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CASE Presentation Now Available
Paul Redfern, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Gettysburg College, and Peter's session at the CASE Distsrict I & II Conference, "Managing Brand Consistency Through Presidential Transitions," shared their expertise on why staying committed to a working brand strategy is better than turning out the old for the new. They presented how a well-designed and executed process of implementing a brand strategy increases the likelihood that the brand will last through multiple changes in leadership. And, they analyzed what makes new leadership decide to retain an existing brand and posed a counter-argument to the prevailing wisdom that brands can’t survive past the presidency under which they started. The session included much good discussion, suggesting that this is a pertinent issue on campuses. Paul and Peter’s presentation is available on Paul's blog or by request from Peter at 585-244-4140 x 23 or peterh@cogmark.com

2012 CIC Presidents Institute
This year's CIC Presidents Institute focused on the critical importance of championing the liberal arts. Hats off to CIC and its member institutions for leading on this subject. Every higher educational institution, large or small, private or public, 2-year or 4, has a responsibility to affirm its commitment to the general education core, whatever may be their overall mission or curricular direction. America's spirit of innovation and resourcefulness has always been a product of that core. An America of workers possessed of functional competency but no broader intellectual curiosity would be a country the Founding Fathers would not recognize and other nations would have no reason to respect.

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Reflection Articles

Making Social Media Work for Admissions
Schools are using social media not just as a way to connect with prospective students (who are increasingly post-email), but also as the forum through which prospects and accepts are able to communicate with each other. The most successful social media programs are firmly rooted in the institution’s brand strategy; integrate multiple social media platforms with database-driven email, text messaging, and direct mail (yes, there is still an important role for print); and adhere to a well-coordinated editorial schedule. We can tell you more about the programs we have implemented as well as discuss appropriate social media activities for each stage of your recruitment funnel. Contact Josanne DeNatale, at 888-241-4411, ext 22 or via email.

Conversations About the Transformational President
Cognitive Marketing is a proud sponsor of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Presidents Institute. At the 2011 Institute, we received much good feedback about the booklet we published for the 2010 Conference: Serving the Transformational President. In it we wrote, “The transformational president is on a particular mission of improvement: she or he seeks real institutional progress. In order to do that, the president knows that the school’s deep structure (its unchangeable charter, mission, values, etc.) and its surface structure (its current programs, policies, identity, and brand) must be in sync. The transformation president knows that how the institution views itself, talks about itself, and understands itself needs to be in precise alignment with what it really is and how it aspires to have others see it, speak of it, and understand it. Is your college, university, or school currently under the leadership of a transformational president? If so, what about the approach he or she is taking causes you to believe that? Are there ways to better amplify his or her vision?" We invite you to join in our conversation about transforming the institution. Contact Peter Holloran at 888-241-4411, ext. 23 or via email.

College Rankings vs. Brand Marketing
In our nearly 20 years of working with colleges and universities, we’ve found that those that rely on rankings to give them credibility in the market are doing so because they lack a strong, clear, and compelling message of their own. Rankings offer instant but falsely constructed credibility. The answer? Build stronger institutional identities that, through effective communication, come to stand for something important and distinct in the collective consciousness of the market. When the brand is strong and resolute, the contrivance of the rankings no longer holds appeal. Aside from the obvious point that building a strong institutional brand identity takes vision, fortitude, patience, and some commitment of resources, the real issue with this reasoning is that it is in conflict with the “maximize applications so to maximize rejections” strategy. When an institution invests in creating a strong institutional brand, it’s seeking to sharpen its identity and intensify its appeal. For many, this represents a significant, even scary, change in recruitment strategy, from one which has long sought to make the school an “acceptable alternative for the many” (by doing things like promoting its ranking) to one that relies on telling the institution’s story in such a specific and powerful way that the institution becomes the “passionate choice of the few.” When a brand-led recruitment strategy is executed well, the institution may receive fewer applications, but those applications will be coming from far more committed, focused, and knowledgeable applicants – applicants who, incidentally, are not applying to nearly as many other institutions. Yield jumps under these conditions. An admissions process that endeavors to improve the quality of the applicant pool, rather than its quantity, is more efficient, more economical, fairer, and more humane. But, in order for a college or university admissions team to take the bold step of ignoring the rankings and embracing this kind of recruitment strategy, it has not only to face down its fears that a drop in applications will result in a failure to make its numbers, but also the practical reality that fewer applications and fewer rejections will result in a drop in those rankings. For additional insights, contact Peter Holloran at 888-244-4411, ext 23 or via email.

White Papers

We frequently participate and present at conferences and workshops hosted by professional organizations. Our library of white papers and reports includes:

	Attracting Students to the Major: The Role and Responsibility of the Department Chair (Based upon a Council of Independent Colleges [CIC] 2009 Department and Division Chair Workshop)
	Brand Assessment Self Evaluation Tool
	Brand & Fundraising: Why great brands raise more money (Based upon a presentation given to a chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals)
	Cognitive Marketing’s Higher Education Survey (2009 survey of Independent Colleges and Universities – How Presidents and Vice Presidents of Institutional Advancement see the Challenges Immediately Ahead)
	Every School is the Exact Same School … Until Experience Intervenes
	Institutional Self-Awareness, Brand Identity, and the Development of a Culture of Giving (Based upon a panel discussion conducted at the 2009 CASE District II Conference)
	The Voice of an Institution