Even in Academia, Image Is Everything

ByABC News
April 28, 2006, 7:49 PM

April 28, 2006 — -- The days of picking a college by flipping through the Princeton Review are fading fast, and what's replaced that are well-tailored Web sites and brochures promising the experience of a lifetime. Universities across the country are following in the footsteps of successful clothing lines, restaurants and condos by using marketing consultants to create and promote their "unique" college experience.

"It's a highly competitive environment. There are about 3,400 universities in the U.S. alone, that's not counting community colleges or online providers," said Rob Moore, president of Lipman Hearn, a marketing firm that works with nonprofit organizations that include Yale and Vanderbilt.

"I think students now are cannier shoppers. College is academic, but it's also a living experience," said Moore. "I'm not going to go to a bad institution because it has a great residence hall, but it's a legitimate part of the decision-making process."

In a survey conducted by Lipman Hearne, the top factors for most high-achieving students in choosing a college are whether it has a strong program in the student's area of interest and its proximity to home. Out of 600 students surveyed, only 6 percent listed campus life as a top descision-making factor.

Some college-bound students say that marketing and image have little effect on their final choice.

"Most kids don't look for a school," said Drew Stallings, a senior at Peninsula Catholic High School in Newport, Va. "They already have an idea of where they want to go from talking to their parents or word of mouth from friends already in college."

Stallings will be a freshman at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., this fall. He believes most kids barely skim college brochures and end up tossing them. "I just wonder how many of these things they can send me," said Stallings. "It's not about marketing, you just walk on a campus and you know that it just feels right."

What Stallings may not realize is that many of the things you see on that first campus walk are part of the university's brand. A brand, according to Moore, is the promise of a certain experience. So even though many college-bound teens toss those brochures, campuses still have plenty of other ways to sell their particular college experience through dorms, gyms or even coffee shops.