Category: CASE

Liveblogging from CASE: The Dan and Dave show

This post is out of synch because I was moderating this particular session so couldn’t blog in real time, as they say.

One of this morning’s sessions — “Bloggers as Journalists and Journalists as Bloggers” — featured two terrific Philly bloggers: Dan Rubin, who has a full-time blogging gig at the Philadelphia Inquirer (the blog is called blinq), and Dave Ralis, who blogs for Phillyburbs as well as on his own site. Both of these guys have enjoyed long and successful careers as reporters but have made the transition to new media. Even so, they still consider themselves reporters and use that skill set in their blogging.

This session stirred a lot of discussion about the role of blogs and other social media in terms of traditional vs. non-traditional delivery of the news. A few of the points that came up:

  • Higher ed PR people should monitor the blogosphere — just as we do traditional media — to see who is talking about their institutions and how. This is easily done by searching for your institution’s name on Technorati, a popular blog search engine/aggregator. One of the conference attendees mentioned that she shares a “blog report” of mentions with upper-level administrators on her campus, just as many of us do with our “clips reports” of media mentions. (A good idea! Wish I’d thought of it.)
  • Bloggers are journalists, too. One question came up about whether media relations staffers should grant bloggers’ interview requests with college presidents. Both Dave and Dan agreed that PR folks should have policies for dealing with bloggers’ requests, just as we may have similar policies for granting interviews with journalists. (Another good idea I wish I’d thought of.) We discussed possible criteria such as blog popularity (the assumption being that granting interviews to popular or influential bloggers might be preferred, while requests from small-time bloggers could safely be ignored), but Dan noted that a post by some little-known blogger could be picked up by an A-list blogger and spread the story virally.
  • Correcting misleading information in the blogosphere can be tricky. If you discover a misleading blog post about your institution, it’s a good idea to post correct information in the comments section of that blog (if it has a comments section, and many of them do). Or if your institution has a blog of its own, you can post the correct information there.
  • We don’t control the message. Neither does the mainstream media. At best, we can help to influence the message by becoming part of the conversation in the blogosphere.

Similar themes came up in an afternoon session about crisis communications in the web 2.0 era. Does your institution’s crisis communications plan consider the potential impact of the blogosphere? The recent tragedy at Dawson College in Montreal serves as an immediate and evolving case study of the power of blogs, the photo-sharing site Flickr and other social networking phenomena to tell and shape the story of an ongoing crisis — and to become a big part of the story.

Liveblogging from CASE: The politics of branding

This afternoon I’m sitting in on a panel discussion on integrated marketing called “The Politics of Branding.” (I’m struggling mightily to resist the urge to sing lyrics from an early ’80s song by Re-Flex, “The Politics of Dancing.”)

The panelists:

Lynette, a former deputy mayor for Philadelphia who has been involved in politics for years, said she really didn’t understand the nature of politics until she got into higher education. The politics of Philly had nothing on higher ed politics.

Larry noted that politics is “something they don’t teach you in PR school” and added that higher ed PR/marketing folks need to “learn to love the politics” of higher education. Marketing is still a dirty word among some academics, but not as bad as it used to be. The idea of “giving the students what they want” is also a thorn in the side for some faculty. “You have to be prepared to educate the educators. It’s a long-term process in some institutions.”

Some key points from Larry’s presentation:

  • Sometimes you have to substitute words. Instead of talking about a dirty word like “branding” with academics, you might want to talk about “institutional identity” at first. But eventually, you should use the real term.
  • Make your institution’s competitive edge apparent. “Differentiation is what branding is ultimately all about.”
  • Think strategically — and politically. Know who’s for you, who’s against you, and who’s neutral. Educate those who are neutral, get the academics who are for you to rally for the cause, and avoid those who are against you. Usually, the pros and neutrals can make up the majority. Once the train begins to move, those who don’t get on board will be left behind.
  • Stick with it. You have to “have the constitution to lose a few battles to win the war.” Exercise “calm persistence.”
  • Lead the cause. “Ultimately, over time, you can make it work.”

During Q-and-A, Larry gave one of the best descriptions of a campus that I’ve heard: “A university is more like a city than a corporation.” Meaning, consistency of brand identity may threaten deans and department heads who want to maintain their unique identity. Larry advises thinking of these departments as “sub-brands” and the university as the primary brand. “We don’t always have the control that we might have in a corporate setting.”

Kathi, who works with Lynette on the CCP branding and marketing effort, talked about the characteristics of institutions who make progress.

  • Understand who your current students are. Often the data exists but the marketing people don’t have that information, or don’t know it. Conductmarketing research in order to understandwhat perceptions exist for an institution. Often, “There’s a disconnect in what the institution is saying and what the consumers think about the institution.”
  • Understand board — and institution — politics. Get buy-in from the board as well as from influentials on the campus — your VPs, etc.
  • Think of a branding study as an educational process. “The biggest thing you’re doing in a branding campaign is educating your institution,” Kathi said.