4 EFFECTIVE MARKETING TACTICS

 

From the desk of Kortny Williamson...

Higher education does it. Retail stores do it. Food chains do it. Manufacturing companies do it. The question is, do you?

If you have seen Field of Dreams then you know the saying: “If you build it, they will come.” If that were the case, the marketing department in almost every company would serve no purpose. As nice as it would be to live life in a movie, nothing is ever easy and people have to have the mentality of “what’s in it for me?” when making a decision – that’s the approach taken when it comes to marketing and branding the corporate university (CU).

Marketing efforts are not traditionally a priority for L&D organizations, but some companies understand (1) the value of branding the CU internally to increase company awareness, and (2) the value of external recognition, thus increasing the attention paid to marketing as an essential element of CU operation.

Companies like Farmers Insurance and The Schwan Food Company use their marketing tools to recruit for their leadership programs, new curricula and/or courses, and even as a method of communication both internally and externally.   

Many companies, however, still rely on traditional methods – such as word of mouth – and are slow to adopt more innovative methods – like PowerPoint videos in a break room – that might reach a broader audience.

Tactic I: Branding

As globalization becomes the norm, many learning organizations are beginning to see the value of developing their own brands within the company. Branding enhances a learning organization’s marketing strategy by providing a cohesive look and feel to how it presents itself and its offerings across all company functions.  

For Farmers Insurance, branding was an important factor in the transformation of marketing around their University to a respected, strategic learning organization. It started with a new name for their learning organization, the University of Farmers, which is distinctive and communicates a broader curriculum with higher caliber training and development. To create a brand image within the organization, the University created a logo that is used on all University communications and training materials. This helps the audience equate the University of Farmers logo with training excellence that drives business results. The logo is used on a wide variety of products that are available in the University store, including but not limited to:

• Banners
• Shirts, and mugs
• Brochures and flyers
• Facilitators wear University shirts and ILT students receive a University-branded shirt

In addition, facilitators wear University shirts and ILT students receive a University-branded shirt.

Caterpillar University’s (Cat U) brand identity is drawn from the company’s overall learning vision to be a continual learning organization. Their slogan, “What have I learned today?” portrays Cat U’s brand identity and is something all learners are expected to ask at the end of the day. Cat U’s slogan and logo are prevalent in numerous publications, documents, online media, and other materials that solidify and reinforce the brand image.  

Tactic II: Website

Website marketing has become quite common among organizations of all sizes. The learning portal acts as an information-gathering place that house information about not only new learning opportunities, but also information that can help employees excel at their job. A website that uses the CU brand in its design helps deliver a consistent message that can be carried through the learning, as well as in other marketing efforts. 

Enterprise Marketing University (MU) is a learning-centered, performance-driven training department at Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) responsible for the Sales and Marketing learning organizations. To optimize their technology capabilities, MU uses many e-learning approaches, including an MU Website. The MU website is home to the course catalog, calendar, class reference materials, needs assessment documents, and more.

Mars University, as a virtual and online university, makes the most of its technology to deliver learning and explain the workings of the system. This was especially important after the launch of the new organization because it encouraged employees to access the university through, what was then, a very new medium. Making material accessible online was key to creating the new Mars University online brand, and electronic versions were constructed – wherever possible – and distributed electronically in addition to hard copy. This helped to create a clearly identified brand with employees and managers.  

Tactic III: Corporate Communication

A motto Staples University (Staples U) has adopted is to “Tell them early, tell them often, tell them again.” Communication is important to not only the learning organization, but also the organization as a whole. This communication can be via email, a company newsletter, or on available web space.  When Mars was in the process of launching their corporate university, they used communications of all sorts – including meetings with managers and employees at all levels – to explain in detail what the new organization was going to mean to the company. Even though Mars U started with a clear mandate from its CEO and senior leaders, that wouldn’t guarantee acceptance of the new entity and its very different view of learning without the added targeted effort.

Lynn Davis discusses the launch of Mars University

Staples University’s messaging is woven into internal, business, and external communications at the company. It is featured in regular print communications like L&D updates, a weekly customer service newsletter, and quarterly business unit newsletters.

While Staples U uses a more traditional approach to communication efforts, FDIC employs the organization’s in-house Graphics and Design Branch to design and distribute brochures. The brochures act as an advertising agent for FDIC’s CU’s major initiatives, and are distributed throughout workstations, conferences, and to new FDIC recruits. Posters are also designed and posted within headquarters, regional and field offices, meeting rooms, and other areas where the workforce can see them.

Tactic IV: Expositions

Expositions, open houses, exhibits, or whatever they are termed, enable the learning function to open the learning organization to employees company-wide. Employees have the opportunity to meet with the learning organization staff for hands-on demonstrations of tools and resources, and see for themselves how the learning can increase their knowledge and affect their career. 

Schwan’s University (SU) hosts expositions, which are alliances between Schwan business units and SU. The expositions are used to create excitement, spread SU news, and educate employees through promotion materials including a booth setup at different corporate locations that offers games, prizes, interactive demonstrations, and informational publications.

One promotion the learning organization did was labeled Back to School with SU. Electronic communications were sent out company-wide announcing the new course offerings, further promoting the new course library to employees. All employees that completed an online course in the month of September were entered into a weekly drawing, with prizes that included:

• NETg logo USB memory drive
• SU messenger bag or jacket

In addition to the electronic communication, PowerPoint presentations scrolled across break rooms television screens, and posters were hung nationwide promoting the campaign.

Why is this so important to the learning function?

Every learning organization must communicate more than just its vision, mission, and purpose to the rest of the company in order to be successful in its goal of contributing to the strategic business goals of the company. It takes more than just well designed courses and experiences for a learning organization to have an impact.

The bottom line is, “If you build it they will come – but only if you use every communication and marketing tactic imaginable to persuade them.”

Kortny Williamson, CorpU Research Analyst