Msmcs Commitment To The Adult Education Student example essay topic

Advertising 1) Introduction - Mount Saint Mary College in Newburg New York is a private 4 year college. In the past 25 years it has gone from near financial ruin, with a total enrollment of 750 students, to a respectable enrollment of 5500 students, thanks to the efforts of the schools newest president. MSMC turned around enrollment in the school by pioneering new concepts in education such as blended online learning and accelerated evening courses. Last year MSMC implemented a new adult education program.

The problem is that very few potential adult education students are aware of the program and the accelerated blended online courses which make finding the time to attend college easier and more convenient. Additionally those who are aware of the program have misconceptions about the cost and time investment involved. Through print, broadcast and out-of-home ads we will target non-traditional students - adults age 25 to 44 - who may be unhappy in their current career positions, but believe they not have the time or the financial resources to return to college. In our campaign we will capitalize on MSMC's outstanding commitment to addressing the challenges that adult education students face, namely the lack of time and money. MSMCs' program is designed to remove as many of the obstacles adult students face as possible. Our campaign will raise awareness of MSMCs' program and the features that make it unique with-in the market.

We will accomplish this by using humor to highlight MSMCs' commitment to the adult education student, flexible class schedules, childcare programs, and services MSMC has developed for adult education student. Our advertising campaign will feature a television ad, radio ads, as well as billboard ads to be placed in the two surrounding citys. The ads will feature a typical accelerated student and an Accelerated Program advisor in exaggerated examples of the helpfulness of MSMC advisors. 2) Situation Analysis a) The advertising problem- Potential adult education students are not aware of MSMCs' unique accelerated program. Our campaign must raise awareness of the program and highlight the attributes that make it of particular interest to the target market. We must also address the barriers to purchase, the beliefs held by busy adults that returning to college will take up too much of their free time, that they can not afford an education, and the fact that they are intimidated by the process of beginning such a program.

Our campaign will raise awareness as well as inform the target audience that MSMC has addressed these concerns, and has developed an entire program around the special needs of the adult student. b) Advertising Opportunities- Until now advertising of Mount Saint Mary Colleges' new program has been restricted to the local newspaper, so opportunities in broadcast, print and out-of-home have not been exploited. Through our research we have learned that a majority of those in the target audience are aware that some local colleges do have adult education programs, but chose not to attend because 1) they do not think they have the time, 2) they are not aware of the various payment / financial aid programs 3) they have no childcare, 4) they are intimidated by the process of entering a college, including completing all needed paperwork and choice of major. We will also focus on the fact that there are no other adult education classes of this type within 80 miles of the campus. There are four other colleges with night programs located in an 80 mile radius of the MSMC campus; however their night program is simply an evening version of the day program, with little adjustment made to accommodate the working adult student who would be the most likely candidate to attend these courses. 3) Key strategic decisions a) Advertising Objectives -To increase awareness of Mount Saint Mary College's new Accelerated Degree program in the surrounding communities, including New York City. As a result, we seek to increase enrollment in the program by 10% each semester for the next year. b) Target audience- adults aged 25-44 who desire to attend or finish college in order to change careers or to move up in their current job.

In Orange, Rockland, and four of the five boroughs of New York City counties roughly 30% of the population are adults aged 25-44. Of those, 32% finished high school only, and 26% have completed 1-3 years of College education only (did not graduate), a total of 16%-17% of the overall population, or 1,138,437 people who live in these counties are aged 25-44 and finished high school, but no college, or began college but never graduated, so are therefore potential accelerated program students. c) Competitive product advantage- MSMCs' accelerated program is like none other in Orange and Rockland counties of New York. Though several colleges offer night time classes, MSMC is unique in the following ways: i) Blended online classes- students attend class only one day a week on campus; the other is attended online from their home. ii) Online classes-these classes are attended completely online, no commute to class required, however exams are taken on campus 3 times during the semester.) Separate adult education advisors- important because the needs of the adult education student are different from traditional students needs and are available to the accelerated student in the evening hours, when they are on campus. Other colleges in the area who offer night time programs use the same advisors for there traditional students, and they are only available during the day. iv) Childcare- childcare is available on campus between 5: 00 pm and 8: 00 pm.

There is also a program that matches traditional students who are pursuing degrees in education with adult education students who need childcare. College credits are offered to the students who perform the service. v) Commuter room- There is an adult education lounge with free coffee, fruit and bagels, newspapers, cola machines etc, where students can study or wait between classes in the company of other adult accelerated students. This is important for two reasons; because older students do not feel comfortable socializing with traditional students and because it gives students a place to relax between classes and do homework, especially those who have a long commute to campus. d) Product image and personality- After questioning students, non-student and area residents concerning MSMCs' personality, the most common response was that of a faithful animal such as a dog. MSMC has been a part of the community for 33 years. They have worked hard to give back to the community by being the biggest supporter of Habit for Humanity in the area. They also donate goods and services to surrounding low income programs, such as basketballs and sporting equipment to homes for children.

This image of loyalty works well with our campaign, as we are playing with this image by exaggerating MSMC commitment to its students. e) Product position- Passionate about fulfilling the unique needs of adult education students. We want MSMC to be thought of first in the minds of adults considering continuing education. 4) The creative plan- Our goal is to convince the target audience, those who never finished or enrolled in college, but who currently lead very busy lives, that MSMC has made going back to college easy. Further, that MSMC is aware of, and attends to, the special needs that arise as an adult student: mainly time and money constraints, but also to some degree felling out of place as a non-traditional student.

We will use the slogan "A new definition in adult education", which will be a common thread in all of our advertising mediums. Our ads will feature two typical accelerated students, a man in his thirties and a woman in her mid-forty's who are attending their first day of classes. Through humor the ads will get across the idea that MSMC staff goes far beyond the call of duty to be helpful to it's adult education students, with each ending in the line "Okay, maybe were not that helpful... but we come pretty close". 5) The media plan a) Television ads- The television ads will run 8 times a day on the four major networks in our viewing area.

They will run for 26 weeks, the duration of our campaign. The ads will feature typical adult education students interacting with over zealous academic advisors. The ads will use humor to get across the point that MSMC Accelerated Program Advisors will go the extra mile to address the needs of the adult student, while a voice-over will provide the important details of the program. (Please see "Media Details" section at the end of this document for detailed description of the ads). b) Radio- We will run a 60 second radio spot on 4 local stations.

We will run our spots on the four major stations in our area which are popular with our target market, a top 40 station, a hip-hop station, a country music station and a news station. Our ads will run two times and hour, during from 6 am-6 pm and one time and hour from 6 pm-6 am Monday-Saturday and every hour on Sunday. These time frames correspond to the must popular drive time and listening times for our target audience, based on research conducted by the individual stations with whom we re placing our ads. The spots will be of the same vain as the television commercials, which will involve a student and his overzealous advisor, along with a voiceover of the highlights of the program. The programs website and phone numbers will also be mentioned. (Please see "Media Details" section at the end of this document for detailed description of the ads). c) Out-of-Home- Our out-of-home advertising will encompass both billboard and transit advertising.

New York City relays heavily on its subway and bus system, so this is an obvious choice. We will place shelter cards with 100 GRPS, whole bus ads, tail cards, inside cards, and kiosk ads in strategic bus and subway stops and stations around New York City and Rockland and Orange counties. Billboard ads will be placed along the three main highways in Orange and Rockland counties which lead into and out of New York City. These ads will be placed for the duration of 6 months (for specifics concerning the content of the ads please see the "Media Content" section of this document. The ads will highlight a total of four different situations between a student and an advisor, and will feature our slogan "Mount Saint Mary College... A new definition of adult education d) Print- Our campaign plan calls for ads to be placed in the 10 top newspapers in the area.

The ads will be 1/4 to 1/2 page ads, depending on the publication, and feature a strong black and white graphic depicting our slogan. We will also run ads in the newsletters of the major companies with which we are offering discounts for employees (for example IBM and Novellas). We will also place a 2 x 2" square ad in the yellow pages under colleges which will feature MSMC slogan, but also make special mention of our Accelerated classes. 6) The communication plan a) Sales promotion- MSMC will have a booth at both career expo's that take place in the winter and summer in New York City.

The booth will be staffed with an Accelerated Program advisor and include pen and pencil giveaways. There will also be a drawing for a three day cruise, in which the person entering the drawing must fill out a card containing personal information such as address and phone number, providing us with leads. We will also have free coffee and mini bagels on hand as a reminder of how MSMC takes care of the needs of there students. b) Public relations- MSMC is already heavily involved in helping the citizens of Newburgh and has a strong reputation as an asset to the community. However, there is room to develop stronger bonds with the working parents in the community, a large portion of our target audience. i) In the spring we will kick off our campaign with "The Communities largest Easter egg hunt", which will be open to the entire community. We will work to get local news coverage of the event, which will feature free refreshments, free Easter baskets to hold the eggs and an open house with an accelerated student advisor on hand to answer questions. There will also be goody bags containing information about the programs offered for perspective students containing free pens and pencils.

This type of event will draw a lot of adults from the community to the campus and give us an opportunity to give out information about the adult education classes, as well as build a bond with the community. ii) We will also continue to participate in the Habit for Humanity program, and have set a goal to build a house using only adult education students. We will work to have this covered in the press as well. c) Direct marketing- A fold-out flyer featuring will detail all that MSMC has to offer the adult education student; accelerated classes, flexible schedules, academic advisors who work exclusively with adult education students, a liberal credit transfer program, childcare and a commuter lounge with free fresh fruit, coffee and bagels, and a top-notch teaching staff. Information will include a phone number which leads directly to the MSMC adult education operator, a web address, as well as a tear- off postage paid card for more information. These will be mailed to the individuals homes who fit are criteria with-in our target market. d) Sponsorships, merchandising, packaging, and point-of purchase- We will sponsor the annual 10 k road race (which last year brought 1100 participants). After the run the competitors will receive t-shirts featuring the MSMC continuing ed logo and the phrase "you build a stronger body, we " ll build a stronger future" as well as our slogan "A new definition in adult education". As well as an information flyer and response card, and reusable sports drink container.

MSMC will also sponsor two local boy scouts and girl scouts troops, which will involve free use of MSMC meeting rooms and grounds and swimming pool for Scout sponsored activities. MSMC will also sponsor a local pee wee sports team by purchasing the uniforms, which will carry the MSMC adult ed logo. 7) Implementation and evaluation a) Scheduling- We will use a continuity plan which will spread the advertising evenly over the length of the campaign. Enrollment in MSMC accelerated program is an ongoing process with students beginning classes every six weeks. However, enrolment tends to be at its highest in the summer months. For this reason we plan to kick off our campaign in the spring to coincide with the Easter egg hunt.

The campaign will last for six months. 8) Evaluation- We will evaluate the effectiveness through several means. The most obvious will be an increase in the number of students enrolled in the accelerated program. We will also track the number of student who inquire about the program and ask how they heard of our program. This will give of some idea of which mediums are having the most impact. 9) Budget- Our budget of 5 million dollars will 5 million dollars will be allocated the following way: a) Broadcast: We will spend the largest portion of our budget on broadcast, as it the advertising medium which reaches the most people. b) Print: We will place ads in the major local area newspapers which will run 7 days a week, with larger ads on Sundays in the classified section of the paper.

The plan with print advertising is to attract people who are looking to change or upgrade their jobs. c) Radio: We will run a thirty second radio spot two times per hour on the four radio station in the area that reach our target market: 104.7 - top 40 pop, 97.7 Stern / classic rock, 94.7 alternative rock, 102.4 talk / news radio. Please find a script of the radio ads below. d) Out-of-Home advertising- New York City and the surrounding counties relay heavily on the public transit system. We will therefore allocate a large portion of our budget to transit advertising. Television Ad: A car drives through a parking lot slowly past a sign "Welcome New Accelerated Students", It is raining. The driver of the car parks the car and gets out. He is in his mid-to-late thirties, dressed in khaki pants and a light jacket and carries a messenger bag.

As he exits his car he finds a smiling MSMC advisor waiting with an umbrella. The student smiles a little uneasily as the advisor begins to follow him toward the door, still holding the umbrella. Inside the classroom the student sits at his desk, the advisor, standing behind him, still smiling. The student glances uneasily back at the advisor.

As the professor begins to hand out the syllabus the advisor takes off running in an exaggerated sprint to hand the syllabus directly to the student. A voiceover begins: "At Mount Saint Mary College's new Accelerated Degree program we " re dedicated to meeting the needs of the busy adult student. We can accommodate your schedule with online classes, blended on-line classes and evening and weekend class schedules, all based on a six week accelerated program that gets you to your four year bachelors degree in two and a half years. We take you through the financial aid process one on one, to insure that you receive the maximum financial aid possible. There's an accelerated student only lounge with coffee and snacks, child care and... oh yeah, you still get to have a life... a new one. Call 561-0800 to speak with one of our specially trained advisors, or visit us online at MSMC. edu".

(Concurrent to the voice over) The student sits in the commuter lounge on a sofa reading a text book. He has a bagel in one hand and his coffee cup is sitting on the table next to him. As he takes a drink and sits the cup back down, the advisor stands behind him with a pot of hot coffee and begins to pouring a fresh cup. By this time the student is getting used to this treatment and doesn't seem to notice the advisor. The final scene cuts back to the opening frame with the advisor holding the umbrella over the student as they near the classroom building. The student begins to side step and then breaks into a run in an effort to trick the advisor, who is of course making every effort to keep up.

Voice-over: "Okay, maybe were not that helpful... but we come pretty close". Mount Saint Mary College, The new definition of adult education. Radio Ad- (the sound of a pencil being sharpened) Student: Umm... What are you doing? Advisor: I'm your MSMC accelerated education advisor. Student: I know that, but... um really, I have this... thanks.

Advisor: It looked a little... Student: It's fine... Announcers Voice: At Mount Saint Mary College we know you " re busy, we also understand your desire for a better life. That's why we have our helpful, specially trained advisors available to you day and evening to will help create a class schedule that works for you, we " ll walk you through the financial aid process, and we even have childcare available and study & commuter room just for our accelerated students. At Mount Saint Mary's accelerated program you " ll earn your four year degree in two and a half years, and oh yeah, you get have a life... a new one. Call 561-0800 to speak with a specially trained advisor, or visit us on the web at MSMC. edu.

(Sound of a toilet flushing) Student: Do you mind? ... I mean really! Advisor: Just trying to help... Announcer: Okay maybe were not that helpful, but we come pretty close. Print: Our print ad will feature a strong black and white graphic.

The ads will focus on drawing in individuals who are unhappy with their current jobs and will be featured in the classified section of the newspaper. Because of this the other line which is mentioned in our ads "Have a life... a new one" will be the central feature, with our slogan "Mount Saint Mary College... the new definition of adult education", featured as the secondary line. The graphic will feature a hand reaching out from the left of the ad toward the center. A hand also reaches out from the right side holding a diploma in a passing motion. The copy is right down the center of the ad. Mount Saint Mary Colleges NEW Accelerated Program for adult students o Class schedules for the busy adult student o Specially trained advisors for adult needs o Online courses, blended online courses, evening and weekend classes o Even child care At MSMC have a life... a new one 1.845.

561.0800 web Billboard: Our ad campaign will feature 6 similar, but slightly different billboard ads. Here I will describe one of the ads. Mount Saint Mary Colleges NEW accelerated Program for adults will be the heading of a piece of paper clipped to a clipboard. Under the heading will be a check list: childcare online classes weekend classes specially trained advisors commuter room web 1.845. 561.0800 All of the ads, the billboards as well as all the others except the newspaper ads will all be in the school colors of yellow and blue to give them continuity. Budget Yellow pages 52.50 per month x 2 (New York, Orange / Rockland) 1260.00 (per year only) Radio 30 second spot x 3 per hour x 24 x 4 stations = 720 x $17 each $891,072 Print Hudson Valley paper / Times Herald Record / Cornwall Local / Poughkeepsie Journal 2" high by 2 column wide- 18.55 per day average x 4 x 26 weeks = $13504 Marketplace = 12.50 week x 26 weeks = $325 New York Times - $1100 per week x 26 weeks = $28,600 $42,429 Out-of-Home Whole bus = $18,000 per year x 10 buses = $180,000 Tail Cards = $90 per month x 6 months = $540 x 50 buses = $27,000 Inside subway = $120 x 6 months x 50 cars = $36,000 Total bus $243,000 Shelter Cards-100 GRPS 46 panels = $18,170 Billboard = $500 per month x 10 ads x 6 months = $30,000 $291,170 Television Average of $625 per run x 3 channels x 9 runs per day x 26 weeks $3071250 Sponsorships $11,000 Total production costs $16,000 Direct Marketing $10,000 Commission = 14% $60,678,534 Total Campaign $4940966.