COLLEGE ACCESS MARKETING

Since the late-1990s, a growing number of public and private organizations have used creative marketing techniques to increase the college participation of underrepresented groups. The result is the emergence of a new and important field that we call College Access Marketing, or CAM.

This edition of News from the Pathways to College Network gives a basic introduction to CAM, including an overview of the efforts of the Pathways Network in this area. We invite you to visit our new collegeacccessmarketing.org website to find more great information and tools and resources to help you plan, improve, and evaluate a campaign. To receive additional CAM news and updates, send an e-mail to camsignup@sreb.org.

College Access Marketing: A brief history
College access marketing is what results when you adapt the principles of social marketing to the goals of college access. Social marketing emerged in the 1970s as a way to improve public health; since then, it has grown to address a range of social issues. Social marketing applies marketing strategies and tools to causes that advance the social good (e.g. anti-smoking and anti-drug campaigns, campaigns promoting seatbelt use, or environmental campaigns). Social marketing seeks to persuade individuals to change certain behaviors to benefit both the individual and society.

College access marketing is a practical response to the need for underserved students and their families to receive encouragement related to college-going. Marketing has shown itself to be a strategic informational and persuasive tool that college access professionals cannot afford to ignore.

A few noteworthy college-related marketing campaigns opened the door for this field, including the United Negro College Fund's "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste" campaign launched in 1972, targeting both potential donors and prospective students. Today, college access marketing is increasingly recognized as an effective way to motivate students and families, and a natural complement to the efforts of schools, colleges and universities, outreach programs, and other organizations to help underserved students prepare and plan for college.

What exactly is College Access Marketing?
Because the field is relatively new, there is often confusion as to what exactly constitutes college access marketing. In approaching the topic, it's useful to emphasize what it is not as well as what it is:

College Access Marketing is NOT...
… social engineering.
… just media ads promoting programs.
… subliminal messages that trick people into doing something.
… a fad.
… the "magic bullet" solution for college access.

Rather, it is...
… marketing aimed at convincing people to engage in college-going behaviors to benefit both the individual and society as a whole.
… focused on changing behavior, not just raising awareness.
… about meeting the audience on their terms, not yours.
… a tool that works most effectively when coordinated with policy and program efforts.

The role of the Pathways Network
In 2002, the Pathways Network commissioned a national study of over 150 college access communication campaigns that found significant gaps in many of them that limited their effectiveness. As a follow-up to that study, the Pathways Network, along with the College Board and the Aspen Institute, hosted the first-ever summit on college access marketing in December 2003. The summit brought together social marketing experts, representatives of college access marketing campaigns, and other experienced college access professionals. The group identified the need for a good CAM "how-to" guide, as well as the need for a forum for sharing best practices among campaigns. The Pathways Network developed the College Access Marketing website to meet that need.

Currently, the partners leading Pathways' college access marketing efforts are the College Board, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, and the Southern Regional Education Board, with assistance from TERI (The Education Resources Institute), the Network's managing partner. Together with the other partners and collaborators on the CAM steering committee, they will be piloting the website's processes and models at 6 different sites, with plans to expand and refine the site based on feedback. To learn more about these and other efforts, contact the Pathways to College Network at cheng@teri.org.

CAM Core Principles

• Know your audience and look at everything from their point of view.
• Build on your audience’s existing beliefs, attitudes, values, and motivations.
• Be very clear about what you are encouraging people to do.
• Make doing it as easy and attractive as possible.
• Remember that success depends on getting your audience to act.

Background Reading

Capturing the College Potential of Students from Under-served Populations -- the executive summary of the 2001 study commissioned by the Pathways Network

Influencing College-Going Behavior through Access Marketing -- CAM powerpoint presentation from the 2005 NASFAA conference, with examples of recent state CAM campaigns

Now Hear This -- a free report from Fenton Communications about "advocacy communication campaigns," including great examples and stories

Academy for Educational Development -- information on AED's "social marketing & behavior change" initiatives

Social Marketing Institute website -- links to social marketing success stories from a number of different fields

Visit the College Access Marketing website to:

* Create a Campaign -- a step-by-step guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating a CAM campaign.
* Read Case Studies -- an inside look at some successful campaigns.
* Search the Gallery -- examples of CAM materials (posters, ads, giveaways, etc.) organized by audience, tactic, and campaign in a multimedia database.
* Use the Tools & Resources -- templates, ideas, and background information to help you improve or create a CAM campaign.

The Pathways to College Network
http://www.pathwaystocollege.net