Executive Summary
This report discusses the details of our comprehensive strategic marketing plan for Capilano University’s
Online BBA Degree Program. The purpose of this report is to explain in detail each step of a strategic
marketing plan that will guarantee the success of Capilano’s New Online BBA Program.
Our mission statement will be our key aspect that we must follow to keep the quality of our program
throughout its ongoing life. We like to focus our attention to promote quality online education that will
focus on character and cultural transformation for the purpose of keeping the integrity of the program
at high levels.
We plan on focusing our attention on both financial goals and non-financial goals. Our financial goals are
based off of keeping the integrity of the program, keeping tuition at a reasonable cost for students, and
being able to turn a profit for further development of the program.
As our program is fully produced, we find it important that Capilano Univesity creates a core
competency that focuses on using the advances in technology to the students advantage. As we are the
first University to offer an Online BBA Program, we have the ability to make the “first mover advantage”.
This will help us gain and continue to gain the largest portion of the market share.
Creating an extensive SWOT Analysis for Capilano University’s Online BBA program helps us decide how
we should focus our attention to specific threats and weaknesses. It also helps us decide what are our
Strengths and Opportunities that we should capitalize on for the benefit of the project.
Focusing our efforts towards specific targets market will help us create a dynamic marketing campaign
that will be both effective and efficient. We find that narrowing it down to geographic, psychographic,
behavioural, and demographic is the most effective way of creating these target markets.
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Our objectives for our target market have been narrowed down to different registration years. In our
first year we would like to focus our attention to registering students from the lower mainland with subtarget markets within that. In our second year we would like to see an expansion of registration in other
regions of B.C, and then focusing our attention to other geographic regions of Canada.
We find that a detailed description of the product is imperative to the success of the program. This, in
turn with our specific branding, will create an expansive/qualitative program that will create its own
marketing within itself.
Pricing will be a key factor that will prove the success of the program. We would like to keep the price
of the online courses at a lower cost than traditional courses, but not so low that it questions the quality
of the program. We believe that this is an important point for students that will decide to register in the
program.
We would like to create an approach to distributing our marketing plan that is beneficial to many parties
of Capilano University. Choosing to hire students that are in their fourth year marketing students will
prove to be an innovative idea that is socially responsible.
We have decided to distribute our advertising budget through a variety of ads in newspapers, brochures,
television, posters, and the internet. We would like to create pre/post-test evaluations on all of our
advertising campaigns to ensure their effectiveness.
Following our extensive Strategic Marketing plan, we believe that the success of Capilano’s Online BBA
Degree Program is a definite.
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STRATEGIC FOCUS AND PLAN
Mission Statement:
Capilano University offers online BBA to promote quality online education, character and cultural
transformation, to meet the challenges of our time through professionalism for the purpose of
addressing local, national and international business issues in key areas.
Capilano University seeks to achieve the following goals:
Nonfinancial Goals

To achieve our vision, how should we appear to our students

Sustain our ability to change and improve education and satisfy our students.

Provide flexibility of learning on the go is a huge benefit to our students that don't have enough
time.

To teach students who are living in remote areas or are restricted to their homes.

Provide quality online education to our students while maintaining their demanding job or
lifestyle.
Financial Goals

Price will be lower than in-class course format.

Continuing to create profit without financial hurt to students

To implement strategic investments to further develop the program
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Marketing and Product Objectives:
Core Competency and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
In terms of core competency Capilano University seeks to achieve a unique ability to quality online
education. Find effective ways to offer online courses with the technology that will be used will need to
be compatible with Capilano’s current technology and the student’s home computer and laptops. Since
most technology is going web based, Capilano should consider that as well for the online BBA. Capilano
should keep ahead of the competition is by giving this option to its students first. Capilano would set the
standard for other colleges and universities in the area.
SWOT Analysis
Capilano University’s Strengths:

Has 8000 Students and is growing

Has been in the business of teaching education for over 40 years

Has 3 Campuses spread over South Western B.C

Has been awarded with British Columbia’s Education Quality Assurance Designation

Has a high percentage of Teachers who are practicing in their fields

Has Strong Online Support Staff

Is becoming an Accredited University in the AUCC this year

Is Financially in an upswing due to Investments and Innovative Ideas

May have a Student Health and Dental Plan by next year which will appeal to all students
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Capilano University’s Weaknesses:

Has only been a university for a few years

Unknown Training problems with teachers of online programs

Implementation costs are relatively unknown

Has only a few online courses
Capilano University’s Opportunities:

There is no B.C University that Offers an Online BBA Program

Have the ability to get first mover advantage

During Economic Downturn Online Programs appeal to people who need to work

Online education appeals to people in many locations
Capilano University’s Threats:

Is known as a secondary University to SFU and UBC

Online Education is known as a lower class degree

Many Online BBA’s offered through other websites

Rules and Regulations could set boundaries

Transferability of degree to other universities/master programs
Target Market
Geographic:
All the people in the world can be our target for online courses. Capilano University is located in North
Vancouver, which is in a province of British Columbia. As a target market we can target all people in the
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province of British Columbia. Canada’s weather is generally cold in different regions so people can use
these online courses to stay at home for their studying. Vancouver is the eighth largest city in Canada it
has a population of 2.2 million. This population is the population of all the urban, suburban areas of
Vancouver; So Vancouver can be targeted as a large city with much population for online BBA courses.
Immigrants are coming to this country every day and these people are a great target because of their
English Language problems. Their first language is not English and they can use online courses to use a
dictionary to find out words when they are studying and it can help them to increase their English
language.
Psychographic:
We can target people who are too busy in their life and don’t have much time to take usual courses in
the universities. For example, full-time employees who have to be present at their work all the time are
more considered to take online BBA courses. In this group, some don’t have sufficient income and think
of alternative business activities that they might be able to do in the market. This will interest them to
take online BBA courses. Also people who have weakness in their public relations and communications
prefer to take online courses rather than attend to classes with other students. For instance, shy people
are not used to speak much and prefer to spend their time lonely. They are more likely to take online
BBA courses.
Behavioural:
People with benefits sought can be found in different level of living and different social status. People
who care more about economical efficiency in their expenditures and focus more on their own benefits.
This group of people is more targeted than others. People who are more interested in using computers
and internet in their spare time are more likely to take online courses. Although These kind of people
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are involved in some other activities in their daily life, they use their evening and weekend times to use
their computers for online courses. There are people who always feel that they have to increase their
knowledge and use the best of their time in order to reach higher status in life. Although they might be
involve in some usual courses, but they still interested in taking online courses.
Demographic:
Generation X and Y are the most common age group for taking online courses. People within the age of
30 to 50 are creating the majority of the population in Canada. In this age group people are almost done
with their studying and they are working; therefore, an online course is a great opportunity for them to
be educated and get higher degrees beside their jobs. The target market is exactly people within this
range. Most of the students in Capilano University are female. According to these stats we can
understand that men are not attending universities as woman. Men mostly leave the degrees behind
after high school and enter a business to earn more money, so these people are more attracted to take
BBA online courses than others. People with low average income are more likely to register in Online
BBA courses because they don’t need to pay different cost for transportation and many more. People
who have completed high schools but didn’t have a chance to attend universities and people with a
bachelor of some non-related business courses can be targeted according to education. In Canada we
have many people with different cultures. People who came from Asian or Middle Eastern countries to
Canada can be targeted because in their cultures they have different methods of living than Western
cultures.
Positioning:
There are universities and colleges or institutes in Canada, which can be targeted for online BBA courses.
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As I researched, there are six universities in Canada that offer online BBA courses. Capilano University,
Walden University, Athabasca University, British Columbia Open University, University Canada West,
and Royal Roads University are universities that offer online BBA courses.
As I investigated, there are four colleges or institutes in Canada that propose online BBA courses. Devry
Calgary, Management Institute of Canada, British Columbia Online College, and Ontario Institute of
Technology are colleges that propose online BBA courses.
Marketing Objectives
First Year Registration Expectations

Comprised mainly of lower mainland residents

High Concentration of people who have full or part-time jobs

High Concentration of students within the ages of 30-50

Concentration of people with restricted funds for traditional University
Second Year Registration Expectations

With success of program use new funds to expand to other target markets

Expansion to Students that have graduated from high school

Expansion to other regions of British Columbia

High word of mouth advertising from satisfied students for lower mainland
Third Year and Future Registration Expectations

Expansion to target markets of all of Canada
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STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN
Product Strategy
Detailed description of product/service components
Online BBA offer the flexibility and convenience of studying whenever and wherever you choose,
making it easy to learn and work without conflicting with your busy schedule. Online BBA will allow you,
as an online student, to experience an activity-based learning environment that is led and supported by
an instructor. This approach embeds best practices in online BBA delivery and helps to contribute to
online student success. The course outline for online courses is identical to the face-to-face
delivery, while the content, activities, and assessments are of equal strictness to the traditional
classroom delivery of the respective course. Online students are expected to participate in online
collaborative activities in BBA that may include online group assignments, discussion boards, and emeetings.
Branding
The overall goal of the brand campaign is to increase the profile and reputation of Capilano University as
a university that offers online BBA and to create a renewed sense of affinity, pride and connection to the
university amongst the multiple customers we engage. The development of the Capilano University
brand seeks to carve out a unique for Capilano University in an increasingly cluttered and competitive
university marketplace. We are a local university over 7,500 students enrolled in credit programs during
the fall of 2009: 40% are residents of the North Shore; 26% are residents of Vancouver and Burnaby; the
remaining 34% come from the rest of the Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada and around the
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world. However, our international student body is comparable to that of top national and international
universities (international student body primarily from Asian markets).
Pricing Strategy
Pricing factors considered

Canadian Students: $250 per course

International Students: $550 per course
Pricing objective
The Price should be affordable but without sacrificing potential student opions on the quality of the
degree.
Special adjustments
A First term discount offered to students that comply with a mandatory extensive review of the term.
This will further give us information on possible changes that would be easier to solve sooner than later.
Quarterly target revenue projections for the first 12 months
We expect the first year of the program to bring in 250 students comprised of the following.
1st Term: 100 local students and 10 international students all taking 5 courses = $152,500
2nd Term: 150 local students and 15 international students all taking 5 courses = $228,750
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Distribution (place) Strategy
Channels
We would like to hire marketing students from Capilano University and get them to distribute the
advertisements accordingly.
Specific location and rationale

Newspapers/Magazines: High concentration of viewers that will have the time to read the
information

Television: Exciting media adds create high intrigue for potential student, as well as shows
professionalism to the program

Brochure/Posters: Distributed to local businesses, transportation sites, and community centers.
With intense graphics and superb information we expect people to seek further information

Internet: Social media sites as well as banners on educational websites will help guide our target
market effectively
Promotional Strategy
Advertising
The information about the new program needs to get place at newspapers, which is usually read by
people over 25, local TV-stations, or also at social network sites as Facebook, where it can pop up only
for people over 19 to 35 which is the age for main buyers.
Personal Selling
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Due to popularity of the online education, Capilano should have some advantages over them, like
pricing, for example special discounts for the first year students, and if they are satisfied, they might
advise those courses to their friends as well, which will lead to further consumers.
Public Relations
A person must be dedicated to get a BBA degree, and keen to learn. It's harder to study without teacher
talking in front of you than being in a class, so it takes time and great motivation to decide to take online
courses. Lifestyle is also important. You need to be a responsible person who can take his time and
spend hours in front of computer instead of going out. Person's Personality influences a lot on decision
to study in class, online, or not to study at all. Some people are very active and just can't handle sitting in
class, they need to work at some place, hang out with friends, though they still want their education.
Some people might be very shy and having hard times with large group of people. Online type of
education would fit perfectly in their life without sacrificing any of their personality habits. Canadian
society's morals and beliefs suggest that everyone who wants to be successful in their life should have a
post-secondary education, but not everyone has a chance to get to the university right after they
graduate from high school for various reasons, like having a full time job to pay rent and make savings,
getting kids at early age, so for those people online education is a perfect opportunity to catch up with
society's preferences and become a well educated person. Cultural Changes/Values where does our
possible purchaser live, who hangs out with, what are his parents values are? The chances are that
person who lives in a middle class neighborhood with friends who has or getting their post-secondary
education, and grown up in family where at least one parent is educated, is more likely to get enrolled in
this online BBA program.
Sales Promotion
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Marketing Mix consists of 4 P's, Product, Promotion, Price and Place. Place is actually your home, which
is convenient and perfect for busy life of modern society. Price should be slightly less than other similar
universities of the same area, like price of an actual in-class education in Capilano is less than for
example SFU or UVIC. Promotion should take place at the top news on Capilano site, because maybe
some of in-class students might find it more convenient, or advice it to their friends. Local newspapers
and TV-commercials should work well as well. It's an actual person's belief and thoughts about this
program, his own perspective if he needs or not that degree and some people do not take seriously
online degrees, some people will appreciate to have their BBA degree no matter what way they got it. It
also comes partially from family values as well. Purchase tasks, the reason for studying online to get
your BBA degree at the first place is very important. An education is not a pair of shoes, it's something
you will use through the rest of your life, make living off, and it will always be with you, so the decision
where to study, and what to study is crucial. BBA degree is pretty popular, and ability to study from
home makes this online degree program very attractive to purchasers. Social surroundings are also
important. Are parents of a purchaser educated? Is he satisfied with his salary and working place
without this BBA degree? Probably not, which is also advantage of this program. Antecedent States is
also something worth mentioning. What has been occurring in our purchaser's life right before he's
about to get enrolled in online education? He might just graduate from high school, and wants to have
education with minimum time spending and flexible schedule. Or probably it's a mom just getting a
baby, without ability to be out of house for a long time. Considering the vast variety of people who
might be interested in this offer, Capilano should probably put brochures in such places as high schools,
any small business firms, birth houses, etc.
Direct response
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Ask Capilano university students to promote this online degree within their friends or any people, and
give away bonuses for each person they got involved in a program. (Such as discounts on books,
giftcards etc.) That might be effective due to vast circle of friends of university students and good
motivation to get involved. If the first year will be successful, the chances about further success are high,
because people will spread out the convenience and effectiveness of the program.
Budget

Television: $25,000; ads running between the hours of 6 P.M to 9 P.M

Internet:$10,000; ads displayed towards our target markets

Newspaper:$5,000; ads in local newspapers

Brochure/Poster:$10,000; ads posted in local businesses, community centers, and
transportation sites
Evaluation and Control
Pre-Test Evaluation
Using non-biased test subjects, we would like to give a comprehensive survey of each promotional
advertisement. The questions that we would ask are listed as the following:

Does it capture your attention quickly

Is the information displayed in an effective manner

Would you feel compelled to look for further information if it applied to you

If not, what would you change to make it more compelling

What similar products do you feel have a more intriguing advertisement
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Post-Test Evaluation
Using newly registered students in the program, we would like to also give a comprehensive survey to
examine what attracted each student to seek further information on our product. The questions that
we will ask are listed as following:

Where did you hear about our program (with a list of all possible categories)

What interested you the most about this advertisement

How long did it take for you to seek further information on the program

Is there anything you would change in the advertisement to appeal more to others
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