Resources
Thoughts from our team to help you differentiate and reach the next generation of learners.
So if leveraging values is good enough for Apple and Nike, why isn’t it good enough for higher education brands? All too often, colleges and universities tend to talk more about rankings, top-rated faculty, and statistical merits. The problem is that every college can talk about rankings, top-rated faculty, and statistical merits. That ultimately lumps… Continued
“Marketing is about values.” —Steve Jobs When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1995 after being fired only a few years earlier from the very company he founded, one of his first tasks was to reinvigorate a brand that, in his view, had been neglected. During his absence, Apple had seemingly lost its way—focusing on… Continued
The 80/20 Principle in Higher Education Marketing Since we know that the power of the 80/20 Principle is evident so many walks of life, we can safely assume that its presence and impact in the world of higher education is well worth understanding and exploring. And since marketing is so much about understanding where to… Continued
Introducing the 80/20 Principle If you’ve ever taken a serious look at the carpet in your home, assuming that it’s been there for any length of time, you’ll likely notice that some parts of it are much more worn than others. You might notice that the areas of the carpet near your most commonly-used entry… Continued
What Is Marketing? Even including a definition of marketing seems a bit presumptuous if not condescending. After all, most higher education marketing personnel are well-versed in the tenets and philosophies of marketing. That said, it’s interesting to learn from many in the industry about how their backgrounds are very much non-marketing in nature. I heard… Continued
There are all sorts of communication tools to reinforce how you are different. Conceptually, though, there is a particularly powerful one that cuts to not only the core of where your brand thrives, but how that relates to a deficiency within your competitor, creating a particularly large margin in the eye of your prospective student.… Continued
The 3 hurdles framework begins with differentiation and challenges us to think about whether or not something is truly unique. The other two hurdles challenge us to question whether people will care about how we’re different in this way and, if they do, if we can maintain that position of differentiation. At one point, for… Continued
In our quest to help a “right fit” student understand who we are and why we might be right for their experience, it’s tempting to write a great deal of narrative filled with flowery language, platitudes, and ramblings about how great we are. But the challenge of this is that most of the schools that… Continued
One of the first thing that a good accounting course teaches us is what a balance sheet is and the elements of assets and liabilities. In the accounting world, assets represent things we own like buildings, real estate, and investments. Liabilities represent things an institution might owe—its debts and obligations like loans and deferred compensation.… Continued
Admittedly, the concept of a brand is, to use a sophisticated term, squishy. As we’ve said, a brand is not tangible. It’s not something you can put in your pocket or bring to a meeting to show off. It’s hard (well, impossible) to get your arms around. This becomes even more difficult when you try… Continued
If there’s one thing we know about marketing it’s this: if we don’t build awareness we won’t have any customers. And while there are
Man is a storytelling animal. He is a teller of stories that aspire to truth. —Alasdair Macintyre The Hidden Stories Within I was once talking with a client
Along the lines of infusing values into marketing, broadening your marketing efforts to focus more on customer needs and aspirations (instead of mere product