Eduvantis is doing double-overtime these days working to make sure we have the data, insights and tools to help our clients make clear strategic use of the maze of social media platforms, tools, channels whatever else will be coming at all of us next week.  Further, our work is focusing on making sure we have tools to create integrated dashboards–of direct relevance to specific strategic marketing objectives–so that something can actually be accomplished by all of this activity.  Toward this end, please take a moment to look at this article.  It says it all…….

http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-marketing-landscape-complicated-2012-5

As we analyze the executive education landscape for our clients, increasingly we are compelled to look “out of category” at a new breed of aggressive providers from outside of the traditional academic enterprise.  While these products are still positioning themselves as “complementary” or in some way supportive of the traditional academic product, it is no doubt just a matter of time until a more direct assault on the core target audience will emerge.  This is yet another competitive challenge to the traditional executive education industry.   These well-resourced enterprises, with significant knowledge-creation capacity and ownership of important channels will be become real options for individuals seeking information and, ultimately, meaningful “credentials.”

The following links offer a good introduction to this new landscape.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/69792568-996d-11e1-948a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1v2YLeaXX

http://www.mbagym.com/

Higher education gets more interesting by the minute.  Will this accelerate the online revolution?  Yes.  We see it everyday in our work with clients at all levels in the market, as institutions work to find the “right way” to deliver their online content, engage with stakeholders through social media and do everything else digital.  This development is a powerful indicator that the rules and “business models” that work are about to change again.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/the-x-factor/46395

Ted Snyder is attempting to push boundaries again, literally, at the Yale School of Management. It remains to be seen what actually results from the new (about to be launched this week) Global Network for Advanced Management. But the stated intent and structure caught our eye at Eduvantis as at the least a fresh idea around enhancing global management education. If successful in achieving the rather ambitious set of stated objectives (ok, extremely ambitious), it could potentially be a catalyst to shake up the now standard-issue partnership model for providing “global” management education.

The attached link from the SOM website offers more information–we recommend also looking at the brief “white paper” document in the “mission” section of the GNAM web site (linked in the news release) for a longer-play version of the story.

http://mba.yale.edu/news_events/CMS/Articles/7580.shtml

Interesting piece just posted in the WSJ about Wharton’s new branding effort.  I left the following comment.

As long as I have studied business schools I think that Wharton has certainly been associated with high quantitative rigor and certainly “knowledge.” It’s deep investment in the “Knowledge at Wharton” franchise certainly went a long way toward helping the school more directly associate with that infinitely large and diffuse idea. In this sense, the “re-branding” effort is a sensible attempt to draw an even closer association with the idea in the mind of the marketplace. What remains to be seen in all of management education is whether these kinds of efforts ultimately matter. Not because “branding” is a superficial exercise–it most certainly isn’t, but the deeper question is: Does this or that approach actually give the institution a competitive advantage? Has it changed its product or experience in ways that reflect real differentiated value creation for its stakeholders? Is it keeping up with the massive disruption going on in education through technology? (and about 20 more core related questions). There is a lot of discussion of “competition” in this piece. It seems obvious that all of management education is facing a lot more competition than just comparing themselves against a few top schools. Competition is coming to business schools from a lot more directions than just the “traditional top.” It will be interesting to see the results of this campaign in truly generating competitive advantage for this already strong “brand.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304750404577322082050381566.html

The Eduvantis team is excited to escape the Chicago cold and head to Tampa this week to attend the annual AACSB Building B-School Symposium. We will be presenting on Tuesday March 6^th on “The Value of Online Relationships,” with a particular focus on how to leverage online relationships to gain a competitive advantage.

Due to social media fatigue and increasingly discerning audiences, institutions are trying to cut through the clutter and find new ways to engage their communities. In addition to those challenges, a majority of higher education institutions are using top down social media strategies that make it difficult to provide value and address the unique needs of their various stakeholder groups.

At Eduvantis we are helping institutions address these challenges and find strategic ways to create and leverage value in their social networks. In the presentation, Grant Sabatier our VP Digital Strategy will argue that social media strategy needs to evolve and institutions need to focus on developing stronger “online relationships” that provide a deeper, more meaningful level of value for both stakeholders and institutions.

The presentation will also outline the four elements of a successful online relationship and the five things institutions need to know to leverage their social networks in brand value creation.

As part of our social media strategy work, we thought it might be interesting (and instructive) to identify the top online influencers among the business school dean set.  With the right balance of frequency, content, images, and conversation, these deans strategically connect with their stakeholders.  They push big ideas, entertaining stories, and have a knack for sparking conversations.  One thing they all have in common – they are attempting to provide value through link sharing, resource sharing, and interactive conversations.  (Later, we will focus on measuring what value is actually being created.  Stay tuned).

Angel Cabrera

President, Thunderbird School of Global Management

http://twitter.com/CabreraAngel

Type of Tweeter: The Conversation Starter

When Angel Cabrera becomes the new President of George Mason University this summer, they will be gaining a prolific social media influencer. Angel Cabrera tweets more than any other Dean and contributes a wide variety of content to his followers. Both the volume and interesting variety of his messages keep followers very engaged.

According to Klout, a service that measures influence online, from October to December 2011, Angel Cabrera was re-tweeted over 1,900 times and was mentioned 618 times on Twitter. In December alone he received over 400 new followers and there are great reasons – he is very active on Twitter, often commenting on multiple posts a days, sharing stories, recommending books, links, and mentioning engaging in multiple personal conversations. With over 5,355 tweets and 3,114 followers, Angel Cabrera has a “true reach” – the number of people you influence, both within your immediate network and across their extended networks, of over 3000. That is an incredible amount of people. This means that over 3000 twitter users re-tweet, comment, or share the content in his posts. The top 5 topics where he is an influencer include – Education, Entrepreneurship, Business, Job Search, and Technology.

Rich Lyons

Dean, Berkeley-Haas School of Business

https://twitter.com/richlyons

Type of Tweeter: The Friend/The Inspirer

We know Rich Lyons is an engaging speaker in person, and he carries his passion and diverse knowledge onto social networks. What sets Rich Lyons apart is the personal and conversational nature of his tweets – he is often telling his followers where he is, what he is doing, and who he is connecting with. Dean Lyons comes across as a guy you would want as a dinner companion.  According to Klout, a service that measures influence online, from October to December 2011, Rich Lyons was re-tweeted over 1,300 times and was mentioned 188 times on Twitter. With 1,269 tweets and 3,364 followers, Rich Lyons has a “true reach” – the number of people you influence, both within your immediate network and across their extended networks, of 900. The top 5 topics where he is an influencer include – MBA, Berkeley, Academics, Internet Startups, and Digital Media.

Bob Bruner

Dean, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

https://twitter.com/bob_bruner

Type of Tweeter: The Self-Promoter

Recently named Poet and Quant’s Business School Dean of the Year for 2011, Bob Bruner is an active and engaging tweeter. Often beginning his posts with “good read” or “interesting read,” a majority of his tweets are links to content he has recently read or his own blog posts. While his tweeting strategy doesn’t start many conversations, he appears to be a trusted source who chooses the content he shares wisely. According to Klout, a service that measures influence online, from October to December 2011, Bob Bruner was re-tweeted 602 times and was mentioned 110 times on Twitter. With 1,580 tweets and 2,146 followers, Bob Bruner has a “true reach” – the number of people you influence, both within your immediate network and across their extended networks, of 530. The top 5 topics where he is an influencer include – MBA, Internet Startups, Forbes, Social Media, and Business.

Jim Dean

Dean, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School

https://twitter.com/#!/DeanJimDean

Type of Tweeter: The Motivator

Jim Dean is a consistent tweeter who focuses on sharing information about both UNC and his personal interests. He is a good example of a dean using social media to engage with people personally.  Out of all our deans he can be labeled as the best social media motivator – he is consistently motivating his followers through sharing inspirational links, stories, and ideas. Although Jim Dean has fewer followers and is less “influential” than the other deans who made our list, it was both the tone of his messages and personal nature of his communication that got our attention.

According to Klout, a service that measures influence online, from October to December 2011, Jim Dean was re-tweeted 383 times and was mentioned 89 times on Twitter. With 1,145 tweets and 1,800 followers, Jim Dean has a “true reach” – the number of people you influence, both within your immediate network and across their extended networks, of 321. The top 5 topics where he is an influencer include – UNC, Internet Startups, Business, Agriculture, and Chapel Hill.

Takeaways from the Leaders

1. Use your own regular voice and be yourself. Social network users appreciate genuine personal reactions and responses. If you are sharing an article say why you are sharing it.  You should, well, have a point.

2. Be consistent – You don’t have to tweet everyday, but it is important to maintain engagement.  Make sure you recognize and respond to people who mention you.  Do regular searches for @YourTwitterName to see who is talking to and about you.

3. Link to a blog or your bio page on your institution’s website.

4. Have a designed Twitter landing page that conveys your institutional affiliation. Make sure the design is coherent and represents your core brand assets.

5. Participate in conversations and contribute a wide variety of content…news articles, updates on events, and as you are comfortable some personal reactions as well.  Blend self-promotion (not a crime), institutional promotion, link sharing, and personal anecdotes.

6. Use and monitor institutional hash tags and encourage their use on your campus.  This helps you keep track of relevant conversations related to your institution and topics of interest. Examples: #kenanflagler, #MBA, #Thunderbird

Today’s Financial Times features a dramatic symbol of a prominent, strategic western presence by Beijing-based Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.  This is a first-of–a-kind foray into Europe and North America by one of the top business schools in China. Eduvantis was pleased to work with CKGSB to determine the best strategy and expression to support this new presence.

Given the need to feed China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for savvy, home-grown management talent, it’s no surprise to see a dramatic increase of successful Chinese business schools. CKGSB understood that the unique nature of their offerings—utilizing a faculty network and student population of some of China’s top business leaders and entrepreneurs, could also give them a competitive advantage when competing for students, reputation and mindshare beyond China.

The challenge for Eduvantis was to find a compelling approach to positioning CKGSB as ‘the ultimate China insider’ in management education beyond their Chinese customer base— only by rubbing shoulders with some of the top Chinese business leaders, can you truly know the nature of business in the world’s fastest growing global economy. Competing for attention among the endless array of western-based business school advertising requires a more imaginative, creative approach. First, Eduvantis developed the tag-line  ‘Know What’s Next’ as an expression of the true nature of the CKGSB value-proposition. The essence of that value is captured in three short, memorable words devoid of typical business jargon. Secondly, incorporating bold and dramatic commissioned backdrop illustrations expresses the perfect East-meets-West stylings and sets the advertising apart.  The illustrations support headlines that present clever, personal audience ‘readiness’ challenges:  “Ready for the Great Wall Street?”; and “Ready for China 3.0?”. Finally, the ‘Know What’s Next’ phrase can remain the core expression of the CKGSB value even as the campaign evolves over the long-term.

To see a more detailed view of the feature click here.

To see more from the CKGSB campaign please visit: http://www.eduvantis.com/creative/

At Eduvantis we are constantly monitoring social media trends in order to provide our clients with a clear understanding of how to leverage social networks and use them to gain a competitive advantage. Social media and online communications are evolving rapidly and are increasingly complex, so we focus on providing clarity for the decision making process. Through a rigorous analysis of social media strategies from both inside and outside of higher education, we are able to sort through the clutter and give our clients the information that can help them be more competitive.

Based on our research and monitoring we have compiled our top 5 higher education social media trends for 2012. Institutions should focus on integrating these ideas into their social media discussions and strategies next year. Embrace these and your institution will be one step ahead of the competition.

1. Social Media Metrics and ROI – In 2012, as the stakes get higher and competition more intense, institutions will need to focus on strategic social media management and using hard metrics to measure social media ROI. Over the past few years, institutions have been experimenting with different tactics and measuring value in followers and “likes”, but as more institutions develop strategic social media plans that connect directly to their core business goals, creativity will no longer be enough.

2. The Social Campus – All of the social interactions surrounding your institution are part of your “social campus”.  The content sharing, tweeting, re-tweeting, “likes”, and posts are connecting your institution’s stakeholders. In order to grow and foster engagement within these communities the “social campus” needs to be managed strategically. This task goes beyond social media management that is often tactically based, because the conversations extend across channels, platforms, and even offline. Think of all the online connections at your institution as the foundation of your “social campus” and find strategic ways to support and utilize those connections.

3. Social Media Community Leaders – As more stakeholders engage in online conversations, it will be critical for institutions to empower students and key stakeholders to manage and support online communities. Leveraging the power of these key stakeholders (alumni, current students, and faculty) will help manage volume as well as quality – allowing key stakeholder groups to connect with others in similar positions.

4. Location, Location, Location – In 2012 there will be more connections between online and the physical campus. The role of location based platforms have just started to make an impact in higher education, but institutions are still struggling with how to utilize location based social media applications like Foursquare. Location based applications let students interact directly with your physical campus through their mobile devices. Geo-location will continue to become more of a driver on campuses as physical campuses are connected to the “social campus”. Gowalla, another location based application was recently acquired by Facebook, so expect Facebook to further develop their location based services. Check out foursquare for universities by clicking here.

5. Learning Management and Social Media – In 2012, learning management systems like Blackboard and OpenClass will continue to develop social media and social integration capabilities. Content sharing, collaboration, and online learning initiatives will be driven through these platforms and will integrate with an institution’s “social campus”.  Finding ways to strategically leverage these connections will strengthen not only an institution’s online communities, but also its core learning platforms.

Eduvantis gets a mention from Rich Lyons, Dean of the Haas School of Business,UC-Berkeley for our twitter coverage at the recent AMA Higher Ed meeting in Chicago.

Dean Lyons delivered a lively presentation on “authentic branding” to kick off the conference and everyone was excited to be a part of the conversation.  Several of our Eduvantis tweets got called out in a Haas blog post that recaps Dean Lyons’ presentation, but we were especially glad he mentioned the quote about product, because that is an important question we ask top institutions in our work. (see right)

There were tweets and re-tweets and re-tweets of tweets (whew…), let’s just say it was an engaging online conversation.

To read more click here

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