As officials at the University of California scramble to
preserve “quality, access and affordability” in the
face of crushing budget cuts, they have begun to embrace a trend in
higher education ““ image marketing.
In the last 20 years, many universities have sought to improve
funding and enrollments by advertising themselves. Now UC officials
hope to convince California voters and the Legislature that the UC
is worth prioritizing in the current budget crisis.
And if previous marketing campaigns are any indicator, it could
work.
Matthew Long, government relations director for the Council for
the Advancement and Support of Education, said colleges and
universities across the country conduct public relations campaigns
all of the time, often with positive results.
“A lot of people don’t realize the benefits that a
university brings to the region as a whole,” Long said.
“(Advertising) can be a very powerful device.”
Indiana University, for example, is cited as a quintessential
success story in image marketing.
Indiana initiated an intensive five-year image-building campaign
in 1994 to increase funding and deal with low enrollments, which
were partially caused by declining high school graduation
rates.
When the five years were up, Indiana had netted $11 million and
had record enrollment, record public and private support and record
alumni participation, Long said.
Christopher Simpson, president and of Simpson Communications and
the architect of Indiana University’s image campaign,
outlined the factors contributing to Indiana’s success:
understanding the university’s current image, targeting a
specific audience, and presenting a unified face to a key
message.
“We just kept repeating the same messages in every way we
possibly could find over a five-year period,” Simpson
said.
The UC is currently doing all of these things.
At the system level, the UC is focusing on an impact report
which details the UC’s importance to California’s
economic and social health. The highlights of this 350-page report
are online under the slogan “California’s future: It
starts here.”
The interactive Web site is designed to show that the UC has an
important impact on the lives of all Californians.
“Everybody knows that UC is a great place to get a college
education and that its researchers are among the best in the world.
But UC’s contributions extend well beyond its campuses’
borders,” a voice on the Web site speaks aloud.
The site also reports that the UC is responsible for 370,000
jobs ““ 2 percent of California’s total employment
““ and more patents than any other university in the nation
for nine years running.
The UC impact report was compiled by Virginia-based ICF
Consulting, but unlike Indiana, the UC does not use outside
consultants to organize its marketing campaign.
The UC only uses free media at the system level. The “It
Starts Here” campaign was compiled free of charge by an alum,
and the UC’s campaign is focused on the Internet. The UC also
contributes to an editorial column on the importance of higher
education in La Opinión, a Spanish language subsidiary of the
Los Angeles Times which is owned by Regent Monica Lozano.
And Regent Norman Pattiz ““ who owns Westwood One, the
United States’ largest radio network ““ has suggested
that the UC could use his radio stations for advertising.
But most of the marketing of the UC’s image takes place at
the campus level, where university officials combine the overall
message of the university’s importance to California with
their own campus’ image.
“When our chancellor goes out to give a speech, she
doesn’t just talk about Riverside, she talks about the
UC,” said Kathleen Peach a spokeswoman for UC Riverside.
“We are trying to develop that consistency of message
because that is how we will be effective,” she added.
Simpson said participation from all parts of the system is one
of the factors that contributes to a successful marketing campaign,
and it is a common theme throughout the UC campuses.
Lawrence Lokman, a spokesman for UCLA, said Chancellor Albert
Carnesale and senior officials aggressively integrate the
UC’s overall message with UCLA’s when they give
speeches.
As part of efforts to promote its own image, UCLA has conducted
its own impact study evaluating UCLA’s importance to the
stability of the region as well as its contributions to the
community.
Neither UCLA nor any of the other UCs have blanketed all
available media forms like Indiana did in its image campaign, but
UCLA has occasionally advertised on television and on the radio in
the past, and publishes a magazine which has a circulation of
80,000. This month, the magazine details UCLA’s impact on
K-12 education.
UCLA is also currently conducting research on how people
currently perceive the university, which Simpson said was an
important part of Indiana’s successful image campaign.
Other factors, like this year’s switch to “true
blue” uniforms for all of UCLA’s varsity athletic
teams, are designed to create a coherent image for the
university.
“”˜Branding’ … is one means of supporting
UCLA’s ongoing efforts to continue to compete successfully
for outstanding faculty and students, as well as attract sources of
private, governmental and foundation funding at the local, state
and national levels,” Lokman said.
While the UC’s public relations campaigns are calculated
to inform all Californians about the importance of the UC and why
it is worth supporting, they are also directed at the state
Legislature, which will vote on a final budget this summer.
“If we weaken our investment in the UC to address budget
shortfalls in the short term, we need to be mindful that there will
also be longer-term impacts on the economic health of our
state,” said Jodi Anderson, student regent designate and a
third-year doctoral student in higher education at UCLA.
“These aren’t easy decisions and I think that the
best we can do is to make sure that we give decision-makers sound
information so that they can make good choices and balance the
short- and long-term effects of their decisions on the California
economy,” Anderson said.
To view the UC’s online image marketing campaign, go
to www.universityofcalifornia.edu/itstartshere/main.html.