Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54806
Marketing T by Sharon Shinn oday's young, tech-savvy college applicants grew up playing video games and now spend much of their lives online. Any business school that wants to reach them needs to create a strong digital presence, and that means going beyond the typical static Web site. A school needs to offer these prospective students an interactive experience that engages and entertains them, while reinforcing the institution's brand. Three business schools have recently launched initiatives that allow them to connect with students online in ways that are fun and creative, yet still reflect each school's own personality. Playing out over smartphones, Facebook pages, and Web sites, these initiatives have worked both as branding and recruiting strategies. And they look very much like the future of marketing for tomorrow's business schools. The Branding Game Any marketing campaign needs two essential ingredients: a defined message and a way to deliver it to the intended audience. At IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, those elements were combined in an interactive online contest called "Go Beyond What You Think Is Possible" that ran from October 2010 to February 2011. 32 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2011 Business schools connect with potential students by taking advantage of this generation's obsession with technology and social media. 2.0