Student Loan Blog : marketing

As Food Prices Rise, Cost of Campus Meal Plans Going Up

Student Loan Girl — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:05:00 GMT

College students may see a sharp spike in the cost of their on-campus meal plans this fall, due to rising food prices, according to a story this week in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Soaring Food Prices Have Campus Dining Halls Squeezed,” May 6, 2008).

Several schools have already announced that they intend to increase their meal-plan prices next year, and it’s likely that many more schools will follow:

• Louisiana State University	7.0% increase
• Clemson University	6.0% increase
• University of Miami	4.5% increase
• Ohio University	3.5% increase

In an attempt to avoid huge deficits and stay within their budgets, college food-service operations across the country are getting creative with their meal plans and coming up with unique solutions to contain their costs.

Louisiana State University, for instance, will focus on reducing the portions of its meals.

At Ohio University, the school will focus on marketing meal plans to off-campus students in an attempt to increase overall revenue. In addition, food-service staff will be baking items like cookies, pizza dough, and rolls, from scratch, instead of using premade products.

Rich Neumann, director of dining services at OU, estimates that baking from scratch will save the school almost $100,000 each year alone.

One of the simpler, if more manipulative methods is the one implemented by Western Washington University for one week last month. The school simply removed trays from the dining halls so that students couldn’t carry as much food.

The strategy worked.

According to the director of WWU’s dining services, the dining halls saw a 34-percent reduction in waste when the institution went trayless.

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Wilkes University Puts Freshman Recruits Front and Center and Billboard-Size

Student Loan Girl — Sun, 04 May 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Wilkes University, a small, private school in northeastern Pennsylvania, is using a quirky new in-your-face $120,000 ad campaign to get the attention of today’s media- and marketing-savvy students.

The university is plastering personalized messages on billboards, pizza boxes, gas pumps, and even on MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to students it wants to make a part of its freshman class, reports Michael Rubinkam in a story by The Associated Press (“Pennsylvania College Woos Students by Putting Them in Ads,” April 30, 2008).

The “trendsetting and forward-thinking” marketing campaign appeals to the “look-at-me generation,” teens comfortable sharing all-things-personal on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, says Nancy Costopulos, chief marketing officer of the American Marketing Association.

The Message: Personalized and Not for the Shy

Wilkes features applicants in its ads who have a “mix of talents and determination” and who live in markets where the university wants to promote itself, says Jack Chielli, the school’s director of marketing. Students must also consent to having their names used.

The ads, writes Rubinkam, are meant “to convey the message that the school gets to know its students personally and pays close attention to their needs.”

To get messages with the right personal touch, 160over90, the Philadelphia marketing firm contracted by Wilkes, interviews participating students and their friends and families, uncovering likes, dislikes, hobbies, nicknames.

The agency uses the information it gleans from these in-depth interviews to design the highly personalized ads that have turned some college-bound seniors into quasi-celebrities in their high schools and communities:

“Lake Lehman senior Greg Heindel: You give your time at the soup kitchen, the firehouse, and your church summer camp. Wilkes University would like to give you something — a top-quality education.”
“Hey Kristen Pecka. Only your closest friends at Central Catholic call you Pecka-lecka-lecka. Choose Wilkes University and add 2,362 more people to that list.”
“Scranton High senior Nicole Pollock: Our goal at Wilkes University is to be as much a mentor as your mother has been. (Now, if we could only make her ravioli.)”

Each ad includes an invitation to “call a Colonel” (the school’s mascot) and provides a phone number that plays a recorded message from a current Wilkes student.

It’s the Thought That Counts

Even if targeted recruits end up choosing another school, says Chielli, he considers the ads successful as long as they continue to grab attention and get other students to think about Wilkes.

But besides drawing more students to apply, the school wants to help make it possible for them to actually attend: Nearly all students receive some form of financial aid apart from student loans to help cover the $25,000 price tag. Wilkes awards $22 million in financial aid each year.

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By the Numbers: Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:53:00 GMT

Are you a future MBA who sees yourself building the next Trump–like empire or heading up the new 21^st-century tech giant that will finally unseat Microsoft?

If you’re planning on joining the 20 percent of college students who major in business and you’re on the hunt to find the best business school for undergrads that could give you your head start on mega-mogul success, here’s some help.

We’ve got the vitals on the 10 best from BusinessWeek’s list of the country’s Top 50 Undergrad Business Programs for 2008.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia

The world’s first collegiate business school, established in 1881, and BusinessWeek’s number-one program for the third year in a row.

Previous Rank: 1
Tuition: $35,916
Full-Time Enrollment: 2,519
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 16%
School Mascot: the Quakers

McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia

Previous Rank: 2
Tuition: $8,690
Full-Time Enrollment: 652
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 34%
School Mascot: the Virginia Cavaliers

Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana

The Mendoza College offers undergraduate degrees in accountancy, finance, marketing, and management (with your choice of management track in consulting, entrepreneurship, or information technology).

Previous Rank: 7
Tuition: $35,187
Full-Time Enrollment: 1,626
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 29%
School Mascot: the Fighting Irish

Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

Previous Rank: 10
Tuition: $19,291
Full-Time Enrollment: 708
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 37%
School Mascot: the Big Red Bears

Goizueta Business School at Emory University
Atlanta

Previous Rank: 4
Tuition: $34,336
Full-Time Enrollment: 622
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 44%
School Mascot: Dooley, the Spirit of Emory

Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Combining a liberal arts and business education, the three-year Bachelor of Business Administration program allows you to apply during your freshman year of college and begin the BBA program as a sophomore. If you’re a high school senior, you may be still be able to apply for the Ross BBA program through the Preferred Admissions process.

Previous Rank: 5
Tuition: $12,585
Full-Time Enrollment: 1,069
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 49%
School Mascot: the Wolverines

Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah

Earn your Bachelor of Science in accountancy, management, or information systems.

Previous Rank: 8
Tuition: $3,840
Full-Time Enrollment: 1,616
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 74%
School Mascot: Cosmo the Cougar

New York University Stern School of Business
New York

Previous Rank: 9
Tuition: $36,524
Full-Time Enrollment: 2,335
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 24%
School Mascot: the Bobcats

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Previous Rank: 6
Tuition: $34,986
Full-Time Enrollment: 246
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 12.5%
School Mascot: the Beaver

McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas

Choose a major in accounting, finance, international business, marketing, management information systems, management, supply chain management, or engineering route to business for your BBA.

According to the McCombs website, more current CEOs in the S&P 500 have graduated from McCombs than from any other public business school.

Previous Rank: 13
Tuition: $8,908
Full-Time Enrollment: 3,969
Undergraduate Admission Rate: 52% (in 2006)
School Mascot: Bevo the Longhorn

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Win $2,000 for a Homepage Design in the NextStudent Design Contest

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:35:00 GMT

Besides aiming to bring you the latest news in education and education legislation, as well as everything you need to know about financial aid, student loans, and paying for college, we here on the NextStudent Web Marketing team pride ourselves on our Web presence and on staying ahead of the trends in online marketing.

But we know that every once in a while, we’re not as ahead as we’d like to be.

We also know that we can’t do everything all by ourselves; the best results come from collaborative work and from drawing on the talents of our community members.

That’s why we’re opening up the NextStudent Website Design Contest to you.

Our website is in need of a face lift, and we want you to help.

Flex Your Design Muscles, Get Famous and Win Cash

Do you want to see your one-of-a-kind creativity, slick layouts, and design ingenuity on display on a high-traffic, top-ranked professional website?

Whether you’re just trying your hand at the website design thing, wanting to launch your Web design studio with a bang, or looking to win accolades for your already-established professional design business, the NextStudent Design Contest could be your chance to get your homepage design in front of hundreds of thousands of people.

And $2,000 cash isn’t a bad incentive either.

How to Enter

First, make sure you’ve read all the Rules & Regulations on our NextStudent Design Contest website.

Submit your design(s) by 11:59 p.m. on March 13, 2008, according to the required specifications in the contest Rules & Regs.

Encourage all your friends and family to vote for their favorite design at the NextStudent Design Contest website.

If your design is voted as one of the top five designs, you’ll be asked to resubmit it in an EPS, PSD, or PNG format within 72 hours after the close of voting on March 14, 2008.

By April 1, 2008, NextStudent will choose the winning design based on the design's showing in the popular vote, its performance in multivariate tests conducted via the Google Website Optimizer, and its appeal to NextStudent’s Web Marketing team, Art Department, and CEO.

Collect your $2,000 if your design is chosen as the winner, see a feature article about you on the NextStudent.com homepage, and possibly receive a link to your personal or business website.

Get your entries in as early as possible because the longer they’re up, the more exposure you’ll get.

And make sure to check back here on the NextStudent Student Loan Blog for contest updates and an announcement of the Grand Prize winner!

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Congress Joins States and Colleges in Efforts to Reduce Soaring Textbook Costs

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:09:00 GMT

With the average college student now shelling out between $900 and $1,000 each year for textbooks and supplies, according to the College Board’s latest Trends in College Pricing report, schools, states, and now Congress are getting involved in the crusade to control the spiraling costs of college textbooks.

Propelled by studies that show the prices of textbooks are rising faster than the rate of inflation, the House of Representatives included provisions in the recently approved College Opportunity and Affordability Act that are specifically targeted at making textbook costs more manageable, reports Elia Powers of Inside Higher Ed (“Different Tacks on Textbook Choice,” Feb. 19, 2008).

The House bill (H.R. 4137), which passed the House on February 7 and renews the Higher Education Act, would have colleges provide advance information in their course schedules about required books to give students time to plan for expenses and comparison-shop for the most cost-effective options.

Also approved by the House was an amendment (H.AMDT.951) proposed by Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio that would create a pilot competitive grant program to assist a select number of colleges in setting up textbook rental programs.

States Enacting Their Own Textbook Legislation

H.R. 4137 would also require textbook publishers to provide more information about pricing and changes from previous editions, which follows bills already passed by some state legislatures, writes Powers.

Last April, for example, Washington state House Bill 2300 was signed into law, requiring textbook publishers to disclose retail prices and a history of revisions from edition to edition when presenting any materials to faculty.

In June, Oregon passed its similar Senate Bill 365 into law. In addition to charging publishers with providing retail prices and a list of all previous versions of a text to potential adopters, the Oregon measure requires publishers of textbook “bundles” (textbooks packaged with an accompanying CD-ROM or study guide, for instance) to make each component of the bundle available to students separately and to disclose the retail price of each piece.

In California, Assembly Bill 1548, known as the College Textbook Transparency Act, likewise calls for publishers to provide a list of revisions made to new editions, as well as for college bookstores to release the wholesale prices of textbooks. The California bill was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October and goes into effect in 2010.

Changes at the College Level

In response to the increasingly vocal concerns of students, families, and legislators, not all schools are waiting on Congress or state officials to adopt changes to textbook pricing and marketing practices. Some schools, writes Powers, have already instituted book rental, buyback, or other programs in a move to extend textbook affordability.

At Rio Salado College in Arizona, for example, a partnership with Pearson Custom Publishing allows professors to “build” custom textbooks, drawing material from multiple sources. Administrators believe this program could save students up to 50 percent on reading materials.

The University of Virginia, in addition to expanding its textbook rental and guaranteed buyback programs, is increasing its selection of e-books, which can save students as much as 30 percent over print versions of new editions. And a growing number of U.Va. professors are choosing to purchase older editions of books in cases where the new material isn’t a necessity, a move the university says cuts an average of 75 percent off new book prices.

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OrgaNOT: Natural Beauty Products May Be Deceiving

Student Loan Girl — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:17:00 GMT

Just because something is green doesn’t mean it’s good for you and just because a product uses “all natural” ingredients doesn’t mean it can’t harm you. Yet we eagerly buy into these marketing myths, filling our overloaded bathroom cabinets and drawers with natural and organic personal care items with the intention of protecting ourselves against the effects of harsh chemicals.

Natural cosmetics are marketed as those that claim to be made from plant or mineral products and organic products are supposed to be made with agricultural ingredients and not grown with pesticides.

What most consumers don’t realize is that although products are required to pass certain safety standards and protocols, “natural” labels are not substantiated by the Federal Drug Administration. And there has been no conclusive research to prove that these natural and organic products are safer or healthier for us, according to a New York Times article by Natasha Singer (“Natural, Organic Beauty,” Nov. 1, 2007).

“We’re seeing an increased consciousness that what you put on your body is as important as what goes in your body. The biggest impetus for buying natural or organic body care is the perceived health benefit,” the senior coordinator in charge of personal care at Whole Foods, Jeremiah McElwee, tells The New York Times.

In today’s health-conscious world, these clever marketing campaigns are luring us in. During the last year alone, American’s spent $150 million on the three top selling health beauty products, Burt’s Bees, Jason Natural Cosmetics and Tom’s of Maine, which is an annual increase of $51 billion. Organic personal care item sales increased $68 million, totaling $350 million last year, based on Information Resources, Inc statistics from the article.

Playing the Name Game

It is purely perception that’s leading some consumers astray.

Flavia Kawaja, an interior designer from New York, tells the Times she is not a blind consumer. She spends more time perusing product labels for synthetic ingredients to avoid, than creating her grocery list. But she knows that her efforts may not be entirely fruitful.

“I don’t assume that organic automatically means good for you,” she said in the article. “I mean, if you fry an organic potato, it’s still a French fry.”

Based on the numbers, marketers for these natural products have done their job convincing consumers not to question the product’s health benefits. Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research of the Environmental Working Group says in the Times article, this confusion over what constitutes a “healthy” cosmetic product can be attributed to the lack of federal standards imposed on the personal care products industry.

Houlihan is also concerned for consumers because product companies have free range to use relatively unknown agricultural ingredients in their natural and organic goods that have yet to establish credibility in the beauty business. Also there is no standardization for safety tests on these products; the manufacturers are left to decide which tests to perform and what type of results will receive passing grades.

Physicians warn that the natural ingredients used in these products, whether tested or not, can still potentially cause harm to consumers. Ingredients like chamomile, green tea and tea tree oil in organic and natural products have been found to cause skin irritations according to the Times article.

Safety is in the Eye of the Beholder

For marketing purposes, individual companies have created their own definitions for their natural-based products. Sephora, the beauty product company, has written its own descriptions for its botanical, natural, and organic brands. The company states that its organic brands are plant based, its natural brands are made without synthetic and chemical additives and its botanical brand’s formulas include naturally derived ingredients.

But Sephora is not one of the few companies that has been officially certified organic by the National Organic Program. Origins’ and Nature’s Gate’s products are two of those printed with the official program seal, certifying that they contain at least 95 organic certified ingredients.

According to the Times article, Joan Shaffer, U.S.D.A. Organic department spokesperson, says consumers should not even trust that the federal government’s own organic seal.

She makes the distinction plain and simple.

“The National Organic Program is a marketing program, not a safety program.”

The next time you find yourself getting carried away with a cart full of new personal products, you may want to take a second and really think about your choices. You can’t judge a book by its cover the same way that you can’t judge a “natural” product by its label. Not only will your overflowing bathroom thank you, but so will your wallet.

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Advertisers Cashing in on Common Scents

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 05:45:00 GMT

So you think you’ve outsmarted advertisers with your TiVo^®-driven, ad-free television-watching world. A realm devoid of TV commercials aimed at the hard of hearing—the kind that sound like someone let the bellowing OxyClean^® spokesman loose in your living room. Armed with a DVR and an iPod, you thought you’d never have to listen to another unsolicited TV or radio ad.

Think again.

You may have blocked advertisers from peddling their wares in front of your eyes and in your ears, but now they’ve gone up your nose.

Advertisers are triggering your sense of smell to get you to buy everything from cell phones to candy bars. Realtors have long used the smell of chocolate chip cookies to land a sale during an open house. And now department stores and Vegas casinos are joining in, using scents that trigger spending everywhere, from the lingerie section to the slot machines.

Scent marketing is so popular, it’s become one of Advertising Age magazine’s Top 10 “Trends to Watch,” and you might be surprised to discover the ways in which you (and your nose) may have already been targeted, according to an article by Karen Ravn that appeared in the Los Angeles Times (“Sniff … and Spend,” Aug. 20, 2007).

Scents aren’t just for masking unwanted odors anymore, they’re big business.

Anyone who’s ever walked through Costco, Sam’s or a Trader Joe’s knows that the nose has buying power. The aroma of free food samples can secure a purchase or two of the sampled items.

And then there’s Disneyland, which for years has used its “Smellitzer” machines to pump the sweet smells of candy into the air outside its Main Street confectionery store and prompt you to stop in and buy candy you didn’t know you wanted.

Besides driving up food sales, scents also work to push sales of non-edible items at retail giants like Bloomingdale’s, which has tapped into the impulsive shopping that appealing aromas can inspire.

The smell of baby powder wafts throughout the Bloomingdale’s baby department, and the classic Spring Break smell of coconut hits you as soon as you get to the swimsuits. The nostalgia and images inspired by instantly recognizable scents will often lead to purchases.

Younger shoppers more likely to be led by their noses.

Where stores and product designers used to only fuss about “the color and shape of a package or the precise arrangement of items in the aisles of a store,” they’re now sniffing out the profitability of the olfactory senses.

“Already it is a $100-million business,” and Harald Vogt, founder and chief marketer of the Scent Marketing Institute in Scarsdale, N.Y., “predicts it will reach $500 million or even $1 billion within the next seven to eight years,” Ravn writes.

And research shows younger shoppers seem to be the key to success. In one soon-to-be-published study, a Montreal researcher found “shoppers younger than 35 spent more in a suburban mall when it had a pleasant ambient scent than when it didn’t. But this was not true for older shoppers—possibly because the sense of smell declines with age.”

So next time you go to the mall, take a whiff and make a note of what you smell. It may be fresh coffee from a Starbucks kiosk, vanilla at an ice cream parlor, or the cacophony of aromas that tell you you’re passing Bath & Body Works or Yankee Candle.

But don’t be fooled. One sniff of an enjoyable scent might lead you straight to the cash register. And you might not even realize it’s marketing at its best, advertising even your TiVo and your iPod can’t deny.

Talk to the education finance advisors at NextStudent. They have all the information and advice you need on student loans. Check out www.nextstudent.com.

Student Loan Girl

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