There’s a New Generation in Town…- Stamats Higher Education Marketing Blog

Jun 9th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler in Featured Articles, Leadership, TeensTALK

There’s a New Generation in Town…

RenGen … and age has nothing to do with it.

Last year I had the good fortune of working with cultural analyst Patricia Martin, author of RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer, on a National Arts Forum project funded by MetLife Foundation. As I read her book, listened to her presentations, and traded stories with Patricia, it became clear that her research packs a significant punch for the future of higher education marketing.

And marketing practitioners who don’t heed her advice run the risk of alienating an already-huge-and-growing segment of all college and university audiences she has dubbed “cultural consumers.”

The RenGen, short for Renaissance Generation, is a cultural movement rather than an age-group or specific demographic set, created by the confluence of art, education, entertainment and business. Not surprisingly, a large population of college-bound students (of all ages) comprise the Renaissance Generation. Communicating successfully with these cultural consumers requires highly relevant strategies, tactics, and a language that is markedly different than what we recognize today as “industry standard.”

In other words, if you really want to connect with the large group of cultural consumers in your prospective student inquiry pool, your alumni population, your donor pool, among your current students, employees and community opinion leaders, you’d better spend some time learning what trips their triggers and floats their boats in terms of issues, concepts, ideologies and language. As with all consumer segments today, these folks have little tolerance for marketing mis-steps because there are so many other appeals scrambling for their attention.

The emergence of the RenGen points to a new way of viewing leadership, diversity and participation in society and culture. At its core, the RenGen embraces collaboration, the blending of disciplines and professions, culture in its broadest sense, and a growing acceptance of complexity. The RenGen will also pave the way to a new look for leadership, moving away from traditional hierarchies towards leadership by artists, writers, scientists and others we have not typically seen in leadership roles.

You may well be thinking that some of this rhetoric smacks of the Millennial Generation descriptors that got so much play in recent years. From my vantage point, you’re spot-on. But because this Renaissance Generation is defined by sensibilities and sensitivities rather than age, serving their communication and affinity needs essentially transcends every audience boundary across your college or university. So in recognizing the RenGen, we’ve added another dimension of complexity to the fundamental necessity for audience segmentation.

We’re thrilled to have negotiated an arrangement for RenGen author Patricia Martin to present one of the keynote sessions at Stamats’ July 27-30 Strategic Integrated Marketing Conference in Chicago, and we feel so strongly about the significance of her work for the higher education marketing profession that we’re giving every conference registrant a copy of her book. If you’re reading this prior to July 29, you still have time to participate in Patricia’s presentation. At a minimum, I urge you to scan her book.

The RenGen isn’t the shape of things to come. They’re already here, and we need to re-think our tried-and-true communication practices to make sure our marketing efforts don’t short-shrift this vitally important market segment.

Bart Herridge

This is good, research-based stuff. I like the premise a lot, Eric, but I’m struck by the idea that if we as higher-ed institutions had been marketing ourselves the right way all along, we might not notice the difference between these consumers and the ones from previous generations. The consumer in the past has been as influenced by the marketing itself as by the culture and their generational attributes. Prospective students and parents once believed that faculty-student ratios were a critical piece of information because we convinced them that it was. Now, they are more skeptical because they know there is more to the story than can be broken into a single metric.

Retailers are seeing this as well. Consumers across the board are becoming more savvy and have greater information at their fingertips. We used to just buy eggs. Then we bought eggs with an “organically-produced” label. Now we can research the company producing the eggs and see if any watchdog organizations have placed their farms on a list for not meeting organic standards. Higher ed is no different in this aspect than other industries; we’re just later to the party.

What’s most disappointing about this is that we could have been doing this right all along. The cynicism and skepticism of the modern higher education consumer is a product of our own doing.
Johnnie Johnson

Two things I found interesting in this article:

1. Martin’s realization that many colleges and institutions are “trying to sell something they’re not” while going through the admissions process with her son is very true. Many of the large universities we compete for students against talk about small classes, being taught by professors and getting a lot of personal attention. While I know this is true for small, private colleges like Georgetown, I know that big university freshmen classes are 150+ and are often taught by grad assistants. Yet, we compete with these rumors of small-college-like big universities. This makes recruiting against these institutions even harder because we have a very high number of 1st generation college students, meaning their parents aren’t familiar with all the jargon that’s out there, therefore believing the cheaper, yet larger and more impersonal institution.

2. I do agree that “relationships – not new communication and technology – recruit and retain students…” However, more and more, as the economy is still fluctuating and unreliable to most, the bottom line is money, scholarships, and out-of-pocket costs. Oftentimes, my staff and I hear from families that “you guys were the best, but…” or “your staff did everything right, but…” or “no other school gave us more attention than you, but…” The words that come after ‘but’ are usually “it came down to costs,” or “we simply can’t afford it” or “we just can’t see paying you $3000 when we can go to School X for free.” The relationship can keep students in the process for a while, but until this economy turns for the better, the money is the bottom line. So that, coupled with larger institutions selling themselves like small colleges, promoting small classes and personal attention, makes the recruiting wars even tougher. Each year the challenges become greater, which we all recognize, and the pool of good students becomes smaller.
Dennis Trotter

Fascinating article and right on target as well. Any leader in higher education right now needs to understand this in a deeply self-actualized way, because it is going to get even more difficult and the stakes will be even higher. The economic collapse has shaken people to their core, their beliefs, their values, and their confidence. While higher education has been given a free pass from the economic value proposition for the moment, because families still recognize that higher education continues to be the gatekeeper to economic and social mobility, it is being significantly impacted by the cultural value proposition that Patricia Martin is describing. Parents, prospective students, current students and alumni have become greatly sensitized to anything that doesn’t align with the values, mission and identity of the institution Higher education must learn that just because it claims something as a marketing message doesn’t necessarily make it so. Higher education no longer has absolute control the message or the channels, and consumers are highly sensitized to issues of brand integrity.

I also think that the author’s observation that leaders will emerge from places other than Wall Street is absolutely correct – and earth shattering. And whether higher education leaders will be cast with the old guard or the emerging thought leaders remains to be seen. I fear that many will cast the intellectual elite with the corrupt, greedy sinners of Wall Street for the simple reason that higher education has lacked transparency, and our culture now believes that it was this lack of transparency among the financial elites that led to the economic collapse.
http://www.elon.edu/home/ Susan C. Klopman

Eric, thanks for this very interesting piece. We are so in tune with the sentiment this presents, and in fact, are working diligently to make our entire marketing approach more contemporary and sensitive. This was a helpful reaffirmation and encouragement.
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Susan, I’m not surprised to learn than Elon is tuned in to the RenGen! Keep us posted on your successes.
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Very well-put, Dennis. I can’t remember a time when prospective students and their families have been so acutely aware of the details. Every touchpoint matters more than most marketers and recruiters “in the trenches” fully realize. Certainly more than most senior leaders on campuses realize! The expectation for transparency is non-negotiable. We’d all better re-tool accordingly.
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Johnnie, thanks for your post. And unfortunately, I think your assessment of the impact of out-of-pocket cost on final college selection is accurate for many schools. I’m not willing to toss in the towel quite yet, though, because the economy will level out eventually. In this “limbo” period of great uncertainty, I am certain that developing and maintaining relationships is serving like a bit of insurance for better times…if that makes any sense at all. When things get back to normal, our customers will have a chance to re-think their loyalties. And if your school’s brand is perceived to have lost a commitment to building strong relationships in favor of just buying a class, the long-term impact will be devastating to the place.

Bumping heads with larger schools who claim to act like small ones is a little less threatening. Once those mis-recruited students enroll, they’ll quickly discover the reality. And they’ve never had more alternatives at their fingertips…including the schools who WERE honest, authentic, compassionate, caring and real in their recruiting! (That would be you)
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Amen, brother Bart! You’re right…but Patricia Martin’s RenGen work does a great service because an unnerving number of schools are NOT promoting/marketing themselves as authentically and transparently as these hyper-vigilant cultural consumers expect. I appreciate the wake-up call she’s sending our way. Can’t wait to hear the discussion following her presentation at our Chicago conference in July. You coming???
http://central.edu Terri Crumley

Thanks Eric. Great article. RenGen/cultural consumer is interesting – first time I’ve ever heard of it. Although the description “new market segment that has little tolerance for irrelevant messaging and hollow promotional barrages” is right on with what we are experiencing. Students and their parents want straight forward information, relevant to them and in the medium they prefer.

In fact today, I got an email message from a student who needed clarification on our placement tests for orientation. He had emailed Monday and since I was gone searched our FACEBOOK site for the information (which fortunately we had put there!). Who thought you’d use Facebook for placement test info?!
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Yep, the tables have turned and the “seekers” are clearly in charge of the marketplace now. If we don’t deliver the right message to the right person at the right time using the right language, the right channel, and the right offer…well, we won’t be noticed!

I wish your FACEBOOK story surprised me. But that student’s behavior is standard fare, it seems. They’ll seek until they’ll find. Good for you for having the foresight to put placement test info on your FACEBOOK site. Smart thinking!
http://www.stamats.com/staff/stafflisting.asp?Employee_ID=89 Eric Sickler

Interested in a bit more detail about RenGen?

Download a two-page .pdf you can share with your team: http://www.stamats.com/pdfs/RetoolingOP.pdf
http://www.umd.umich.edu Christopher

Eric,

The article was good and I liked some of your phrases: “channel
expansion” and “administrative accountability.”

However, I surprised by the end when you said that
“Relationships…recruit and retain students, raise money and keep a
campus community running efficiently.” While I agree, it seemed
thrown in there at the end. While I think I can kind of figure out
your connection, it might need to be a little more blatant. What
kind of “relationships” are you referring to? Obviously, there are in
person relationships, electronic relationships, etc.

I just started reading the RenGen book and I can’t put it down! I really enjoyed the section on creativity.

Just my 2 cents…..
Eric Sickler

Thanks for your observations, Christopher. My not-so-subtle transition to the relationships discussion connects with the RenGen discussion this way: you can only develop a relationship with someone (or a target audience) if you understand that person’s language, interests, emotional attachments, expectations, history, motivation, etc. So if a school wants to develop a relationship with those who comprise the RenGen, that school better study the RenGen.

So I’m not advocating a particular “kind” of relationship. I’m just advocating for awareness about the RenGen in order to effectively connect with them.

Clear as mud?