EDUCATION » Higher Education

Case Studies

Springfield Technical Community College

The Situation/ Challenges
Springfield Technical Community College is located on an urban campus that had experienced no or limited enrollment growth in five years.Recruitment of high school students had dropped more than 33% over the last few years. The attrition rate of enrolled students that were eligible to continue into the next semester but did not re-enroll had reached 37%. Many students who applied to the college could not enroll because the more popular programs, especially in allied health, were full. The overall enrollment drop translated into less revenue, leading to staff layoffs.

The college also suffered from misconceptions about issues ranging from inner-city safety to perceived limitations in the academics program. The safety issue was purely perceptive, as the college is a one million square foot facility that includes the former Springfield Armory along with newer buildings. The challenges facing the college’s liberal arts and transfer programs stemmed from the fact that its reputation as a top notch technical college overshadowed its other academic programs. In reality, the college offers one of the most comprehensive academic course options available in the Northeast.

Aggravating the above issues was the fact that a community college in a suburban campus a few towns away, had experienced continued growth over the same time period.

To address these challenges, the new college President asked First Experience Communications to review the college’s current marketing and communication strategy, perform research to assess the current situation, and develop and implement a plan to improve and re-brand the college’s image in its marketplace and boost new student enrollment.

Discovery and Planning
FEC conducted extensive primary research with current and “lost” students, graduates, faculty, staff, community businesses, high school guidance counselors and the general public to gauge perceptions and expectations of the college. Research analysis also assessed the effectiveness of the current marketing budget.

A communications audit was performed to assess the effectiveness of the website and other college marketing communications materials. Analyses showed that the collateral materials were disjointed and the website was not user-friendly to the outside world.

Short- and long-term marketing and communications plans were developed as a result of the research-defined needs. Elements of the plans included a new logo and tagline with a corresponding graphic look to unify the college materials; a view book/ image piece; positioning statement, print and display advertising; direct mail postcard campaigns; case studies and testimonials for use in public relations; an effective web site design and navigation; and internal staff training. To measure effectiveness, a budget was created to evaluate target audience response.

Implementation
A new identity package and graphic standard were established to express the unique brand of higher education the college provides for thousands of “lifelong learners” each year at their level of need. FEC then created a photography image bank with a library of more than 200 photos to draw on for website development, new image marketing materials, postcard campaigns, and other marketing and public relations initiatives.

Interviews were conducted with the college’s graduates to develop a series of lifelong learner success stories. These stories and direct quotes were used to help convey the student experience in the college image/ view book, collateral materials and ads. They also became a prominent component of the new website, www.stcc.edu.

Key messages were crafted for each target audience using information from the research to highlight the college’s competitive advantages in offering higher education opportunities in a wide range of programs and services for a diverse audience of students, and to illustrate the college’s safe, convenient campus.

Internal college staff members were trained on marketing strategy and tactics, media buying and web management. A sustainable integrated marketing and advertising campaign was then implemented. The image and marketing campaigns branded and positioned the college to increase new student enrollment. Counsel was also given to focus marketing efforts on student retention as soon as funding allowed.

Results to Date
In a matter of months, the branding marketing efforts showed a positive increase in new student enrollment.  Results of the targeted marketing campaigns follow:

• Direct mail postcard campaign targeting 19 to 34-year-olds living in the college’s geographic area, whose highest education was high school: 6 postcards mailed to 22,818 households over an 8-week period generated a 6% response conversion rate, translating into 1,359 Fall student registrations.
• College view/image booklet accompanied by a letter from the college president mailed to more than 9,000 prior inquirers who never registered generated a 16.5% response, or 1,523 Fall student registrations.
• New college catalog mailed to 10,477 students who took a course/grade generated a 7.3% response, translating into 762 registrations.