International Marketing and

Recruitment at Universities

in Europe and the US

7 February 2014 Meeting of 5-100 Universities

Moscow

Focused exclusively on marketing communications and strategy for higher education internationalization

Clients include institutions, government organizations, NGOs; mostly in non-English-speaking countries

100+ university website projects in 10+ countries in past 4 years

Background in web content and marketing, then int’l ed (Deputy Director of DAAD in North America and more)

Introduction

Megan Brenn-White Managing Director

The Brenn-White Group

Agenda

International mobility trends

Marketing activities at universities

Marketing structures at universities

International Mobility

Trends

2024.

3.9 million internationally mobile students China and India continue to dominate as

sending countries… ….Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia,

Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan, France next largest Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, Brazil, Indonesia growing

quickly as sending countries Top host countries: US, UK, Australia, Germany,

Canada, Japan, France (maybe China, Singapore, etc.) Source: British Council, “The Future of the World’s Mobile Students til 2024”, 2013.

Changing Landscape

Student mobility flows can be quickly impacted by the following (in your country or other countries!)

– News

– Exchange rates

– Gov’t initiatives to grow higher education at home or to recruit more students

– Scholarship programs

English for Internationals

Huge global increase in English-taught programs

Total number of English-taught master’s programs in continental Europe was 6,609 in June 2013 ̶ 42% increase since 2011

Top host countries: Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, France, and Spain

Source: Institute of International Education, “English-Taught Master's Programs in Europe A 2013 Update”, Edwin van Rest and Megan Brenn-White

Where is your competition? Where is your competition?

Institution

State/Region

Country

Europe

Growing Number of Stakeholders

How do you impact mobility?

Source: Noel-Levitz, “Understanding the Expectations and Behaviors of Prospective International Students”, 2013

Marketing Activities

Core Activities at Universities

• Online – Website – Social media – Advertising – SEO – Virtual fairs

• Offline – Fairs – Open days – Agent management – Print collateral

• Both

– Strategy

– Research

– CRM

– Press

– Publications

– Video/Photo

Boston University

Purdue University

Marketing Structures

Central vs. Decentral

• Who does marketing and recruitment (or should?):

– Central marketing team

– Admissions office

– International office

– Department

– Faculty/college

– Program

14 staff members

UC Berkeley – Office of Marketing

and Business Outreach

UC Berkeley –

Haas School of Business

14 staff members

University of Melbourne –

Central Marketing Office

30 staff members; $AUS 8 million budget

University of Melbourne –

Faculty of Business and Economics

• Who does marketing and recruitment (or should?):

– Central marketing team

– International office

– Department

– Program

7 marketers plus comms, press, etc.

International Marketing

Often falls between departments

Most likely to have a proper strategy for recruitment (bachelor’s and master’s)

Can include aspects of:

Research marketing

Faculty recruitment

Corporate relations

Alumni and development

International Development Office:

Nottingham Trent University

University of Glasgow –

Recruitment and International Office

KTH Sweden – Communications and

International Relations

Impacting Word-of-Mouth

International scholars (visiting, collaboration partners, etc.)

International exchange students

International alumni

International corporate partners

International partner universities

Challenge of

Changing Your Global Reputation

Competition is growing quickly,

reputation changes slowly,

conflicting criteria between rankings, accreditation agencies, etc.,

requires significant efforts working with fundamental areas of university life and administration – change management,

but necessary for the future!

Thank you for

your attention!

Thank you – and we look forward to staying in touch! Megan Brenn-White Managing Director The Brenn-White Group megan@brenn-white.com +1 347 894 5050 www.brenn-white.com