Words by Woods

Seth Godin has an interesting post, which identifies irrational ways in which consumer choices are made based upon a name recognition that does not really relate to the value of the product offer.  He uses college selection examples to concretize his point.

I want to supplement his point by identifying a contrasting situation, which actually works with Godin’s ideas about permission and relationship building.

In prepping myself to go back to school for an MBA, I have been investing time in listening to podcasts offered for free by various schools.  Consuming these speeches, lectures, interviews, and discussion panels have significantly shaped my evaluations of these school based upon my own firsthand experience from concrete aspects of their offers.  Mostly schools have enhanced my esteem for them and differentiated themselves from their competitors (Stanford, Darden, Wharton, and Chicago), while some have damaged their brand in my eyes (Harvard).

These podcasted events previously reached throughout the room in which the event occurred, and essentially constituted the schools talking to themselves.  Now, they reach across the world and into the future by increasing the persistence of that event’s message.  Offering such free samples for tasting, not only enhances the schools efforts to achieve its educational mission in the dissemination of ideas and well-reasoned thinking, but also defines for the listener the school’s substantial offer.

Will I choose to attend one of these programs?  I have given it much more consideration than I had previously.  However, I have also become a champion and advocate for these schools.  Valuable tidbits from these offers with the name of the school lace my business and personal conversations.  I refer others to their products, targeted to that person’s specific interests.  As my industry has been education finance, I have even considered differentiated products that would specifically target that niche as education capital dries up.

I have noted that many schools have ventured into iTunesU to offer substantial educational products.  These enable the best students an opportunity to know a potential school as more than a name or a reputation.  However, I am uncertain of how effective schools have been in publishing the availability of these offers.

After the second crest of the Echo Boom generation passes into college age, competition for students will become a significant challenge for schools that will require fresh thinking on recruitment: What relationship does the school have with potential students?  How can the school establish or enrich that relationship based upon real and concrete values?  As educational institutions, what offers can they make besides a well known sports team?