Category: marketing

Friday Five: Kickin’ it old school

Lately there’s been some chit-chat on some of the higher ed blogs I frequent about old school vs. new school styles of marketing. I’m thinking about weighing in with a post of my own soon, but the staff of this blog, despite its name, has been thinking more about music than marketing lately. (By the way, if you’re wondering what happened to the playlist for this blog’s best music of 2008 feature, I’m sorry to break it to you but it’s gone, daddy, gone. I keep music online for a limited time only, so as to not clog up the Intertubes.) And maybe it’s all the crappity news coming out about the economy, but we’re finding ourselves hearkening back to a simpler time, when rock was rock and mass media ruled the airwaves.

So we’re thinkin’ old school, but not in a marketing sense. Although the record industry marketers of the old days did know how to get into our heads. Otherwise, why would I bother listening to this stuff over and over again? Yes, it’s good music, but how would I have discovered it if not for the marketers, God bless ’em.

Anyway, enjoy these five old-school tunes and think back to a simpler time.

Firday Five: Kickin It Old School

What are your top marketing challenges for 2009? Take 5 minutes to fill out a survey

Today I’m asking you to peer into your crystal ball and forecast what your top communications and marketing challenges will be for the coming year. Actually, the prognostication has already been done for you, and all I’m asking is that you take 5 minutes to complete a brief survey ranking the challenges ahead and sharing how you plan to address them.

The survey is part of an effort by Michael Stoner to take the pulse of the higher ed marketing community. Michael’s tapping into our collective wisdom to help us better understand our challenges.

The survey is the second of a two-part process. In part one, “150 thought leaders in college communications, marketing, and PR — among them leaders of the CASE commissions, PRSA’s national board, and others — were asked to identify the marketing challenges that most concerned them for the year ahead. Not surprisingly, more than half of the respondents cited financial constraints or budgetary problems as the top challenges facing their institutions.” Stoner posted a summary of the first-round results in mid-November. That post is worth a read — but you may want to wait until after you take the survey, if you’re worried that the round-one results might unduly influence you.

As a bonus for those attending the CASE District V conference coming up later this month, Stoner and company will hold a panel discussion on the subject, titled “Challenges for 2009: Dealing with New Issues or Struggling with Old Ones?” Wish I could be there. Hope someone plans to blog about it.