president said. Other areas have
not done a good job; we'll help them. Our acting VP will help them; 1 depend on him."
The business school's marketing operation, though separate, has a close connection to
University Relations, with its director of Marketing Communication dual-reporting to the
acting VP for University Relations and the dean of the business school.
Church Relations has been included in University Relations in the past, was
moved to the president's office then to the seminary, and might soon be moved back to
University Relations. The acting VP said Church Relations constitutes a relationship
function and belongs with the other offices that communicate with certain constituents.
In the past at West University, Church Relations representatives have been former
preachers who made social connections with church leaders. The top marketing official
has cast the role to the president as one that facilitates the matching of the needs of
churches with the resources of the university, and as the person who communicates
effectively to keep the churches and the university informed. The move of this role back
to University Relations had not been finalized at the time of this study.
Formation of Coordinating Team
West University formed an Integrated Communication Team (ICT) in late 2002.
By summer 2003, the group had met four times. The monthly meetings include a
presentation by one of the areas represented, a discussion of a critical campus issue, an
open-ended discussion about opportunities or challenges on the horizon, and comments
about what members are hearing "on the street" about the university. "Everyone who has
attended has found them valuable," the acting VP said.
Areas represented on the ICT include:
•
Admissions Services
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Alumni Services
Athletics Media Relations
Business School Communications and Marketing
Development
General Counsel's Office
Museum Marketing
President's Office
Provost's Office
Public Safety
Strategic Planning and Improvement
Student Development
University Press.
Neither the law school nor the seminary has representatives on the ICT. "No one
was left off the team on purpose," said the acting vice president. "We wanted to keep it
small enough to work, but still have broad representation." The ICT is composed of the
acting vice president and president's chief of staff (co-chairs), one dean, university legal
counsel, seven directors, the assistant to the provost, two associate vice presidents, and an
assistant vice president. One component of the group's mission statement reads: "An
important objective of the ICT is to promote understanding and awareness of
communications activities among West University divisions that have significant extemal
and intemal constituency relations responsibilities-particularly as they relate to the
university's 10-year vision." Within a large, complex environment like West University,
the acting vice president said, "integrated is more important than marketing."
The former vice president for University Relations said he had observed many
universities who had tried to achieve marketing objectives through the use of a team
instead of a formal stmcture. Handling marketing integration using a team will be
challenging, he said. "I've come to believe that if you can't organizationally integrate,
you can't integrate." He compared cross-functional marketing teams to several armies in
different locations with different leaders being told, "Do the best you can to try to win."
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He said such teams usually stmggle with leadership and purpose. "They never have
money, never have agreement, and never have authority," he said. On the other hand,
when the right areas are structurally integrated with one leader and a central purpose,
goals are achieved, he said. "During our seven-year experiment, I had a great
opportunity to do some things. It was a great laboratory to try out all I had taught in the
classroom. To me, I proved it could work." Unfortunately, he said, "My president was
strong enough to experiment, but not strong enough to defend his experiment."
Implementing Integrated Marketing
Planning and Goal-setting
To determine marketing/communication goals and objectives, the acting VP and
his staff meet together annually in August or September in a retreat. They review the
goals from the previous year, determine which ones need to roll forward or be deleted,
and add new goals. The outcome of that process is the integrated marketing
communication plan, which outlines goals and tactics for each operational area. "Our
integrated communication plan each fall is focused on getting the job done," the acting
VP explained.
A major component of the plan in the past year has been the 10-year vision. The
acting vice president, with assistance from a national consulting firm, created a threephase communication plan to introduce the vision to different audiences. The first phase
focused on education and awareness. "One challenge we've faced is tmst levels among
faculty as we work to gamer support for the vision," said the acting VP. "You can't just
put out brochures; you need action. We must help them know the university listens to
them." West University is now moving into the second phase of the plan-explaining the
benefits of the vision to specific constituency groups. The third phase will be designed to
explain what the vision means to the world.
Major decisions, such as choosing to hire a consultant and approving the vision
communication plan, are made at the vice president's level at West University, and the
acting vice president is ultimately accountable for goal achievement. He has the support
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of the president to hire consultants as needed and to request more resources for priority
projects. "1 try to find the best people and give them the resources they need," the
president said. "They are empowered to make decisions that move us forward." Part of
the decision-making process involves research, and the acting VP decides what market
research is needed. "1 believe in the benefits of research, and the university has dedicated
money to research," he said.
Use of Research
The University Relations office uses research to determine the university's image.
An outside firm calls students, alumni, parents, donors, church members, legislators, and
higher education officials to conduct perception research. They also conduct focus
groups in key cities in the university's home state. "In these image studies, we are
looking for quality perceptions and comparisons with some key competitors," the acting
vice president explained. He also uses research to guide awareness and understanding of
the vision, to determine needed changes in intemal communication, and to help inform
the messaging for student recmiting publications. Research helps the staff improve
communication to extemal audiences, guides university magazine content and design,
and provides guidance on Continuing Education programming. The top marketing leader
said, "Research is very important. If you don't do it, you're flying blindly. If we make a
big investment without research, we could be wasting our money. I like to be guided by
empirical data. Research is an important part of integrated marketing."
Research results are often used to develop the university's primary messages, and
managing the university's image and messaging are top responsibilities of the acting VP
for University Relations. To communicate the 10-year vision, the university created a
"message library" with applications of the vision messages for certain groups. The top
marketing leader and his Public Relations staff worked with an ad agency to produce the
creative work. The agency/staff team produced ads for the vision and also retooled the
Web site to tie into the vision. The Development Division has used vision messages for
its publications. However, the publications were not reviewed by University Relations
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before being printed and were not shared with the central communication office when
completed, explained the acting VP for University Relations.
Coordinating Messaging and Graphic Identitv
Although many universities use a motto or theme as the basis for their advertising
and publications. West University does not have a marketing theme. "We used to say we
were the largest university in the worid affiliated with our denomination, but we've
stopped saying that because we want to be seen as a national Christian university," said
the acting VP for University Relations. Admissions continues to use an old marketing
theme on its publications, and the seminary has its own theme. "We need to start over
with our Admissions publications and get them tied to our vision themes," said the top
marketing official
The top marketing leader said he and his staff hoped to finalize an official logo
and official colors by mid to late summer 2003. They had begun working on a style
guide in the spring. "We have whittled the number of 'marks' we use here. We had two
dozen, including five on the athletics side. Now we have two West University marks:
a word mark and a seal," he said. A "mark" is a visual symbol such an image of a mascot
or a university's name or initials formed into a distinctive design. West University also
selected official PMS [Pantone Matching System] colors so they could use the same
tones on university promotional items and printed products.
The staff had meetings with Athletics, the licensing office, representatives from
Student Life, the provost, and Intemet Services to discuss the university's image. "First,
I had them look at display boards filled with all the existing logos and symbols and
asked, 'Do you think we have a problem?' " The president supported the review process
at West University because he believed it was important to the school's identity. "We
took the presentation materials to the graphics standards committee after the president,
then to the coaches. Athletics will now consistentiy use a standard set of marks." The
University Relations leader also planned to have the regents review the marks to gain
their buy-in. "West University has operated for more than a century, and we've
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developed lots of symbols in that time. It's hard to bring all the looks and logos
together," said the acting vice president.
Responsibilities and Priorities
University Relations. The University Relations division staff influences and
manages all communication over which they have direct control, including the university
magazine, alumni communication, admissions materials, and general institutional
marketing and image. Admissions publications receive top priority in the publications
office. Development has its own communication staff as do the business school and law
school. Athletics has a five-person, full-time communication staff They handle their
own PR and media relations. The Public Relations staff includes five full-time graphic
designers and four full-time publication writers/editors. "We will never have, nor should
we have, complete control of all publications at the university. If the president made an
edict that all publications must go through the University Relations office, we would have
to double our staff It's on ongoing challenge," said the acting VP.
The marketing budget was pulled back a little last year, maybe 1 percent, said the
University Relations leader. However, he said, during the past five years, the budget
increased dramatically in people and operations. The new magazine added $800,000 and
several staff members. Other areas that received additional funding included Publications
and Creative Services, and Media Relations, which hired a consultant to help with
national media placements. Most publications are created in-house, but the staff
outsources the printing processes and stationery products like business cards and
letterhead.
A primary image bearer of the university is its Web site, but University Relations
has not had responsibility for West University's Web site for two years. A new Chief
Information Officer moved the Web to Information Technology, explained the acting VP
for university relations. Three staff members were handling Web content at the time, but
the acting vice president said the CIO saw the Web as technology. The CIO hired a
director of Intemet Services, who meets with the acting VP for University Relations
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weekly to discuss issues relevant to the Web. "The Web is audience-driven from this
office," said the top marketing official. "The new Web group's designers created
templates, and they're deploying them through the content management system. In a
year and a half the Web group will populate more than 100 sites with a common look."
University Relations retained a full-time online communication staff member who
handles content of the office Web pages and helps some departments or programs when
they do not know what to say. He helps manage "streaming," a technique to allow digital
video or sound to be seen and heard through the Web. Information Technology provides
the coding required to make streaming operate properly. The staff member in University
Relations posts audio/visual materials and explains what is being posted to the Web.
The University Relations Division includes areas beyond promotion and
communication, including Alumni Services, Career Services to support alumni, and
Continuing Education. The former vice president for alumni relations said:
We wanted to do more for alumni. We planned to get a list of alums in the
community and tell them about the services they're interested in. We didn't want
to do something that was just an extension of their four-year degree, but classes
about their lives and careers. This didn't get launched. It was one of the alumni
initiatives that did not get funded.
The acting vice president said the Alumni Services office did eventually receive funding
for some new initiatives, but the timing was such that the staff missed the opportunity to
market anything new for the spring of 2003. He hoped to outiine a solid plan for new
Alumni Services in the next few months. "We thought about what we could do for
people to help with their lives. We thought of 24 things we could offer, including
ongoing career advice at junctures in their careers, and lifelong leaming centers using
alumni working in certain fields as teachers," said the former vice president.
The Continuing Education staff has plans to "vastly expand," hosting more
alumni support functions in major cities with large concentrations of alumni. The acting
vice president for University Relations explained that they target direct mail to alumni by
geography. They also bind special sections into certain issues of the university magazine
to promote upcoming events in a specific region as detemiined by ZIP code. With a
Continuing Education program, "you can price it reasonably and deliver it at non165
traditional sites and ways, including the hitemet, on a different schedule," said the former
VP. Some universities completely separate Continuing Education classes from normal
degree programs, which allows price differentiation, he said. At West University, for
example, an executive MBA program offered in a nearby large city costs participants
three times the standard tuition of the university, according to the former VP for
University Relations.
Enrollment Management. The Admissions, Recmiting and Financial Aid
functions were key components of the University Relations area for seven years, and the
staff drove undergraduate student enrollment to record heights until the fall semester after
the major tuition increase. The former vice president described the approach and
activities in place at the time. At the core of the strategy was a model that helped West
University leverage its financial aid dollars to recmit more students. The model was
adapted over a five-year period from an off-the-shelf model by Noel-Levitz, a national
higher education consulting company, he said.
Tactically, the university focused in two directions: a calling center to
communicate with prospective students and a series of targeted direct-mail pieces that
were coordinated using the primary database. Customized calling based on information
about individual students was central to the strategy, as was the ability to integrate with
other academic or support offices on campus. For example, during a call, if a student said
he or she was interested in studying pre-medicine, the caller would hit a key on the
computer keyboard and request that a pre-med advisor send a letter to that specific
student. Early marketing efforts focused on high school juniors and seniors, but in the
past few years, the recmiters have begun contacting students at younger ages. "Pretty
soon, we may have to talk to them before they can talk," said the former VP. hi addition
to the calling center and direct mail, admissions counselors focus personal attention on
prospective students in certain geographic territories.
Development. Although Development is not officially a part of the University
Relations Division, this area plays a key role in relationship building with core
constituents of West University. Development has 25 field officers who talk to
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individuals likely to make gifts of $5,000 or more. Other donors receive communication
through direct mail, publications, events, or telemarketing. Development has a creative
staff that creates publications and manages event. The VP for Development explained
that his office hosts regents dinners, endowed scholarship dinners, thank-you dinners for
donors whose gifts ranged from $250,000 to $1 million, and "mega-dinners" for donors
who give $5 million to $10 million. "Development staff handle their own special events,
their own invitations, their own programs and newsletters. They own the Parents League
and the Endowed Scholarship Society. They handle communication with donors," said
the VP for University Relations.
One arena in which University Relations and Development serve as
communication partners is the university magazine, published six times a year by the
University Relations division. The glossy, full-color magazine is mailed to alumni,
donors and certain friends of the university. This publication has been a primary vehicle
for communication about the 10-year vision, with each issue in recent months featuring
one of the 12 vision imperatives. Articles often describe faculty research, alumni
achievements, or university plans. The magazine staff works with Development in
planning stories for the publication. Although editorial guidelines for the magazine state
that it will contain no formal "asks" for funds, each issue includes an advertisement
describing opportunities to give to West University. The editorial staff also write feature
articles about donors for the magazine.
Assessing Integrated Marketing
The University Relations office is linked to a University Relations standing
committee of the Board of Regents, and the staff prepares an annual report for this
committee. The top marketing official of the university, currently the acting VP of
university relations, serves as the liaison to that committee and makes regular reports at
meetings regarding strategy, tactics, and outcomes. The individual leading University
Relations is a member of the Executive Council, providing a voice and a vote regarding
marketing within the university's top leadership group. Because of the marketing
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leader's close links to the regents and the Executive Council, marketing results are
closely watched and often discussed.
Goals, outiined for the University Relations Division in the integrated
communication plan, are reviewed annually, "hi August, we go through what we said we
would do last year. Did we? Yes or no? Should the goal roll over? Should we drop it or
modify it?" explained the acting VP for University Relations. To make it easier to
determine whether goals are achieved, the staff is trying to make their objectives as
measurable as possible by minimizing vague goals such as "improve this...." "We try to
quantify and put timelines, but some things are more measurable than others," he said.
Some important overall image/quality measures are tracked in other offices. For
example, the U.S. News and World Report's "Best Colleges" rankings are tracked in the
Strategic Planning office. That office also tracks whether goals and budget requests tie to
the vision, and whether goals will improve some area of the U.S. News rankings, the
acting VP said.
Market research is a key component of the assessment program at West
University. This type of research is coordinated and paid for by Public Relations within
the University Relations Division. "I believe in the benefits of research," said the acting
VP. "We can always use the research information better. Dissemination depends on the
research. A readership report would just go to the offices that care. Other types of
reports would be sent to other areas of campus. I use research mainly to improve
communication." Research is used to track changing perceptions of the university, to
improve the university magazine, to leam more about prospective students and their
families, and to test communication strategies. A primary purpose for research in the past
year has been to gauge core constituents' awareness of and understanding of the 10-year
vision imperatives, he said.
At West University, key measures include the number of students enrolling each
semester, their entering test scores, the number of faculty hired each year with Ph.D.s, the
needs of and perceptions of alumni, the national rankings regarding quality and image,
the dollars raised, and the percentage of alumni who make gifts to the university. In
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Enrollment Management, the goal is not just to increase admissions numbers, but to track
sources. This means the staff tries to track where the university first leamed about a
student-during a campus visit, from a purchased list of names, from a church's youthgroup list, from an alumnus parent or sibling, from advertising, etc. This helps both
Enrollment Management and University Relations leverage their resources to recmit
future students.
Overall, the integrated marketing efforts-or integrated communication effortsare judged by measurable data and by the perception of success or failure among the
university's leaders. The acting VP for University Relations said, "We're successful, but
it's a never-ending process. Is it better today than last year-yes. 1 don't know how to
define success; if it's having arrived, then no, we're not successful." The president
agreed that the process continues. "We've made great progress, but we have a long way
to go. We're 50 percent there. Five years ago, we were 5-10 percent of the way there.
Our acting VP has done a wonderful job. I see the steps; we're taking positive steps all
the time."
West University Case Summary
Studying West University was challenging because the top marketing leadership
role was in transition. However, this transition period also may have provided
opportunities to leam information not usually available because the former vice president
remained on campus in a faculty role. The vision of the university is tightly linked with
the processes and challenges of integrated marketing. Uncovering the vision
development process also uncovered the critical role played by the top marketing official
in strategic planning, in strategic research and writing, and in quiet leadership behind the
scenes.
West's strong, directive president played a key role in the build up and
reorganization of integrated marketing. The university merged the public relations and
enrollment management functions for seven years, but the recmiting area was moved to
the Human Resources Division in January. The president engineered the reorganization
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and resulting change in focus and processes. With the move of recmiting to Human
Resources, the acting VP became further removed from the day-to-day planning about
marketing to prospective students. This creates ongoing integration challenges. Without
Enrollment Management or Development, the University Relations Division is not
organizationally integrated as described by Sevier (1999b). Despite the organizational
challenges. West University is a strong advocate of integrated marketing communication.
West University marketing staff are focused almost exclusively on goals and
strategies that further core constituents' understanding of the 10-year vision. The staffs
annual planning and evaluation process for integrated marketing communication includes
a review of how marketing plans tie to institutional plans. University goals tout academic
excellence, research and teaching, facilities, and enhanced student life opportunities.
With the president's full attention focused on these institutional priorities, and with
University Relations only in phase two of a three-phase communication plan for the
vision, develop of Continuing Education programs for alumni in other cities is not
currentiy a high priority. Therefore, West University's ability to focus on "product" in
the form of continuing education is hampered. Although many changes have occurred
within the Marketing/ University Relations area in the past seven years, further stmctural
changes are not likely in the near future. To formalize the implementation of M C , the
president established an Integrated Communication Team that coordinates promotional
efforts, lessening the possibility of organizational restmcturing.
One strength of the M C program at West University is its drive for message
integration. Also, the ability to link Alumni Services and Continuing Education with
Public Relations and other units of the University Relations Division still provides some
opportunities to take marketing beyond promotion. Research plays an important role in
public relations and marketing efforts at West, and the acting VP for University Relations
manages the market research program. The president praised the current marketing
leader, the acting VP for University Relations, and emphasized that marketing and
communication are critical to the university's future. Because of West's restmcturing,
the integration of marketing communication efforts requires the top marketing leader to
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provide strong leadership to pull together units he does not manage. This coordination is
an ongoing challenge. In fact, the process of implementing "integrated marketing" at all
has become a major hurdle at the university, causing the University Relations staff to
retum to their pre-marketing focus of promotion only.
Summary
The case study reports in this chapter provided details about the processes and
challenges involved in implementing integrated marketing. They revealed the roles
presidents and top marketing officials play, explained the link between the institutional
vision and marketing strategy, and discussed how marketing is defined, organized, and
implemented. Chapter V includes a discussion of the research findings in light of the
study's purpose and primary research question, cross-case comparison, implications, and
recommendations for further research.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS, MPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Introduction
The final chapter of the dissertation is devoted to review and reflection regarding
the purposes and research questions as they relate to the findings of this study. In this
multi-site case study, the experiences and challenges of implementing integrated
marketing at three private, four-year institutions were explored in detail to provide
insights and guidance to other colleges and universities attempting to implement M on
their own campuses. The purposes of this study were:
1. To explore the processes and challenges of developing, defining,
implementing, and assessing integrated marketing in a private university
setting.
2. To explore the level of organizational, strategic, and message integration of
the marketing functions at three private universities.
3. To compare and contrast the experiences of administrators and staff at three
private universities as they implement integrated marketing.
4. To make recommendations for further research.
The primary question in this study was, "What processes and challenges are involved in
defining, developing, organizing, implementing, and assessing integrated marketing at
three private universities?" Several subquestions expanded on the primary research
question.
Conclusions
Purposes of the Study
The first three purposes of this study were achieved in the case study reports in
Chapter IV and the cross-case comparisons in this chapter. Within the report about each
university, I discussed the development of M ; the definition and language of M ; the
organization created for M ; the implementation of M ; and the assessment methods used
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by each university to measure M . The universities' level of integration was explored in
each report as well. Woven throughout the reports were the experiences of administrators
and staff who work closely with marketing or who have a vested interest in marketing's
success, such as the presidents. The case study reports included revealing quotes,
specific plans and goals, descriptions of integrated marketing staffs and teams, and
insights into a variety of challenges. Both the case reports in Chapter IV and the
discussions of each case in this chapter were reviewed by two individuals at each
university, and they reported that the information was accurate and fair. The sections of
the cross-case comparison section below will elaborate on the findings regarding the
purposes of this study and the guiding research question.
Cross-Case Comparison of M at the Three Universities
Introduction
The three private universities selected for this study had much in common, but
their visions, cultures, and reasons for marketing were much different. All three are
described as national universities by Camegie classification, yet one ranked among the
top 50, one in the second tier, and one in the third in the U.S. News and World Report's
"America's Best Colleges" guide (America's Best, 2003). Midcentral was growing as
fast as possible; enrollment was capped at South National; and West was stmggling to
overcome two years of declining enrollment. Midcentral's vision was to dominate the
city in which it was located and to grow rapidly. South National's vision was to become
one of a handful of elite national universities in America. West University's vision was
to become a top-tier research university while strengthening its Christian emphasis.
Faculty at Midcentral were disgmntled with the president because they felt
"under-loved" and left out of the planning process, which was driven by the
administration. The university's emphasis on non-traditional programs had caused some
faculty concem that undergraduate excellence would be diminished. Faculty at South
National had played key roles in planning in the past decade, and they appeared
comfortable with their president of two decades. South National was focused on
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enhancing academic excellence and improving its national academic reputation. Some
faculty members at West University were extremely unhappy with the president because
they disagreed with his vision of becoming a national. Christian research university.
Marketing communication efforts were focused primarily on communicating the
university's vision.
The students targeted by each university were different, and that difference
affected how the universities marketed themselves. Midcentral's mission called the
leaders to provide access to first-generation and lower-income students. To help offset
the costs of tuition discounting required at the undergraduate level. Enrollment
Management staff members intensely recmited adult, graduate, and part-time students in
the city and the surrounding region. Traditional undergraduates were recmited as well,
primarily through targeted direct mail. Advertising was considered a key component in
the marketing mix designed to attract adult and graduate students to specific programs.
South National was pursuing traditional undergraduate students with high test
scores on entrance exams, leadership ability, or excellence in some area of their lives, and
a desire to become part of a close-knit community. The Admissions staff sought students
nationwide and hoped to draw some of the country's best minds to the university.
Advertising was not a part of the university's recmiting strategy because it was
considered inappropriate among its more elite peers.
At West University, intertwined institutional goals were to recmit enough
traditional freshmen and transfer students to meet the budget; to attract more students
with high test scores; and to remain accessible for its historic religious constituency.
When University Relations included the Admissions staff, the enrollment goals were
considered high-priority marketing goals. After Admissions was moved to Human
Resources, the University Relations staff simply provided communication support to
achieve the goals. West University recmited nationally using targeted direct mail and
telemarketing. The university advertised regularly in Christian and teen publications.
Within each university setting, the history, politics, personalities, and personal
relationships played a role in the level of success of integrated marketing. These issues
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were challenging to convey in summary form, but I hope to have given insights into the
people and the cultures of each institution through the case studies. After completing the
case reviews, I compared findings with the conceptual frameworks used to guide data
collection. Table 3 provides a listing of some central ideas associated with integrated
marketing, the research from which the ideas emerged, and descriptions of what was
found at each university. The research findings are discussed in the following sections.
Name and Purpose of Marketing Division
Sevier and Johnson (1999) said higher education administrators "hope integrated
marketing will help them attract quality students and faculty, create more satisfied
alumni, build a stronger image, increase support from various funding sources, and
leverage marketing dollars" (p. 1). All three universities sought one or more of these
outcomes from marketing, but none of them implemented their strategies within an
umbrella organization that carried the name "marketing" or "integrated marketing." At
Midcentral, integrated marketing was included within Enrollment Management, and this
name reflected the urgent drive to increase the number of students attending the
university. At South National, a primary focus of the vice president in charge was majorgift fundraising, and the area she oversaw was University Advancement. At West
University, the area called Marketing in the past was called University Relations at the
time of this study. However, the president and the acting VP for University Relations
tended to emphasize communication or integrated communication.
Although each university used marketing to achieve multiple goals, they generally
concentrated on two or three purposes. Midcentral had grown enrollment 30 percent in
the past few years, and wanted to continue a strong growth trend with both undergraduate
and graduate/adult students. At the same time, however, the university stood at third-tier
status in the national rankings. Because Midcentral's researchers had found that a
strong image, or brand, was highly relevant to graduate and professional students, the
university was undergoing a comprehensive drive to strengthen its brand. For this
university, with 80 percent of its alumni base in the city, building the brand locally was
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Table 3
Research Findings Comparison
Name of "Marketing"
Division
Midcentral
South National
West
Enrollment
Management
University
Advancement
University
Relations
Fundraising,
Image
Communication,
Image
Primary Purpose for Office p Recruiting, Image,
(Sevier & Johnson, 1999) fel Communication
M Linked to Vision, Plan
(Sevier, 1999b)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Written Definition of
Integrated Marketing
(Smith, 1995)
No
No
No
Integrated
Marketing
Integrated
Marketing
Integrated
Communication
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
4Ps
(Sevier, 1999b)
Product, Price,
Place, Promotion
Promotion
Promotion,
Product''
IM or M C ?
(Sevier, 2000b)
IM
IMC
IMC
Board Committee (Moore,
1999)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Strong
Strong
Weak
Message,
Strategic^
Message
Message
Development
Recruiting/
Financial Aid
Development,
Recmiting/FA
Market Research (Sevier.
1999b)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Assessment (Kotler &
Andreasen, 1982)
Yes
Yes
Language Used
(Sevier, 2000b)
IM Plan (Sevier, 1999b;
Sevier & Johnson, 1999)
Cross-Divisional Team
(Sevier & Johnson, 1999)
Presidential Support (Sevier,
1998)
Level of Integration (Sevier.
1999b)
Areas Not Integrated
(Sevier, 1999a)
Yes
S
' Organizational integration is not listed because a key element mentioned by Sevier, Fundraising, is left out of the
marketing structure.
'' Continuing Education gives West some opportunity to affect "product."
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more important than improving the national standings. Communication was a central
component of all marketing efforts, both local and national. Enrollment results, not
image, were the impetus for increased marketing efforts at Midcentral, where tuition
comprised 92 percent of the annual operating budget.
For South National, on the other hand, image was a high priority. University
leaders wanted South National to become one of America's elite universities. Marketing
efforts there were oriented more toward improving perceptions of South National among
higher education peers and building an image that would attract top-quality students and
faculty. This university also was in the midst of a $600 million campaign, and building
the endowment was a critical step toward the university's vision. Although South
National's University Advancement office was focused on completing the campaign
goal, it did not appear to be a primary focus of integrated marketing efforts.
Because of the many challenges the president at West had faced in
communicating his bold vision for the university's future, the current marketing efforts
were actually public relations efforts designed to share information and educate
audiences. Under the university's previous Marketing stmcture, a primary focus was
recmiting undergraduate students. However, with the reorganization in January 2003,
University Relations became highly concemed about communicating the university's
vision, helping the president enhance his on- and off-campus relationships, and
enhancing West University's image. Recmiting and Development were both located
under different vice presidents after the reorganization, and they operated independently
of one another and, generally, of University Relations.
Link of M to Mission and Vision
When Sevier (1999b) described strategic integration, he said it begins with
"institutional mission, vision, and strategic plan." Kotler and Andreasen (1982) said the
strategic marketing planning process begins with leaders determining the organizational
objectives before setting the marketing mission, objectives, and goals. At all three
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universities, the underiying foundation for marketing efforts was a clear vision articulated
by the president and supported by the goveming board.
Midcentral University's vision for growth and market dominance was widely
understood by the university community, and the academic goals in the vision drove
marketing efforts. Administrators at Midcentral were goal-oriented and fast-moving, and
they were already beginning to look beyond their 2006 plan to the year 2012-from a
university and a marketing perspective. South National's vision was not yet written into
a formal statement, but leaders agreed that the president's vision was to drive the
university as near to the top of the national rankings as possible by building an excellent
university. Marketing's efforts to improve the university's image tied directly to the
vision. At West University, the vision was designed to guide the university for another
nine or 10 years. Although the push to become a national. Christian research university
had led to some controversy, it also provided a strategic framework upon which the
acting VP for University Relations had built his integrated communication plan. The
vision had the support of most members of the goveming board.
M Definition. Language, Plan, and Team
Smith (1995) said the first practical step in implementing M is "arriving at a
working definition" (p. 1). Sevier (1999b) explained that no single definition of
integrated marketing had become generally accepted, and this lack of clarity about M
continued at the three institutions in this study. Although most individuals offered an
impromptu definition of M when asked to do so, each description was unique. Within
the same institution, definitions varied widely. At West University, although the phrase
"integrated marketing" was not actively used, the president, the past VP for Marketing/
University Relations and the acting VP for University Relations all offered responses
when asked how they define M . The prevailing language at West was "communication"
or "integrated communication," and the president's definition discussed "a consistency of
messages intemally and extemally." The acting VP described the need to link resources
to achieve common objectives, and the need to cultivate relationships. He added that
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integrated marketing "means different things to different people." The fonner vice
president for Marketing said his concept for M "grew out of simple ideas... 1 stole
from many different industries." At West University, the staff created an annual
integrated communication plan and the coordinating group was called the Integrated
Communication Team.
At both Midcentral and South National, the phrase "integrated marketing" was
used frequently. Midcentral's assistant VP of Marketing Strategy had responsibility for
creating an annual integrated marketing plan, and the planning group within Enrollment
Management was called the Marketing Strategy Group. South National also created an
integrated marketing plan about a year ago, and the team that coordinated the marketing
efforts was called the Integrated Marketing Committee.
Although the phrase "integrated marketing" was used frequently, no common
definition had been established at either Midcentral or South National, and the definitions
given by staff varied widely. Midcentral's president defined M as "strategic branding
with an understanding of the competition." The VP for Enrollment Management said
integrated marketing is a three-legged stool: (1) institution-wide brand marketing; (2)
positioning strategy for each academic program; and (3) achievement of business
objective. Midcentral's assistant VP for Marketing Communications said, "Integrated
marketing is a weaving together, within a defined stmcture, of all sorts of elements to
produce a greater whole."
The Creative Services director at South National University defined M as
"integrating all branches of the institutional community with their various messages and
in a way that's consistent and accurate. Everyone saying the same thing. Publications
looking reasonably similar. Leaming the same information, using the same information."
The leader of marketing at South National, the VP for University Advancement, said,
"Integrated marketing is ensuring that the core values of the institution are communicated
accurately and consistentiy to all the various constituents." The president said, "We're
trying to change our self-understanding through marketing and communication with our
intemal audiences, then the extemal world."
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Administrators and staff at all three universities made it clear that with some
audiences in certain settings, they do not use the language of "marketing." South
National's VP for Advancement said, "At times we won't use the word marketing, but
instead will say communications." The assistant VP for Public Relations at Midcentral
said, "When people ask me to speak, I say I work in an integrated marketing
communication environment. 1 don't talk to joumalists or faculty about that." South
National's director of Media Relations said he and his staff usually talk about marketing
or integrated marketing, but "with faculty, those discussions don't come up. With
faculty, we discuss awareness for or attention for their research." At West University, the
acting VP for University Relations said, "The president used to talk about marketing;
now he talks about communication."
M . M C . and the 4Ps
Sevier (1999b, 2000b) said integrated marketing (M) and integrated marketing
communication (MC) are not the same thing, yet many schools confuse the two
concepts. He said M deals with the strategic issues of product, price, and place, and the
tactical issue of promotion, and M C is a subset of M focused solely on coordinated
promotion or communication. Of the three universities, only Midcentral was attempting
to coordinate M efforts beyond promotion. Before a new academic program could be
launched at Midcentral, the VP for Enrollment Management confirmed that it had an
adequate marketing plan. His marketing team influenced some product, price, and place
issues related to adult and graduate education, as well, and he hoped his board committee
would soon gain approval rights for a five-year pricing strategy. The VP was a member
of the top leadership group, and his operation was strategically and organizationally a
part of the Academic Affairs area of the university. Promotion, including advertising and
publications, was generally coordinated through this office. Even with the high level of
integration at Midcentral, the VP did not actually develop or oversee any academic
components of the university-the university's "product."
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At both South National and West University, their programs were closer to M C
than to M . The Creative Services director at South National said, "hitegrated marketing
is promotion, not the other 3Ps. We're not over product, price, and place." The VP for
Advancement agreed that M was actually promotion at South National, but said she did
have some influence on product and price through her roles on the Admissions
Management Committee and the Budget Advancement Committee. West University
leaders discussed the importance of communicating with constituents and promoting the
image. The program mainly aligned with the M C model, with the exception of the
integration of Continuing Education. At least for alumni and other non-traditional
students, the University Relations office had the opportunity to develop and promote
educational programs outside the normal academic channels. Therefore, the marketing
area of the university would likely influence product, price, and place related to
Continuing Education, but would not affect traditional academic plans or pricing.
Board and Presidential Support
All three universities had a committee of the goveming board focused on the key
office that oversaw marketing: Enrollment Management at Midcentral, University
Advancement at South National, and University Relations at West University. Because
these areas were broad and dealt with key financial issues of the university-particularly
enrollment/tuition and fundraising-the board committees were focused on issues well
beyond promotion. Merely having a dedicated board committee may help ensure the
success of marketing, Moore (1999) found in a major national study of colleges and
universities. Particularly, he found that M programs with an extemal committee for
support resulted in the greatest increases related to both an enlarged applicant pool and
enrollment yield. At the time of Moore's study, only 27 percent of the institutions had an
alumni or tmstee committee focused on marketing.
Sevier (1998) emphasized the critical importance of M having top-down
commitment. "If the president doesn't aggressively support marketing, it will fail"
(p. 39). West, Midcentral, and South National were led by strong presidents who clearly
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and frequentiy articulated their vision for each university. All three presidents personally
appointed the top leader currently in charge of marketing efforts. The presidents at both
Midcentral and South National praised their top marketing leaders, and they voiced
strong support for their integrated marketing stmctures and processes. In addition, they
continued to strengthen both the formal and informal M organizations. Again, however.
South National voiced strong support for integrated marketing, but actually practiced
M C - o r coordinated promotion (Sevier, 1999b).
West University is listed on Table 3 as having "weak" presidential support for
integrated marketing because of the recent reorganization occurring there. With that
change, and the loss of Admissions and Financial Aid, many of the M efforts during the
past seven years were redirected to promotion and communication. West's president had
high praise for his previous and current leaders in their marketing roles, but he was not
currently supporting an M organization that would deal with more than promotion.
However, the recent formation of the Integrated Communication Team and integrated
communication plan demonstrated West University's strong support of an M C
environment.
Integration of Marketing Efforts
Strategic Integration
Sevier (1999b) described three levels of integration a college or university might
achieve in its marketing efforts. Strategic integration occurs when the marketing staff
assesses and meets the needs of targeted audiences through the allocation of resources
within the constraints of the university's institutional mission. At this level, an
organization is willing to make data-based decisions, to segment audiences, and to
leverage a mix of product, price, and place to achieve marketing goals. Strategic
integration also calls for the use of feedback to ensure that strategic decisions are on
track. Midcentral University had accomplished strategic integration, especially as related
to "Goal n" (adult, graduate, part-time) students and the programs designed to attract
them. At both the graduate and undergraduate level, Midcentral tracked everything in a
182
central database, and used that data to make decisions about who to pursue and how to
communicate with them. The university had allocated resources to focus on three
specific programs that had growth potential, and to determine if the products were current
and viable, and if the locations and times were convenient. Gathering feedback was a
continual process, and the feedback was used to improve the programs and processes.
Organizational Integration
In organizational integration, Sevier (1999b) described the institution's marketing
efforts as working as one system where the staff coordinates resources and goals. This
segment of the definition somewhat describes the operations at both Midcentral and
South National. However, the core of organizational integration, Sevier said, requires
that certain marketing and communications functions are integrated under one vice
president. The areas he suggested were Marketing (with Public Relations, PubHcations,
and Advertising), Student Recmiting, and Fundraising. His ideal stmcture places those
areas under a vice president for Market Relations.
At Midcentral, the fundraising arm of the university. Development, was not
formally integrated with the primary marketing area. Enrollment Management.
Therefore, the focus of marketing tended to be enrollment growth, with little attention to
increasing major gifts to the university. At South National, the primary marketing area
was University Advancement. Admissions and Financial Aid answered to the provost.
Although Advancement and Admissions were close partners in recmiting students,
this area was formally separated from the top marketing official. West University, at the
peak of its formal marketing stmcture, included Admissions but did not include
Development. None of the schools, therefore, exhibited tme organizational integration as
described by Sevier.
Although the schools did not meet the ideal criteria as described by Sevier
(1999b), they had each integrated some areas that were traditionally not included in
Enrollment Management, University Advancement, or University Relations. Table 4
183
Table 4
Functions Integrated into Marketing Stmcture
•*1
m
Midcentral
South National
West
Enrollment
Management
University
Advancement
X
X
University
Relations
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
.fV.
Function
Advertising
Admissions/Recmiting
Alumni Communication
Alumni Giving
Alumni Services
Campus Tours/
Visitor Center
Career Services
Continuing/Adult
Education
X
X
X
X
'rtfiX
Development/Major
Fundraising
X
Financial Aid
Internal Communication
Market Research
X
Media Relations
X
Police
Publications
Public Radio/
TV Stations
X
X
X
X
X
k-f.
X
^-
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Public Relations/
Events
X
Student Employment/
Intemships
X
X
X
Web Content/ Design
184
X
summarizes the offices or functions each university had included in the primary
"marketing" division. Eight functions were integrated at all three universities. Those
were advertising, alumni communication, alumni services, intemal communication,
market research, media relations, and public relations/events. Both Midcentral and
South National handled Web content and design within their centralized marketing
operations. West University's writing staff handled the Web in the past, but it was
moved to a more technical area of the university. Campus tours and the visitor centers
were managed by the primary marketing office at Midcentral and West University.
Seven functions were only integrated at one of the three universities: admissions/
recmiting, career services, financial aid, and student employment/intemships at
Midcentral; development/major gift fundraising at South National; and campus tours/
visitor center and public radio/TV stations at West University. The Career Services
office was moved from University Relations to Campus Life at West in the summer
of 2003.
Message Integration
In contrast to organizational integration, all three universities practiced message
integration. An organization with this level of integration sends consistent, coordinated
messages driven by strategic decisions (Sevier, 1999b). Messages may be targeted to
particular audiences and have a common look, sound, and feel across mediums and over
time, Sevier said. Midcentral had developed a brand description focused on a few key
themes. This brand description was on the Web site, and the key themes are used as the
basis for decisions about alumni magazine content, Web site content, press releases, and
marketing materials. South National developed a positioning statement that described the
university's distinctive qualities. The positioning statement was the basis for university
messaging, particularly in the areas of Advancement and Admissions. When determining
what stories to promote to the media or to publish on the Web site or in publications, the
South National staff members used the positioning statement as a touchstone for
decisions. At West University, the vision document and its imperatives were the basis for
185
institutional messaging. Vision language infused the Web site, the university magazine,
press releases, and other primary publications. When new Admissions publications were
created in the fall of 2003, the acting VP for University Relations planned to incorporate
vision messaging in them as well, he said.
Areas Not Integrated
From this small sample, it appeared that universities were unlikely to place both
of their primary financial drivers-Admissions for tuition and Development for major
gifts-under one leader. At Midcentral, Development was not included in the formal
marketing organization. At South National, Admissions and Financial Aid were in the
academic arena. And at West University, with the recent reorganization, both
Development and Recmiting/Financial Aid were located under two separate vice
presidents. Leaders at all three universities expressed some regret that these key areas
were not a part of their marketing stmctures, but they also expressed understanding. The
reasons for lack of formal integration varied, from personality and leadership style of the
non-integrated vice president to an unwillingness to distract from the primary focus of the
marketing or fundraising staffs.
Although Sevier (1999b) did not formally recommend integration of other
university marketing partners, several areas emerged during this study as potential
candidates for enhanced partnerships. Staff and administrators at all three universities
mentioned the challenge of integrating the marketing efforts of Athletics with
institutional marketing. Participants mentioned the potential benefits when Athletics is a
strong partner. The professional schools such as business, medical, and law operated
separately from the institutional marketing arm at each university. Staff expressed
fmstration with the challenges of communication and coordination with these important
entities located within the institution-but outside the integrated marketing stmcture.
Campus stores also presented special challenges because they tended to focus on selling
more than image enhancement, according to marketing leaders at the three universities.
186
Research and Assessment
Market research and centralized databases seemed to be foundational to all
marketing efforts at Midcentral, South National, and West University. The acting VP
for University Relations at West strongly emphasized the need to conduct consistent
and insightful research to help shape messages to various audiences, including alumni,
donors, prospective students, and opinion leaders in the state. Midcentral had created a
fourth major area of Enrollment Management, with five staff members, designed to help
track data and to create reports useful for management and marketing decisions. South
National had a consultant who was almost perceived as an intemal staff member because
he co-chaired the Integrated Marketing Committee and handled frequent research projects
for the university. This southem elite university had developed a distinctive use for
research in surveying provosts and admissions directors about higher education trends.
South National used these special surveys to collect valuable information and to allow the
university's name to be associated with research and with cutting-edge trends.
At all three universities, consistent assessment procedures were in place. The top
marketing leaders made regular reports to the goveming boards, and they all served on
their respective university's administrative cabinet. In that role, they made fairly regular
progress reports. More formally, they each had written M or M C plans containing
actions and timelines, and these plans were evaluated and updated periodically. At
Midcentral, data collection was a central component of marketing. Midcentral staff
collected information at every alumni event, at every recmiting event, from other
databases, and from individuals. This information was tracked to allow individuals to be
held accountable for specific goals as well as to make future plans. West University
tracked its communication and promotion goals, but these M C goals were not tied
directly to outcomes such as enrollment numbers or donations. Standings in the U.S.
News national rankings were tracked closely at both South National and West University,
and Midcentral pays particular attention to rankings related to its law and business
programs.
187
Conclusions Summary
Ideal descriptions of integrated marketing written by consultants or marketing
professors may not adequately allow for the idiosyncrasies of the higher education
environment. Universities have two primary revenue streams: tuition and fundraising.
To increase either gifts or enrollment, an institution must successfully execute marketing
strategy and build extemal relationships. In a complex university setting, however, a
single leader will find it challenging to drive both enrollment and fundraising. Although
some universities may manage a merger of both critical areas with marketing, none of the
three institutions in this study felt this move was urgent or imminent.
Alumni Relations provides another challenge in the higher education market.
These universities had all chosen to manage services for alumni within the marketing
environment. However, other alumni programs-such Alumni Giving/Annual Fund,
Continuing Education, Alumni Relations, and Career Services-were located in various
places on each campus. Alumni are "products" of the university's educational process,
customers for future degrees or services, and potential donors. Although the alumnirelated piece of marketing has not risen to the top in most marketing models to date, this
area was receiving high levels of attention at all three universities.
The importance of linking marketing to a university's vision and strategic plan
has been mentioned in most models of marketing (Kotler & Andreasen, 1982; Sevier,
1999b). However, the cmcial value of a clear vision, a strong president, a respected
marketing champion, and an implementation plan became much more evident in studying
these three universities. Also, the nature of each school and its students had an obvious
impact on the purpose or marketing, the stmcture of marketing, and the leader chosen for
the marketing efforts.
Procedures and Research Challenges
In this project, I used the case study method to explore the processes and
challenges of implementing integrated marketing at three private universities. This
method calls for the use of interviews, observation, and document review, and the
188
combination of these data collection tools provided a richly detailed picture of M at each
university. Interviewing the individuals directiy involved with the marketing process at
each institution provided insights that would not likely have been revealed using a
survey. As tmst increased with various participants at the case sites, they began to share
stories about people and politics that explained the "why" behind the decisions and
stmctures. All three presidents tended to keep the conversations shorter, and they
generally described situations and outcomes in the most positive light. The top marketing
officials were open about achievements and challenges, and they provided thorough
overviews of the processes, the people, and the plans. To complete the picture, many
details not discussed by the marketing leaders were revealed by other individuals in the
study.
I leamed a tremendous amount about South National's M process and priorities
by observing the M Committee meeting. Unfortunately, Midcentral did not have a
similar committee, and I had just missed the meeting of the West University Integrated
Communication Team when I contacted the marketing official there. The universities
were extremely open with their integrated marketing plans, with their strategic visions
and plans, and with the intricate ways in which institutional plans were tied to their
universities' choices regarding marketing. The documents provided by the institutions in
each case confirmed the conversations I had with individuals.
Each university had helpful documents stored on their Web sites that I would not
have requested otherwise because I did not know they were available or useful. In doing
keyword searches on the schools' Web sites for "integrated marketing," "marketing,"
"vision," and "strategic plan," I discovered commentary about the M process in Faculty
Senate minutes, in University Planning Council (UPC) minutes, and in other "insider"
documents. These materials helped clarify timelines and opened follow-up lines of
inquiry I had not pursued before reading them. For example, UPC minutes from West
University found through an online search helped me understand the intemal planning
process occurring behind the scenes, which led me to ask the former VP of Marketing
additional questions about this topic. On several occasions, staff or administrators at the
189
universities said they were surprised at the level of detail revealed in the cases, especially
regarding the inner-workings of the institutions.
At different stages of the research process, participants had the opportunity to
review portions of the cases. When I completed the first section in each report,
"University Review," I sent it for confirmation to the top marketing official. At West
University, because the vision and motivation sections were so complex, the previous VP
there reviewed those sections when they were completed and helped clarify some
chronological issues. Two individuals at each university reviewed the full case study
report. The VP for Advancement at South National University wrote in response, "You
did an excellent job of following the chronology and describing our situation." The
acting VP for University Relations at West University said, "I think you did a good job
synthesizing what has been and is a somewhat messy situation at [our university]." And
finally, the VP for Enrollment Management at Midcentral wrote, "I think you have done a
very good job of capturing the substance of what we do and the rationale for it." Positive
comments were received from all six reviewers, and only minor corrections or changes
were requested.
One difficulty for me, with the sheer volume of data collected for this study, was
determining what information would be most useful to readers of this study and what
could be left out without impairing the study's integrity and purpose. Much of the
material not included in this written report was interesting and important, but it was
deemed by me to be less relevant for this particular study. For example, I received
extremely valuable information about the inner workings of the Media Relations and
Admissions offices at South National, of the Alumni Relations office at Midcentral, and
of the Development office at West University. Although a brief description of the work
of these areas was included, it was disappointing not to be able to share more of this data.
A second issue that likely influenced how well the purposes were achieved was
my background and experiences in joumalism, public relations, graphic design, and
university/alumni relations. 1 have worked closely with and understand areas such as
media relations, graphic design, publications, special events, and media relations. I have
190
been involved with the process of creating a university vision, and I handle budgets and
planning for a university office. In some cases, the choice of who was interviewed was a
negotiation with the top marketing official, and I may have leaned toward people and
areas with which I was more familiar or in which 1 had more interest. Areas such as
continuing education, fundraising, career services, or program-specific initiatives were
not developed as fully as some other areas, although at some universities, these functions
were relevant aspects of integrated marketing. Despite this tendency, I tried-through
summary charts, organizational descriptions, and comments by individuals-to capture the
overall picture of integrated marketing at each institution.
Implications of the Research
These findings have important implications for other private, four- year
universities, and integrated marketing can be a valuable tool for all types of educational
institutions. As seen in this study, Midcentral focuses much attention on part-time and
adult education, and South National focuses virtually no energy on those audiences.
And yet, both are using principles of M to enhance the institutions and drive toward
important goals. I derived 10 implications of this research from the findings, and where
noted, the implications support or contradict findings in previous studies. Although these
implications were developed in light of the conceptual framework of this study, they also
reflect my opinions as informed by the interviews, document review, and observations
completed at the three universities.
1. A university wishing to implement integrated marketing needs to have a clear
mandate from the president. Sevier said that the president must "aggressively
support marketing" or it will fail (1998, p. 39). The president's mandate
needs to specify whether he or she desires tme M-unifying fundraising,
student recmiting, and marketing under one vice president to achieve specific,
measurable goals based on research, with a serious concem about product,
price, place and promotion-or whether the president means M C , a subset of
M focused on integrated promotion.
191
2. The unifying marketing leader needs to have the support of the president and
needs strong leadership ability. Schultz (1998) explained the difficulty of
successfully implementing integrated marketing, and doing so in a complex
higher education setting requires extremely high levels of diplomacy,
intelligence, communication skill, and political savvy.
3. The university must have a strong institutional vision and strategic plan before
trying to set a stmcture or goals for M . Once the vision and plan are set, the
M stmcture and goals should be designed to achieve the institution's primary
objectives. Many researchers have emphasized the vital link between the
organizational objectives and the marketing plans (Kotier and Murphy, 1981;
Kotler and Andreasen, 1982, 1991; Liu, 1998; Sevier, 1999b; Sevier and
Johnson, 1999). All three universities in this study had strong visions that
linked to marketing goals.
4. Although Sevier's (1999b) model indicated that a university should place
Student Recmiting, Fundraising, and Marketing under one VP for Market
Relations, presidents and boards may be hesitant to place a school's two
central revenue streams under the control and leadership of one individual.
Midcentral is often hailed as a "best practice" institution, on the leading
edge of M , and it did not integrate Development into the Enrollment
Management/Marketing division. South National University strongly
emphasized "integrated marketing" but did not include Recmiting in its
centralized stmcture located in University Advancement.
5. Though the language of integrated marketing has become more acceptable
in higher education, marketing functions are not closely linked with the
academic enterprise and marketing has littie influence on the "product" of
teaching and campus life at traditional universities. West University had
Continuing Education as part of University Relations, but leaming activities
hosted through this area were generally outside traditional academia.
Midcentral also offered leaming opportunities as part of its Alumni
192
Networking services, but these were not under the supervision of an academic
dean or department. The VP for Advancement at South National was a
member of committees with some decision-making power in the areas of
admissions and pricing, but Advancement did not have direct influence on
academics. Some might ask if marketing should have an influence on
academics, or should it be the opposite? Should faculty have more input into
the marketing process of the university? Although addressing these issues
was not the purpose of this study, these questions would be appropriate for
future studies on this topic.
6. The athletics offices and professional schools tend to operate separate
marketing organizations, and presidents are unlikely to force them to formally
organize within the marketing functions for the institution as a whole. All
three universities studied played Division I athletics, and competing at that top
level likely influences Athletics' tendency to operate independently. To
enhance collaboration between Marketing and Athletics, some universities use
informal teams to align Athletics' plans with institutional marketing strategy.
7. Integrated marketing teams may serve as altematives to a fully integrated
organizational stmcture, but integration will be more challenging. Sevier and
Johnson (1999) noted that many schools achieve organizational integration
through cross-functional marketing teams instead of major stmctural change.
Such cross-functional teams, if authorized by the president, can improve
collaboration and message integration. However, lack of formal authority by
the marketing champion for areas beyond the central marketing group means
that "satellite" programs (e.g., athletics, law schools, medical schools) may
continue functioning independently with little regard for institutional
marketing strategy. Sevier and Johnson said many universities never fully
implement M because the process is political and time-consuming.
8. Intemal relationships, institutional history, and politics play a major role in
whether M integration is possible and successful. At West University, the
193
former VP for Marketing was first named to the position because of his
personal friendship with the president. Later, the marketing organization was
mostly dissolved "because of politics," the former VP said. The current M
stmcture at Midcentral was possible because two top administrators left, and
the current VP for Enrollment Management had a strong voice within the top
leadership team. Admissions was not included in an M stmcture at South
National because Admissions had a long history of being closely tied with
Academics-and marketing was not fully acceptable in the academic worid.
9. hitegrated marketing communication (MC) is more likely to be implemented
in a traditional higher education environment than integrated marketing (M).
Litton (1980) worried that marketing carried with it the potential for a
university's intellectual tradition to be diminished. At least one person at each
of the three universities remarked that they did not talk about "marketing"
with faculty because faculty have an aversion to marketing gaining control or
influence over the educational "product."
This raises the question about "product" in higher education. Is the
product the student who completes his or her education? Is product the
educational process? The programs offered by each department? Until the
question of "product" in higher education is resolved, it will be difficult to
determine whether colleges and universities actually implement the fourth
"P"-product-into their marketing mix. If three of the universities most touted
for implementing integrated marketing do not implement product in their
marketing planning or processes, then it leaves some unanswered questions
for future studies: Do marketing administrators understand the product
offered at their institutions? Do they engage with their academic colleagues to
define and market the product appropriately? If faculty are not currentiy
engaged in the marketing process at more traditional universities, why not?
Studies of marketing regarding continuing education programs (Compton,
1980) and proprietary institutions (Martin, 1987) found strong support for
194
marketing by faculty and CEOs. Tme M is challenging for traditional
universities because it requires drastic organizational changes, calls for
marketing's involvement with the "product," requires a strong marketing
leader, and requires the administration to place the university's two main
revenue streams under one VP (Miklich, 1988; Sevier & Johnson, 1999;
Sevier, 1999b).
10. Integrated marketing will be most successful in a university setting if it has
presidential and goveming board support (Sevier, 1999b; Moore, 2000), and
if everyone within the core marketing organization understands the roles they
play in M . Although not everyone in Midcentral's Enrollment Management
organization was equally contented with the stmcture and goals, the staff
members had a clear vision of where the university was going-and what their
personal roles were in helping Midcentral succeed.
Recommendations for Future Research
Moore (2000) found that a majority of colleges and universities claimed to use
integrated marketing. After completing this study, I hope that future researchers will
clearly define "integrated marketing" and "integrated marketing communication" with
some specific boundaries. The language and definitions of these terms continue to
confuse practitioners and top administrators in higher education. When I began seeking
universities who had successfully implemented M , it was challenging to find them.
I began to suspect that most universities were coordinating their messaging and
promotion, using more research and assessment tools, and calling the enhanced process
"integrated marketing."
The acting VP for University Relations mentioned that M might be more
workable in a smaller setting. A future research study might explore M at smaller,
private universities to determine if a close-knit community with fewer faculty and staff
could achieve higher levels of integration and collaboration. Another area of interest is
community colleges, which were some of the first institutions to begin using marketing to
195
achieve enrollment goals. Most of the studies about their marketing efforts are 20 to 30
years old. Integrated marketing may be a "buzzword" among four-year institutions, but
may or may not have become a trend among two-year schools. Also, the use of the four
Ps - product, price, place, promotion-is so similar to the traditional marketing definition
that many schools may say they market themselves, but do not use the current "integrated
marketing" language.
Many universities have moved in the past 10 years from calling their promotional
offices "Public Relations" or "Communication" to "Marketing" or "Marketing and Public
Relations" combined. Some distinguish between the media relations areas and a more
business-oriented marketing office. However, at many schools, it seems that the
functional responsibilities remained the same, and only the names changed. It would be
extremely interesting to compare responsibilities within these key offices to determine if
the actual functions, processes, and responsibilities have evolved along with the name
changes.
This research was exploratory, barely scratching the surface of all that can be
known about the marketing function within a university setting. No common definition
of "integrated marketing" exists, and many universities across the country continue to try
to function under an umbrella they do not fully understand. Researchers can provide
valuable insights to marketing practitioners if they will continue worJdng to develop a
functional model of M and of M C for college and universities, outiine structures and
functions that succeed in the unique higher education setting, and develop a definition
that can be used to clarify this important but still emerging concept.
Summary
The worid of higher education has become extremely competitive, with
universities fighting for top-quality students, with state budgets decreasing and tuition
increasing, and with reputation rankings gaining in importance. Marketing has become a
cmcial function at the majority of institutions, however it is labeled or defined. This
study looked specifically at "integrated marketing," yet individuals at the three
196
institutions called the function public relations, communication, marketing, integrated
communication, promotion, and other related names. The offices under which marketing
functioned were named Enrollment Management, University Advancement, and
University Relations. Only Midcentral had a functional area actually named "integrated
marketing" under the EM umbrella. These universities, by sharing their experiences,
have provided valuable insights to marketing leaders and administrators at colleges and
universities across the country. However, research must continue in this important area
to help resolve many unresolved questions, beginning with a clear definition of the
concept.
This study was conceived because integrated marketing had been touted widely,
explained in many different ways, and implemented with varying levels of success in
higher education. I hoped that by understanding why universities choose to begin M ,
and how they stmcture the staff and the processes to make it work, I could help other
universities implement M more successfully. After completing the study, I had a much
clearer idea why M is so challenging in a university setting. 1 gained insights into
organizational stmcture, coordinating teams, financial realities, and M management.
I did not feel, however, that I discovered the one "right way" to implement integrated
marketing by studying these universities. Based on each school's goal for marketing, its
definition of it (promotion versus the four Ps), its resources, and its leadership (both
presidential and the marketing leader), M looked and acted completely different at each
institution. Marketing leaders can gain insights from observing how M is handled at
Midcentral, South National and West, but they may not be able to replicate their exact
stmctures or processes because people, plans, and politics will vary among institutions.
197
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209
APPENDIX A
QUALIFYING QUESTIONS
Institutional Name
Person's Title
Person Contacted
Phone_
Date
has been recommended as a school that has successfully
implemented integrated marketing. Do you feel that integrated marketing is an
important process at.
?
•
When did
begin implementing integrated marketing?
•
Do you have an individual who coordinates your campus' marketing efforts?
What is that individual's title?
•
Does
have a team of individuals from various areas of campus
who work together to plan marketing strategy?
•
Does your president consider integrated marketing one of your institution's top 10
strategic priorities?
Briefly, how would say your institution defines integrated marketing?
210
APPENDIX B
TEMPLATE FOR LETTER TO UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS
TO CONFIRM PARTICIPATION IN STUDY
211
Dr. Joe Smith
President
Smithville University
Smithville, Smith 99999
Date
Dear President Smith:
As we discussed in my recent call, your university has become known in professional
circles for its innovative approach to marketing. Because of Smithville's presentations at
professional conferences, your marketing leaders have taught many other universities
how to begin the process of implementing integrated marketing.
As a doctoral student at Texas Tech University, I am studying higher education
administration. My specific area of interest is marketing and public relations. As you are
probably aware, universities are using new language to describe their marketing
processes. Some say strategic marketing, others use integrated marketing, and some still
use the combination of marketing and public relations.
A few universities stand out because they have taken marketing beyond the promotional
aspect. They have begun to consider pricing, product and place issues as well. These
outstanding institutions also do work in marketing teams, and they involve areas of the
university beyond the marketing office.
I believe your institution has an outstanding marketing program. I am so glad Smithville
University has agreed to serve as a participant in my multi-site case study, which will
provide the information for my doctoral dissertation. Interviews will be scheduled at the
convenience of all participants.
Your university will remain anonymous in the study and during the presentation of
results, as will the individuals who are interviewed or observed. I would mention them
by position/title only. You will receive a copy of the dissertation upon its completion.
Your institution may withdraw consent to participate if at any point you choose to do so.
If you have any questions about the study before I call for an appointment, you can reach
me at 915-675-5754 (evenings; voicemail) or 915-674-2646 during the day. My email
address is [email protected].
212
I am conducting this study under the supervision of Dr. Brent Cejda, associate professor
of higher education at Texas Tech University. If you have questions or need to reach
him, please call 806-742-1997, Ext. 273, or email him at [email protected].
Within the next two weeks, I will call your office to arrange the first set of interviews.
Thank you again for agreeing to share your experience in integrated marketing. Your
insights will be valuable to other universities and to scholars.
Sincerely,
Michelle Morris
213
APPENDIX C
DATA COLLECTION PROTOCOL AND PROCEDURES
I.
The researcher will complete "Claim for Exemption from Review by the Human
Subjects Committee" form and submit appropriate documentation.
II.
The researchers will request permission from researchers for use of specific
models in conceptual framework.
m.
A multi-site case study design, with cross-case analysis, will be employed to
answer the research questions.
IV.
An interview guide will be developed, based on models of higher education
marketing outiined in the study. The primary question to be answered in this
study is, "What processes and challenges are involved in defining, organizing,
developing, organizing, implementing and assessing integrated marketing at three
private universities?"
V.
The interview questions will be critiqued by a higher education marketing expert.
VI.
Three similar, private, four-year colleges or universities that are recognized by
higher education marketing experts for their successful implementation of
integrated marketing will be purposely selected for this study.
VII.
To create a list of four-year, private colleges and universities from across the
nation who claim to be implementing integrated marketing, the researcher will:
review published reports from the American Marketing Association higher
education marketing conferences since 1998; review articles since 1998 in
Currents, published by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education;
ask marketing practitioners on the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
listserv; and review articles in the CASE Intemational Joumal of Educational
Advancement since 2000.
Vni.
The researcher will ask three experts in higher education marketing to review the
list, add to it if needed, and recommend three four-year, private
colleges/universities they believe are successfully implementing integrated
marketing as defined in this study.
DC.
The researcher will review the top recommendations and choose three private
institutions that most closely resemble each other. Attributes to be reviewed to
determine similarity are Camegie classification, religious heritage, full-time
equivalent enrollment, endowment, tuition and fees, and the level of urbanization
of the institution's locale (from IPEDS and the IPEDS College Opportunities
Online); also will include each institution's overall ranking in the U.S. News &
World Report's guide to "America's Best Colleges 2003."
214
X.
Schools with the most recommendations will be reviewed for similarity based on
criteria listed above. If no schools receive at least two recommendations, the
researcher will use the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
to compare the private, four-year schools listed at least once by the experts to
determine those most similar. If two schools with similar attributes are
recommended, the researcher will use IPEDS to seek a third with similar qualities.
XI.
The researcher will call the president at each university to inquire about the
institution's willingness to participate in the study.
XII.
After receiving permission to pursue the university, the highest-level marketing
official will be asked a short list of qualifying questions, with an emphasis on
whether the university implemented integrated marketing at least two years ago.
Xin.
A letter will be sent confirming the interest of participants and explaining the
study in more detail.
XIV.
The researcher will call individuals at each university to arrange personal
interviews, group, or team interviews (or observer opportunities), and document
review. A list of requested documents, the purposes of the study, and a broad list
of questions to be asked will be submitted to each university.
XV.
The researcher will arrange initial interviews with at least the marketing director
(or equivalent) and the president of each institution. Other interview participants
will be chosen through the cascade method - by reference from the initial
interview participants.
XVI.
Three to six individuals at each university will be interviewed, using an interview
guide. Follow-up questions to probe further will be used freely. The researcher
also will observe marketing meetings or other marketing planning sessions if
occurring during period of the site visit. Documents related to marketing plans
and strategies will be reviewed, in addition to general university documents.
XVn. When the same data, themes and examples begin to be repeated at any given
institution, the researcher will know enough sources have been tapped.
XVni. The researcher will record each interview or observation session, take notes, and
write joumal-type notes afterward to record any additional observances. If
recording is not allowed, the researcher will write full notes immediately after
the interview or observation is completed.
XIX
If the researcher must conduct any telephone interviews with individuals she has
not met in person, she will ask the top marketing official at that particular
institution to visit with the potential interviewee.
XX
Each participant will be asked verbally to confimi any confusing or unusual facts
or statements. Follow-up phone calls, emails or letters will be used to clanfy or
enhance the research data.
215
XXI.
A thank-you note will be sent to each participant.
XXII. The data will be collected, transcribed, entered into a word processing program,
and reviewed thoroughly. NVivo qualitative analysis software will be used to
code the data and to create reports. Codes will be derived from the purposes of
the study, the conceptual framework, and the data itself, and they will evolve
during analysis.
XXIII. The highest-level marketing official at each participating institution or other
participants will be asked to clarify and elaborate on any unclear or confusing
elements after data is coded and reviewed.
XXrV. The top marketing official and at least one other individual at each university will
be asked to review the completed case report to make corrections or to suggest
changes.
XXV. The data will be cross-analyzed for both similarities and differences among
institutions and as compared to models of integrated marketing included in this
study.
XXVI. Triangulation will occur through the use of multiple sources of data and multiple
methods - interviews, document review and observation.
XXVn. Summary results will be written.
216
APPENDDC D
INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR CASE STUDIES
Adapted from Strategic Marketing Planning Process Model (Kotler & Andreasen, 1982),
and Strategic Integration Marketing Model (Sevier, 1999)
Name of university
Date of interview
Name of person interviewed
Titie
Length of time in current position?
Total years of marketing experience?.
At what level are most marketing decisions now made at your university? (Prompt only if
necessary.)
President
Vice President
Associate Vice President
Assistant Vice President
Director
Manager
Coordinator
Other:
What is your personal level of responsibility related to the university's marketing?
(Prompt only if necessary.)
Make most day-to-day decisions
Supervise the marketing director
Generally responsible for university's image
Work for the marketing director
Part of the marketing team, but have other primary duties
Other:
What is the area or office responsible for marketing called at your university? (Do not
read list.)
Marketing
Marketing and Public Relations
University Relations
Public Relations and Marketing
Strategic Marketing
Integrated Marketing
Other:
^
217
What language do you use to describe marketing at your university? (Do not read as a
list.)
Marketing?
Integrated marketing?
Strategic marketing?
Integrated marketing communication?
Other:
___^
Does your university have a clear and concise mission statement?
- What is it? (Get a copy)
Does your university have a written vision statement? Please describe. (Get copy.)
Does your university have a currently used strategic plan with specific overall goals?
Who developed it?
Were faculty, staff and administration involved?
Did the marketing office have representation on the strategic planning team?
Were the intemal and extemal environments analyzed?
Were the institutions strengths and weaknesses assessed?
Does the overall strategic plan include marketing or image-building as a major
component? In what way?
Is your marketing function linked to the overall strategic planning of the university?
Describe the connection.
What event, if any, led your university to implement integrated marketing?
Has your university established a marketing mission statement? If so, what is it?
Has your university designated and defined target markets? How were they chosen?
Who are they?
If not, who do you market to? How do you choose your media mix, your
geography, etc.?
Has your university determined what "competitive position" it wants to hold in the
marketplace? How was this done? Who decided? Who approved it?
Please provide an organizational chart of your marketing organization. Can you explain
why this particular organizational stmcture was chosen? How well is it working? What
are the challenges? What are the benefits?
Do you use any cross-functional teams to conduct marketing business? Please describe
their function and composition. Were any areas purposely left off? Why?
218
Does marketing research play a role in your planning? What role? Who conducts the
research? Who pays for it? How is the information disseminated and used? What
audiences/markets do you research?
Has your university established marketing goals and objectives? How? Who developed
them? Who approved them? Were different goals established for different targets? By
audience or by geography or by some other means?
Were specific tasks assigned to accomplish each marketing goal? Were individuals and
deadlines assigned to each task?
Were performance benchmarks established? How? By whom? Were they realistic?
Were they specific and measurable?
Who makes sure marketing goals are accomplished? Is there a process or system of
accountability? Is so, please describe it.
Are the results of marketing goals assessed? How? When? By whom? Who sees the
results? What action is taken based on the results?
At your university, does marketing primary deal with promotion and communication?
Do you have any voice or influence over product, price or place issues? In what way?
In the past two years, has your marketing budget:
Increased?
Decreased?
Stayed the same?
In the past two years, has your marketing staff
Increased?
Decreased?
Stayed the same?
Are there any areas that have received increased attention, dollars or staff? For example,
the Web, direct mail, full-color publications, etc.?
Is most of your publication work done in-house or is it outsourced? What levels of
publications/ Web design/etc, are done intemally? Extemally?
Does your marketing department have the primary responsibility for the university's
"message"? Does this office control all advertising design? All primary publications?
The university Web site design/content?
Do you feel the marketing department has a high level of control over the use of the
university logo? Mascot? Colors? Other university image symbols? Describe your
situation.
219
What is the primary goal of your marketing department?
Would you describe your university's marketing effort as "integrated"? Why or why
not? What does "integrated marketing" mean to you?
Would you consider your current marketing efforts successful? Why or why not?
What would you like to change about your marketing program to make it more successful
in the future?
How important is marketing to your university's overall success?
220
APPENDIX E
INTERVIEW LOG
221
Table 5
Interview Log"
Number
Date
5/19/03
6/4/03
University
2
5/19/03
West
3
4
6/4/03
6/4/03
West
West
5
6/9/03
Midcentral
6
6/16/03
Midcentral
1
8
6/16/03
6/17/03
6/16/03
9
6/16/03
10
6/17/03
11
6/17/03
12
6/18/03
13
5/13/03
5/15/03
14
5/13/03
15
16
17
5/13/03
5/13/03
5/14/03
18
5/14/03
19
5/15/03
20
5/15/03
21
5/15/03
7
West
Midcentral
Midcentral
Title
Acting Vice President for University
Relations
Former Vice President for University
Relations/Marketing Professor
President
Vice President for Development
Vice President for Enrollment
Management
Intemal Consultant/Former Director of
Communications
Assistant Vice President for Marketing
Commmunications
President
Midcentral Associate Vice President for Alumni and
Career Networks
Midcentral Assistant Vice President for Marketing
Strategy
Midcentral Assistant Vice President for Public
Relations
Midcentral Associate Vice President for Enrollment
Services
Vice President for University
S. National
Advancement
S. National Associate Dean, External Affairs, Wake
Forest University School of Law
S. National President
S. National Consultant
S. National Director of Admissions
S. National Assistant Vice President/Director of
Creative Services
S. National Admissions Counselor
Assistant Vice President for Public
S. National
Affairs/Director of Media Relations
Director of Development and Alumni
S. National Relations for Graduate School
Management
'" Follow-up conversations occurred by phone and/or email on multiple dates to clarify
information with the top marketing officials and others, as needed.
222
APPENDDC F
INVENTORY OF DOCUMENTS
(University names are replaced with pseudonyms.)
Midcentral University
-
Academic Affairs quarterly report
Alumni magazine (Spring 2002, Fall 2002, Winter 2003)
Alumni networks postcard series (4)
Alumni relations and networks brochure
At-a-glance informational brochure
Brand development documents and presentations
Brand research documents
Campus map
Career planning newsletter (Winter 2003)
Chronicle of Higher Education articles about Midcentral University
Enrollment Management Division mission and purpose statement
Enrollment Management Division organizational chart
Enrollment summary 2002
Faculty meeting minutes, printed from Intemet
Graduate School of Business brochure
Graduate psychology program brochure
Graduate writing program brochure
Graduate technology programs brochure
Integrated and brand marketing executive report
Integrated marketing presentation from conference
Magazine planning overview, 2000-03
Media expert guide
Newsletters for three strategic focus areas (spring, winter)
Plaques, artwork and signage on campus and in some buildings
Recmiting folder with college brochures and an application
Statement about the character of Midcentral
Web site, particularly "About Midcentral," "Mission," "Enrollment Management,"
"News," "University Officers" and "Vision"
Vision brochure
Vision presentations
South National University
-
Academic rankings chart from Integrated Marketing Team meeting
Admissions "search" publication 2004-05
223
Alumni magazine (June, September and December 2001; March, June, September
and December 2002; March 2003)
Application for admissions 2004-05
Artist series brochure
Athletics calendar cards
Campaign case statement
Campus map and brochure
Career development guide
Case study on student assessment and academic innovation
Chronicle of Higher Education article about South National University
Conference attendance and planning documents (from IM Team meeting)
Faculty meeting minutes, printed from Intemet
Graduate School of Business magazine (Winter 2003)
Information brochure, "Welcome to..."
Integrated marketing detailed plan (April 2001); summaries for 2002 and 2003
Law school viewbook 2003-04
Museum newsletter (Spring/Summer 2003)
Plaques, artwork and signage on campus and in some buildings
Positioning statement
Promotional language and images CD
Public Affairs mission statement
Radio station flier
Scholarship brochures (presidential, merit-based)
Source guide (1999-00)
Speech by president given at tmstees conference
Strategic plan
Student center art collection flier
Student center ticket window flier
Student newspaper (April 24, 2003) and student articles online
Study abroad brochure
Style guide for publications
Undergraduate admissions bulletin 2003-04 (viewbook)
Undergraduate bulletins (catalogs) for 2002-03 and 2003-04
University Advancement organizational chart
Web site, particularly "Administrative Officers," "Quick Facts," "News," "University
Relations," "Admissions" and positioning statement
West University
-
-
Alumni magazines (July/August 2002, September/October 2002
November/December 2002, January/Febmary 2003, March/Apnl 2003, May/June
2003)
Articles by president regarding vision
224
Articles about West University from local/state newspapers, Intemet
Artist series brochure
At-a-glance informational brochures (2001-02, 2002-03)
Chronicle of Higher Education articles about West University
Commencement program (May 2003)
Communication plan presentation
Continuing education brochure
Continuing education catalog (Winter/Spring 2003)
Departmental brochures for marketing and English
Faculty handbook section on govemance stmcture
FAQs about the vision
Financial aid brochure
Foundation brochure for athletics
Foundation brochure for young alumni
Fundraising brochures (bequests, estate planning)
Fundraising newsletter (Spring 2003)
Goals for Office of Public Relations (2000-01)
Informational video
Intemal newsletter (May 2003)
Letter from president regarding vision
Mission of alumni magazine
Mission statement for Office of Public Relations
Museum fundraising brochure
Organizational chart for university
Parent newsletter (Spring 2003)
Provost's report 2003
Recmiting folder with brochures, viewbook and application
Strategic plan and assessment documents
Tuition and financial aid information prepared for media (1993-2003)
Vision brochure
Vision development document
Vision video
225
APPENDDC G
DRAFT LIST OF CODES
1. Administrative experiences:
ways they describe their
experience implementing IM
2. Alumni description
3. Alumni relations
26. Enrollment
management/recmiting/
admissions
27. Events
28. Facilities
29. Faculty: ways faculty are
involved with IM; how they
interact, etc.
30. Faculty description: facts about
faculty - diversity, number,
percentage by religion
31.4P's
32. Fundraising
33. Identity
34. Implementing/implementation
35. Integrated marketing importance
(IM imp.)
36. Integration/integrating
37. IM definition (IM def.) - ways
people define integrated
marketing
38. IM success/results
39. Intemal communication
40. Language - what words do
people use to describe EVI marketing, communication, etc.
41. Leadership
42. Location/place/convenience
43. Managing
44. Marketing plan
45. Messaging/positioning
46. Mission
47. Organization
48. Outcomes/results/M success
4. Admissions/recmiting/enroUment
management
5. Accountability
6. Assessment/assessing
7. Athletics: I've sub-coded these
undemeath statements because
I'm not sure where this fits in
8. Attitudes
9. Audiences: is a certain audience
or group of audiences targeted?
10. Board description
11. Board support
12. Brand/branding/positioning
13. Budget/funding
14. Cause - what caused university
to start integrated marketing
15. Challenges
16. Change
17. Communication
18. Competitors/school comparison
19. Concems/fears
20. Consultants/outsourcing
21. Control
22. Culture
23. Decisions/decision-making
24. Developing: things done to
develop integrated marketing
(may fit with process)
25. Donor description
226
49. Outsourcing/consultants
50. Partners
51. Personal description (pers. desc.)
52. Place/convenience/location
53. Planning/strategic plan
54. Positioning/branding/messaging
55. President's support
56. Prestige
57. Process
58. Product: program development,
residence hall projects, etc.
59. Promotion: advertising, media
relations, communication, PR)
60. Recmiting/enroUment
management
61. Relationships
62. Religious Affiliation (rel. aff):
items related to the religious
affiliation/heritage or other
religious attributes
63. Responsibilities
64. Research
65. Results/outcomes/IM success
66. Reputation
67. School comparison/competitors:
info about other schools,
competitor schools
68. Staff description
69. Staffing
70. Strategic plan/planning
71. Student description
72. Traditions
73. Values
74. Vision
Others
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
227
considered:
Advertising
Awareness
Athletics
Diversity
Image
Web
APPENDDC H
PRELIMINARY STRUCTURE FOR CODES
Group under these broader headings:
Assessing IM
• Challenges
• IM success
• Outcomes
• Research
• Results
•
Students
o Demographics
o Diversity
Definition - of integrated marketing
Developing IM
• Organization
• Planning
• Research
Cause - what precipitated IM?
• Board pressure/support
• Extemal pressures
• Intemal pressures
• Leadership
• Organizational stmcture
• Presidential support
• Results
• Staffing
• Vision
Implementing IM
Areas involved
Audiences
Budget/funding
» Challenges
• Competition/school comparisons
• Control
• Decision-making
» Fundraising
» 4 Ps - more than promotion?
» Leadership
» Messaging/positioning/branding
» Managing
» Marketing plan
» Process
» Relationships
• Standards
Description
• Administration
• Alunmi
• Board
• Donors
• Faculty
o Diversity
o Facts
o Religious affiliation
• Personal
• School
o Culture
o Facilities
o Facts
o Mission
o Religious affiliation
o Traditions
o Values
Importance - of marketing
Integration
• Areas
• Attitudes
• Budget
• Challenges
• Communication
228
•
•
•
•
•
•
Control
Events
Levels
Organization
Partners
Stmcture
Promotion
• Advertising
• Audiences
• Challenges
• Direct mail
• Intemal communication
• Media relations/PR
• Web
Reputation - of university
• Awareness
• Brand
• Identity
• Image
• Prestige
• Rankings
Vision
• Goals
• Rankings
• Strategic plan
229