None of us is as smart as all of us

As a father of two college-age students and a graphic designer with years of higher-education marketing experience, Val Petersen has an insider’s perspective on how universities develop materials to recruit prospective students. Most recently, Val has worked extensively on materials for California University of Pennsylvania (Cal U), a Dymun + Company client. Val recently shared his thoughts on recruitment materials design. His insights may help parents and students choose the right school for the right reasons. 

Val, what are some common trends that you see in today’s university recruitment materials?

 College recruitment starts as soon as high school students take their SAT tests. Schools carefully assess personal information and scores to target students for their recruitment efforts. I saw it happen with my own kids. Following the SAT, they were inundated with mailings. But we didn’t even look at most of it, because so much looked the same. The standout pieces employed personalization, unique mailer shapes, vibrant colors, and great photography.

Then how can schools really grab students’ attention?

 It’s hard to really hold the focus of someone at this age, but there are ways. For example, my daughter received an envelope with a personal message to her about her desired profession printed on the outside. It demonstrated to her that this school understood her interests and wanted to make a personal connection with her, so she opened it.  Another mailing included a sticker with the school’s mascot on it. She used the sticker, and the school got simple promotion because of it.

Are prospective students the only target audience for these recruitment materials?

 Not at all. The parents are just as important, because they have such an influence on their kids’ decisions. Ideally, colleges want to create an image of the school that parents find credible and that students find attractive.

Is it easy to develop a campaign that appeals to both groups?

It’s not easy, but it’s possible. But it’s also okay for two parallel campaigns to run. This is a more customized approach, because both students and parents have different priorities when looking for the right institution. For example, when we interviewed focus groups of both students and parents, we found that “academics” was not the main concern of the students.

What were students more concerned with?

 The first thing students wanted to learn about a university was the quality of life on its campus. Basically, how nice are the dorms. For Cal U, conveying the campus lifestyle became a major focus of the imagery in the recruitment material. The campus and the new student housing are really beautiful, but capturing the vibrancy and energy of that on-campus feel in a photograph can be challenging. That’s why it’s so important to have top quality photography in college recruitment materials.

When you say “top quality,” what exactly do you mean?

 Here, “top quality” refers to capturing a moment that is genuine, rather than posed. Now, that moment might be set up, but if it appears as natural as any other day on campus, then you’ve framed a good shot. With Cal U this wasn’t too difficult, because the campus is already beautiful and the actual enthusiasm of the students is very apparent.

In the focus groups, were there differences between what appealed to college-bound males and females?

 Yes. Females in the group really responded to the bright, sunny imagery that we took of Cal U’s campus. So, it was essential for us to accentuate this brightness in our photos. However, both genders wanted to see attractive, neat, and clean looking students in the images. They want to visualize themselves associating with the type of students presented. The focus group also revealed that the “grungy” style that once appealed to kids has almost vanished. My kids also agreed that they were drawn to colleges that appeared clean, neat, and well organized.

What were the parents looking for?

Parents are emotionally invested in their children’s education and want to be sure that they’ve helped to make the absolute best choice for their kids. Marketing recruitment materials to parents should be taken as seriously as it is for the students. Parents want to see factual information that reflects the value of their educational investment.

But isn’t the bright, clean, well-organized campus an image that most colleges are trying to convey? What can schools do to set themselves apart?

 The best university recruitment materials are able to communicate the personality of the school, along with the features of the campus and people. At Cal U, the University’s core mission is “Building Character. Building Careers,” a value that its President makes an effort to instill in the daily life of every student on campus. This is a strong message, especially for the parents of these students. Anyone can get a degree from a school, but without gaining a degree of character through the university experience, a student’s future is less certain.

How will Cal U’s recruitment materials change with the University’s continuing growth?

 I imagine that these materials will constantly evolve, just as the school itself is evolving. The curriculum and campus continue to expand with more and more accolades for quality. With that, the students and faculty are becoming even more diverse. So the recruitment materials must reflect these enhancements. Any university will change over time, and even the personality it wishes to portray may change.

Will the Internet ever negate the need for printed recruitment materials?

 Online content is a significant aspect of recruitment that plays a big role in the decision-making process, but so do print materials. Traditional advertising can evoke first-time awareness to get students to investigate further. Direct mail materials showcase the imagery that students may first associate with a particular school so they can envision attending. All these elements work in concert to help students and parents make up their minds. What we have learned about Cal U is that once students actually visit the University and see the remarkable campus for themselves, they are sold on the school. The materials we create attempt to get them to do just that.

What trends in university recruitment materials do you think are effective? Who’s doing a good job?