ACUHO-I News Blog

At first, beer pong and Twitter may seem to be unrelated. But in this story, they get intertwined.

A student affairs pro was in Target, doing what we all do there–probably buying more than he planned– when he noticed a back-to-college display. Of beer pong supplies. Red Solo cups, ping-pong balls, and the table. All that was missing was the beer.  Disgusted, he took a picture, and posted it on Facebook. It was discussed, re-posted, and Tweeted by a colleague of his, Cindy Kane. She called Target out, using their Twitter username, and directed them to a blog post she wrote about it:

She got no response from Target.

Another student affairs pro, Eric Stoller, gave it a try:

No response.

Then Shel Israel, author of Twitterville, a book about business on Twitter, offered to assist Target (hint: REPLY), and Eric Stoller re-tweeted this.

Silence.

This post is how worlds collide; Target, beer pong, social media, and public relations, all coming together for this teachable moment.

As Israel puts it on his blog:

“Social media, it seems to me, is not an app. Nor is it a channel, or an outreach program. It is a communications tool set. The tools are not what is vital to the emerging modern enterprise. The communications is.”

Twitter is about communicating, and that word implies a back-and-forth exchange. Many companies seem to view social media as a way of broadcasting their message, but forget that it’s also a way to interact with consumers. Interaction takes more work but it’s a critical part of the process, and the impressions this makes on consumers can be huge. Obviously, there’s only so much Target can manage over Twitter, but as Kane put it:

“The Target corporation has 29,213 followers so I am quite sure they have a long column of @ Mentions. However, 65 mentions on the same topic should probably be worth noticing, even if over the weekend. This is a great example of why any organization should be monitoring their online brand. One response to my tweet at some point today may have helped to quell some of the dissatisfaction.”

If, as a company, you open a line of communication–such as Twitter–then neglect to respond to comments directed your way, the resulting annoyance is worse than if the Twitter option hadn’t been offered at all.

What communications options do you have for your students to “talk” with you, and how do you monitor these accounts to ensure prompt responses? Are there communications methods you haven’t adopted (or have abandoned) because you felt you couldn’t maintain a “presence”? Let us know.

Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York is trying to encourage its students to behave respectfully toward each other. In contrast, to Hinds Community College, which has rules prohibiting swearing and insubordination, Onodaga is hoping students will be considerate because it’s the right thing to do…and peer pressure.

Onondaga has recruited students to help them spread their message, branded as “Create Change.” They created a video about their expectations–don’t swear, don’t spit, don’t occupy more than one parking space–and posted it on YouTube. “Secret shopper” students distribute gift certificates to the campus coffee shop to their peers who are behaving considerately. The hope is  the campaign will become a student-centered initiative, with courtesy becoming, the norm. It’s common courtesy, one might say.

Has your campus or department attempted a similar program? How did it work? What were the challenges and what were the successes?

Here’s a handy chart to determine which social media tool you should use for specific goals. Based on your experiences, do you find this accurate?

Thanks to CMO.com, a website on maximizing marketing efforts through social media by Omniture, a subsidiary of Adobe.

Ever challenged with a new project – creating and implementing a style guide, recruiting new professional staff, or launching a branding campaign – and knew you remembered hearing about another institution that did something similar?

The ACUHO-I Marketing and Communications Committee recognizes the need for resources to be your fingertips. Fellow professionals and their experiences are invaluable resources. The ACUHO-I Online Resource Library will provide just that; a showcase of successful communication strategies among its members. Our hope is to share examples of the following types of publications: view books, brochures, on-line promotions, media advertisements, direct marketing collateral and much more. Each example, whether a design or campaign, can be labeled under specific topic areas such as staff recruitment, room selection, branding documents, job descriptions, and marketing campaigns.

Everyone has an experience to bring to the table. We need you to provide examples of your publications, campaigns, media strategies and more. If you have examples (and we know you do!) that you think would be helpful to your fellow professionals, please submit to the online library. The submission form can be found here. Please submit your submission form and electronic publication sample to mccresource@gmail.com. If you are submitting multiple publications, please submit separate e-mails for each piece and/or campaign. The deadline to submit material is March 1, 2010.

We look forward to reviewing your submissions and appreciate your time in providing details of your work and/or campaigns.

For universities concerned about filling beds, the returning student population has become an increasingly important target market. I recently read that “68 percent of customers will stop using services or fail to return if they feel unappreciated.” Our students are no exception to this statistic.

So do the posters, table tents, and newspaper ads I just spent the past few weeks working on and stressing over for our annual contract renewal campaign make a student feel appreciated? No, they don’t. Posters are useful, but on their own, they can’t build the brand affiliation you need to get students to return.

A successful marketing program is about more than the fliers you hang and the ad space you buy. Students who return are engaged in the community in which they live and feel appreciated. That means that marketing and res life must work hand in hand to ensure students are returning to use our services year after year.

Each encounter your department has with a student or parent is a piece of your marketing mix. Whether it’s when they call into the main office with a meal plan issue, when they attend a program, or when they read a marketing poster in the elevator – it’s all marketing and it all impacts the student’s decision to return.

To take your marketing program beyond a one-time campaign and fliers on the wall, take an inventory of each interaction a student may have with your department in any given week.  What type of impression would that interaction leave with you? How appreciated and encouraged to return would you feel? Taking stock can provide you with a great set of goals to help move your marketing to the next level.

We’ve all heard the statistic that one angry customer will badmouth your department to 10 or more people. Musician Dave Carroll seems to have hit a new record by telling more than 5.7 million people about his bad experience with United Airlines.

Dave and his band were traveling on United when, through the windows of the aircraft, they witnessed baggage handlers on the ground throwing their guitars. Dave discovered his beloved Taylor guitar was severely damaged and thus began a yearlong customer service saga with United, who ultimately refused to replace the instrument. Dave used his musical talents to fight back and uploaded the music video “United Breaks Guitars” to YouTube. The catchy song has become a huge hit that sucker punches United every time someone forwards it to a friend. Watch the video and you’ll be singing the tune and booking your next trip with anyone else.

Most of us would agree that any corporation could use Dave’s story as a case study on customer service and appropriately responding to complaints, but sadly, some housing officers fail to see the correlation to our business. Like any industry, housing professionals work with students who have a choice in where to spend their tuition and housing dollars.  That means these students are our customers. Dave’s experience with United provides us with an excellent opportunity to review how our departments handle upset customers – parents and students alike.

Now don’t think I’m proposing that our customer, the student, is always right. We all know that often the students are very much in the wrong and policies must be upheld.  However, we have to remember that we’re not perfect either – systems break down and sometimes employees make poor decisions. If we own our mistakes and focus on the student as a customer as opposed to someone who needs to be taught a lesson we can avoid a PR nightmare like United’s.

Dave was unmoved by United’s “too little, too late” compensation offer and released a follow up to his first video, poking fun of United’s line, “We’re sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.” and has promised a third video in the near future.

By focusing on customer service you’ll have students on YouTube singing your praises, instead of cursing your name. Does your customer service rock, or does it hit a sour note? Share your stories in the comment section.