Jeanne Hartig Vice President of Marketing & Communications Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, Illinois MY Expectation: You will be multi-tasking throughoutthis presentation because you are on deadline/behind/over-worked/easily distracted/bored. YOUR Expectation: Since you paid to be here, you expect to come away with something. 1
A case study of how we did it here. Lots of slick/animated slides. A pretty good idea of what you need to build a successful in-house M&C agency in a nonprofit environment. 2
I will be breaking multiple presentation rules: 1) Putting too much copy on each slide 2) Using PowerPoint in the first place 3) Informing rather than entertaining you 3
Five Conditions Convince decision makers the value added to the organization s bottom line is higher if you do more in-house than if they contract with external consultants. Establish professional credibility. Get and keep in-house clients. Hire, manage, and evaluate talent. Deliver meaningful results. 4
CHALLENGE #1 We need someone who can look at our organization with a fresh perspective. In-house staff can t do that. The quality of the work done in-house can t be as creative/edgy/fresh/exciting as that done outside. After all,if the M&C staff were really good, they d be working for an agency. We have a lot at stake here so we need an integrated marketing & communications strategy with research, focus groups, and statistical analysis. Our in-house people do brochures. I don t know any of those people in M&C. Who runs that group? To do more in-house, we may have to add more people to our payroll. It will, therefore, ultimately cost more to do it in-house. So it doesn t make sense. 5
We are sooooooooo busy. If your current in-house staff isn t as talented/productive/creative as agency talent, then why are they working in your department? Why would the head of M&C not want his/her staff to be the lead agency and held accountable for a high-stakes campaign? Are you soooo busy doing other jobs that you ve become invisible to the decision makers in your organization? Are you perceived to be a production department or a strategic partner? Would you really have to add more staff? Can you move your current staff to other seats on the bus? Do you have a reputation of always saying you need more to do more? 6
The in-house M&C department should be the organization s agency of record because: It will save your institution lots of money. The quality of the work can be equal or better than that done by an outside agency. M&C has only one client. One. M&C s value/roi can be directly measured if the clients include admissions/capital campaign. 7
CHALLENGE #2 8
Your title is: Senior VP/Vice President Associate/Assistant VP Executive/Director Assistant Director Coordinator/Manager Something Else To Whom Do You Report? President/Chancellor/CEO VP of Institutional Advancement VP of Enrollment VP of Marketing/Communications Someone else in IA Someone else in Enrollment Someone else in M&C Someone else 9
Your Title/Position in the Organization Your Boss s Title/Position Your Expertise in M&C Your Ability to Relate to the Client Your Perceived Influence and Clout Your Demonstrated Ability to Deliver Results on Behalf of Your Client. You Need a Title That Puts You at the Table Sitting with the Decision-Makers and Power Brokers in Your Organizations. And you need a boss with organizational clout. 10
President/Chancellor/CEO That Means: You are a direct report to the top person. Your responsibility is organization-wide rather than department-specific. You sit at the big table. Your position is strategic rather than operational. Senior Vice President/Vice President of M&C With responsibilities for marketing and communications for the entire institution Including but not limited to marketing/communications strategy, messaging, creative, crisis communications, media relations, website design and development, magazines, photography, videography, and social media. 11
If M&C reports to the VP of Institutional Advancement or Enrollment Management, then that person is your CEO/President/Chancellor. The best title in this situation is Associate Vice President for Marketing & Communications. The Professional Expertise/Background/Experience of You and Your Staff It will help others calculate the odds that: M&C can do the job. M&C will deliver. M&C skills (analytical, strategic, creative) are on par with, or better than, outside consultants. 12
The more you can relate to the M&C staff on a peer basis, the more credibility you will have with them. The more you can relate to your organizational peers and senior leadership (CEO/Chancellor/President/Trustees), the more credibility you will have with them. The more you can relate to your clients, the more likely they are to trust you to deliver. The more you can relate to your vendors, the more likely you are to negotiate better deals. 13
Former faculty member Market Researcher Copywriter Creative designer/graphic artist Photographer Web developer Market strategist Reporter Crisis communication manager Free-lance writer Editor/Proofreader Project manager Corporate PR experience Events services manager Magazine editor Communications/PR/media relations professional Social media expert Analytic/Statistical experience Corporate marketing experience Previous senior leader at a comparable institution P/L experience I can speak academese and relate to faculty. I appreciate good creative and I think visually. I can manage a professional staff. I can talk to reporters and craft messages. I understand bottom lines and P/L statements. I can multi-task. I have been around the block. I can handle challenges. 14
The INFLUENCE you wield. And that comes from: Size of Staff Size of Budget What You Do to Strengthen Reputation What You Do to Achieve Stronger P/L Results Increase Revenue and Decrease Costs Always choose budgets over positions. Always choose bottom-line impact over something difficult to measure. 15
A credible in-house M&C agency needs to be led by, and report to, high-level leaders, with commensurate titles, in your organization. The professional expertise in your department needs to be unquestioned and recognized/admired by others in your organization. Your influence needs to come from the size of your budget and/or your impact on the organization s bottom-line. 16
CHALLENGE #3 For which of the following clients are you the agency of record/primary provider of strategic and creative marketing/communications: Undergraduate recruitment Institutional advancement Graduate recruitment Athletics 17
Institutional Advancement in Campaign Mode Undergraduate/Graduate Admissions Athletics 18
VP of Institutional Advancement Long tenure at the university Strong-willed, smart, doesn t suffer fools easily At the start of a new campaign Used to working with external consultants At a juncture: keep the external communications consultant currently on board or not The problem: can she work with the new VP of M&C? VP of Marketing & Communications Brand new to the university Experienced but untested at this institution Strong-willed, smart, doesn t suffer fools easily Used to directing successful in-house agencies I knew more about IA/Development/Fundraising than most people in my position The problem: can I work with the VP of Institutional Advancement 19
The president had strongly suggested to the VP of IA that she work closely with the new gal. There was no love lost between the IA and M&C staffs over the years. The reputation of the M&C staff was that of brochure makers and designers of flyers. There was no previous peer relationship between the VPs because there had never before been a VP of M&C at the university. The theme for the campaign, developed by the external consultant, had been approved by the Board of Trustees. There was no going back to the drawing board. So M&C would be responsible for the creative execution of the messaging they did not have a hand in creating. 20
The decision to take the campaign communications in-house came in the first three months of my tenure. I had concluded M&C could handle the job and that we would deliver. If I had said no, then IA would have kept the consultant. It was a smart economic play for IA. By going in-house, approximately $300K of their budget would not be going out the door. By taking on IA as a client at this stage, I risked having M&C be seen as just a production house rather than a strategic partner. By going to the untested in-house agency, the VP of IA was risking the launch of her campaign. 21
Tension immediately started between the staffs. M&C staff threw up their hands and said let s just give them what they want even if we think it s wrong. IA would get angry when they would give M&C specific directions about copy/creative and that the end product would not be what they expected as the client. 22
Three issues quickly emerged: Difference of personal styles Difference of professional styles Difference in terms of how we managed our staffs So did the resentment: I was stuck with a campaign theme developed by someone else. The VP of IA wanted fewer suggestions and more just do it the way we want it done. When I asked the VP of IA to lunch to clear the air, she brought her laptop and started scrolling down, detailing all the times where she perceived M&C had let her office down. I got angry. She got angry. At the end of the three-hour lunch, I said: 23
It s clear we can t work together. I can t deliver what you need as a client. So I m going to go tell the president that we gave it a try but to keep the campaign moving on schedule, I will recommend to him that you hire an external consultant. 24
We both knew we had a lot to lose. IA would have to find hundreds of thousands of dollars in its budget to hire outside. M&C would never be a viable in-house agency if it didn t have IA as a client. And by telling the president we couldn t give IA what it needed, I would most likely next be handing in my resignation. The VP of IA suggested we actually start talking really talking to each other. And listening. And so we did. And we started to understandeach other better. To trusteach other more. And to supporteach other publicly. And to give creditwhere and when it was due. 25
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Do we really understand what they do? Do we really understand what they need? Can they work with us? Will we deliver? Will we be a good partner? Will we listen? Can we help them succeed? Can they trust us? Building and maintaining a strong client relationship with a major division of your university requires: Patience Trust Respect Ability to deliver A true partnership for better or worse 27
CHALLENGE #4 28
How big is your M&C professional staff? It s just me! 2-5 6-10 11-15 More than 15 VP Assistant to the VP Three Graphic Designers Two Editorial Professionals Four Web Developers One Project Manager One Marketing Associate Two PR/Media Staff 29
VP Assistant to the VP Associate VP Four Web Developers Two PR/Media Staff Two Editorial Professionals Three Graphic Designers Project Manager Marketing Associate 30
Quantity and impact of projects. Comparison to previous year. Number of departments. Quantity and impact of media mentions. Comparison to goals/previous year. Types of media outlets. Number of Web sites developed. Increase in social media metrics. People who can hit the ground running. Strong skill sets. M&C is not a training ground. Quality and creativity are in their DNA. Multi-taskers. Fun to be around. Deadliners. Can switch gears in a nano-second. Own their work. Problem solvers. Moderately diva-ish. 31
Corporate refugees. Those who are used to working with lots of support staff. People who are used to having lots of time to think and contemplate. Those who like to work on one project at a time. You can do more with the same number of people. You need to hire smart and move current staff to new seats on the bus. You must hold staff accountable for quantity as well as quality of projects. Quantity of work is important but so is the impact of that work. Good talent is hard to find so keep them happy. 32
CHALLENGE #5 33
This is the second straight year of record undergraduate enrollment for Illinois Tech. The capital campaign is on target to end early. Open rates for the first two e-mails in the graduate marketing recruitment campaign exceeded 25% for most categories. Media mentions for 2013-14 more than doubled from the previous year from 400 to more than 1000. By moving the capital campaign communications in-house, Illinois Tech saved approximately $300K over two years. By moving undergraduate recruitment marketing in house, Illinois Tech is saving approximately $500K each year. By transitioning the Web site from Luminus to Drupal in house, Illinois Tech is saving approximately $500K per year. 34
The This is Illinois Tech video has recorded more than 52,000 views making it the second-most popular video in the history of the institution. The Illinois Tech LinkedIn page has 44,263 followers up 1,901 from last month. The value of the in-house M&C department needs to be measured quantitatively in language and using metrics that are important to the decision-makers of the institution. The best metrics are those that speak to cost savings, admissions, and money raised. The second best metrics are those involving visibility. 35
Thank You! For more information: 36