P.R. (and Marketing) in Higher Ed

Different home base, same observations

2012-01-02T09:20:00.000-06:00

Thrice on this blog, I've referenced the "Mighty" Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas. I am beyond elated to announce that I will move on to good ol' PQC to join President Michael Sorrell and a highly energetic, innovative, and optimistic staff later this month! More blogs to come from "Big D"!

Paul Quinn blogs

Paul Quinn in the news

Making halftime adjustments to your branding strategy

2011-12-21T07:33:00.000-06:00

One thing I love about my New Orleans Saints is their ability to make great adjustments to their game plan at halftime. We "Who Dats" have enjoyed watching a team that will stink up the joint in the first half on occasion, then blow the competition out of the stadium in the second half. As your institution goes into a most welcomed Holiday season break, what kinds of adjustments are you making to your marketing?

Of course in the education business, we prepare for a new year during the summer by virtue of the academic year. Still, the new calendar year is a great time to assess how the academic year is going and what needs to be done to finish said academic year strongly. Thanks to a Tweet from my buddy Alfred Edmond, Jr. of Black Enterprise Magazine, I'm able to share this little piece of marketing paradise with you.

OK, team, let's go get 'em. "Win" on three! One, two, three WIN!

"7 Ways to Align Your Brand with Your Vision for 2012" by Amanda Miller Littlejohn

Saying the right thing matters

2011-12-17T18:50:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of SportsNOLA.com

I was listening to one of the local sports radio stations, and it featured an update on LSU's preparations for the BCS Championship. The report featured comments from LSU's coach, Les Miles, about his team's preparation for the big game. Instead of Xs and Os talk, Miles commented that he wanted his team to have time to focus on their final exams and finish the semester well in lieu of practice with a month left to prepare for the championship. The reporter followed the comments up with a statistic that LSU is 8th among the BCS schools in the graduation rate of its student athletes.

There are those who are cynical about big time NCAA programs such as LSU and that is understandable. I'm sure cynics would point out that the statistic apparently points to the graduation rate among student athletes, not just the football team. I'm also sure cynics would question how much the Fighting Tiger football players actually attend class, especially with the celebrity status they have enjoyed during the 2011 season. Of course, we know there are other issues that cynics, especially hard core academics, would point out. Let's bear in mind, by the way, that LSU is a selective admission institution.

Miles' job at the moment of truth--with microphones, laptops, notebooks, and cameras present--is to present positive information that could be supported by information provided by LSU's sports information team. In this case, it works like a charm. The hard truth is that no matter what cynics may say about Miles' comments, it's up to LSU's administration to hold the athletic department's feet to the fire. What matters is that when the rubber hit the road, Miles said the right thing to inform the public that his players' experiences at LSU matter beyond the football field.

Customer service and social media

2011-12-15T13:12:00.002-06:00

"Please", "thank you", patience, empathy, and responsiveness are our best friends in customer service. If we do those well, then we have at least good customer service which translates to great marketing. Customer behavior in social media, however, adds a little "hot sauce" to customer service. Customers are more direct, rude, and mean. Let's add some "hot sauce" to that, and introduce the personality of your garden variety college student. Lots of hot sauce, isn't it?

Enter the gift that keeps on giving--I.T. problems just as students want to check their final grades. Oh, yeh, this gets ugly. The students at my institution all but revolted on Facebook and Twitter, dropping a few expected bad words along the way. As the P.R./marketing representative who also manages social media for the university, this can be a hard pill to swallow. It's not that my feelings are hurt, it's knowing that students from other colleges and universities see these complaints (in addition to some bad spelling). More importantly, having seriously dissatisfied customers doesn't set well with yours truly.

Immediately, I began using Facebook as the main artery to post apologies and to ask for students' patience. As of today's posting, the crisis has blown over for the most part, but our customers are still highly concerned about technical issues affecting some critical information.

Here are things that we have to remember in higher ed when it comes to the convergence of customer service and social media:

It's not personal. Students, regardless of the institution, want to go to school and graduate. Even those who don't seem to have direction want and deserve to be served as if they were making a purchase of thousands of dollars. Oh, wait, they are making a purchase of thousands of dollars! They aren't attacking individuals at the college or university, they are attacking a faulty system or a process.
An institution of higher learning is a business and they are our customers. Yes, every institution has a noble mission but none of our institutions can keep the lights on or the water running on good looks. We need students, so we can get the money and salaries you and I love to collect. No students means no business which means no jobs.
Social media is sensitive. The last thing your college or university needs is a social media manager who takes postings from students personally. An emotional reaction on social media will be shared in seconds. Let's not even talk about the YouTube videos that can start popping up from students whose issues have been handled ineffectively or incorrectly. It's one thing for a student to be upset about issues, but it's a completely different ball game when a student is upset due to poor customer service.
Always look smart. A former colleague of mine would always say, "Eddie, we always want people to know that we're smart." She was talking about the company we worked for, and I've never forgotten that. How crazy would it be for a college or university to look woefully incompetent in its response to student issues on the web? Looking smart in the arena of social media means not reacting to insults. It also means responding to the concern(s) expressed in the insult, keeping responses short, and offering or asking for solutions.
Do it with a smile. Just like a smile can go a long way, a smiley face can do the same. It shows students that the institution (not the person doing the posting) is taking said criticism in stride while assuring the student that the issue will be worked out.

5 things that college admissions recruiters need

2011-12-02T10:58:00.001-06:00

Years ago, I had a speaking gig at a high school where several college recruiters had time with the students, also. As a public speaking trainer, I'm always eager to see what people who stand in front of a group will do. Frankly, I didn't expect much. Unfortunately, I had a reason to set my expectations low.

I found the speakers average, but there was one who made me shift in my seat several times. On top of having absolutely no presence in front of about fifty high school students, the man had NOTHING to say. With low energy, low volume, and almost non-existent body language, the young man made his pitch to the audience. The only problem was, and this is the worst part, he had no pitch. Basically he said, "At XYZ University, we're like a family, our kids have a good time, and you can major in (short uninspiring list)."

If it seems I lack mercy, it's because I have no mercy in this particular area. First, public speaking is my passion. Second, as a marketing professional, I must insist that a recruiter has something to say. There has to be a compelling message about the college or university. That message has to answer the question, "Why should I go to your school when there area more than 4,000 others in America?" Let's face it, the higher education marketplace is competitive. As I alluded to in a previous post, a college or university is a personal choice for a prospective student, because he or she attaches a personal statement of quality to that institution.

Whether your recruiters address groups of students or set up at college fairs, they must have a presence. Here's what I think college admissions offices need in their "sales pitch" tool kits (besides marketing collateral):

Something to say: Every institution has a mission; that's the starting point. I don't recommend memorizing the mission and reciting it. Decide, as an admissions team, what kind of student your mission would fit. I believe that any mission worth its salt gives an idea of what the prototypical XYZ University student looks like.
Compelling content: Every small college has a "family" atmosphere and every big university offers an "exciting student life." Recruiters need to say something compelling. They don't need to carry scripts around, but what they say has to be a magnet for the right students. This is where having an understanding of the benefits of the institution's academic programs comes into play. Most importantly, recruiters should be familiar with alumni and their accomplishments; because students want examples of what their degrees can do for them.
Questions: Recruiters who just blab and blab and blab bore students. Take a page out of the "sales 101" book, and ask questions. Their answers will help recruiters offer the college or university as an important part their respective success journeys.
Sales training: Salespeople are masters at persistence and resilience. Whether it is done as professional development or the institution hosts a sales workshop, admissions people can benefit greatly from sales training. Recruiters can definitely benefit from the very important art of negotiation.
Public speaking training: Public speakers are great at using the critical communication tools of eye contact, vocal projection, and body language to connect with their audiences. Public speakers are also excellent at teaching people how to get past their inhibitions. Ironically, public speaking training also is very helpful in helping recruiters manage one-on-one conversations with prospective students.

At the end of the day, every admissions team needs a competitive edge. Gone are the days of recruiters' simply telling students what's available at colleges and showing videos. I believe that students want to know that they are ordinary people who will accomplish extraordinary things. Do your recruiters effectively present your campus as one that provides extraordinary opportunities?

I just had to share . . . big grin

2011-12-02T10:53:00.001-06:00

Here's my latest effort with the help of the very cool folks at Cox Media. I've had the privilege of casting, directing, voicing, and managing the editing of my employer's television spots. It seems that start in television at 18 years old has finally come in handy.

"20 Cool Trends in College Marketing"

2011-12-02T10:40:00.001-06:00

I've reached a new level of cool. Here's an email I received last night:

"We at Bestcollegesonline.com recently came across your blog and were excited to share with you an article 20 Cool Trends in College Marketing was recently published on our blog at (http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/11/30/20-cool-trends-in-college-marketing/), and we hoped that you would be interested in featuring or mentioning it in one of your posts.

"Either way, I hope you continue putting out great content through your blog. It has been a sincere pleasure to read.

"Thanks for your time,
Tim Handorf"

Well, Tim, you got it! It's a great piece and I hope that higher ed P.R./marketing/campus communications folks put it to great use, as well. :-)

An institution's subculture cannot be easily dismissed

2011-12-01T09:18:00.001-06:00

In the "early" days of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, I felt that their P.R. people would be able to take a breather upon the firing of Joe Paterno. That's exactly what they had--a breather. In the following days, a student riot ensued and Jerry Sandusky, along with his attorney, conducted a national television interview that can only be described as incompetent and very damaging to Penn State. In the process, we learned of a horrible cover-up culture that is unfathomable for a higher ed institution. Not long after that, alleged child sexual molestation victims spoke out against former Syracuse associate men's basketball coach, Bernie Fine; and only days later we found out about the untimely death of a Florida A&M drum major due to hazing.

As much as an institution tries to isolate a damaging subculture, its name still gets splattered all over the place in times of scandal. Any scandal on a college campus compromises the integrity of the entire institution's brand. As justified as Penn State, Syracuse, and Florida A&M people may be for singling out these subcultures to save their respective institutions' names, there are still potential students bumping these schools further down their respective lists of college choices.

To a potential student, the customer, there is the concern that wearing a college's name on a shirt or resume is just embarrassing amid a scandal. In talking to high school students about colleges, one thing I have found is that no matter how many great statistics you throw at these customers about "ABC State" or "XYZ College", many students boil it all down to whether or not that college's name will become a source of embarrassment for them.

Remember that P.R. and marketing are all about image management. When a scandal hits, we P.R. and marketing professionals are charged with the task of repairing the name. In the case of the three colleges mentioned, these are big names which means there are bigger problems for P.R. and marketing because of the widespread media attention.

A college or university isn't like a soda. Should a soda company get embroiled in a scandal, the average soda drinker will most likely conclude that the taste of their favorite soda has nothing to do with an isolated scandal. A college or university is a much more personal brand. An institution of higher learning, regardless of its subcultures, can serve as a personal statement of quality for a student, alumnus, or employee. Think of what a scandal means to them.

KNOW what you want in a campus P.R. professional

2011-11-30T08:09:00.001-06:00

I do this blog because I recognize the gulf that exists between P.R. professionals and academics. When you put our kind P.R. people in the same room with professors or administrators, there is normally an instant clash. Higher education administrators, faculty, and staff normally don't under the methods to P.R. madness.

When I was up for the permanent P.R. director position at my university, I think I gave the search committee the blues. Not only had I been in media for more than twenty years but I had the unfair advantage of having worked for Monster Worldwide, the biggest career development brand known. I knew what kinds of questions they could have asked to truly challenge me or maybe even make me sweat a little. After hearing the first generic interview question, I arrogantly took command of the room by telling them what makes a great P.R. professional. I did what we P.R. people do best; I found a way to control the conversation. ;-)

Because P.R. people are unique personalities on college campuses, academics can find it difficult to get the best P.R. people for their respective institutions. Here's a great piece I got my colleague Monica Pierre, CEO of Pierre Principle Communications to help understand the skill set of great P.R. professionals--The Skills Employers Desire in Today's PR Professional.

Yours truly explaining the habits of media at Southern University at New Orleans' Ma'afaa Awareness Week

Company culture also applies to higher ed

2011-11-17T09:47:00.001-06:00

I have two words for higher ed administrators--company culture. I debated a professor who insisted that a college is not a business so much as it is a mission or a cause. I responded that if one out of every three students were to take his or her tuition elsewhere that opinion would quickly change. With that in mind, there are critical areas that colleges or universities should tweak in order to improve their respective brands in order to boost or maintain business.

Branding goes beyond a nice logo, a catchy slogan, a distinguished motto, or great advertising. Branding also consists of the institution's mission, customer service, or how employees carry themselves as they walk the campus. A high level of institutional pride improves the brand, but a take-it-or-leave-it attitude about an institution compromises the brand.

Leadership also defines the brand. Leaders, not just the president, have to set the tone among faculty, staff, students, and alumni in order to get all of parties to buy in to the branding message. Not everyone will agree, but a majority of those folks can respect the message enough to push the brand. If there is no message, however, there is nothing into which these parties can buy. Without anything to buy into, it is hard to build morale in order to have a healthy company culture.

This is why leaders who concentrate on excellence in athletics tend to win over their respective audiences. Without turning a college or university into a "football school" or a "basketball school", effective leaders demand excellence in athletics in order to get at least a return on investment. They also realize that great athletics programs can serve as catalysts for school spirit as well as company culture.

Company culture is about having something that an employee believes in as he or she performs the first task of the day. At my former company, I endured many frustrations, one of them being lots of last-minute travel. Regardless of those frustrations, I loved my co-workers, I admired the leadership, and I truly enjoyed delivering our services to our customers. As a result, I am still that company's cheerleader, and I continue to highly recommend their services to high schools and colleges. If that company's brand were a virus, I'd gladly be a carrier. Who are your carriers and are they your cheerleaders?

Great food for thought for your P.R. department

2011-11-16T10:04:00.001-06:00

The gulf between a college's P.R. department and administrators can be depressingly wide. Educators want what they want what they want. P.R. practitioners try to craft a strategy to make their respective campuses look like gold. Educators can often be impatient with P.R.'s seemingly cavalier attitude about waiting for the perfect time to pitch a story or over-the-top attitude about the need to get a release out about something ASAP.

Here's a great piece that any campus P.R. person or team can chew on and look to for affirmation that their jobs have actual moving parts and require significant communication skills.

"How to Become a Reporter's Best Friend" by Manny Otiko

Penn State's P.R. team doesn't have as big a job as it seems . . . now

2011-11-09T23:02:00.000-06:00

Whenever you have a reputation to repair in public relations, you hope that someone makes a hard decision that will give you breathing room to work. The Penn State Board of Trustees made that decision by not only firing their president Graham Spanier but also by axing the legendary and loveable Coach Joe Paterno on the heels of a sex abuse scandal.

Any fan of college football knows how popular and powerful Paterno had become, but his name is so big that the reputation of the entire university hung in the balance. Let's face it, Paterno practically branded Penn State through not only football but also through what people had come to recognize as his high moral character. I took a huge liking to "JoePa" when he publicly affirmed the achievements of fellow legendary college football coach Eddie Robinson when many others questioned the legitimacy of those record-breaking achievements. Paterno's failure to leverage his power to protect the young victims and to swiftly get rid of his guilty former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, however, seems to have erased his reputation as the moral compass of State College.

Because the Board of Trustees acted so decisively, Penn State's P.R. team can breathe easily. Admittedly, I questioned the silence of Spanier as news of the scandal broke, but now I see that the board probably insisted on maintaining radio silence until they held an emergency meeting to make a hard and fast decision. As talking heads in media questioned whether or not Paterno should even coach the Nittany Lions' next game, the noise became unbearable. With both Spanier and Paterno now out of the picture, the P.R. team can now begin rebuilding the name of a proud, dignified institution of higher learning.

In crisis communications, a fresh start is a gift. Eliminating the "problem kids" allows the P.R. team to do repair work for the university without the dead weight of individuals who are part of the problem. Penn State's fresh start also sends a strong signal to the victims and their families that, as an institution, they are more serious about overall quality than they are about the football team's season.

November 10, 2011 updates: P.R. professionals' takes

P.R. inspiration from students is a lovely thing

2011-11-05T12:04:00.001-05:00

I had the privilege of MCing my employer's homecoming coronation but the bigger privilege of reading the bios of the students who participated. It provided an excellent opportunity for me to solidify the public relations and marketing identity of the university.

Whether our students know it or not, they taught me quite a bit about the campus identity. By and large, our students have aspirations of being difference makers in the community. A good number of them wrote about wanting to enhance communities through non-profit work. That pattern also holds for our alumni, many of whom are critical players in government agencies, the non-profit sector, and in the education arena.

Administrators, as important as their roles are, can be very disconnected from students; therefore, they may not be the best source to craft an effective campus identity. In fact, administrators will tell you what they want the identity to be and that can prove to be unrealistic. As I continue my role as a P.R. director, I now know that it benefits our university greatly to keep my ear to the ground to promote the strengths of our students and alumni in order to effectively brand the campus.

New Orleans college students at a community service project. Photo by Eddie Francis.

What would Jesus do . . . if he had a Ph.D.?

2011-11-01T10:42:00.000-05:00

Let a most interesting higher ed P.R. debate begin!

Georgia’s Shorter University tells workers to sign pledge they are not gay

There's common sense and there's client common sense

2011-11-01T09:38:00.001-05:00

At the risk of coming across as insulting, I have learned that there are two types of common sense in public relations. There's common sense and there's client common sense. It's not about which one is better than the other as much as it's about which is more effective than the other.

For the client, common sense is dictated by what the organization feels at the moment. In crisis management, for instance, an organization is usually compelled to either sit tight-lipped about an issue or it blabs way too much, allowing the media to exploit certain pieces of information. The absence of thought and strategy is often compromised by feelings and fear. Client common sense also allows organizations to sit and say nothing during "times of peace" in P.R. Too many organizations, especially those that do not value the spirit of competition, believe that if nothing is going on, it's perfectly okay to say nothing.

For P.R. professionals, common sense means proactively controlling the message you send to the public. In crisis management, that option is often the two words "no comment" for P.R. professionals. By not offering a comment, the organization keeps the conversation going at its pace as opposed to allowing the media to cherry pick the parts of the message they want to build their stories on. At other points, brevity and discipline in communicating messages saves many an organization's image.

At other points in crisis management, common sense dictates that you simply be up front with the public, i.e. the Tiger Woods fiasco from a couple of years back. Had Woods admitted from the beginning that his unusual auto accident in the middle of the night was the result of domestic issues; and had he immediately apologized for his transgressions, his fans would have most likely not been as disappointed as they were in him.

Outside of crisis management, common sense for P.R. professionals dictates that an organization pushes it message out to the public proactively. Not producing a proactive message is like being the upset kid that doesn't realize he or she never gets picked for games due to a lack of enthusiasm. Kids who love to play dodge ball or "It" can't stand to play with kids who are not enthusiastic about those games. Likewise, organizations that actively stay in the game in their respective marketplaces, earn the respect of their competitors and the attention of their customers.

Institutions of higher learning should understand that this is where their P.R. people should be treated like trusted advisors. Too often, I speak to colleagues whose administrations treat them like the little red boxes that say "Break glass in case of emergency." When administrators use their version of common sense as opposed to their P.R. people's common sense, it is hard for the P.R. departments to put fires out.

The importance of a social media policy

2011-10-26T12:42:00.000-05:00

This is a fascinating piece to me. My question is, where were Sam Houston State's P.R. office and student representation as this policy developed? I certainly hope they weren't left out of the loop, because both parties could have saved the administration a major headache on this one.

A colleague of mine and I recently had a discussion about the importance of developing a social media policy for our campus, so this is most timely. Pay close attention to the very first comment on this article.

University's Social-Media Policy Draws Cries of Censorship

The depth of logos

2011-10-26T12:03:00.001-05:00

There's something hidden in the FedEx logo. Do you know what it is and what it means? Does your institution's logo have meaning?

Yes, I will once again approach the subject about the importance of logos. Here is an interesting presentation about the hidden meanings in logos, which suggest that marketing folks take these things seriously.

What's in a logo?

Paul Quinn hits another P.R. home run

2011-10-13T12:36:00.004-05:00

It's safe to say that I've become a fan of Paul Quinn College. I recently spoke to a Latina media colleague about HBCUs extending their hands to the national Hispanic community, and she agreed that it would be a fruitful marriage.

One thing an institution of higher learning can't pay for is a student being quoted as saying, "[It felt] like I’m home because they were really nice people." Once again, I tip my hat to what seems to be one of the most progressive HBCUs in the country.

Paul Quinn among HBCU's expanding diversity mission

6 Best Practices for Universities Embracing Social Media

2011-10-12T00:35:00.000-05:00

Be still my beating heart. Read and enjoy from Yahoo! News . . .

6 Best Practices for Universities Embracing Social Media

Emotion doesn't manage public opinion

2011-10-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

One thing that can be difficult about working at a university is dealing with folks' emotional attachments to their college. I was forwarded a piece which calls into question whether or not a very popular HBCU is the "worst-run HBCU in the country". Talk about reading something that elicits a response of "Whoa." This guy was really annoyed when he wrote this. Understandably, some of the responses are pretty emotional whereas others indicate that they believe the author is spot-on.

It really got me thinking about some of the battles I fight. As the P.R. director of a university, it's hard to read harsh criticisms of my employer. Regardless, it's my job to figure out how to address these things. I've made the mistake of actually taking a public criticism personally, but I soon learned that the bigger issue is if the administration doesn't address public criticisms effectively. Luckily in our darkest time, my institution had a leader who seriously stayed on top of things. When people start picking up the phone or flooding email accounts with pure emotion, it backfires. For an intelligent person, raw emotion is easy to deflect because the response is not built on facts, it's built on feelings. Don't get mad, get real.

Damage control takes three steps: 1) acknowledge any screw-ups, 2) apologize for inconveniences, and 3) map out a plan of action to put the most valuable college/university customers--the students--at ease. The big thing, however, is that the administration has got to get on board with a logical course of action, which should be guided by the P.R. director or consultant. The minute folks decide to act as if they have "done nothing wrong" they sacrifice a wealth of credibility, and an institution of higher learning cannot make that sacrifice without getting more public grief. Sure, opinions are like (well you know), everyone has one. But opinions are normally based on some encounter that the writer or reporter has had. Get to the bottom of the opinion with facts and life will be easier for those who matter most.

How alumni directly impact marketing

2011-09-28T10:42:00.000-05:00

The customers of a college or university are unlike traditional business customers. A traditional customer uses a product or service, then moves on with his or her life. An educational institution's customers impact marketing through their lives and careers. The alumni, whether we like it or not in higher ed, have an impact on our marketing through their careers. It's unfair, frankly, for an institution to be judged by someone who may have been a slacker on campus and is now a slacker in his or her career; but it is real.

Although it is not an institution of higher learning, St. Augustine High School in New Orleans, proves to be a great example of alumni who make a school highly marketable. I should know; I was a customer. Here is a school that has been a 95% college bound institution for the better part its existence with alumni who have dotted the college landscape producing graduates everywhere from HBCUs to the Ivy League. To boot, St. Aug has produced an NBA coach, professional championship athletes, countless educators on all levels, men with distinguished military service, judges, elected officials, professional musicians, professional stage and film actors, etc. What makes the school unique is that it is an all-boys, African-American Catholic school. The extracurricular activities and the academic performance of the students sell the school but the achievements of alumni seal the deal for parents who want to send their sons there.

The problem is that many colleges and universities seemingly sleepwalk through this part of marketing because too many don't view their students and alumni as customers in the first place. When I attended the University of Florida's Black Alumni Weekend, I had a compelling conversation with graduate of the late '70's. He said he was impressed at how much the university opened its arms to African-American alumni, because he said that atmosphere didn't exist when he attended school there. I explained to him that Florida's efforts to host that kind of weekend was a major win. It was a win for Black alumni because they seemed to feel welcomed back to Gatorland. It was a win for UF because they earned the trust, dedication, and dollars of more alumni. Florida got the message, loudly and clearly, that Black alumni are customers who need to be served. Another result is a more alumni proudly wearing orange and blue, doing the "Gator Chomp", and promoting a UF education to more potential customers.

Colleges and universities that intensely focus on career development get it. When I visited the University of Central Oklahoma a few years back, I noticed that their career development office had a full-length mirror sitting next to the door of the office. The director told me that it was for students to adjust their attire before leaving the office. Boom. They were providing customer service while enhancing the brand of UCO. A good friend of mine, when he was the director of career development at the University of New Orleans, regularly held panel discussions featuring professionals in selected fields, dress for success fashion shows, and other events designed to deliver career information to students as opposed to waiting for them to walk into his office.

When it comes to marketing, an institution cannot afford to be reactive. Being proactive is the order of the day. The worst way for a college or university to find out that its image is tainted is through alumni who fail to make impressions throughout the workforce. When it gets to that point, just like a student who has to pick up a poor GPA, the institution has to play catch-up in the college marketplace.

The kind of P.R. an HBCU needs

2011-09-14T09:21:00.000-05:00

Kevin Kiley treats higher education readers to a nice piece on InsideHigherEd.com about the leadership of Dr. M. Christopher Brown, II, the president of Alcorn State University, an HBCU in Mississippi. I have had the pleasure of speaking at Alcorn about three times, and I have always loved the vibe of the campus. Dr. Brown is part of a great youth movement going on among HBCU leaders as you will read. If you are an HBCU alum, you have got to be encouraged by this kind of story. Enjoy.

Imagine HBCUs Differently

Yes, the name of that building matters

2011-09-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

People get confused in new surroundings. Every year there is a huge rush of new college students on every campus across the nation, and many of them wind up wandering aimlessly until they just happen to run into the right structures which house their classes. Then comes that question that every employee hears as he or she is rushing from one building to the next, "Can you tell me where _____ Hall is?" That's a pretty simple one to answer, isn't it?

Enter the world of building names. Is it (hypothetically named) Wilson Hall or the engineering building? Wait. Wilson Hall is the engineering building? Well, dangit, who knew???

I'm a P.R./marketing guy. It's my job to obsess about such simple things. This is all about consistency. In branding, consistency is the key to familiarizing your customers with your product or service.

The battle ground for consistently naming buildings are the written documents: the campus map, the college/university web site, the handbook, the recruitment brochure(s), etc. When campus personnel who have no concept of branding get a hold of these documents, Wilson Hall becomes something ambiguous like "Engineering" on the campus map or other documents. That's when your valued customers, the students, get confused and scream from the mountain tops, "Could someone PLEASE decide what to call this building???"

It's a small thing to those who are not branding nuts like me. It's no different, however, than annoying your TV production professor by confusing a camera pan with a camera tilt. Say "pan up" during an oral exam, and I'm sure professor will call it a wrong answer.

The worst employees are the ones who have "better" ideas. They get cute and change the name of Wilson Hall to the "engineering complex" (because that sounds so much more regal) or the (hypothetically named) Fred Cornelius Wilson Engineering Building (showing off that they know the guy's entire name). If "Wilson Hall" is what appears on the building then Wilson Hall it should be on every document available. And, yes, putting "engineering building" in parentheses on said documents is acceptable and logical. As for using Fred's whole name, that's why they put those cool plaques on or in the buildings.

When it comes to branding, it's all about creating a connection between the customer and the product. Even the smallest thing can make the biggest difference. Let your P.R./marketing people, the image consultants, sweat and guide the small stuff.

Ugly or not, those wild Maryland uniforms did the trick

2011-09-11T14:44:00.002-05:00

Say it with me, folks . . . "It's called marketing." I salute the University of Maryland's athletics department for having guts. As a P.R./marketing professional at an institution of higher learning, I have learned that it's pretty hard to get an administration to truly think outside the box. It has nothing to do with inability so much as it has to do with fear. No college or university wants be known as the group that did something so goofy that the rest of the higher education world is laughing.

Then you have schools that step completely out like Maryland did in their opening 2011 football battle. I like it, and I salute the Terrapins. I'll neither look at the state of Maryland nor a turtle the same again.

Fueled by the product and marketing power of Under Armour, which was founded by former Terp football player Kevin Plank, the team unveiled the "Maryland Pride" uniforms in the perfect P.R./marketing storm.

It was the opening weekend of the college football season when millions of fans across the country, including alumni and collegebound high school students, were glued to their TVs.
The game was against a serious conference rival, the University of Miami, who occupies a great deal of branding power in college football.
Maryland is the flagship university of the state of Maryland.
The unis proudly displayed Maryland's unforgettable state flag.
The Terps won the game.

Even with Lebron James' infamous "Ewwwwww" Tweet and loads of criticism by fashion vigilantes around the country, the unis were the talk of the nation. Whether you liked the duds or not, you were doing what the University of Maryland wanted you to do---you were talking, blogging, Tweeting, and Facebooking about them. I would love to see how many hits the university's main and athletic web sites got in the following days as well as the search engine analytics on "Maryland uniforms".

The name of the game is to get the right people talking. In higher education the right people are high school students looking for a college to go to and alumni who have check books and credit cards. Love 'em or hate 'em, the "Maryland Pride" uniform stole the show on a big weekend. As a P.R./marketing guy, that works for me.

Who cares what the "real" campus logo is?

2011-08-31T15:26:00.000-05:00

Higher education is an interesting animal in terms of marketing. I was hired to be a P.R. director but found out quickly that we were in desperate need of marketing standards. I arrived to find that we had been using a logo that wasn't meant to be permanent, about seven different seals, and clipart was being used as the department of athletics logo. It was at that time that I assigned myself the marketing director. Quickly I went to the "Apologize later rather than ask for permission now" plan. What surprised me the most was to find that this is a very common issue on college campuses across the country! Whoa.

The most common question I anticipated being asked once I started working toward logo redesigns was, "What difference does it make if my logo doesn't look exactly like yours? It's still the name of the school, isn't it?" I was right.

What if Coca-Cola's logo appeared in italics rather than its normal script? What if Nike's swoosh looked more like a funky check mark? Here's one for you. Remember McDowell's hamburgers from "Coming to America"? Great fodder for laughter, but the everyday person saw the branding fiasco. That's what college/university employees do when they decide to design their own logos--create a branding fiasco.

No matter how much we marketing folks preach this stuff, there's always a wise guy or gal who decides that he or she has better ideas. Enter that cursed document known as image/graphic/marketing standards.

There are elements that are consistent among marketing and public affairs departments across the country:

"Every communication from the University of Kentucky contributes to the university’s reputation, and the most basic component of a strong institutional image is a unified visual presentation. Our name stands as the sum of the institution’s many parts and embodies the authentic, recognizable essence of this institution."

"University logos and marks should appear as originally drawn and proportioned and cannot be visually modified except for proportional sizing. Do not rotate, overprint, alter the font, squeeze, or stretch the logo in any way." Governors State University (Ill.)

"The visual identity program plays an important role in shaping the institutional image of Southeast Missouri State University. The more consistently the graphic elements are used, the stronger the visual identity. The stronger the visual identity and use of consistent nomenclature, the greater the awareness and recognition of the University."

"The logo and seal serve as symbols of SUNO’s official brand. It helps prospective students and current stakeholders immediately identify the University. Immediate identification and consistency are of the utmost importance when selling any product or service." Southern University at New Orleans

The funniest thing is that a department decided to sneak a logo past me, and didn't think I would notice that this . . .

magically turned into this . . .

If you're one of those employees saying to yourself that there's practically no difference, you are to be reminded that there is a reason you're not responsible for campus marketing.

A logo is like a signature. When someone forges your signature, you know it. You can tell it wasn't done with your writing motion, your familiar loops, dotted i's, crossed t's, and definitely not your flare. A logo is the exact same kind of identifier.

When the P.R. or marketing people methodically explain that an incorrect logo is being used, don't look at them as if they are trying to limit your freedom. Understand that they are doing their jobs in maintaining consistency in the look of the college or university. After all, no one wants to see his or her signature jacked up for the world to see.

Outstanding blog from Michael Sorrell, the President of Paul Quinn College

2011-08-30T08:48:00.001-05:00

I took notice of Michael Sorrell via Paul Quinn College on Twitter. The Quinnite Nation turned heads in the HBCU social media world when HBCUDigest.com, a very reliable source of news, information, and insights on HBCU life, named the college their 2011 HBCU of the Year.

One day President Sorrell gave my employer kudos on a tweet about our change to selective admission. To be brutally honest, I found it unusual for an African-American leader of an HBCU to be so vocal about such a change. Making criteria selective for admission to an HBCU (especially one that had been open admission for years) is viewed by many in the Black community as the kiss of institutional death. President Sorrell's tweet simply read "Strong!" My immediate thought was, "Whoa. This guy doesn't mind letting the world know where he stands on a sensitive issue." Needless to say I took more of an interest in his Twitter activity.

Here is an outstanding post he did for the H.O.P.E. Scholarship blog about building an effective brand for an institution of higher learning . As a P.R. director who also handles marketing, this blog "had me at 'Hello'." This man is a marketing machine for Paul Quinn, and it seems they are most fortunate to have him. Enjoy.

How to Build an Authentic and Effective Brand

Your brand name college and pride: What's the connection?

2011-08-25T12:35:00.001-05:00

I'll never forget the universities I considered as a senior in high school. The top of my list was Notre Dame. I dreamed of cheering the Fighting Irish on to victory every Saturday during the fall and everywhere in between. I was a big thinker who wanted to attend a big school that would fill my appetite for a big time environment to help me realize my big dreams. I was very fortunate to have received a full scholarship to my alma mater, a small liberal arts Catholic university, but at times I felt that the modest environment dampened my big ambitions. In deference to my wonderful alma mater, I almost felt let down, to be brutally honest.

We all know that the name of a college or university neither guarantees nor takes away from the career or personal success of its students or graduates. How many of us know struggling Ivy Leaguers or wildly successful grads from "Where-the-Heck-Is-That College"? I always say that it's up to the individual to use his or her degree like a chisel to sculpt a great future. Still, it seems the bigger the name of the institution, the prouder the student or the graduate as evidenced by this interesting message board exchange.

Exhibit A. I saw a student from my alma mater with a sweat shirt on, and I gave him a nice "Go (mascot)" greeting. He gave me a blank stare, and I believe it's because people at my alma mater simply don't do the big school pride thing. Maybe we're a smart bunch, but we're not big personalities.

Exhibit B. I had a chat with a colleague about an alum from a school with a not-so-hot reputation. She told me that said alum is always late for meetings, unprofessional in her behavior, and has ruffled quite a few feathers in their organization. I questioned whether or not her behavior is a direct reflection of the culture of her alma mater which I know to have a "don't-judge-me-because-I'm-good-the-way-I-am" attitude.

Exhibit C. You cannot even begin to tell a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana that they are not the real Xavier. These folks talk a big game, they are proud, and they have a reputation for impressing employers wherever they go. And with the longest serving university leader in the United States, this place has a reputation to go along with its growing campus.

The first person I spoke to about this was a colleague who received both her master's and Ph.D. from Texas A&M after receiving her undergraduate degree from a university not as well known, nationally. She loves A&M, so I asked her if being an Aggie did something for her personally. Whereas she quickly pointed to their outstanding network, she felt that A&M didn't have that much to do with her personal growth as much as it did her professional growth. I couldn't help but notice; however, that as we talked, she showed me her Aggie pendant, Aggie ring, Aggie magazine, and Aggie donation level. She has an Aggie plate on her car, told me about her Aggie flip flops, and all other things Aggies. What I noticed, most of all, is that she lit up like a Christmas tree when she talked about being an Aggie. There's something about having graduated from A&M that truly seems to do something for her on a personal level, in my opinion.

Another colleague of mine received her advanced degrees from Ball State but received her undergrad from Purdue. Actually, I forgot that she is a Boilermaker, so asking her if she received her undergrad from Ball State got quite the reaction. Like my first colleague, her face lit up when she clarified that she received her undergrad from Purdue.

Then there is my fiancee who graduated from Florida. She does not hesitate to remind you that "if you're not a Gator, you're Gator bait." I attended UF's Black Alumni Weekend with her last year, and I loved the genuine Gator pride that filled the Gainseville air. Like others, she immediately pointed to their huge diverse professional network. In her case, she came from a small town to attend Florida, and she pointed to her graduating from UF in four years as a big success in her life. To her, that accomplishment has meant a lot personally.

One case I find interesting is that of Michael Sorrell, the president of Paul Quinn College, a small private HBCU in Dallas. Having received his undergrad from Oberlin and both his master's and J.D. from Duke, Sorrell holds his Oberlin experience in very high esteem. The college, he wrote in our email exchange, helped push him outside of his comfort zone and helped him expand his worldview. Sorrell also wrote that "Duke was a different kind of great experience. Its strong name recognition provides me with instant intellectual credibility. That’s definitely a plus." Regardless, he wrote that his personal pride would have flourished in any circumstance due to his strong family background and a great work ethic. That makes perfect sense.

Maybe this topic is more of a personal journey for me than a widely accepted truth. I readily admit that. Still, as a Louisianan, I can't help but notice the examples of how far LSU, Tulane, Southern, and Grambling grads stick their chests out when talking about their schools. Southern Mississippi's football team has an attitude that they can compete with "bigger" schools anytime, anywhere, and that seems to carry over to student life. So, is it out of the question to suggest that these students and graduates who have experienced a larger-than-life college experience personally feel more like trendsetters than followers when they dive into the big ocean of life?

I want to be clear. This is not about anyone's potential, or lack thereof, to be successful due to his or her alma mater. This is purely about how the brand of a college or university affects someone's personal sense of pride. You have to admit that it's a lot easier to talk smack as, say, an Ohio State grad than it is to talk smack as a small college grad.

This is why I feel it is important for small college leaders to have larger-than-life personalities. Those leaders may be the difference in each student and alumnus feeling that he or she can take on the cruel, cruel world. The mission would not be for the leader to get big TV contracts for athletics or turn a 30-acre campus into a 500-acre campus but rather to use that institution's name to help students and alums release the greatness that lies within each of them.

Texas A&M: A cry for attention or got 'em right where they want 'em?

2011-08-18T10:02:00.004-05:00

I am genuinely intrigued by Texas A&M's very public consideration of moving to the Southeastern Conference. After a "high-level source from A&M leaked" this information (and believe me that leak was no accident), a very important debate in major college athletics has ensued. The SEC and Big 12 are very important high-profile conferences, as we know; but A&M's public consideration of moving is perhaps a very cunning move . . . or is it? This is about more than college sports, my friends, this is also P.R. through and through! I love it.

The culture war between A&M and the University of Texas goes beyond the football field. There's is also a P.R./branding war about who represents the Great State of Texas better in higher education. You can look at other states with high-profile in-state rivalries--Florida/Florida State, Michigan/Michigan State, Duke/North Carolina, Oregon/Oregon State--but I don't think any come close to Texas/Texas A&M in an overall sense. And I can't help but think that Texas A&M made such a public statement because they want to make a bold statement about their importance to the Big 12. This was a poker move on A&M's part, if you ask me.

For A&M to leave the Big 12 would possibly put the conference's existence at risk as a major conference, because the ripple effect would be felt in "smaller" sports like softball, golf, bowling, swimming, volleyball, tennis, etc. Colleges spend oodles of money on athletics and it's hard to get a solid return on investment. By the way, the Big 12 CANNOT lose A&M to the SEC, of all conferences. In the South, there is a battle for college athletics supremacy between the SEC and Big 12. Consider that the Big 12 has lost to the SEC in 3 Bowl Championship Series Championships, the Big 12 lost 3 others, but the SEC has never lost the BCS Championship. The BCS, as far as college athletics is concerned, presents major branding opportunities for the competing schools.

Let's face it, the SEC believes that it is the college athletic conference of America. Thanks to championship programs at Louisiana State, Florida, Alabama, and Auburn, namely, the SEC has basically ruled overall college athletics for years. It doesn't help, either, that Colorado left the Big 12 for the PAC 12; and Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big 10 (which is technically now the "Big 12" since there are 12 teams and the Big 12 is really the "Big 10" since they are left with 10 teams). Got it? Good. Let's proceed.

But there is another side to this. There are those who view the University of Texas as the driver of big money multimedia contracts for the Big 12, and they also view UT as the branding entity of the Big 12. After all, when people think of higher education in Texas, they normally think Longhorns first, right? To many, A&M is the middle kid in the family, and those who view the Aggies as such believe they are the kid is crying for attention. I mean, this is personal to some folks. What's interesting is that even so the SEC publicly denied reports that A&M is entering the conference, their statement on the matter also left the door wide open. To me, either the SEC was blindsided by A&M's public statement and wants to stand clear or there are meetings behind the meetings. This is the South, after all, and we love two playgrounds--sports and politics.

At the end of the day, I believe that this is a move by A&M to force public conversation; and if that is the case, I believe it is a very cunning P.R. strategy. Despite what America thinks of A&M (in relation to UT), people in Texas have as much Aggie love as they do Longhorn love, and they enjoy the marketing battle between the two. Don't forget that if A&M were to leave the Big 12, that would leave the league with 9 members. We know the Big 12 is working beefing up the conference, anyway; but who, in that region, can replace the name of Texas A&M? I honestly can't think of an institution that has the branding power to balance UT, keeping in mind that we're talking ALL sports not just football. Finally, despite their statement, the SEC is flirting with the possibility of becoming a "super conference", and A&M would fit nicely into that structure.

Let the P.R./marketing chess match continue. *clapping with kiddie hands*

Pay attention: Your orientation DOES affect your institution's image

2011-08-16T11:27:00.001-05:00

Pictured: Yours truly speaking at the University of South Alabama "Southbound" new student orientation in 2006.

Some of the institutions which have turned the corner in changing their students' collective perception of them have done so at a very important event---new student orientation. When I was a speaker for Monster's Making It Count Programs, I had the privilege of speaking at about 20 college orientations and there were some that really impressed me from a pure P.R. and marketing standpoint. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls State, Texas State, and Southeastern Louisiana stand out because of the energy that I felt coming from the orientation leaders and new students in all of those instances. South Alabama, however, is where I got to see a great transformation from sleepyville to Jaguar Pride.

I had the privilege of spending some time with South's orientation director, Scott Smith. I specifically remember his saying that with an orientation you have to "give (the students) Disneyland." South has historically been a commuter school. Commuter institutions tend to have kind of a cynical student population, so you have to go the extra mile to cultivate a sense of school pride among these students. That's exactly what they did through their new student orientation.

He transformed the old long and boring welcome-to-college-now-listen-to-all-of-these-administrators-speak experience into Southbound. First, Scott got the administration to buy into allowing him to brand the orientation and, most importantly, spend money on it. Working at a university, I now know how difficult that negotiation can be. Secondly, he recruited and trained orientation leaders who had personality and energy. Third, he completely reworked the orientation schedule in order to simply keep things moving and informative. Of course, with all of that going on, there were other elements that he had to take on, such as dealing with parents, serving meals, etc. I spoke at South's orientation several times, and I loved it more every time. My presentations started in the university's grand ball room and later moved to the basketball arena where I served as the after-dinner guest speaker. What made the relationship work was my energy, as a speaker with great college survival information, matching the impression South wanted to make on its newest family members.

From a P.R./marketing standpoint, here are the simple things that I think can be done so that a new student orientation makes an impression on students:

Make an investment. Be prepared to spend money on marketing collateral as well as refreshments. It's a small down payment on retaining students.
Brand, brand, brand! Make your college/university larger than life. Print and strategically place large quality images containing your orientation logo (if you have one), the institution's logo(s), or nice student life images, whether they are academic or extracurricular-oriented.
Brand consistently. Do NOT let a department create their own logos to appear on marketing collateral, no matter how "small" the pieces may seem. Consistent use of official institutional seals, logos, and spirit symbols are key to making an impression on customers. If it doesn't come from your marketing department (which may also be your P.R. or communications office), it simply doesn't count.
Recruit and train an orientation team. Nothing makes a student feel welcome like getting warm welcomes from their peers. First, find students who are great communicators. Second, train them to deliver great customer service. Third, allow them to serve as an advisory team to improve orientation. At some point, budget pay for these students in, as well. It's the best way to get a solid commitment from them.
Execute a memorable experience. Making sure an event goes well takes walk-through meetings in addition to the sit-down meetings. The team has to know how the day will actually flow and when/where they need to be. Take those opportunities to make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them, as well. Make sure that they know, once orientation day arrives, that it is show time! The goal, after all, is to make new students' introduction to your school memorable.
Allow the orientation attendees to help assess orientation. Distribute surveys at the end of the orientation experience to find out what you can do next semester to make the introduction to your college or university memorable.

Twitter rules for your college or university

2011-08-12T11:58:00.001-05:00

I manage the Twitter page for my employer, and it has been quite the learning experience. A school's account is not like a personal account, obviously, nor is it like a company's account. A private company has enough internal control over a limited number of people to promote their products or services or even manage ill-advised Tweets. A college or university, however, is a small town. The diversity of personalities and the danger of misrepresenting that community is ever present. The manager of a higher ed institution's Twitter account has to be on the ball. He or she has to have a keen sense of public relations, writing, diversity, brevity, marketing, and discretion.

Here are some rules of the road that I have discovered in managing an institution of higher learning's account.

Have a flexible strategy. Our Twitter account started as an athletics account but circumstances predicated that we expand the use of the account. I am a one-man-show on campus when it comes to using Twitter as a P.R./marketing tool, so it was more convenient to figure out how to use the same account for more than one function. It occurred to me that the more followers we gained, the more we could use the account to Tweet relevant pieces of on-campus and promotional information. Now, the strategy is to use our Twitter account to: a) promote campus news, b) promote the new brand, c) perform customer service with our students, and d) connect with other HBCUs and partner institutions throughout the region.

Make sure your account manager is a true writer. I cringe every time I make a typo in social media. Thousands of people see that, and you can't take it back! Your Twitter manager has to be anal about his or her writing, and he or she has to have the ability to self-edit. As an institution of higher learning, you have to look smart, above everything else. Spelling and/or grammatical errors from a college or university's account just isn't cool.

Don't force your leaders to open accounts. This was an intense two-day discussion with my leader. He heard a suggestion to open an account, but was very nervous about it. At first we thought that my ghost writing the account may work, but that made him more nervous (I swear I wasn't going to use his account to follow celebrities or trash talk other schools . . . I swear). All it took was the thought of one of our more outspoken students to follow him and that would be a wrap. Twitter, like all social networks, reveals who the user really is, therefore, it makes sense to leave a nervous Nellie out of the Twitterverse until he or she feels comfortable with that kind of public engagement.

Have a strategy for administrators and other campus leaders. There is a movement to have more college/university presidents and head coaches start Twitter accounts. Make sure that everyone communicates the purpose of his or her account, and stays within certain parameters. Even if that faculty or staffer tries to go the "my opinions are my opinions" route, the fact that he or she identifies himself or herself as a member of the the university community is the most important thing to remember.

Don't take it personally. Students can be highly critical of every and any decision administrators make, and there are those in the general public who will not be fans of your institution. C'est la vie. Do NOT use the institution's account to engage in sparring matches. The institution should always stay above the fray and stick with the plan.

Don't follow student accounts. See the first sentence of my last bullet point. The other problem, however, is that students can Tweet things that will make put your head in the palms of your hands. Unless you want your official college or university's time line to be filled with Tweets about drinking adventures, (sometimes) horrific grammar, and plain ol' irrational behavior, let them do the following.

Cultivate institutional relationships. As an HBCU employee, I can tell you that the national HBCU community is a wonderful family. I use the university's account to follow other official HBCU accounts, including HBCU media outlets. We also follow our state colleagues' official accounts in addition to other strategic institutional, media, career development, and institutional advocacy accounts.

Make hash tags your friend. If you're not familiar with Twitter, there is a wonderful tool called the hash tag. A hash tag is a topic that other users are discussing, and it is designated by the use of the # sign. For instance, any HBCU mention would appear #HBCU or any higher education mention would appear #highered. If we want to get our students on join in a discussion about school, we would hash tag the university. One of our professors uses Twitter very well to engage her students in class discussions off campus, so she created a hash tag for the class. Also, a hash tag can begin a conversation, so the user doesn't have to utilize one that already exists.

For the sake of clarity . . .

2011-08-11T17:40:00.004-05:00

It's a "laugh to keep from crying" thing sometimes.

Co-Worker: Eddie, what's on the menu in the dining hall today?

Me: Er, no idea. (side eye)

Co-Worker: Well, since you're the P.R. director, I figured you would know that.

Me: And how is that?

Co-Worker: You do P.R., so you should know everything.

Yes, it is the P.R. or communication director's job to know things, but we're not encyclopedias or a walking search engines. Being a P.R. professional basically consists of a healthy mix of image management, conflict resolution, and customer service, and we wear that skill set proudly. That doesn't mean, however, that we P.R. folks are make-up artists, psychologists, or personal concierges.

Need us to advise you on the best ways to word your newspaper interview answers? We got that. Need us to chat with that reporter about his or her story. Watch us work. Do you need us to give that complaining student an ear to fill on a cold, rainy day? Sure, we're willing to do that . . . Well, some of us are. But I am afraid that asking for detailed accounts of exactly why the outlets in the building opened in 1971 are cruddy may present a bit of a challenge.

I'll be happy to point you in the direction of the dining hall, however. :-)

Bridging the gap between to distinctly different higher ed personalities

2011-08-08T17:14:00.006-05:00

Somebody, bring me a DiSC personality assessment quickly!

P.R. and marketing professionals are in the people business. Because of that, we immediately identify students as customers. As long as they're paying for the service, via tuition and fees, we owe it to them to provide the best customer service possible. Yes, I know, some students are very irrational--OK, lots of them are irrational (as I wink at my customers lovingly).

Educators, on the other hand, tend to be on-paper, alphabet soup people. One's credibility, for many of them, seems to be based a great deal on how someone looks on paper, how much academic research one has conducted in his/her field, and consequently how many letters said person has behind his or her name. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, because the academics have spent many years, dollars, and countless research hours on those letters that they have rightfully owned. For the record, I don't believe this applies to all academics, but quite a few place a wealth of value on those magic letters.

That's why we P.R., marketing, advertising, and media businesses types sometimes come across as, well, shallow to academics. We joke in meetings, our emotions get the best of us, and we don't seem to take people's credentials seriously. Hey, we remember the philosophy and history from college, but everything we learned seemingly flies out of the window when the rubber hits the road in the workforce. There is no question that "book learning" provides a valuable foundation for success in anyone's field, but all of the research does nothing for you when you have a freelance client who doesn't understand why every television station in the market didn't feature his or her organization's health fair as a lead story on the evening news.

In order to bridge the gap between educator and media head, you have understand personality dynamics. College educators often want the facts, and we media types survive on reading people and gut instincts. I may not be able to show you how the research proves that news outlets will cover a story, but the fact that I have cultivated a relationship with assignment editors over the long term helps a bunch.

I immediately realized that being a P.R. man on a college campus makes me wish I had taken Psychology 201 after taking intro. But then too much psychology would have made me cocky. For my fellow P.R. folks, just let your academic colleagues say what they have to say. Just listen. Let them finish those thoughts, and have your ducks in a row when you explain why that story they want covered may or may not have legs. To my wonderful academics, don't get flustered, just let us do the relationship-building and talking. It's what we get paid to do.

Now, how do I trick these professors into gathering in one room to take the DiSC test?

Your institution's mission is its GPS for success

2011-06-28T11:31:00.004-05:00

In 2010, I had the pleasure of interviewing a woman who is passionate about both her work and her cause on 98.5-WYLD's Sunday Journal. Her name is Sonya Chatman-Leathers, the founder of The Charity Collection, a fashion line which heightens awareness of HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases. The interview consisted of a great conversation, but what struck me is how connected Sonya is to the mission of her organization. She spoke about the importance of HIV/AIDS awareness and her goal to use her fashions to address the deadly disease with great conviction. If I didn't take anything else away from that experience, I had the privilege of listening to someone who truly believes in what she is doing.

In media relations workshops, I strongly advise participants to take their respective missions seriously. Whether it was someone with a non-profit, an author, a business owner, or someone looking to promote him/herself, I expressed the importance of understanding the importance of the mission.

A mission is a guiding principle for any entity. It is where you express to your customers or constituents what you truly stand for and it serves as a GPS. It gives your organization or business directions so that these folks can arrive successfully at a series of destinations throughout the journey your respective efforts. The trick is to have a mission that takes you in a specific direction.

I asked a non-profit director about his mission. He said that "It's to uplift people of my community." I shot back, "That's it??? Everybody wants to uplift their respective communities. What's the difference between your uplifting your community and Joe Schmoe uplifting his community in Anytown, USA?" As someone who doubles as a radio talk show producer and contributor, I challenged him to give me something that would make me want to book him for an interview! He had a dollar store GPS. Sure, he punched in the directions, but the quality of his equipment wouldn't give the best directions.

The more focused the mission, the better your chances of being able to consistently promote your college or university. It is just like your chances of reaching your destination if you know the exact street number, street name and city of the place you want your GPS to take you. And just like you have to know how to work the GPS, you have to embrace the importance and function of your mission.

A big victory for some but a huge task for PR

2011-05-19T12:56:00.002-05:00

You're coming in on the tail end of this issue, so please indulge me for a sec. Today, Louisiana legislators released my university from a proposal to merge us with another institution. It was a fairly bitter battle as the proposal was to merge my employer, an HBCU (Historically Black College/University), with a majority institution. The problem is there was uncertainty as to whether or not we would remain an HBCU. Big problem.

Although it feels like a victory, this is more of an opportunity. There is more of an opportunity for us to go back to our respective missions, and use those as guides to enhance our public relations and marketing efforts. An HBCU has the capacity and cultural competency to deliver educational services to its students in a way that helps the student become confident in his or her ability to succeed inside and outside the classroom. Through a little hand-holding with a smattering of tough love, HBCU students, regardless of their race, culture, or creed, learn to succeed by trusting their raw intelligence as opposed to being judged on their aptitude. Such is the beauty of any community educating their own. We have been challenged to communicate that message more effectively and, in some cases, aggressively.

Now is the perfect time to pull together a comprehensive public relations and marketing plan, which has already started. You see, we unfortunately have a reputation that is not enviable in the higher education marketplace. Therefore, I have to immediately put together a campaign to capitalize on the good news. The next step is to concentrate on pushing the new slogan and developing our collateral materials to reflect a new attitude going into the 2011-2012 academic year. To add to that, it will be the second year we would be operating as an institution under selective admission after doing open admission for more than 50 years. That means our new customer base has to hear more and they need to see a more refined identity from us.

(Cracking my knuckles) Now, I can work.