22.LINKING MARKETING AND STRATEGY

Against this landscape of education marketing it is appropriate to ask how schools and colleges might build more effective kinks between marketing and strategy. It is important to recognize that this link is bidirectional, with market perspectives informing strategy, which in turn informs marketing practice. Each of these directions will be examined here.

Linking strategy to the market.

 If strategy is to be driven by a market-orientated perspective then it must be informed by knowledge and understanding of the market within which the school or college operates or might wish to operate. Needs analysis and market analysis represent two stands of marketing research. Needs analysis is the identification of individual customer requirements, both real and potential, or broader market needs in relation to, for example, labor market intelligence. Market analysis seeks to identify the characteristics of specific markets in terms of:

* Market size, parameters, character, change and future development;

* Competition, present and future, and the behavior of competitors; and

* Buyer behavior and the decision-making of potential 'customers'.

Such 'market intelligence' may be obtained formally through a market research programme or informally through gathering information from inside or outside the organization. The scale of marketing research can be tailored to the resources of the institution, and need not be large. While large amounts of data can be useful, using some information, albeit limited, is better than using none in the planning process. Once obtained, FEFC (1997) suggest that such information can be used in two main ways:

*         As confirmatory evidence, either confirming or contradicting current understandings and intentions.

*         As anticipatory evidence, to provide information which enables new or changed provision to be made  .

Evidence from Smith et al. (1995) and Foskett and Hesketh (1996) suggest that the use of formal marketing research is not well developed as yet in the FE sector. While its importance and value are recognized, colleges suggest that they do not have the resources to undertake or 'buy in' information. Developments have been strongest in the use of inquiry and enrolment data, and the role of TECs and other bodies in providing labor market information (LMI) is becoming well established (Pieda, (1995). Using the data to influence strategy, though, is difficult because of a lack of expertise in interpreting and analyzing such information and the slow responsiveness of colleges who are locked into timescales of years rather than the shorter timescales of market change. Such market intelligence tends, therefore, to be used mainly to identify short-term tactical changes in relation to a pre-existing marketing strategy.

In schools a more market absence of needs and market analysis has been demonstrated (Bagley et al., 1996).This in part reflects the more limited resource base of schools, the limited number of markets within which they operate and the compulsory nature of schooling. However, it is also a function of the more intimate engagement of school with the communities they serve, enabling the assimilation of informal intelligence more readily. Schools have smaller catchments areas, a mare easily identifiable clientele and built-in communication systems with parents. Developments have largely been limited to parental response questionnaires (e.g. Martin, 1995), but thus should not be seen as a deficit model-many small schools including many primaries have a very good sense of their market through 'keeping an ear to the ground' .At the opposite extreme, the technology for sophisticated marketing research is available and may be of value to larger institutions. The potential of information technology for supporting marketing research is now being recognized, both in terms of market mapping using geographical information systems (GIS) (Harvey, 1995), and as a tool for database marketing ( Aitken, 1996). Such approaches are unlikely to be cost-effective for most secondary schools and all primary schools, however, and will remain the domain of the FE college  and the independent school.

Linking   marketing to strategy.

Within a formal planning process the translation of broad institutional strategy into operational strategies and tactics is a key requirement in seeking to achieve long term aims. This represents the second stage in Hanson and Henry's model, and Kotler and Fox (1995) identify three elements of market strategy formulation (target market strategy; competitive positioning strategy; marketing mix strategy). These are considered here, together with general strategy issues of personnel, organization and finance.

Target market  strategy.

This involves identifying specific segments of the total market that the institution intends to focus on. In post compulsory education such strategization is relatively unconstrained, and colleges may choose to specialize in specific programmers (e.g. engineering), specific markets (e.g. 16-19- year-olds) or specialist niches (e.g. boat building), or they may choose a comprehensive strategy where they offer a wide range of provision.

Schools are more constrained by the legal requirements of delivering the National Curriculum, but the ability to extend this curriculum, to develop specialist expertise, and to 'select' up to 20 per cent of their intake by chosen criteria has facilitated some differentiation. Murgatroyd and Morgan (1993) have identified four generic marketing strategies that schools might adopt. A broad, open strategy is one in which a school does not seek to differentiate itself from its 'competitors', emphasizing only that it does these things better. The target market, therefore, is all pupils in a locality. The three other strategies represent different degrees of differentiation, and hence have a more precise target market. An enhanced open strategy involves some peripheral additional provisions (a third foreign language, team sports); a basic niche strategy involves an emphasis on a particular area of expertise within the broad curriculum; anenhanced niche strategy involves the focus of the school shifting to a      particular area (a technology college; a drama/arts school).

Competitive positioning  strategy.

This involves the identification of distinguishable features of the institution that make it distinctive from its competitors operating in the same market segments. Glatter et al. (1996) identify eight options for competitive positioning strategy for schools:

*         Structural diversity- (LEA, grant-maintained or private).

*         Curricular diversity- developing specialisms or emphasizing particular elements of the curriculum (performing arts, technology, sport).

*         Style diversity- emphasizing particular approaches to teaching, learning or discipline.

*         Religious/philosophical specialization (fait-based schools).

*         Gender.

*         Ability range diversity- either through selection by ability, or by setting or streaming.

*         Age range diversity (11-16, 11-18).

*         Achievement diversity- an emphasis on the achievement of high results in absolute sense, as measured, perhaps, by performance in public examination league tables, or in a relative sense in relation to concepts of value added.

In practice, most schools choose a mix of these factors to emphasize, and it is this combination which makes an individual school distinctive or unique. In further education, although the potential range of strategies used for competitive positioning is similar, particular emphasis tends to be placed on diversity of curriculum, style and achievement, as illustrated by contrasts between, for example, a grammar school sixth form, a sixth-form programme. In addition, in FE, competitive positioning in relation to price is possible, both in terms of direct costs (course fees), indirect associated costs (cost of transport to the institutions) and non-monetary costs (required entry grades).

Marketing mix strategy.

The concept of the marketing mix is well established in commercial marketing settings. The marketing mix represents the combination of elements that the institution presents to its potential consumers to promote itself, and in commercial settings in characterized by the '4 Ps':

*         Product.  The nature of the product or service that is being offered (in the cause of education this is both the course/programme and the wider experience of education/training and school/college life that is provided).

*         Place. The location of purchase or delivery (on-site or off-site).

*         Price. The price demanded for the service or product.

*         Promotion. The combination of promotional strategies (advertising) used to present the product or service.

In relation to service sector marketing, this is sometimes extended to '5Ps' by the addition of the following

*         People. The individuals delivering the service to costumers (teachers/lecturers and support staff).

Kotler and fox (1995) extend this idea to '7Ps' in the context of education marketing by adding the following:

*         Process. The manner and style in which teaching, administrative and support processes are provided.

*         Physical facilities. The nature of the facilities both for teaching and other components of student/pupil life (sports facilities, common-room areas).

In the context of schools James and Phillips (1995) have demonstrated that the development of marketing mix strategy is rarely explicitly developed, and this has been confirmed for primary schools (Minter, (1997). However, an analysis of promotional materials from schools shows its implicit presence in strategy. Schools are using clear and distinctive 'marketing mixes' by default and without referring to the term by name. in the context of further education, Foskett and Hesketh (1997) have demonstrated contrasting patterns of marketing mix development between institutions in parallel and contiguous markets, with overt and explicit focus on the marketing mix in colleges in contiguous markets, but a pattern similar to that found in schools prevailing in colleges in parallel markets.

The development of a promotional strategy in an important element of the marketing mix, although it is important that it is founded in an understanding of how and why pupils/parents choose as they do. Recent research (Foskett and Hesketh, 1996) has identified the key promotional pathways in relation to school and FE recruitment (open days, teacher guidance and visits from staff from the receiving institution are the main information routes), and two principles of importance in planning promotional strategy:

1)       Pupils and their parents obtain information from both direct promotional channels under the control of institutions (open days), and from indirect pathways such as word-of-mouth and community perceptions. The latter require long-term external relations management and the pursuit of quality within the institution yet may be more influential than the direct controllable channels.

2)       Promotional literature, such as prospectuses, while essential to enable institutions to compete, is of little importance in influencing choice. Choice, where it occurs, is usually based on some form of personal contact (for example an open day or visit to a college)