Student Affairs Communications Group Minutes
October 14, 2015
Attendance: Kami Hammerschmith, Brianna McNall, Michele Ribeiro, Lisa
Hoogesteger, Salvador Miramontes Jr., Natalie Schell, Jennifer Viña, Danté Holloway,
Sarah Payne, Colleen Schlonga, Michelle Rucker, Krista Klinkhammer, Lydia Martin,
Linda Howard, John McQueen, Tram Hoang, Nancy Raskauskas-Coons, Carolyn
Boyd, Thuy Tran
Next meeting of the Student Affairs Communications Group will be Friday, October
30, 2015, 10 a.m. -Noon, Kidder 28. Topic: Workshop on using design program with
university templates. Student designers are invited to attend the meeting.
Today
Thuy Tran and Krista Klinkhammer from College of Engineering presented on
“Marketing Communications Plan, Why? and How?” Thuy started with a discussion
of what we do as marketers and communicators stating that we wear a lot of hats.
We also have many target audiences – media, faculty, students, alumni, next
generation of students and the world. Also, the ways we get the message out are
limitless.
The Marketing Communications Plan prioritizes to get the most impact out of what
we do, what resources serve us best and what audience is priority.
Thuy asked if our organizations have a strategic plan stating where we want to go.
She said you can’t have a marketing communications plan without a strategic plan.
The marketing communications plan is developed to support the strategic plan.
Marketing and communications strategies and tactics reflect the vision, mission,
goals, strategies and metrics articulated in the strategic plan.
A marcom plan includes a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities,
threats), stakeholder interviews/focus groups and buy-in from the leadership. In
conducting stakeholder interviews/focus groups, build questions that fit your
organization. A key question for her department is “The long-term vision for the
college is in the strategic plan, but in the short-term what are your plans for your
school?” This would be a question for a school head. Another question is “What are
you most proud about during the past two years?” This helps her learn what they
value. Another questions is “What are your core values?”
Once you gather the data, lay the data out so it is not associated with any specific
person.
The plan components of the College of Engineering Marcom Plan (in development).
Goals
Gain national recognition
Objectives
Demonstrate that the college is a destination of choice for engineering education.
Showcase our world-class research programs
Target audiences – usually the top 3 are all you can reach
Media (mainstream, trade and engineering-specific)
Academia (among aspiration and peer institutions)
Alumni and donors
Prospective high school achieving and underrepresented students
Strategies
Fully implement integrated look and feel across five schools
Mine and deliver research breakthroughs via storytelling
Increase Portland presence
Brand essence – Your promise
“The Oregon State Engineer™ is a unique class of engineers who possess a strong
technical foundation coupled with well-developed leadership skills and a broad
worldview…”
Core messages
New core messages to be developed
University Marketing helped them develop sub-branding for their schools, so if you
lay marketing materials together you see they are all from the same family. Thuy
emphasized utilizing the tie to the OSU brand.
Thuy develops a 2-year plan and then tweaks it after year one. She said the
marketing communications plan should follow the fiscal year, because it is tied to
the budget.
She also develops a 2-year tactical plan. The first column is the item/action to be
created. The second column is the frequency/time frame.
Item/action
Momentum (print)
Momentum e-newsletter
The Oregon State Engineer™
Web feature stories
Fact sheet
Alumni awards/magazine
Frequency/time frame
3 issues/year
monthly
annually
minimum 12/year
annually
annually
She said you should also include a section with costs and resources (FTE).
Thuy said it is important to have buy-in from the leadership. They need to buy-in to
in order to do X we will need Y resources. Thuy uses some freelance writers and
photographers at different price points.
You also need measurement/evaluation to assess the impact. Thuy collects and
analyzes data (from anecdotal to scientific). She conducts a readership survey once
every three years. She also includes metrics reporting tying data to the tactical plan
(includes web analytics) and relates outcomes back to the strategic plan. The
measurement is done at the end of each fiscal year.
It is important to determine your priorities based on your budget. Thuy said you
should get the budget approved for the 2-year plan before you start any of the work.
At the start think about how you will assess the marketing piece/work you are going
to do.
Carolyn said the Division Marketing Communications Plan will be ready for next
fiscal year and launched in conjunction with the strategic plan.