The College Brand

During any high school student's junior and senior years, they receive endless amounts of college brochures in the mail. My brother is currently a junior in high school and my mom mentioned that he has been receiving about double the number of brochures than I did. Colleges have begun marketing themselves in a different fashion; they are branding themselves in order to sell the school to potential buyers, high school students. Marty Nemko, author of "The Truth About Colleges," explains, "Fact is, 95% of American colleges are more like car dealers: doing whatever it takes to get customers to take a test drive, and subtly overselling to get them to sign the loan documents." Colleges now have the mission of selling their school. Most colleges and universities have some type of marketing department that has the sole purpose of developing a marketing campaign to sell the school. Many schools are not only selling to prospective students, but also to potential donators. In the article, "Catch phrases part of universities' pushes to brand and sell themselves," Bill Schakner describes, "With the hunt intensifying for public and private aid dollars, schools are reserving some of their most polished pitches for donors who might drop a million or two on the campus, and for community leaders who can favorably sway the public's perception of the school."

It used to be that students researched colleges and discovered what they were looking for. Now in many cases, colleges are finding the students. They brand themselves hoping that they will attract prospective students. In Schakner's article, Peter Sealy, a former Coca-Cola marketer now on the business faculty at UC Berkeley explains, "Schools are brands. When you're a brand, you have to enhance that brand, you have to define that brand and you have to promote that brand because you're in competition with other brands." College marketers have even come up with slogans in an attempt to sum up "identities built up over generations." For example, Michigan State University boasts, ""Advancing Knowledge. Transforming Lives."

In an article entitled, "Reforming Selective College Admissions" by Deirdre Henderson, she explains several reasons why colleges have become so selective, most having to do with marketing. For example, colleges fill mailboxes with glossy brochures and letters because they want to increase applicant numbers, in order to show more selectivity and increase their rankings. In addition, colleges and universities spend millions on enrollment management and marketing consulting firms. Some of these enterprises hold week-long national conferences in which admissions professionals learn the latest strategies and techniques to sell their schools, attract customers, create an image, and promote a brand. These are just a couple of the examples Henderson gives about how the college admission process has basically become a marketing and money game.

When searching for articles on this topic, I came across a website for a company called Corporate Communications Inc. This unique company offers a variety of marketing services to a number of markets, including colleges and universities. Their website explains, "When choosing a college or university, potential students are too often overwhelmed by unsolicited and unwanted marketing messages. We help academic institutions differentiate themselves in a highly competitive marketplace and bring a new dimension to outbound marketing campaigns with targeted communications that use a smart mix of broadcast, email, website and direct mail." It almost seems unreal that there are companies out there that will help colleges market themselves by breaking through the clutter of the usual direct mail brochures that colleges send to prospective students.

After reading these articles, I wonder if there will be changes in the way the college admission process is handled. Most likely, it will only get worse, in that colleges will probably start sending sweatshirts to prospective students. Students are already bribed will free application fees, merit scholarships, etc. in order for schools to increase their rankings. Colleges and universities want to be highly ranked on all of those lists, such as the Princeton Review. Just as many products look to create a buzz with the college market, colleges themselves are looking to create a buzz about their school with prospective students. From what I have read, it seems as though education has been put on the back burner while colleges search for the right campaign to make their school desirable for prospective students.