Category: branding

Top edu marketing challenges: survey says…

[E]ven in hard economic times, the challenges for marketing communications people on campuses of all kinds are not that different than they are in flush times.

That’s the conclusion Michael Stoner draws from his recent survey of higher ed marketers. Michael worked with Slover Linett Strategies on the survey (which I posted about back in December). On Tuesday, Michael posted a summary of the survey results and a link to the full report (PDF).

So, in these tough economic times, what are the biggest challenges? Tell ’em, Richard!

The survey says:

  1. Branding and messaging
  2. Rethinking and expanding communication outreach approaches and formats
  3. Incoporating new media and/or technology strategies.

“What’s different now, of course,” Michael adds, “is that tactics and solutions are very much dependent on the economy (this was the fourth challenge marketers identified).”

More detail in the full report.

USA: [insert tagline here]

Make the Logo Bigger suggests that it may be time the United States gets a tagline, because maybe it would help our global image.

Obama wants to repair the image of America abroad, and well, why not break the mold and go with a tagline to help win hearts and minds. We’d do the same thing with a new ad campaign, which is essentially what this is, no? Besides, if states can have them, why can’t the country as a whole?

MTLB has gotten some good suggestions in the comments. A few of my favorites:

The Empire You Trust

I can’t believe it’s not democracy

Defending World Champs

Home of the bailouts

Ones I might suggest:

Got democracy?

E Stimulus Unum

It tastes like democracy, but it’s not

Home of the fightin’ feds

But as one commenter suggested, “anything we come up with will get killed in focus groups anyway.” Swap “focus groups” for “committees,” and you have higher ed marketing at its finest.