Campus Campaigns That Work: How to Include Donor Stories in Your Marketing

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:07.190 You are listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals 2 00:00:07.230 --> 00:00:11.910 in higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student 3 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:16.230 recruitment, don'tor relations, marketing trends, new technologies and so much more. 4 00:00:16.989 --> 00:00:20.789 If you are looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, this 5 00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:30.539 podcast is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to the Higher 6 00:00:30.539 --> 00:00:35.060 Ed Marketer podcast. Will we encourage higher ed marketers that we admire to share 7 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:39.810 ideas and insights that other high ed markers can benefit from? I'm Troye singer 8 00:00:39.929 --> 00:00:45.090 and I'm here with my partnering creation, Bart Taylor, and this conversation we 9 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:52.520 have today is very dynamic and it's stem from a one hundred million dollar donation 10 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:56.520 to a school, but as we got into it, it is so much 11 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.640 more. Bart, can you tell us a little bit about our conversation we're 12 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:03.320 having today? Yeah, try, I'm very excited about this. This is 13 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:07.069 a a hundred million dollar campaign or a hundred million dollar gift is fascinating in 14 00:01:07.189 --> 00:01:10.989 and of itself, but just to see what they're doing at Kenyon College of 15 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:15.549 Ohio just is fascinating to me with everything, with their brand. It was 16 00:01:15.590 --> 00:01:19.980 a great pleasure to talk with Janet Marsden, she's the vice president of communications, 17 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:23.739 and then calling Garland, she's the VP for advancement, and just to 18 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:27.099 hear them both kind of talk about the way that they have, you know, 19 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:30.819 addressed this this large gift, as well as just the way that they're 20 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:34.090 kind of crafting the brand. And they do have such a good job of 21 00:01:34.209 --> 00:01:38.609 being articulate and being so thoughtful, and that's one of the things that I 22 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:42.849 would really encourage everyone to kind of listen for during this conversation. Well said, 23 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:48.040 Bart and without further ado, let's go into our conversation with Kaleen and 24 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:55.200 Janet. Our conversation today is what Janet Mardson, vice president for communications at 25 00:01:55.239 --> 00:02:00.280 Kenyon College, and Kalean Garland, vice president for advancement at Kenyon College. 26 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:06.950 Again today the topic is how canyon initially doubled down on their campus experience marketing 27 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:13.590 campaign to prospective students and alumni during the pandemic before diving in. Janet, 28 00:02:13.629 --> 00:02:15.740 could you give us a brief description of your all at Kenyon? Hi, 29 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:22.180 yeah, so I'm Janet Marsden. I'm the vice president for communications at Kenyon 30 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:27.419 and I'm responsible for the strategic positioning of Kenyon College, and so that means 31 00:02:27.460 --> 00:02:31.610 I oversee the communications to all of our constituencies, whether they're people who are 32 00:02:31.650 --> 00:02:36.569 just getting to know us, like prospective students and families, or people who 33 00:02:36.650 --> 00:02:42.090 knows very well, like our alumni and our current students, faculty and staff. 34 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:46.719 And I'm also thinking about communications to the the people who may only know 35 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:54.639 as a name, so the broader public. Overseeing website publications, social media, 36 00:02:54.680 --> 00:03:02.750 Alumni magazine and all of our media relations and crisis communications. Thank you, 37 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:07.710 Janet. Kaleen. Yes, so, I lead the advancement division at 38 00:03:07.909 --> 00:03:12.979 Kenyon. We make up but just close to forty professionals who work in development, 39 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:19.379 alumni and parent engagement. All of our advancement services, by a records, 40 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:24.060 anything relating to once you graduate and leave Kenyon falls in our lets. 41 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:30.210 Thank you, Kaleen. And to get into our conversation, the reason why 42 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:34.449 I first reached out to Kaleen because of an announcement of a one hundred million 43 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:38.250 dollar gift, which was the initial reason I said Hey, would love to 44 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:43.400 have you on the podcast, and then that conversation led to how this gift 45 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.960 was part of a bigger initiative and we should get Janet involved. So again, 46 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:52.680 with the help of Janet Kaleen, could you kind of tell us the 47 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:57.189 story about this amazing gift? Absolutely, it's an honor to get to tell 48 00:03:57.229 --> 00:04:00.990 the story. Anyone who works for our nonprofit of any kind dreams of an 49 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:04.349 opportunity like this. So and when a gift of this magnitude comes about, 50 00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:10.460 it's never about the solicitor or the ask it's about a partnership, and that 51 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:15.180 was definitely true in this case. This is a donor who has cared about 52 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:20.980 Kenyon for a very long time and really helped craft and understand our strategic priorities. 53 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:28.850 So while this gift ultimately is to fund new student construction new student housing, 54 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:33.889 it really is to a key strategic priority of the college to help us 55 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:39.959 enhance our student housing experience, and is Janet will get to a little bit 56 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:45.720 later. This is central to WHO Kenyon is. The experience all four years 57 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:49.959 on our campus, living and working together on the hill is an essential part. 58 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.189 It's not just about what happens in the classroom, it's about what happens 59 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:58.790 two seven when you're part of the Kenyon community. So we were just thrilled 60 00:04:58.949 --> 00:05:03.149 to see the gift come to fruition and the communication of the gift was a 61 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:09.060 little bit tricky because it gave us an opportunity not only to tell the story 62 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:14.220 of this amazing gift, but also to help our other donors see that their 63 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:18.259 gifts still mattered, that while a hundred million is a phenomenal gift, it 64 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:24.449 doesn't solve every single problem that any college or university has and we still we're 65 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:29.490 going to rely on other donors to help US support our students through students scholarships. 66 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:32.129 So it was a win win really for us to both tell the story 67 00:05:32.170 --> 00:05:35.680 of the donor but then also to continue to make the case of why gifts 68 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:40.399 at every level are important. That's great. I imagine that you know both 69 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.360 for you, Kaleen and Janet, the challenge of being able to tell the 70 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.319 story about the donor when they want to remain anonymous was probably a little bit 71 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:51.790 of a challenge as well. Tell us about that now, no question about 72 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:57.069 that. We always try to convince donors to share their their story, but 73 00:05:57.389 --> 00:06:00.470 we respect their wishes and in this case this is a donor who does not 74 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:02.230 want to be known, and we have quite a few donors who over that 75 00:06:02.269 --> 00:06:06.980 way and in many ways I really respect that, because they're putting the college 76 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:12.939 first and they're putting the purpose of the gift first and they're not caring so 77 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:16.300 much about attention to them. Are even many cases, you know, the 78 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:20.170 gratitude that we all feel to them. They don't necessarily want that kind of 79 00:06:20.250 --> 00:06:24.250 attention. I think that's great. And Janet, what what would you say 80 00:06:24.290 --> 00:06:27.930 about that? Well, I would add that to collings point about, you 81 00:06:28.009 --> 00:06:30.930 know, the challenge of having, and I don't like to talk about a 82 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:35.160 challenge of having a gift of this magnitude to have to celebrate, but but 83 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:40.399 that you you want to be able to acknowledge the role that other donors play 84 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:44.519 in this. And so in our communications we had the opportunity to bring in 85 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:48.949 other voices, so alumni who could reflect on their own experience on campus and 86 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:55.230 and and the this gift was going towards something that every alum could speak to 87 00:06:55.470 --> 00:07:00.949 what they're what their experience was in in on Kenyan's campus, and we were 88 00:07:00.029 --> 00:07:03.899 able to bring in student voices as well, and so I think that that 89 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:11.660 in some ways made it easier to show how expansive the the reach and the 90 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:16.050 role of this community plays and Kenyans Future, while we were able to celebrate 91 00:07:16.170 --> 00:07:19.889 this, this singular gift. That's great, because I I've worked with a 92 00:07:19.930 --> 00:07:25.129 lot of schools on capital campaigns and have served on a national campaign cabinet for 93 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:28.649 my Alma Mater, and you know that that particular campaign was a hundred and 94 00:07:28.649 --> 00:07:31.839 twenty five million dollar campaign over the course of six years. You mean, 95 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:36.319 you pretty much took care of all college campus campaign you know, with one 96 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.480 gift, and I know it didn't just happen overnight. I know that these 97 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:42.319 types of things take years and years and years and years in the making, 98 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:46.870 but congratulations on that and I do think that I want to kind of point 99 00:07:46.870 --> 00:07:49.189 out to our listeners that the strategy that you took is to make sure that 100 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:53.310 the other voices of the other diners were heard, because I think that that 101 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:56.629 I think that's so important. That I want everybody to understand is that just 102 00:07:56.750 --> 00:08:01.660 because you have a singular gift of great magnitude does not mean that you know 103 00:08:01.139 --> 00:08:05.259 you're taking care of for life that anything else. I mean you've got to 104 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:09.779 engage everyone else to make sure that they feel as equally a part with their 105 00:08:09.459 --> 00:08:13.209 you know, a hundred dollar gift. There, you know, tenzero yearly 106 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:18.329 gift or whatever it might be, because it is a part of a community 107 00:08:18.370 --> 00:08:20.370 and I think that's I think that's Kudos to you all for for doing that. 108 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:24.129 So congratulations. All right, I might say one more thing about that. 109 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:31.680 In addition to just knowing that intuitively, we had under taken a study 110 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.360 with a the group called the art and science group to really understand our our 111 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:41.669 constituency donor motivations, what was working, and so we knew that there was 112 00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:46.029 a risk and when associating a gift of this magnitude to that, somehow your 113 00:08:46.070 --> 00:08:50.309 other donors would sit on the sidelines and applaud but not necessarily see how it 114 00:08:50.429 --> 00:08:56.779 was impacting them. So that definitely informed our strategy and fortunately we had a 115 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:01.379 group that that met, including Janet, every other week for about nine months 116 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:05.659 trying to think through carefully, if this gift were to come to fruition the 117 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:09.210 way we were hoping, how would we be prepared to roll it out? 118 00:09:09.250 --> 00:09:13.289 So it's definitely a team effort to be prepared for the messaging. I think 119 00:09:13.330 --> 00:09:16.409 that's great because I think that you know, that gift puts Kenyon College in 120 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:22.610 a very elite club of very large, singular gifts to institutions and and you're 121 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:24.559 right, I think that, you know you do have run the risk of 122 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:28.159 your donor base thinking, oh well, they're like Harvard now, they don't 123 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:31.679 need my money, and that's not at all the case. That's not at 124 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:37.519 all. You know, they're the the you know, associating you with that 125 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:41.750 type of other institutions just not fair, and so I think that the way 126 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:45.909 that you did that, with with counsel and with with very strategic thinking, 127 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:48.950 I think is very well done and it's and again, it's one of those 128 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:52.429 things that, rather than just jumping around and high fiving everybody to say hey, 129 00:09:52.470 --> 00:09:54.740 look at this gift we got, you really thought it through a night 130 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:56.980 and I think that's well done. So thank you, yes, and thank 131 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:01.220 you for sharing the stories in the learnings that come with it. Wanted to 132 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:07.929 change gears and ask Janet about the brand campaign here on purpose, that you 133 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:13.370 had during the covid year. And I don't suppose the COVID post any problems 134 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:18.889 to that campaign. Did it now? None whatsoever. Troy, it was 135 00:10:18.049 --> 00:10:22.240 it was just like, you know, walk in the Park Covid, as 136 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:28.679 we all know, in this in this moment has has introduced some new things 137 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:33.960 to think about and and for us, yes, we were rolling out a 138 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:37.950 new brand strategy and really building on some tenants that had always been true. 139 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:43.269 That's what a good brand strategy is. And here on purposes are sort of 140 00:10:43.549 --> 00:10:46.870 central theme. And this came out of a set of market research that we 141 00:10:46.990 --> 00:10:52.899 did a couple of years ago, speaking both with prospective students and families, 142 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:58.179 current audience and alumni, so really a very comprehensive view on perceptions of Kenyon. 143 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:03.850 And we were rolling out a new visual identity, including a an updated 144 00:11:03.970 --> 00:11:11.610 logo mark, which in itself has no complications, and we were also launching 145 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:16.649 a new website, so an entire new site and developing a whole new suite 146 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:22.240 of admissions materials. and Boom, a pandemic lands and our lap. So, 147 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.960 putting aside the challenges of the work when you're managing a whole new flow 148 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:37.070 of communications, the the the idea of being able to focus on place, 149 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:41.750 the idea of being able to focus on connection and the relationships that happen here, 150 00:11:43.429 --> 00:11:46.980 which are two of our three pillars of our brand strategy, became quite 151 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:52.059 a challenge when you couldn't actually have people here on campus on purpose. We 152 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:56.779 were doing that purposely and you couldn't have people in a room talking with one 153 00:11:56.820 --> 00:12:01.809 another to be able to show that. So so when we were thinking about 154 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:07.889 how do we show the place, how do we celebrate the place, and 155 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:13.129 how do we start to make real and make visible these kinds of relationships, 156 00:12:13.210 --> 00:12:16.159 the attention that people give one another, we really had to get creative. 157 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.080 When we can go into you know, I can go into a lot of 158 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:22.799 detail about what we did, but but that was the set up. I 159 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:28.519 should add, though, that this gift that we started with was a huge 160 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.830 opportunity for us. When we think about place and we think about the the 161 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:39.269 important role of the residential experience at Canyon, we were able, from a 162 00:12:39.389 --> 00:12:45.019 messaging perspective, with that gift, to have a very to make a very 163 00:12:45.139 --> 00:12:50.899 bold statement about the value of the residential experience at Canyon and the investment in 164 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:54.259 that experience. You know, if you think about January of two thousand and 165 00:12:54.259 --> 00:13:00.769 twenty one, there were lots of conversations about the future of working in place, 166 00:13:00.809 --> 00:13:05.090 studying in place. Would we forever be remote? We didn't even know 167 00:13:05.210 --> 00:13:09.289 when the pandemic was going to end. So to be able to make a 168 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:13.080 statement at that moment that that, yes, we are doubling down on this, 169 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.720 we are investing in this, we have support in this, we celebrate 170 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:22.240 this. was a huge opportunity for us. I think the only challenge was 171 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:26.909 tone right. So the country was divided, the country, you know, 172 00:13:28.029 --> 00:13:33.789 people were dying, people were were tired. It was very, very hard 173 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:37.350 to think about, like how do you strike the right tone where you celebrate 174 00:13:39.149 --> 00:13:43.539 this, this good fortune, and yet you recognize the context in which people 175 00:13:43.539 --> 00:13:48.019 are living? So lots of lots of ways that covid played into a complicated 176 00:13:48.139 --> 00:13:52.299 messaging year. Yeah, that's great and I can even tell, just in 177 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:56.129 the way of your articulation of of that new brand that here on purpose, 178 00:13:56.769 --> 00:14:00.090 just how purposeful, I mean just in this conversation, how purposeful you're all 179 00:14:00.169 --> 00:14:03.929 doing everything that you're doing, how thoughtful and articulate you are with those types 180 00:14:05.009 --> 00:14:07.210 of things. And I find it interesting because I've got a lot of a 181 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:13.200 lot of our clients are similar, small to medium size privates that you know, 182 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:16.440 many of them are rural, and I think that you know you've got 183 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.080 to do some things, especially with the residential experience, to really be purposeful 184 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.639 in that strategy and I'm sure that's part of why the brand went to where 185 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.509 it was. Maybe tell us a little bit about that, because, I 186 00:14:24.549 --> 00:14:28.750 mean Kenyans is kind of in the middle of it's in the it's the middle 187 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:35.909 of everywhere. Okay, know, absolutely, I think you you're exactly right. 188 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:39.019 In fact. You know, when we think about Kenyon's distinctions, and 189 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:41.980 this came through in the data, right in the market research, one of 190 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:46.259 the things that we're that most stands out about us is where we are when 191 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:50.980 we look at ourselves compared to our peers. So many of our peers are 192 00:14:50.059 --> 00:14:54.210 coastal, so they're on the east coast or on the West Coast. Many 193 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:58.809 of our students come from those parts of the country. So when they're making 194 00:14:58.809 --> 00:15:03.769 a choice to come to Kenyon, there's it's almost like a badge of honors, 195 00:15:03.970 --> 00:15:07.159 like, Oh, all of my friends are going to these sets of 196 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.759 schools that are familiar, that are sort of in my backyard. I'm taking 197 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:16.759 a step out right, I'm I'm going to go a little off the beaten 198 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:22.429 path and and the reason I'm doing that is because everyone who lands at Kenyon 199 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:26.669 has made that choice. So it's very intentional it's very purposeful and it comes 200 00:15:26.789 --> 00:15:31.470 through and the kinds of interactions that people have. So so that was really 201 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:35.659 what was leading us to take this thing which, for some people, yes, 202 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:41.460 is a negative. It's certainly the thing that is most notable right when 203 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:45.659 you're just looking on paper, and let's turn that and show how it is 204 00:15:45.779 --> 00:15:48.019 a plus. You know, the other thing that was true for us is 205 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:54.769 that we had really, really strong marks from our faculty in terms of how 206 00:15:54.809 --> 00:16:00.529 they thought about the place and how they thought about their students and how they 207 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:03.009 thought about their colleagues in the work that they do here. It's it was 208 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:08.240 quite remarkable when you compare it to sort of other institutions. And how do 209 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:14.000 we turn that, this question of kind of faculty satisfaction, faculty, the 210 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:17.320 meaning that they have, how do you turn that into something that speaks to 211 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:22.269 the student experience? Is actually fairly easy to do that. And then the 212 00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:27.549 third was writing. Right and in Kenyan is long been known as a writer's 213 00:16:27.669 --> 00:16:32.860 college and for us we didn't want to pull away from that, but we 214 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:37.620 needed to make that umbrella bigger to be able to show how the way that 215 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:45.379 you think about the craft of expressing your ideas right is actually what makes you 216 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:48.970 a good thinker. Right. So so good writing is good thinking. So 217 00:16:48.090 --> 00:16:52.129 that's where we landed when we were thinking about brand strategy. It's great. 218 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:56.450 I I also kind of want to point out to some of the listeners too, 219 00:16:56.529 --> 00:16:59.250 that you're using a lot of the institutional data, you know, the 220 00:16:59.289 --> 00:17:03.160 faculty surveys, the alumni surveys, you know, maybe even, you know, 221 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:10.319 other surveys with students and graduates, using that data to inform your brand 222 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.000 decisions, and I think that's so, so critical. I think a lot 223 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.269 of schools fail to realize that. You know, they're their institutional data and 224 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:22.509 assessment office probably has some data that can be utilized by marketers, that can 225 00:17:22.549 --> 00:17:26.829 be utilized for communications and and again, doing that on purpose, being purposeful 226 00:17:26.950 --> 00:17:32.220 in that, I think is is very good and to serve some Kudos, 227 00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:34.859 and that so great. Thank you to both of you. I know that 228 00:17:36.339 --> 00:17:40.660 in terms of marketing the campus to both perspective, students into alumni, where 229 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:45.410 customarily you promoted and relied on people to come on campus. Please share some 230 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:49.410 of the learnings or the mindset changes that you had to go through over the 231 00:17:49.490 --> 00:17:53.809 past year and how you've accomplished though them. Clean. Do you want to 232 00:17:53.849 --> 00:17:59.640 start, because the the impact on alumni programming was really, really powerful. 233 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:03.359 Yeah, I'm happy to share what we did. So first I'd say, 234 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.160 you know, we've always had a very strong peer network and so we were 235 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:14.190 able to tap the peer to peer volunteer network pretty powerfully. We shifted, 236 00:18:14.349 --> 00:18:18.670 as almost every organization did, to a lot of virtual programming. The piece, 237 00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:22.190 I would say, that became very apparent, though, was just the 238 00:18:22.269 --> 00:18:26.140 importance of video and the increase use of video and photography because, as we've 239 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:32.500 been talking about, like the place is so powerful and when alumnic see photos 240 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:37.819 and images it immediately brings them back, it tugs it an emotional connection to 241 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.890 the place and where that in ways that words alone can't. So we did 242 00:18:41.049 --> 00:18:47.289 indeed increase our use of video for things like this big gift announcement, which 243 00:18:47.329 --> 00:18:51.130 of course we couldn't do in person, but other things that we did as 244 00:18:51.170 --> 00:18:56.200 well in terms of we renamed our big Athletic Center for a very beloved and 245 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.920 wellknown alumnus. That was all done through the use of video and so we 246 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:07.000 tried to really, as Janet said in the beginning, appropriately share good news 247 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.710 but in the context of what was going on in the world and that required 248 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:18.470 just what felt like a near constant pivoting and adjusting and, you know, 249 00:19:18.630 --> 00:19:22.390 waiting till the last minute to make sure everything was just right to that moment 250 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:27.619 when it was going to be released. But but we certainly have not let 251 00:19:27.779 --> 00:19:33.500 go of the fact that the place is important. But the virtual programming allowed 252 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:37.900 us to expand some opportunities. So, you know, the relationships that Kenyan 253 00:19:37.940 --> 00:19:44.250 students form with their faculty is really something special and we've had for out of 254 00:19:44.289 --> 00:19:47.930 twenty years something called learning in the company of Friends, where one or two 255 00:19:47.930 --> 00:19:52.410 faculty members may go out on the road for events with alumni. Well, 256 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:56.920 suddenly we could do those virtually and they were available to a much broader audience. 257 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:02.839 So we've actually been connecting with people in brand new ways that would not 258 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:04.759 have been able to make it because we didn't come to their city, but 259 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:11.789 now suddenly they could tune in virtually and hear from a beloved professor talk about 260 00:20:11.789 --> 00:20:15.789 a topic that they care about. So there have been many bright spots in 261 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:19.549 what what in my division we keep calling the pandemic potential, trying to look 262 00:20:19.589 --> 00:20:23.339 at the upside of what is possible instead of just what was taken away. 263 00:20:23.579 --> 00:20:30.500 I like that. That's great. Why would I would echo Allen's in terms 264 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:33.819 of video, you know, certainly as we're thinking about sort of our other 265 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:37.369 main audience, which is prospective students. You know, one of the the 266 00:20:38.130 --> 00:20:42.170 one of our strategies that has always been is to get them to campus right, 267 00:20:42.250 --> 00:20:45.809 to get them to visit campus. And and this is true of most 268 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:51.000 institutions, that the campus is, it is a high conversion moment, and 269 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:56.519 it's certainly true for Canyon. And so last spring, when that option became 270 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:02.079 not an option, we had to quickly, you know, sort of double 271 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:07.069 up on our our our video collections, and we had always had a you 272 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:11.069 know, a sort of a respectable virtual tour, but it was photo driven. 273 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:15.309 And so the first thing we did was to mine our our be roll 274 00:21:15.509 --> 00:21:19.299 and our video collection and put together a series of what we were calling you 275 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:22.380 serve in a minute, so mental path in a minute, gift, you 276 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:26.460 know, places on campus in a minute, and and to edit those that 277 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:32.140 footage so that you could get a sense of the beauty of this place. 278 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:36.849 And then the second thing we did was to invest in some three hundred and 279 00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:41.210 sixty videos and and worked very closely to develop a version of that that that 280 00:21:41.329 --> 00:21:48.400 people could sort of watch on their own, but another version that our admissions 281 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:53.000 counselors and our tour guides could do in real time with a prospective students. 282 00:21:53.039 --> 00:22:00.119 So thinking about repurposing that investment so that it would work for multiple purposes and 283 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:04.670 to do that in close collaboration with the people who would be using them. 284 00:22:06.309 --> 00:22:10.430 And then the third, which is the most delightful and fun, is, 285 00:22:10.829 --> 00:22:17.420 you know, we had been planning to do this series that had students and 286 00:22:17.500 --> 00:22:22.380 faculty and conversation. That would be this way to show the kind of attention 287 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:26.259 in the kind of relationships. We couldn't get them in a obviously in a 288 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:30.049 room together right. So we had to pivot, and maybe I'm going to 289 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:37.009 call it the pandemic pivot is my coin of terms, that we started working 290 00:22:37.089 --> 00:22:41.369 in animation for the for us that was for the first time, and we 291 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:48.480 had interviews via zoom and then we had an animator using our new visual sort 292 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:53.759 of identity to a set of animations that kind of brought them to life and 293 00:22:53.839 --> 00:23:02.230 they really captured the the diversity, the the kind of the very unique human 294 00:23:02.309 --> 00:23:08.470 quality of Kenyan students and they were just delicious and we're able to launch those 295 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:14.259 on our admitted student website. So we wouldn't we probably wouldn't have gone down 296 00:23:14.259 --> 00:23:18.140 the road of animation if we could have gotten people in a room and and 297 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:22.619 had a different kind of video. Yeah, I I caught a little bit 298 00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:25.500 of the animation on the home page of your website and I don't know if 299 00:23:25.579 --> 00:23:29.170 the other ones are similar to that, but I was just really blown away 300 00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:30.609 by that. I think that, you know, and I would encourage the 301 00:23:30.650 --> 00:23:33.970 listeners to go to Kenyon dot e to you to just kind of take a 302 00:23:33.009 --> 00:23:37.809 look at that, because I often talk about, you know, different ways 303 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:41.410 to get attention, especially of generation Z, and you've got to be really 304 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:45.319 creative. You know, they spend eight hours a day on Youtube. They're 305 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:48.160 used to a lot of, you know, authentic and, you know, 306 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:53.200 kind of different types of video. They've got a very discerning eye toward things 307 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:59.190 and I think to do something like these animations that are unique and different and 308 00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:03.670 and and classy but yet still kind of quirky, I really think that's a 309 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:07.789 nice way to do that and one of the questions I wanted to ask you 310 00:24:07.829 --> 00:24:11.500 as a follow up on all this video that you've been doing. A lot 311 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:14.980 of schools will ask me and they'll say, well, I encourage them to 312 00:24:15.019 --> 00:24:17.660 do video, you know, as part of their content marketing strategy. We'll 313 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:19.779 talk about let's make sure we do video, let's talk about different ways to 314 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:22.019 do video, and they're like, well, we really don't have the budget 315 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:26.769 to hire a big video firm. I'm guessing that you looked at some different 316 00:24:26.769 --> 00:24:30.970 ways to do video. I mean you didn't. You weren't bringing in crews 317 00:24:30.009 --> 00:24:33.769 from Columbus and Cleveland do to do your videos? I mean, tell us 318 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:37.089 a little bit about that. Well, that is an interesting question, because 319 00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:42.279 we were in the middle of a search for videographer and a video producer when 320 00:24:42.359 --> 00:24:48.799 the pandemic hit and we actually were not able to fill that position. So 321 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:52.309 if there are any great video producers who want to do amazing work, please, 322 00:24:52.589 --> 00:24:56.509 please come apply to can and we're looking for a talented people. But 323 00:24:56.670 --> 00:25:02.950 we had the benefit of having one a really great collection on hand, so 324 00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:07.500 we could mind some of that and we had relationships with a couple of independent 325 00:25:07.539 --> 00:25:15.500 video producers who we burned working with for many years, and so the fruits 326 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:18.940 of that collaboration. That would be the thing that I would say is that 327 00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:22.009 you don't necessarily have to have it all in house. You don't necessarily have 328 00:25:22.170 --> 00:25:26.849 to hire a kind of fancy big firm. We it wasn't part of a 329 00:25:26.970 --> 00:25:32.849 package that we put together with our as part of a brand strategy or a 330 00:25:32.930 --> 00:25:37.519 big break roll out. We really found the the partners who were best in 331 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:41.799 class at what they did. So, whether it was video or whether it 332 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:48.880 was print publications or whether it was magazine, we and we were the glue. 333 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.589 We were the same and I think that actually helps right like that helps 334 00:25:52.710 --> 00:26:00.549 us have it's more generative in terms of creative work. You get the benefit 335 00:26:00.589 --> 00:26:03.740 of outside perspective, but you also have a kind of responsibility to be the 336 00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:07.339 glue. And so then when we're working with KALEEN's team and we're working with 337 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:11.740 our admissions team, that there's it's embedded, it's not it's not a kind 338 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:18.539 of added distance kinds of collaboration. So so that I would recommend that. 339 00:26:18.130 --> 00:26:21.930 I like that. It's kind of like an internal agency type of feel where 340 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:26.690 you're pulling in the different resources to put that together for your vision and I 341 00:26:26.809 --> 00:26:30.289 think that's a really good approach to that and I think even you know I'm 342 00:26:30.289 --> 00:26:33.480 going to make a little bit of a note here because a lot of our 343 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.119 listeners have listened to some of my presentations and I have a presentation about marketing 344 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:41.599 on a shoestring budget. And this three hundred sixty degree cameras that you're talked 345 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:45.319 about that maybe your admissions team is used for live and I'm not sure which 346 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:48.710 ones you're using, but those are those are not beyond reach for most colleges 347 00:26:48.789 --> 00:26:52.509 and most departments. I mean, you know, under under three or four 348 00:26:52.509 --> 00:26:55.710 hundred dollars on Amazon you can get a Nice Rico three hundred and sixty degree 349 00:26:55.710 --> 00:26:59.829 camera that put it on a selfiestick and be able to do some nice videos 350 00:26:59.869 --> 00:27:02.539 that k quality. You can post to Youtube and I'm sure that those are 351 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:03.420 some of the things that you did in addition to, you know, some 352 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:07.660 of the additional things. But again, I'm just trying to let everybody know 353 00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:12.180 that this strategy that Kenyon has done with video, it's it's accessible and and 354 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:15.609 you know it, just like most people will understand that I can find a 355 00:27:15.690 --> 00:27:19.450 freelance graphic designer, you can find freelance videographers to that can do a lot 356 00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:23.130 of the same types of things that you need to do so great. Thank 357 00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:26.170 you for letting me kind of encourage everyone with that, JANA. Of course, 358 00:27:26.609 --> 00:27:30.640 usually at this time when we're winding down, I ask for something additional 359 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:36.039 that people can take away, but kind of feel guilty because both of you 360 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:40.319 have shared so much, but I'm still going to do it. So, 361 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:44.000 Janet, will start with you and then fall with Kaleen. Is there an 362 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:47.950 idea, maybe something that you're thinking of doing, something that you recently read 363 00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:52.309 or a secret that you don't mind sharing that's work for you that marketer or 364 00:27:52.470 --> 00:27:57.859 someone listening could apply right away or within the next few days, the few 365 00:27:57.940 --> 00:28:03.460 weeks. You have anything, any tidbits, secrets you can share? Sure 366 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:07.579 I I will maybe point to one of the things that we did in our 367 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:14.849 web redesign a turn. We just have a terrific web strategist on staff and 368 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:18.289 a great partner that we worked with, and so she looked very carefully at 369 00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:22.130 all the analytics, making decisions about what content stays, what you know, 370 00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:29.440 how do we think about our architecture? And she was noticing the about section 371 00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:33.240 right, and she so beautifully put it. She's like it's the junk drawer 372 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:38.279 of Kenyon, right. So everything that you didn't know where else to put 373 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:42.150 that. The you know, is a new initiative that that kind of didn't 374 00:28:42.190 --> 00:28:48.349 yet have a home got put into the about section and and she's, she's 375 00:28:48.390 --> 00:28:49.990 like, and it gets traffic right. So that's where people go when there's 376 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:56.380 sort of starting out. So she reimagined. We don't. We no longer 377 00:28:56.460 --> 00:29:00.779 have an about section it on the Canyon Web site. We have news section 378 00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:06.900 that is very pointedly to prospective students of poor can't explore canyon, and it 379 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:12.289 really allows us to put forward our sort of brand messages in a way that 380 00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:15.970 it comes at a place where people are looking for that kind of top level 381 00:29:17.049 --> 00:29:22.210 view. It allows us to for people to Browse, you know, via 382 00:29:22.490 --> 00:29:26.720 looking at photos or looking at if you just want the numbers. And what 383 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.759 we found is in doing that. So the cleaning out of the junk drawer, 384 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:36.599 we increase the clicks from our home page to that section of the website 385 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:41.829 thirty seven percent. So so my tip is open the junk drawers. Keep 386 00:29:41.869 --> 00:29:45.430 them because they're important. They were there place that people want to go when 387 00:29:45.470 --> 00:29:48.630 they don't quite know where to go to look for something. But just make 388 00:29:48.670 --> 00:29:53.460 sure when they open that drawer, that they find something that is is what 389 00:29:53.579 --> 00:29:56.259 they're looking for and that it tells the story that you want to tell. 390 00:29:57.099 --> 00:30:00.539 That's great. I really like that and I was looking at the site while 391 00:30:00.539 --> 00:30:04.660 we were talking and that's a great solution, Kalan. So I do to 392 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:10.730 say it's hard to choose one thing because our team has worked so hard to 393 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:17.490 really just tap into incredible amounts of creativity and resourcefulness, and that's happened all 394 00:30:17.529 --> 00:30:18.970 across campus. So I think we all have a lot to be proud of. 395 00:30:19.089 --> 00:30:22.799 So the one I'll talk about perhaps will speak more to the fundraisers and 396 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.599 the audience and the marketer, so I apologize for that. But what we've 397 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:33.559 learned is that when you have an existing relationship with a person, it is 398 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:38.150 quite possible to maintain and move forward in that relationship through virtual means. I 399 00:30:38.230 --> 00:30:44.750 mean we've had a very meaningful conversations onto that have not inhibited in any way, 400 00:30:45.349 --> 00:30:49.619 but trying to cultivate a new relationship through virtual environment is much more difficult. 401 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:53.579 And one of the things that we started very early on, I think 402 00:30:53.619 --> 00:30:59.380 our first session was maybe an April of twenty, was something we called the 403 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:07.170 Kenyon insider series, where we've continued these quarterly but we in invited our major 404 00:31:07.289 --> 00:31:12.049 gift donors and perspective donors to these insider events where it was a special invitation. 405 00:31:12.730 --> 00:31:18.329 They got a follow up phone call from a development officer personally inviting them, 406 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:22.400 and we've done everything from, you know, sort of a insider look 407 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:27.759 at the brand new library that's under construction to having a couple faculty members on 408 00:31:27.839 --> 00:31:33.509 a panel and hearing about how are they teaching a lab course and a virtual 409 00:31:33.589 --> 00:31:37.150 environment like you know, how in the world is this even working, to 410 00:31:37.710 --> 00:31:42.789 how our students being affected and particularly with the George Floyd murder and what was 411 00:31:42.910 --> 00:31:48.059 happening with the tension on campus and the heartbreak on campus, and we were 412 00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:52.420 able to sort of open up a window to some key insiders that were important 413 00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:57.779 to us and we found that we had major donors in prospects who won live 414 00:31:57.779 --> 00:32:01.369 an out of the way areas, so not in the typical cities that we 415 00:32:01.529 --> 00:32:05.849 travel to all the time, who we didn't know at all, who were 416 00:32:05.890 --> 00:32:10.569 tuning in regular and staying on for the whole hour and really engaging in the 417 00:32:10.930 --> 00:32:17.720 content. So that was probably our most effective way of being able to cultivate 418 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:22.839 a relationship with a new person who could get intrigued by what they heard in 419 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:29.279 that hour long presentation and then be open to a oneonone conversation with a gift 420 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:34.630 officer. That's that is something that has worked well and is just one example 421 00:32:34.789 --> 00:32:38.549 of something that we will continue post pandemic because, well, it certainly will 422 00:32:38.549 --> 00:32:44.069 do things in person. There are audiences that we've been able to reach through 423 00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:47.779 virtual means that we would never been able to reach only an in person events. 424 00:32:49.180 --> 00:32:53.579 Thank you, Klein, so impactful, both the last two secrets that 425 00:32:53.700 --> 00:32:59.130 you gave us and then everything that you've shared over our time together today. 426 00:32:59.650 --> 00:33:04.089 And for those who would like to reach you, especially if there's a great 427 00:33:04.170 --> 00:33:07.890 videographer out there, how would they get in touch with the both of you? 428 00:33:07.970 --> 00:33:10.009 Kalen, if you would start. Yeah, my my email is the 429 00:33:10.210 --> 00:33:15.039 best way. It's just garland one, the number one. So I'm lucky 430 00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.000 to be one of the first garlands. I guess at Kenyon that I get 431 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:22.200 the number one, but garland one at Kenyon, dot eedu. Thank you, 432 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:27.349 Janet, and and I'm very, very similar. I'm Marsden one, 433 00:33:27.509 --> 00:33:32.710 so that Mrs then one at Kenyon. Dott EU. Thank you both. 434 00:33:32.910 --> 00:33:37.789 Again for your wisdom in and you have time that you've generously given us. 435 00:33:37.230 --> 00:33:42.259 Barn't any parting thoughts. I just want to you know again, Echo, 436 00:33:42.380 --> 00:33:47.140 and thank you both for your graciousness and sharing and again congratulations on not only 437 00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:51.660 the gift but also just the success that you've been doing with them, with 438 00:33:51.819 --> 00:33:57.170 your with your communications, in your marketing and just living living out that here 439 00:33:57.250 --> 00:34:00.009 on purpose. I can tell that even in our conversation here, of how 440 00:34:00.049 --> 00:34:05.529 apropos that brand is. So thank you again both for being here and looking 441 00:34:05.569 --> 00:34:08.329 forward to kind of following Kenyon going forward. Thank you for having us, 442 00:34:08.610 --> 00:34:14.760 our pleasure. And now for a commercial. The High Ed Marketer podcast is 443 00:34:14.840 --> 00:34:19.960 sponsored by Taylor solutions and education, marketing and branding agency and by Think, 444 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:23.670 patented, a marketing, execution, printing, mailing and provider of higher it 445 00:34:23.789 --> 00:34:28.789 solutions. On behalf of of my cohost, Bart Taylor, I'm troy singer. 446 00:34:29.269 --> 00:34:34.949 Thank you for joining us. You've been listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. 447 00:34:35.710 --> 00:34:37.980 To ensure that you never miss an episode, subscribe to the show in 448 00:34:38.099 --> 00:34:43.900 your favorite podcast player. If you're listening with apple podcasts. 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