Liberal Arts College

The client is a co-educational four-year liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and currently ranked in the top tier of southern comprehensive regional colleges by U.S. News and World Report.

The client wanted to build a strategy that would differentiate it from its competitors. Therefore, the college needed to understand the needs and attitudes that drive a student’s matriculation decision, as well as the role parents, friends, counselors, media and other factors play in a student’s decision-making process. It was also necessary to identify competitors and the unique needs they fill in the marketplace, and determine how the fundamental offerings and faculty/student experience of the college might have to change in order to support its brand positioning.

Kannon utilized a four-step approach to develop an Outside-In Strategy. Kannon identified current trends in the higher education market, segmented the college-bound student population, and assessed key drivers in the decision-making process, which culminated in the development of effective marketing materials, positionings and competitive strategies.

Kannon analyzed consumer and market information from internal as well as publicly available sources. Kannon also collected information from competitive colleges and aligned it with the client in an objective framework. Such information included the breadth of course work offered, requirements for graduation, core curriculum, faculty backgrounds, faculty performance, resources and student life.

A framework was then built to help identify alternative strategies. It was structured across three axes: Number and Mix of Majors, Core Curriculum and Requirements for Graduation, and Campus Experience (including, among other things, teaching disciplines and approach, and the students’ day-to-day life on campus).

Any number of strategies could be developed utilizing the Framework. One example of an alternative strategic approach might be to focus the college on a professional orientation with a liberal arts foundation built via a campus experience of self-discovery and adventure.

At the conclusion of the project, the college had a clearly delineated strategy and priorities based upon the data available and the collective judgment of those involved.

Once the strategic plan was developed with action steps in place, it then became the road map by which the college travels, the template against which decisions are made, the scale on which resource allocations are measured, and the focus of institutional energy.