CCStrategic Brief_Ruth Harper

8/8/2019 CCStrategic Brief_Ruth Harper

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Strategy Brief

The St. Bonaventure UniversityCareer Center &

the Bonaventure Experience

Prepared ByMs. Ruth A. Harper

Prepared ForMs. Shelley A. Jack &

The SBU Career Center


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Table of Contents

RH Strategic Marketing | TOC

I. Executive Summary 1

II. Situation Analysis Overview 2

Individual Services Breakdown 3

Target Market Analysis 7

Target Market Segmentation 8

Consumer Profile 1: Freshmen 9

Consumer Profile 2: Amanda Smith 10

Consumer Profile 3: Jake Miller 11

Distribution Network Analysis 12

Competitive Analysis 13

Current Financial Situation 14

Historical Results 15

Macroenvironment 16

SWOT Analysis & SWOT Action Plan 17

III. IMC Objectives & Issues 19

IV. Marketing Strategy 21

V. Creative Strategy

Creative Brief 23

Big Idea 24

VI. Marketing Communication Strategies & Tactics

Promotional 25

PR 26

Web 27

Advertising 28

VII. Campaign Timeline 29

VIII. Campaign Budget & ROI

Campaign Budget 30

ROI Measurement 31

IX. Evaluation 32

X. Conclusion 33

XI. Appendices

Works Cited 34

Research Summary 35


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I. Executive Summary

St. Bonaventure University students live by the work hard, play hard mantra. They love to have fun and they love their Bona venturefriends, but when it comes down to it, they are here to learn so they might someday be a professional success. Unfortunately, despite adesire to succeed and knowledge of an overly competitive job market, Bonnies remain mostly in the dark when it comes to services theCareer Center offers. This strategic brief hopes to answer the question of why theyre in the dark and most importantly how the Ca-reer Center can come into the light so all students can benefit.

According to secondary research, members of Generation Y, also known as Millennials, have three major characteristics in common:1. Theyre confident in their futures.2. Theyre connected with their peers, friends, family and the world.3. Theyre open to change on many fronts, including social and technological.

Students arent in the dark because they want to be or because they dont care about finding a good job for the future. Theyre in the darkbecause they dont understand the career planning process and they would much rather have fun than prepare for something two orthree or four years down the road. For years, the Career Center has tried to reach students using fairly traditional methods like fliers, No-tice Boards and e-mails. While the center has seen some success as a result of these efforts, it hasnt brought what we need. We needto get a larger presence in students lives. Beginning freshman year and lasting until they walk across the stage in that gown, we need tobe on their Facebook and Twitter pages, in their classrooms and, overall, in the forefront of their mind. Our big idea is:

The SBU Career Center is more than just a serviceits a vital component of the Bonaventure experience.

We can achieve our objectives, many of which deal with increasing brand awareness, by spreading this message across a number ofmedia channels that students use.

RH Strategic Marketing | Page 1


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II. Situation Analysis


The St. Bonaventure University Career Center belongs within academic affairs and is considered an academic resource (Academi cResources). Enrollment management, student life and intercollegiate athletics are also a part of academic affairs, led by Provost andVice President for Academic Affairs Michael Fischer (Provost & VP of Academic). The Career Center is a small, yet important , part ofacademic affairs. The office frequently works with various other campus offices, including student life and residence life.

The following situation analysis includes detailed information on the centers services, a targetmarket analysis, an evaluation of the centers competitors and distributors, historical results of thecenters past marketing efforts, a financial analysis, macroenvironment information and a SWOTanalysis to determine internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities andthreats.

The center currently offers a number of services to SBU students, the centers broadly definedtarget market. This report will focus on promoting only three services: events/programming, the Bo-naConnection database and College Central. More details on this decision will follow.

Although individual academic departments, like the schools of journalism/mass communication andbusiness, work with students to help them professionally, we are the only specialized career centeron the St. Bonaventure campus.

Our physical and digital services help students learn vital career information and build nec-

essary professional skills. The following pages explain how we can promote our services toachieve our overarching goal: Giving students the experiences they need to be successful in life.

Overview

Career Center Services

Individual career counseling

Interest and personality assessments BonaConnection Alumni Database

Workshops on job search topics On-campus events Credential file referral services for

education majors Career-related webpages

Preparation materials for thegraduate admissions, includinggraduate admission examinations

College Central Career resource center


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One-on-One Career Counseling

Individual Service Breakdown

Features In-person meeting Personalized advice and assistance Generally 30-minute meetings

Benefits Personalized advice makes the student feel the meeting was

worthwhile and actually has assisted in his/her career search. Meeting in person allows for a more effective line of

communication as each person can see body language andfacial expressions and can effectively to explain information.

A 30-minute meeting isnt too long but is long enough to getsomething accomplished.

Meeting with a career counselor not only helps prepare students for

the job search and for professional life, but also fulfills a need to

feel more comfortable and confident with the process and what

they will do in their futures.

Weaknesses Only two counselors with additional job duties limits the

number of appointments that can be scheduled. Counselors offer broad career advice as well as specific

field advice that department faculty members also offer.

Strengths Meetings help students feel more comfortable with the

career planning and search process. Students can meet with counselors for a variety of reasons. The office is located in the Reilly Center, which receives

heavy traffic, according to primary research results.

Reasons students meet with a counselor Rsum and cover letter critiques Career direction and advice

Job/internship search direction Vocation assessments Graduate school admissions advice


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On and Off-Campus Workshops, Events & Programming

Features Numerous topics covered Outside professionals participate Extra incentives, like snacks

Benefits Topic diversity allows students to choose to events on topics

that interest them.

Professionals ensure students that the advice they receive islegitimate and worthwhile.

Face-to-face interaction allows for relationship building andnetworking with professionals.

Incentives like food will make students feel like theyre gettingmore than a useful, educational experience.

Events and programming meets students need to feel comfortableand confident in professional environments and with the careersearch process. Also, most events contain a socialization aspectthat fulfills a need to communicate with others.

Weaknesses A limited staff makes planning and implementing plans more

difficult. Communication among different areas of the university is

sometimes muddled.

Strengths Numerous topics addressed throughout the year. Events are offered at many times allowing students to take

advantage when they are available. Faculty members, especially in the business school, have

found value in these events and often encourage students to

participate.

Events include Graduate School Admissions Week (fall semester) Etiquette Dinners (twice per year)

Freshmen passport events on various topics Job/career fairs in Buffalo, Rochester, New Jersey, etc. CareerFest at St. Bonaventure (spring semester) Alumni Weekend Career Events (spring semester)


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College Central



Features Job/career opportunities are filtered by Career Center staff Ability to upload resumes and portfolios Career-related resources (videos and articles) are available Ability to search the national job bank Ability for career center staff to refer resumes to potential

employers through the on-campus recruiting program

Benefits Because jobs are monitored before posted, users can feel

confident that the jobs they find are legitimate opportunities. The national job bank allows users to find more than the lim-

ited number of jobs the center receives or knows about. Students can share their resumes and online portfolio in an

organized format with potential employers for free. Students interested in learning about the career search proc-

ess can learn more through engaging videos and articles. Students can apply to jobs and feel assured the employer will

view their resumes since a professional refers them. Students become aware of opportunities that are available pri-

marily to students in western New York and that might not beadvertised many other places.

College Central meets students desire to find a job, internship or

volunteer position in a convenient, efficient and safe manner.

Weaknesses The job databank has more jobs for the Buffalo area than

any other area, which could turn off those not from the area. A limited number of staff maintain the database and they

have limited time available. Only one resume and one portfolio can be stored at a time.

Strengths Bonaventures job bank is filtered to be specific for the

Bonaventure campus. Some positions, especially those in nearby areas, are not

listed in national databases and are exclusive to westernNew York college career centers.

New listings are added almost daily and are removed fromthe site once the deadline passes.

Students can search for opportunities using many criteria(i.e., major, field, location, etc.)


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BonaConnection Database



Features Contains contact information for about 5,000 Bonaventure

alumni who volunteered to be a career mentor Provides users with knowledge and advice on networking and

informational interviewing through a preliminary trainingsession

Allows users to search based on a number of criteria, includinglocation and current vocation

Benefits Users have thousands of Bonaventure alumni at their

fingertips. Users can feel more comfortable contacting alumni because

they know alumni have agreed to being contacted. Users can feel more comfortable with the process because of

the preliminary training session. Students can search for what they want rather than sift through

a bunch of information that doesnt pertain to them.

Networking is one of the top, if not the top, ways job seekers find

jobs. This includes student job seekers and internship seekers. The

BonaConnection assists students with this process and fulfills a

need to communicate and connect with those in the real world

and hopefully to find a job.

Weaknesses While it helps decrease the workload, having another

department manage the database gives the Career Centerless room for control and future improvements.

Alumni contact information isnt kept updated as much as itshould be.

Alumni who began volunteering years ago may not rememberthey signed up or they may have inadvertently agreed as partof a survey completed by alumni services.

The PDF documents that users receive are often difficult tolook at because they are so large.

Strengths Large number and variety of alumni contact information

is available. Students make appointments prior to using the database to

ensure they know what theyre doing.

Easy to maintain because alumni career volunteers canregister on the career centers website. Also, alumni servicesmanages updating the database.


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Target Market Analysis: Millennials at Bonaventure


Overall, the Career Center needs to reach current St. Bonaventure students.While all current undergraduate and graduate students are invited to thecenter, we will focus primarily on those living on or near the Olean campusbecause they are the most likely to spend a lot of time on campus and nearthe center.

Because St. Bonaventure is a Catholic university in the Franciscan tradition,one would assume students find certain Franciscan values important,including love, the individual and purposeful learning.

St. Bonaventure is small, which makes transportation around campus fairlyeasy for most students. Based on results from a February 2009 survey,students said the most-visited places on campus are academic buildings,on-campus housing and the Hickey Dining Hall. In addition:

Nearly half of respondents visit the RC building multiple times per day. 76% of respondents said they sometimes visit the RC Caf 73.5% of respondents sometimes visit the post office.

Many current trends frequently affect Bonaventure students, including:

Technology & Connectedness: Students always have their cell phones or other mobile devices nearby, allowing for constant con-nectedness (Millennials Confident 1).

Family vs. Work Ethic: Millennials, like their elder counterparts, largely value their families but, when describing what makes their agegroup unique, they do not include work ethic in the top five, something the last four generations have done (Millennials Confident 2).

Jobs & Money: Despite the economic recession, Millennials feel confident they will be able to find a job that will allow them to supportthemselves financially. However, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Generation Xers or Boomers had been at the sameage (Millennials Confident 17).


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Target Market Segmentation


Demographics for St. BonaventureUniversity Student Body

Males 48%

Females 52%

Race, White 72%

Race, Black 4%

Race, Hispanic 3%

NY State Residents 75%

Avg. Age Range 18-22

*Source: http://members.ucan-network.org/sbu

Feb/March 2010 Survey Results 35% of respondents have attended a

Career Center event in the last yearand 54.5% have not.

20% of respondents have a CollegeCentral account.

53.5% of respondents do not knowwhat College Central is.

95% of respondents have NOT usedBonaConnection in the last year.

60% of respondents have never visitedthe centers website.

Target Market Segment Breakdown

Based on primary and secondary research, most important target market for the CareerCenter should be freshmen because what they learn and do their first year at Bonaven-ture will likely dictate their last three years.

Students surveyed and interviewed said they wished they had gotten to know more

about the center before their junior and senior years. All freshmen will be exposed tothe center.

Female sophomores will have that knowledge they gained as freshmen and willreceive more exposure the following year, making it more likely they will participate.Female sophomores were chosen because they were most responsive to researchefforts.

When female sophomores begin using the center and seeing success, they willlikely tell their friends, including male counterparts, bringing them to participateby their junior year if they arent already.

Broad TargetMarket

All SBU Students

Secondary TargetMarket

Primary TargetMarket

Female Sophomores Male Juniors

Freshmen


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Consumer Profile 1: SBU Freshmen


Because this consumer segment is less specific than the other two segments, this analysiswill look at all SBU freshmen as a whole to understand the group. First, freshman year is avital one. As the first year of college for most Bonaventure students, it often offers glimpsesinto students next three years at the university. Also, if a student starts doing something asa freshman, he or she is more likely to continue doing that all three years.

In general, freshmen spend most of their first year feeling out the situation in which theyveplaced themselves. They spend most of their time with other freshmen at this point; theyreworking on building the relationships that will last for the next three years and for life.Theyre also adjusting to life at college something much different from life at high school.Some also become homesick for their parents and their high school friends.

They spend more time doing homework than they spent in high school but not nearly asmuch time as sophomores and juniors spend. Because they have less homework, theyhave more time to socialize and do things they enjoy, including spending time on socialnetworking sites like Facebook and YouTube. Freshmen, as members of Generation Y, en-

joy interactive, engaging activities, like creating videos and posting them on YouTube.Also, rather than watching much TV on an actual television set, freshmen spend a lot oftime catching up on TV shows via Hulu and similar sites.

Freshmen also have plenty of requirements to fulfill. They go through the First-Year Experi-

ence program, which aims to help students adjust to life at St. Bonaventure through educa-tional programs and a class all freshmen take called University 101. This class teaches stu-dents how to approach their time at Bonaventure from an educational standpoint fromplanning to studying abroad to learning about the Career Center. Freshmen tend to lookdown upon at this course and other requirements because they think its a waste of timeand not as much fun as chatting with friends on Facebook.


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Consumer Profile 2: Amanda Smith


Amanda, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major at St. Bonaventure University,loves her school and holds high aspirations for the future. Luckily, shes also a perfect example ofour secondary target market, female sophomores. Heres a breakdown of her average day, hergeneral interests and her general beliefs.

Amanda takes 15 or 17 credits per semester and puts a lot of effort into her classes. She alsoworks for her campus newspaper as a features editor. She loves writing and editing, but most ofall, she loves the friendships she has developed through becoming involved with the newspaperand other on-campus activities, like Voices, a womens advocacy group for students.

Shes a Christian, although not overtly, and she describes herself politically as liberal. In fact, in thelast year or so, politics have been important to her. Just two years ago she turned 18 and voted forthe first time; in 2008, she supported Barack Obama and voted for him, too.

When not working on homework or at the newspaper, Amanda spends a lot of time online, particu-larly on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. She uses these tools to keep up withfriends and family and she also likes following some of her favorite people and organizations onTwitter, including funny sites like ROFLquiz and campus organizations like the campus radio sta-tion and Bona Responds, a volunteer organization.

Speaking of volunteering, Amanda keeps busy by volunteering with the local SPCA once a month.While its not a ton of time, she enjoys helping the shelter and the animals by cleaning cages and

just showing the dogs and cats some much-needed love.

Finally, like many Bonaventure students, she attends the occasional party on the weekends and isexcited to have her own Townhouse, which she believes will allow her to party more often thanshe currently is able to.


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Consumer Profile 3: Jake Miller


Jake, a junior accounting major, is more concerned with having a well-paying, reliable ca-reer than doing something he absolutely loves. He does love numbers, though, and ac-counting allows him to get paid fairly well for using math. While he does participate in extraactivities, he concentrates heavily on studying and his GPA because he feels that is mostimportant. Last month he worked with VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) at theOlean Center Mall helping those below a certain income level with their income taxes.

When hes not studying or volunteering, Jake spends time finding out about his favoritesports teams, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Yankees. Hailing from Buffalo, the Billsand Yankees have been a part of his life since childhood, and hes very passionate about

the teams and their games. He enjoys watching them on TV, and when theyre not on, heflips through ESPN and the YES channels to learn more about other teams and othersports. He also enjoys comedy channels, like Comedy Central, and he loves any moviewith Adam Sandler or Chris Farley.

On the weekends, which begin Thursday for Jake, he spends time drinking with his friendsand going out to the bars. Drinking allows him to let loose and have fun, and he also canbe competitive when playing drinking games like beer pong, his favorite. He has a solidgroup of seven friends that he regularly hangs out with on the weekends, but others joinsometimes.

He spends plenty of time online as well, particularly on Facebook and sports and newswebsites. He feels like he always needs to know whats going on with his friends and fam-ily as well as in the world around him. He occasionally plays video games online as well.

Finally, Jake loves eating food, especially when his girlfriend or mother make it. Junk foodis a weakness as well, and he counters that with going to the gym whenever he has time.


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Distribution Network Analysis


The Career Centers services are distributed directly from the center to the students. However, for some programs, the center does needto go through faculty and/or alumni (alumni-student networking events, for example). Also, the center is under the academic affairsumbrella so without that office, the center would have nothing.

St. BonaventureUniversity The Career CenterAcademic Affairs SBU Student

General Career Center Distribution Process

St. BonaventureUniversity The Career CenterAlumni Services SBU Student

BonaConnection Database Distribution Process

The BonaConnection databases distribution channel is slightly different because the Career Center receives information from AlumniServices and without Alumni Services, the database would not exist. The Career Center also uses a similar distribution process for alumni-student networking events.

College Central Database Distribution Process

The distribution process is also different for CollegeCentral as it is a service the center receives from anoutside source. The diagram to the right shows thisdistribution process.

SBU StudentThe Career CenterCollege Central


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Competitive Analysis


The Career Center does not have any direct competition in the sense that it is the only career center on campus. However, a fewpossible indirect competitors do exist.

Pressing, Indirect Competitors: Career sites like Monster may draw in students because they have a

better online presence

Other student life offices, like student organizations and other studentlife offices, fighting for students time

Internship coordinators and faculty members in specific departmentswho help students find internships and jobs.

Less Pressing, Indirect Competitors The general concept of time students think four years is an ex-

tremely long time when they first come in to college and it isnt untilthey reach their senior year and are almost done that they thinkabout what they should have been doing career wise.

Perhaps other universities career centers only because perhapssome students choose to go to a different university because thatuniversitys career center offers something different from theCareer Center


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Current Financial Situation


St. Bonaventure UniversityThe Career Centers financial situation is primarily decreasing, mostly because of a decrease in an enrollment in recent years (Balling).In general, St. Bonaventure University faces a tough economic situation. The university has struggled with enrollment in the last fewyears. From 2008 to 2009, the incoming freshman class size decreased by almost 100 (Balling). However, because graduate studentenrollment is up, the total enrollment has remained close to the 2008-2009 school years number.

In addition to student enrollment, the university also receives funding from endowments/donations, most notably from alumni. Accordingto St. Bonaventures website, the university is in the top 10 of private masters degree -granting institutions in alumni giving rate and ofabout 25,000 alumni, more than 20% donate to the universitys annual fund, compared to a national average of 12.6%(End of Fiscal Year).

The SBU Career CenterCurrently, the Career Centers budget is somewhere between $X and $X per year because this is what the university allots it.

Although organizations typically give 10-20% to the marketing budget, the percentage would be different because the career center ispart of a nonprofit university. So, the estimated marketing budget for the Career Center would be 5% of the total budget, which is amarketing budget of approximately $X.

Overall budget estimate: $XOverall marketing budget estimate: $X


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Historical Results


Currently and in the past, the Career Centers marketing initiatives rely heavily one-mails, Notice Board announcements and paper promotions. These initiativeshave seen mild success, allowing the center to break even with its goals.

The center plans to begin a Facebook page at the beginning of the 2010-2011school year. Also, the center has a website, but students are highly unaware ofits existence.

The Career Center excels at creating and disseminating flyers, and students whoresponded to the survey generally said they prefer that method. However, this

method isnt perfect. Not only is paper costly, but posters can easily get lost inthe clutter of posters as this is a very popular way to advertise on campus.

E-mails are also a useful and effective way for the center to advertise, especiallyfor upcoming events. While students do pay attention to them, research hasshown the center needs to pay attention to how often it sends out messages.Students need to know whats going on, but bombarding them with too muchinformation will numb them to our message and will turn the away quite quickly.

In terms of promotion and our companys marketing efforts, we have anadvantage over competitors because we offer resources and services thatstudents know can be very valuable for them and their futures. However, we maybe at a disadvantage because of our limited funds and staffing. This may meanwe are not able to reach as many students as we would like to as effectively asour competitors, especially faculty internship advisers.


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Macroenvironment


Economic The recent economic recession may affect the career center in two ways:

1. Fewer people will consider attending a private school like St. Bonaventure University.2. Those who attend will depend more heavily on career assistance because of the extra competition within the job market.

The cost of a college education Unemployment & difficulty finding a job

Environmental/Nature Sparse natural resources, especially paper The going green trend has affected all aspects of life, even the workplace.

Technological Rise of social media and social networking St. Bonaventure is slightly behind other universities technologically.

Political The universitys president, Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., has been in place more than five years. The centers director, Connie Whitcomb, has been in place more than five years. President Barack Obama and the Democrats are now in control of the Federal government. They are mostly in favor of more

funding for colleges and college students.

Cultural St. Bonaventure students live by the work hard, play hard mantra. The Career Center should keep this in mind and make sure it

doesnt conflict with students desire to balance the two. St. Bonaventure is known to be a nurturing environment, for the most part, with small class sizes and a high importance placed on

relationships between friends, faculty, staff and alumni.


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SWOT Analysis


STRENGTHS

The Career Centers office is centrally located on the St.Bonaventure campus.

The Career Center staff, including administrative help, arefriendly and willing to help the students however possible.

The university has a strong alumni base and faculty base that itcan use to help students. Also, the Career Center hasestablished some relationships with faculty and alumni.

The Career Center has backing from other offices and from the

university as a whole. The center has the ability to operate in a fairly efficient manner

because it can do much of its work without approval from upperauthorities (i.e., administrators).

WEAKNESSES

Many students are not aware all the centers services. The Career Center has a small budget, and an even smaller

marketing budget. (See Current Financial Situation) Compared to other similar universities, the SBU Career Center

has a very small staff with limited time. Although located centrally on campus, once inside the building,

students may learn the Career Center is difficult to find. The BonaConnection database is somewhat outdated and the

process is somewhat difficult.

OPPORTUNITIES

Social Media has become more popular than ever, especiallyamong the college-aged population (Millennials Confident).

College Central is a useful but underutilized tool based on

survey results. The recession means students may be more likely to begin

preparing for their careers earlier. The green trend because the center tries to run paperless for

financial and environmental reasons. Also, the centers officehas two skylights.

THREATS

Online job Web sites like Monster threaten in-person servicesthe center offers.

The universitys decline in new students will hurt us and the

amount of money we get (Balling). Students generally act somewhat apathetic when it comes to

career planning, based on survey results and secondary data(Millennials Confident).

Companies arent hiring as much as they were a few years ago,which may make it more difficult for students to findopportunities and may frustrate them.


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SWOT Action Plan


In moving forward, the Career Center needs to play up its strengths, downplay its weaknesses and threats and keep opportunities inmind at all times.

Overall, the center can work toward orienting students more during their freshman year using digital and traditional means. The centercan use the social networking opportunity to inform students of the centers location and services, including College Central . Also,increasing its social presence online will help the center compete against other career-related websites.

In addition, the center can use the universitys strong alumni base and the social media opportunities to revamp the BonaConn ectiondatabase to turn it from a weakness to a strength.

Also, the center can use its connections with other offices to offset its budget and resource constraints by combining funds andcollaborating with other staff members.

The center can use the recession and the competitive job market to encourage students to visit and ensure they remain competitive inthe market. The center should also keep in mind that students are somewhat apathetic and feel more confident in the job market thanperhaps they should, something the center needs to address in its outreach.

The center can also play up the green trend by highlighting its efforts on social networking sites and other media. Emphasizing these andother trends that Millennials find important. Attracting more Millennials to St. Bonaventure would allow the universitys fun ding to increaseand, in effect, the career centers budget to increase.


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III. IMC Overall Objectives & Issues


Based on the analysis of our target market, competition, and the opportunities available in our market, I have developed marketing and

financial objectives for our marketing efforts. These objectives align with the centers mission statement below.

The SBU Career Centers Mission Statement

To empowerSt. Bonaventure University

undergraduate and graduate students

with skills needed to develop career and

life goal. The center will assist students

in creating and implementing strategies

that will aid students and make them

feel more prepared and comfortable

with the professional world outside

Bonaventure.

To act as an integral piece of the universitys mission to develop stu-

dents who are knowledgeable, skilled, compassionate and ethical.


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Objectives


III. IMC Overall Objectives & Issues

Critical Issues

1. Students are not aware of the Career Centersservices, especially College Central andBonaConnection.

2. The Career Center lacks the amount of fundingand staffing it needs to operate at a larger level.

3. Students have said they see the center as

disconnected from the rest of the university.4. Students do not see the need to plan for their

careers until senior year when its too late toplan and to ensure the student does what he orshe needs to do while a student.

Marketing Objectives

1. To increase brand awareness by 10% among the entire SBU student body overfour years.

2. To increase brand awareness among freshmen by 50% over two years.

3. To increase brand awareness by 25% among both female sophomores andjunior males over two years.

4. To increase faculty and alumni involvement with Career Center activities by20% within one year.

5. To increase BonaConnection (or a similar replacement service) use by 25%over two years.

6. To increase the number of College Central accounts by 50% over two years.

7. To increase student attendance at Career Center events and programming by15% within one year.

8. To increase presence among prospective students by 10% within two years.

9. To convince the majority (60%) of students of career plannings importancewithin four years.

Financial Objectives

1. To aid the university increase combinedundergraduate and graduate universityenrollment by 10% within three years.

2. To help the university increase its endowmentby $1 million in the next 10 years.


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IV. Marketing Strategy

Marketing Strategy


Target Market StrategyWhile the campaign must reach the St. Bonaventure student body as a whole, it can do so most effectively by first targeting one influen-tial primary market, female sophomores, and also two secondary target markets, junior males and freshmen. These segments were cho-sen based on a survey and focus groups conducted in February and March 2010.

Freshmen: Theyre extremely shapeable when it comes to life and habits at St. Bonaventure. While freshmen are only a secondarytarget market, they are a vital piece to the target marketing strategy because they are the students first impression of the center.Therefore, this market may be even more important than the other two.

Female sophomores: They had the largest response to primary research and are more likely to respond to promotions than theirmale counterparts. Also, they are fairly influential because they, along with juniors, are in the middle of the age scale.

Male juniors: They are less likely to plan ahead than their female counterparts. However, by the time they reach junior year, theyrealize its time to start getting into motion if they havent already.

Positioning StrategyIn general, the overall target market is unaware of the centers services. They are not aware of how the center could help them defineand achieve their career goals. While they think its something they should do, they dont do it because activities that seem more time-pressing than planning a career. Also, some that may have some extra time dont participate because they would rather do othe r activi-ties that are more fun and they believe they will have plenty of time for career planning later.

We need to position ourselves and our services as an integral part of the Bonaventure experience. They must understand the importanceof career planning and preparation and must feel that a Bonaventure experience is not complete without general career guidance fromthe center. Students experience Spring Weekend but use the Career Center service. But we need to make it more than a service.

{ We need students to believe the center is a vital, integral part of their Bonaventure student experience. }

Marketing Research StrategyFor this project, I have already conducted two focus groups and an online survey. I also gathered internal information, like the surveycompleted by the center on 2008 graduates. In moving forward, I will continue to gather information through secondary means, throughmore conversations with current students and through more discussions with career center staff members.


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Marketing Strategy (Continued)


IV. Marketing Strategy

Marketing Mix StrategyServicesOur fundamental service is individual career counseling for students. However, for this product to continue its success, the universityneeds to hire at least one more career counselor. Because this is mostly out of my hands, I will focus the services strategy on three ser-vices: events/programming, College Central and BonaConnection. By getting more students to use these services, the university willsee the centers value and the services will draw more prospective students to St. Bonaventure.

PricingMost of the centers services, including career counseling, BonaConnection and College Central, are free for students to use. How-ever, various services, like the teacher credential files service, cost small amounts. Some events, like the etiquette dinners, cost the stu-dents $10-$15 per dinner to cover dinner costs. The centers pricing strategy will remain the same, although we will plan to dec rease thecost of future etiquette dinners.

PromotionsCurrently and in the past, the Career Center has had mild success by promoting its services through e-mail and Notice Board announce-ments as well as through word-of-mouth by faculty and Career Center employees. I will discuss specific promotions strategies andtactics in upcoming pages, but, to briefly summarize, we will join social media sites, pump up our website, advertise more throughtraditional methods and increase word-of-mouth from faculty, students and alumni.

DistributionAs mentioned in earlier sections, distribution doesnt play an enormous role for the Career Center. College Central can be do ne com-pletely online and events and programming take place across campus, although primarily near the Career Center or in the Reilly Center.Career counseling takes place almost exclusively in a Career Center office near RC 216. Students must call or visit the center to sched-ule an appointment. Finally, students must also visit the center at some point to use the BonaConnection database. However, makingthis more of an online process could change the distribution network a bit. So, rather than focusing on distribution, the centers market-ing communications strategy will emphasize promotional and branding strategies.


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Creative Brief



To whom are we talking?We are talking to all students at St. Bonaventure University, especially female sophomores, junior males and freshmen.

What do they currently think?Currently they are not aware of the centers services and activities. Those who are aware do not view career planning asan important issue, or they may see other things as more important than career planning.

What would we like them to think?We would like the target market segments to feel empowered about professional life and to consider the Career Centeran important part of their St. Bonaventure experience and an important first step to a successful professional future.

Also, we need to encourage students that they can and must make time for this important step early in their SBUcareers.

What is the single most persuasive idea we can convey?The Career Center is a vital and necessary component of the Bonaventure experience that easily fits into students lives,no matter what year they are. (Its never too late and its never too early.)

Why should they believe it?They should believe this because their futures and their current professional experiences depend on Career Center use.


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Big Idea


The SBU Career Center is

more than just a service its a vital component of theBonaventure experience.


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VI. MarCom Strategies & Tactics

Promotional Strategies & Tactics


Strategy

Hold a contest for current College Central users, encouraging them to convince friends to join and to upload a rsum to the site.

Tactics Current College Central users can refer friends to join the service and upload their rsums. Once resumes are uploaded, friends

must send the Career Center a quick e-mail or a message on Facebook stating who referred them to the site. Both students (referrer and referee) will be entered into a drawing for one of three Spring Weekend bracelets (worth $20 each). Student life, as the organizer of Spring Weekend, will assist in offsetting the cost of the bracelets for the Career Center. The Career Center will inform current College Central users of the contest through Career Center e-mails.

Strategy

Ask a group of successful alumni to participate in interactive presentations on the importance of career planning.

Tactics Six different sessions at varied times will take place throughout the semester. Alumni participants will share their experiences, an-

swer career-related questions and meet the students who participate. Alumni will receive promotion on the centers Facebook page and website as well as university relations promotion. Work with Alumni Services to identify six alumni: two business, two journalism and two arts & sciences. Promote the event through Facbook, campus media, faculty word-of-mouth and Career Center e-mails

Strategy

Associate events, like the etiquette dinner, with successful upperclassmen to freshmen and sophomores.

Tactics Identify senior leaders with help from student life and faculty members. Seniors must have attended a Career Center event. Partner with faculty members and ask them to allow senior leaders to come in to underclassmen classes to speak for 5-10 min-

utes about Career Center events Ask seniors to share their stories with freshmen and assist with events. Seniors who meet with classes and assist with events can receive LAP hours for their senior forum classes.


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PR Strategies & Tactics



StrategyCreate third-party credibility through on-campus student media outlets

Tactics The PR graduate assistant will create a media kit with useful Career Center information and will send press releases at least twice a

month to student media regarding upcoming events and important topics The center will host special open hours sessions for members of the student media in which they can come and have their rsums

and/or cover letters reviewed.

StrategyCreate a relationship with the surrounding community to improve professionals presence on campus and among students

Tactics Work with university relations to release information to external local media about important events pertaining to outside businesses

and organizations. Focus on local media, like the Olean Times-Heraldand the Salamanca Press. Pitch story ideas to local media on career tips and how students become involved with the career planning process.


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Web Strategies & Tactics



StrategyAssociate the Career Center with being technologically savvy by becoming involved with relevantsocial media and web tools.

Tactics Use the centers Facebook page to interact with students and faculty. Create a Twitter page to interact with students and employers alike. Ask professors who currently use the tools to mention or suggest them to their students. Create an external website (outside of the sbu.edu domain) that is more appealing to students

but also conveys vital career-related information in an efficient manner.

StrategyContinue to communicate important information to students using the Bonaventure e-mail addresses.

Tactics Send vital Career Center e-mails with upcoming events once every two weeks. Give students an option to opt-in to the centers e-mail list to receive weekly tips, internship/

job opportunities and other important career-related information Create a monthly Facebook breakdown for students to learn about the Facebook page and to

learn about the information on the page that month.

StrategyInstead of using the traditional Excel database for BonaConnection, use a combination of social networking tools

Tactics Create a LinkedIn group for student/alumni networking. Students must attend a 15-minute orientation before the center will approve them for the group. Advertise the program on Facebook, the website and in campus media.

StrategyIncrease the number of FederalWork Study student employeeswho can promote the centerthrough web means.

Tactics Hire an intern to be respon-

sible for writing two entriesblog entries per week on

career-related topics.

Ask student workers to putlinks to favorite blog entrieson their Facebook page and/or post to Twitter.

Hire an online student streetteam to promote CareerCenter events on their


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Advertising Strategies & Tactics



In this section, I would like to note the Career Center will not focus as much on advertising strategies and tactics compared to othermedia for two reasons:

1. Advertising can be quite costly2. Advertising is not the most effective way to reach students on the St. Bonavetnure campus; theyve become somewhat numb to

an overabundance of advertising messages.

With that being said, here are two recommendations for advertising.

StrategyShow students how the Career Center can fit into their lives using paper ads/flyers around campus hotspots.

Tactics The ads should show campus maps with the Career Centers location (the Reilly Center) In the Reilly Center, advertisements should show a map of the RC, pointing out the centers location upstairs in RC 216. On the flyers with maps, include the centers website (www.sbu.edu/careercenter) and the centers Facebook page name.

StrategyShow students how the Career Center can help them using flyers containing anecdotes from successful seniors and alumni

Tactics Feature five separate recent alumni and have their stories and pictures placed on a flyer Place flyers on bathroom stall doors in sophomore and junior dormitories as well as in the academic buildings (Plassmann and

Murphy) Place an advertisement in The Bona Venture containing selections of each of the five anecdotes.


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VII. Campaign Timeline


Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Coll. Cen. Contest

Alum Presentation

Sr. Leaders Pgm.

Student Blogger

Media Kit CreationExternal Media

Media Open Hrs.

FB/Twitter/LI Use

Social BonaConn

Online St. Team

New website

E-mail Lists

Map Fliers

Alum Anec. Fliers

BV ad #1: Maps

BV ad #2: Alum A.

When creating the campaign timeline, it was important to keep breaks and busy times in mind. Because students get very busy toward

the last month of the semester, events were typically scheduled toward the beginning or middle of the semester .when possible.


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Most tactics would be free for the Career Center because a Career Center graduate assistant already on staff would manage the tactics

and their implementation. Also, student workers would not cost anything because they either volunteer or receive payment throughFederal Work Study. The prizes for the College Central contest would cost at least $60, perhaps less if they are subsidized by student life.A website on BlueHost costs about $7 per month. Also, I estimated spending about $100 on printing costs for both fliers. Finally, TheBona Venture advertisements proved the most expensive at $127.50 for a quarter-page ad.

$X

Campaign Budget

Q1 (Jan-March) Q2 (April-June) Q3 (July-Sept) Q4 (Oct-Dec)

Coll. Cen. Contest $60.00

Alum Presentation

Sr. Leaders Pgm.

Student Blogger

Media Kit Creation

External Media

Media Open Hrs.

FB/Twitter/LI Use

Social BonaConn

Online St. Team

New website $X $X $X $X

E-mail Lists

Map Fliers $X $X

Alum Anec. Fliers $X $X

BV ad #1: Maps $X

BV ad #2: Alum A. $X

TOTALS $X $X $X $X


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As a non-profit organization, investing in the Career Centers marketing budget wont bring the organization any solid figures in terms ofreturn on investment. However, it will help the universitys overall mission to provide students with vitally engaging learning environments.

Students who participate in Career Center activities will feel more prepared and more comfortable with the career planning and searchprocess. They will be overly satisfied, financially and emotionally, upon graduation.

This satisfaction creates a two-fold ROI:

Return-on-Investment

1. Financially and professionallystable students who are satisfiedafter graduation are more likelyto donate to the university.

2. Emotionally satisfied studentsare more likely to donate as wellas to recommend the universityto teens considering colleges.


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IX. Evaluation


To increase brand awareness by 10% among the entire SBU student body over four years.Measure overall student involvement with Career Center promotionsTactic: Track Facebook fans, website hits and use e-mail message trackers.

To increase brand awareness among the primary target market by 50% over two years.Within overall student involvement measurement, measure primary target participation.Tactic: Before/After survey, monitor Facebook page analytics and event participation sign-ins.

To increase brand awareness among freshmen by 25% over two years.Within overall student involvement measurement, measure primary target participation.Tactic: Survey freshmen, monitor Facebook page and event participation sign-ins.

To increase faculty and alumni involvement with the center by 20% within one year.Measure how many more faculty and alumni agree to work with the Career Center.Tactic: Observation, interviews, surveys of faculty, survey of students asking how they found out about services

To increase BonaConnection use by 25% over two years.Observe and measure the number of students who use the service.Tactic: Use information sheets and end-of-year reports to compare years.

To increase the number of College Central accounts by 50% over two years.Measure the number of College Central registrants and rsums uploaded.Tactic: Use the analytics available on Career Services Central.

To increase student Career Center event/programming attendance by 15% within one year.Monitor who attends each event throughout the year.Tactic: Use sign-up and sign-in sheets to monitor who says they will attend and who actually attends the events. Also, ask howthey heard about the event on sign-in sheet.


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X. Conclusion


Hopefully this report has helped the Career Center realize what it does well and what it can do better from making its BonaConnectionAlumni Database more student-friendly to altering event promotion methods of events, a few key strategies will help the center achieve allof its objectives. Perhaps more importantly, the strategic guidance offered in this paper will help the center create a larger, moreintegrated presence within the university and will achieve its own goals as well as the universitys overarching goals.

Many may consider St. Bonaventure a party school, but I would disagree. I would say Bonnies like to have fun, yes, but they define fun inmany different ways. And no matter the social life, all Bonnies have one thing in common: They want success and they believe they canget this through a Bonaventure experience. The Career Center needs to ensure it is a part of this life-lasting experience. Using theoutlined strategies and tactics, the Career Center can achieve its objectives to become

More than just a serviceBut rather a vital component of theBonaventure student experience.


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XI. Appendices

Works Cited


Academic Resources. www.sbu.edu. St. Bonaventure University, n.d. Web. 8 May 2010. .

Balling, Hank. Freshman Class Smaller, SBU Larger. The Bona Venture 25 Sept. 2009: n. pag. Web. 8 May 2010. .

End of Fiscal Year Giving. www.sbu.edu. St. Bonaventure University, n.d. Web. 8 May 2010. .

Homepage. Bluehost.com. Bluehost.com, n.d. Web. 8 May 2010. .

Lifestyle & Media. Student Monitor. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2010. .

Millennials Confident. Connected. Open to Change. . Pew Social Trends. Pew Research Center, Feb. 2010. Web. 9 May 2010. .

Provost & VP of Academic Affairs. www.sbu.edu. St. Bonaventure University, n.d. Web. 8 May 2010. .

St. Bonaventure University. www.ucan-network.org. University and College Accountability Network, n.d. Web. 8 May 2010. .


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XI. Appendices

Research Summary

Executive Summary for March 29 Research ReportThrough a 300-student survey, focus groups and secondary research, the researcher has collected information on the St. Bonaventurestudent market and their Career Center habits from how often they visit the Career Center to how aware they are of the center s ser-vices. Results may feel jolting to those who have handled university students for years. According to the research, St. Bonaventure stu-dents are highly unaware of what the Career Center offers as far as services like alumni networking databases and job search tools. Andeven those who are aware arent using it as much as one might hope. This report also focuses on how the Career Center might reach outand promote these useful services to students who are or are unaware of their usefulness.

Survey & Focus Group Findings About half the members of the student body said they have attended a Career Center

event(s). Many students are not aware of all the Career Centers services. Notice boards, e-mails, paper promotions and a Facebook page seem to be students

favored communications methods.

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