Digital Natives Go To College
A case study on how Texas A&M changed the game in marketing to the next generation
I’ve broken up this rebranding case study for the sake of the reader. Each component has its own page which is linked to here and in context of this overview.
OVERVIEW | Social Media | Guide | Aggiebound Magazine | Response
The Strange World of College Recruiting
During my first few days at Texas A&M Admissions Marketing (AdMark), I dove into the archives of marketing material that they had collected from colleges and universities all over the country.
Overwhelmingly, I found all of it very dated. The design, the voice, the content, all of it was so predictable and boring. Colleges were using the same tactics as they had in the 80s and (sometimes) updated the pictures.
I annoyed the crap out of my boss (she told me later). Being fresh and seeing the glarring divide between the audience and our efforts, I continued asking why we did the things we did. Like most other universities, we were doing most things simply because “it’s always been done that way.” I hate that answer.
She and the amazing team I was part of agreed that we wanted to change the game in university marketing. We all hated the same old marketing crap tasked with convincing 18 year olds (who at this point, still have to ask permission to go to the bathroom) to choose what they want to do with the rest of their lives. And of course, on top of that, why A&M is the best place to get there.
The Big Questions
We wanted a clean slate and to ask all the questions again with no assumptions. As we did, we quickly realized our job came down to two big questions:
“How to get to A&M?” and “Why come to A&M?”
My first thought (though extremely naive and harsh) was, “If you can’t figure out how to apply for college, maybe college isn’t right for you… I mean, colleges spend millions on the application process to make it as easy and accessible as possible. How can it be that hard?”
Over time I saw how crazy things could get with transfers, various early enrollment processes, AP classes, and other one-off issues that have to be dealt with on an individual basis. What we found was that the Office of Admissions already did this quite well. The existing admissions website had just been updated and our applicant process was one of the best in the country. Yet for the longest time, this is where the focus had been.
Addressing the “Why A&M?” question is where we needed to rethink everything we had ever done.
The biggest issue we found in the quest to provide the answers to the “Why?” wasn’t that we didn’t know them. A&M is an incredibly unique school and any Aggie could give you multiple answers why you should come here.
We found that fundamentally, we didn’t understand our audience. What did they want to hear? How do they form and gain opinions? How do they get information? What voices do they listen to in making big decisions?
As I started interacting with the 18 year olds of 2013 (later to be called #TAMU18) I realized that they are a generation far different than any before.
Digital Natives
In 2013, the kids applying for college were born around 1995. When they were old enough to use a computer, the digital revolution was already in full swing.
I was born in 1989 so I can still remember the beginnings of the internet. To me and my generation, the internet was something that you went to get things. I remember joining AOL chat rooms and I spent hours a day on AIM and I was one of the first people to join Gmail. For me, the internet was largely run by other people and I was a consumer.
Digital natives, on the other hand, have always seen the internet as something they participate in. When they joined the online scene, facebook was already millions strong, youtube was on the rise, and blogs were common place. They have never known an internet that they can’t be a part of and most are equally as much consumers as they are producers of online content. Instantly they can gain knowledge and opinions about any topic that hits their brain.
One of the first things my boss told me to do when the Aggiebound idea was born was to go around and get to know our audience. I traveled to college fairs around Texas and came up with a pretty good understanding of this brand of teenager.
Don’t Market to Me
Digital Natives are very aware of marketing. And they hate it. If they get any hint that they are being sold something, they immediately stop listening. They don’t want to hear Texas A&M tell them that Texas A&M is a great school. Yet that is what most schools continue to do.
DNs would rather hear their friend’s opinions. If they wanted to know more, they would probably ask someone who went to A&M or go to any number of sites with honest reviews from current and former students.
Big Fans
Because their lives and opinions have always lived behind the protective wall of the screen, they are more likely to have strong and vocal opinions about topics. They are fiercely loyal fans and if you can get them on your side, they are the brand ambassadors marketers dream of.
Share ALL THE THINGS!
DNs share their lives. But not in the traditional “facebook” sense of sharing every photo from that party they went to. They aren’t even on facebook. They take great care as to what others think about them socially and are experts at creating and maintaining an image online. Every instagram is lovingly crafted to put off the message they want to portray of themself.
They are the “selfie” culture. They love seeing themselves online. And of course, if they make a decision for college, they are going to share it.
We continued to come back to these principles and harnessed them as we developed Aggiebound’s voice and look.
Solution
Right info > Right people > Right time.
To redevelop the entire communication plan, we stepped back and made a timeline of a normal high schooler. From entering high school, to the end of junior year, we need to get the message across that A&M is worth applying to. Fall semester of the Senior year is the only time where the “How?” is important. Then the last semester is a hard push on why they should choose A&M over the other schools they got into.
Since the majority of the time needed to be spent on “Why Texas A&M?” marketing, we came up with a two pronged approach.
- A subscription based magazine that focuses hard on the “Why?”. Filled with 100% student generated content, Aggiebound Magazine comes directly to their door every semester until they graduate high school.
- A yearly current “How?” guide that only was available to seniors.
Throughout the entire process, a new social media campaign was created to generate a voice and an engagement that was brand new to the admissions world.
