Lipman Hearne Inc.

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Cutting through the blarney What students
really want in a college
IACAC Northwest District Seminar
Facilitated by Tom Abrahamson Managing Director
Principal, Lipman Hearne tabrahmson_at_lipmanhearne
.com March 16, 2005
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Pearls of wisdom
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Change
Sometimes in the waves of change we find our
true direction.
Successories
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Customer care
View all customers as beautiful flower gardens
that must be cultivated and watered
frequentlytheyre worth it
Successories
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Pearls of wisdom Take 2
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Motivation
If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it
takes to motivate you, you probably have a very
easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon.
Demotivators, Inc
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Indifference
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile,
but it doesnt take any to just sit there with a
dumb look on your face.
Demotivators, Inc
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Customer service
If we dont take care of the customer maybe
theyll stopping bugging us.
Demotivators, Inc
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What well talk about today

• Understanding constituents Millennials and their
  parents
• Counseling Millennials and parents
• Marketing to Millennials and parents

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Factors that define a Generation

• Family life
• Gender roles
• Important institutions
• Politics
• Religion
• Culture
• Lifestyle
• Views on the future

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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Generation cohorts 1900 2003

• 1901-1924 G.I. (world conquerors)
• 1925-1942 Silent (kept heads down)
• 1943-1960 Boomer (rebellious youth)
• 1961-1981 Gen X (scrappy, pragmatic)
• 1982-2003 Millennial (youll see)

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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Millennials Who are they?

• Born between 1982-2003
• Children of baby boomers and Gen Xers
• A wanted generation nurtured
• May total 100 million - exceeding the Boomer
  generation by 1/3
• First wave graduating college now

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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The Millennial birth cohort

• Known as the boomlet or echo boom
• Many a result of increase in fertility drugs
  foreign adoption
• In smaller families
• Highest parental education levels
• 14 million are children of immigrants

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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Millennial attitudes and behaviors represent a
sharp break from Generation X, and are running
exactly counter to trends launched by the
Boomers.--Howe Straus
A different breed
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Recognize yourself ?
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Key ethnic features of Millennials

• The least Caucasian of all generations
• 1999 36 of those lt18 were non-white or Latino
• 20 of Millennials have at least one immigrant
  parent
• 10 of Millennials have at least one non-citizen
  parent

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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This is the first time in the history of the
human race that a generation of kids has
overtaken their parents in the use of new
technology.--Peter Eio, Lego Systems
Theyre technologically savvy
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The Millennials world

• A Southerner has always been President
• South African official apartheid has never
  existed in their lives
• Afghanistan has always been a front page story
• CDs have always been labeled for explicit
  content

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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The Millennials world, continued

• Cyberspace and 24-hr. TV have always existed
• First generation to have the WWW for all high
  school years
• They have always used email
• Mick Jagger and the remaining Beatles are
  geriatrics

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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The Millennials parents

• Health and safety of children are paramount
  public priority given to these issues (e.g.,
  internet filters)
• Inner values and rootedness cherished
• Believe in bottom-up social community, not
  top-down institutional authority

Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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Educational milieu of Millennials

• Schools under the microscope (NCLB)
  Government-imposed standards, school
  accountability, National Report Card
• Growing enrollment at private schools
• Character education in grade school good
  behavior, respect for others

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Educational milieu of Millennials, continued

• More emphasis on core subjects, less on art,
  music, extracurriculars
• Increased discipline, e.g., zero tolerance
• College education expected

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What do maturing Millennials value?

• Setting personal goals
• Honesty and integrity
• Community involvement (e.g., volunteer work)
• Achievement through education and hard work

Source Digital University Enews 12/00
(digitu.com)
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How do they differ from GenX?

• No memories of innocent times (i.e., AIDS,
  crime, warfare were always there)
• Look to fix societal woes, not turn their backs
• Value teamwork, not autonomy or egoism

Source National Commission Against Drunk Driving
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Top 2 concerns of teens
Source Institute for Social Research, University
of Michigan, 1999
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Millennials and popular culture

• Music radical, rebellious music styles less
  popular positive themes preferred
• Movies depravity out well-adjusted characters
  and virtuous plots in
• TV Beavis and Butthead out Teletubbies,
  Pokemon, Dawsons Creek in

Source Millennials Rising, Howe Straus, 2000
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Millennials and the Internet

• 94 of households on line by 2005
• Millennials screen for honest, reliable
  information
• Millennials seek connections (chat, message
  boards, personalization, interactivity)

Source Genovese, Coustenis Foster e-article,
June 2003
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Seven traits of Millennials Institutional
implications
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The seven traits

• Special
• Sheltered
• Confident
• Team-oriented
• Conventional
• Pressured
• Achieving

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Trait 1 Special Profile

• Parents lives revolve around them (soccer games)
• Have a sense that they are vital to the future,
  both individually and as a generation

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Trait 1 Special Institution-wide implications

• Present college as more than academic training
  (e.g., career, life fulfillment, relationship,
  mission)
• Focus on high ideals, societal impact, campus
  community, integration with society
• Foster collaboration over solitary pursuits
• Keep in constant communication with parents post
  matriculation
• Co-purchasing Parents and students merit equal
  attention
• Buyers market mentality for most

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Trait 2 Sheltered Profile

• Coddled, nurtured
• Paradox Rebellious parents are now
  overprotecting their kids

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Trait 2 Sheltered Institution-wide implications

• Return to in loco parentis?
• Fix/ make visible security
• Acknowledge challenges of campus location
  (e.g., urbandangerous)
• Know your safety statistics, make sure reporting
  doesnt put you at a disadvantage
• Present package of safety and security measures

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Trait 3 ConfidentProfile

• They analyze problems, dont make snap decisions
• Facts of Science survey

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Confident? Bayer/Gallop Facts of Science Survey
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Trait 3 ConfidentInstitution-wide implications

• Shift advertising appeals away from
  fear-mongering/damage control to
  responsibility-centered, role modeling (ex This
  is your brain on drugs vs. Dont smoke, your
  little brothers watching)
• OK to talk about long-term implications of
  college choice (but avoid platitudes)

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Trait 4 Team-orientedProfile

• Learning in groups
• Reared on sports teams
• In constant contact with friends (cell phones,
  instant messaging)

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Trait 4 Team-orientedInstitution-wide
implications

• Emphasize team work in communications, symbols
• Scholarship visits construct team exercises vs.
  individual competitions
• Engage prospects in collaborations with real
  students

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Trait 4 Team-orientedInstitution-wide
implications, continued

• Create, expand collaborations on campus
  team-oriented academic and extra-curricular
  opportunities
• Show connections to institutions external work
  (internships, joint ventures, research grants and
  projects)

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Trait 5 ConventionalProfile

• Respect authority
• Be part of something popular
• Want their brands to be famous
• More conscious of their behavior

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Naked Mile participants U of M
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Trait 5 ConventionalInstitution-wide
implications

• History, tradition, stability will resonate
• Emphasize structured social activities
• Present interdisciplinary pursuits as team, not
  individual
• Discomfort with essays/competitions that demand
  stand-out behavior
• Exemplify group work in admission/ scholarship
  process

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Trait 6 PressuredProfile

• Honors, AP, gifted on the rise
• Tripling of homework
• Academics supplanting electives
• Tutoring, test preparations

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Trait 6 PressuredProfile, continued

• Lengthening of school day and year
• Summer school not just for dummies anymore!
• Decline in social promotion

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Trait 6 PressuredInstitution-wide implications

• College stability
• Downplay competition and grades
• Emphasize partnerships and support for academic
  and career needs
• Emphasize time-proven results of institution

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Trait 6 PressuredInstitution-wide
implications, continued

• They get enough from everybody else dont need
  more from you
• Juxtaposed with business-like approach to
  one-on-one marketing
• Be careful not to overwhelm students for
  example

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Trait 6 PressuredInstitution-wide
implications, continued

• Pay attention to passive methods mass
  customization, Web site
• Telemarketing vs. one-on-one selling
• Allay fears, reinforce value of college degree
  and advanced study
• Provide forum for students to describe their
  accomplishments and applaud them in return

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Trait 7 AchievingProfile

• Best prepared in 30 years
• Highly motivated to be well-rounded
• Know theyre being watched and measured

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Millennial student achievement
Source U.S. National Center for Education
Statistics, 1998
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Trait 7 AchievingInstitution-wide implications

• Stronger, deeper pool but more competition for
  the best
• Students less apt to choose lesser brand
• Most vulnerable less distinguished and less
  well-known schools

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Trait 7 AchievingInstitution-wide
implications, continued

• Show that the institution is dynamic and
  achieving too
• Dont rest on laurels Were accountable for
  quality, we understand R.O.I.

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Connecting with Millennials and their parents A
mini-case study
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Trinity University Communications

• The big idea Achieve
• Theme builders FOCUSED, Dedicated, Challenging,
  Distinguished, Resourceful. GLOBAL, Comfortable,
  ACCOMPLISHED, Engaged, COMPETITIVE, VIBRANT,
  Selective, Inviting

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Viewbook
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Viewbook introductory copy

• Life is what you do with it and you already do a
  lot. You study hard and are interested in a
  variety of subjects. You play a sport, practice
  an art, or do volunteer work. Youre proud of
  your achievements and have things you want to
  achieve in the future.
• We invite you to build that future at Trinity
  University. Our flexible academic programs allow
  you to pursue almost any major or combination of
  majors, and Trinitys practical spin on the
  liberal arts ensures that the skills and
  knowledge you acquire will have endless
  professional applications. In addition, the
  Trinity tradition of civic engagement makes your
  success more meaningful by tying it to the larger
  community. Its a combination of resources that
  makes Trinity the ideal place for you to achieve.

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Inside spread of Search Brochure
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Pre-customized Web Microsite landing page
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Web Microsite customized Response page
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Admission counseling with Millennials

• Be prepared to counsel a family, not just a
  student
• Start with the basics often this is enough to
  get them going on their own (additional research,
  etc.)
• Approach counseling as a dialogue of
  individualized and mutual inquiry
• Not too many sessions (as in, 1)

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Counselor Responses

• Vary modes of counseling methods
• Face-to-face sessions should be with the family,
  and short (hey, they bore easily)
• Follow up via e-mail with Web sites, etc.
• Approach college selection as finding a host of
  possibilities, not as surviving the process

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Counselor Responses

• Be prepared to handle parental expectations
• Most parents went to college, but dont look back
  on it as life altering
• Have higher expectations of what college will do
  for their children
• Are looking for a plan of stepsWhere do we go
  from here?

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Counselor Responses

• Students can be trusted to follow up on
  homework
• Dont have to be constantly watched
• Value a follow-up note, call, or e-mail that
  expresses interest in them as a person

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Marketing to Millennials

• High academic standards
• Student safety
• Wholesome community
• Social and political involvement

Source millennialsrising.com
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Tone of communications

• Positive
• Respectful
• Respectable
• Motivational
• Goal-focused

Source www.generationsatwork.com
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Marketing activities

• Must cut through the clutter
• Must be seen and heard (e.g. TRPs)
• Must develop or reinforce a famous brand with
  broadscale and localized advertising
• Hybrid approach increases odds

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Millennials clutter defined

• Teens hit by 3,000 ads per day (Adbusters)
• 65 of teens have their own TV (Kaiser Family
  Foundation)
• 83 of teens were online in 2001 (Teen Research
  Unlimited)

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Prospect communications

• Electronic
• Web sites
• Internet-based advertising
• Bots/ IM/BLOGS?
• Print
• Customized direct mail
• Broadcast
• Radio
• Television

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Consistency in marketing

• View all marketing interactions as moments of
  truth
• Be sure stats are always consistent (e.g., find
  relative safety stats at www.ope.ed.gov/security/i
  ndex.asp)
• Know how to report your data

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Parent communications

• Messages address (not by name) the seven
  Millennial attributes
• Conduct better virtual/in-person orientations for
  students and parents
• Develop Web sites for prospective and current
  student parents (e.g., floors in dorm post
  student pictures)
• Introduce parents to their surrogates RAs,
  academic and career counselors, campus security
  officers

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Sensitizing faculty and staff to key generational
differences

• Faculty and students may be at odds
  anti-authority vs. conformity
• Team-oriented loyalty-building approach will
  engender life-long alums and donors
• Other?

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Diversity issues

• Sweeping changes in gender balance
• Simplistic racial categorization doesnt make
  sense any more
• Consider income and achievement factors defining
  underrepresented students?
• Other?

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CAVEAT Use generalizations about Millennials
with caution

• Colleges dont often serve the entire market
• Know your institution and its constituents
• Current, valid research critical
• Develop targeted communications accordingly

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Discussion
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• Building stronger institutions through
• marketing and communications