Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54806
The Medium, by Sharon Shinn f marketing pro Andrea Fitting was retained by a business school with an unlimited budget, she knows exactly how she'd promote the client. The CEO of the Fitting Group of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, would have the school sponsor a worldwide business plan competition with multiple winners, who each would walk away with half a million dollars. She'd advise that the competition be judged by the school's namesake, as well as university faculty, and she'd adver- tise it in every medium from televi- sion to print to the Internet. "I'd love to work with that client. I'm waiting for the phone call," she says with a laugh. But the reality is that most busi- I How do you use marketing and PR to brand your school, recruit students, and raise your profile? Media experts share their insights. ness school administrators have to operate within much more lim- ited budgets as they strive to distinguish their schools in today's hypercompetitive market. And many of them are uncertain about the best way to develop a promotional plan that will establish their brands, raise their visibility, intrigue potential students, and satisfy alumni. "A marketing campaign should give people a sense of affili- ation with a brand they'll own for the rest of their lives," says Libby Morse, senior vice president and creative director at the Chicago, Illinois, office of marketing communications firm Lip- man Hearne. "An MBA has to be more than a credential. It has to make a statement about the people who have earned it." 26 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2011 The Message, The Method