Strategic Marketing
The Strategic Marketing track introduces you to new ways to tell your institution's story and enhance its brand.
Session descriptions and speaker biographies are all listed below. Read what's in store, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and sign up for the sessions that interest you most.
Session One: Sunday, June 4, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
Outstanding Viewbooks in the Minds of Your Prospects
Without a doubt, your university’s website is growing in importance as a source of information for prospective students, but recent studies have shown that your viewbooks are holding their own as one of the most critical marketing vehicles at your disposal.
Applicants and their parents are reading your viewbooks carefully — but what makes a viewbook helpful, appealing, or influential to your applicants? How can you make sure your viewbook stands out, and is effective at recruiting undergraduate applicants?
Academica Group, Canada’s source of market intelligence for higher education, surveyed more than 40,000 applicants to Ontario universities to answer these and other recruitment marketing questions. This workshop will present some intriguing and previously unreleased research findings, invite discussion to explore interpretations and implications for viewbook content and design, and encourage participants to pose new questions for further studies.
Ken Steele, Vice-President
Academica Group Inc.
Ken Steele, vice-president of Academica Group, spent a decade as an award-winning university researcher and teacher before shifting his career into advertising and strategic marketing. After more than a decade managing a top regional agency, and collecting numerous national and international marketing awards, Ken co-founded Academica Group to provide integrated consumer research, strategic planning, and marketing execution to Canada’s education sector.
Ken and his team have completed surveys, focus groups, strategic plans or recruitment materials for more than one hundred Canadian colleges, universities, and government agencies. Currently, Ken’s primary focus has been re-engineering Academica’s University Applicant Survey™ (UAS™) and Acceptance Declined Survey™ (ADS™) to provide universities and colleges across Canada with the most insightful and actionable market intelligence for undergraduate recruitment.
Ken is an active member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), the Canadian Association of Communicators in Education (CACE), and the Rotary Club of London South. He has authored or co-authored numerous research papers on student recruitment, written a syndicated column on graphic design, and presented research papers or facilitated workshops nationally and internationally, at conferences for the CCAE, CACE, OACC, ACAATO, SAA, and on dozens of university and college campuses.
Session Two: Sunday, June 4, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
Peer 2 Peer eFundraising
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This session will explore the untapped potential within your alumni community to solicit themselves and their parents. Based on years of work with the leading charities in Canada, Artez has learned the best practices engaging friends asking friends to give online. In this session we will explore case studies in peer to peer internet fundraising, and apply them to real-world alumni to alumni campaigns. Come to this session with a willingness to move beyond the simple "donate now" button!
Philip King
President & CEO
Artez Interactive
Many people would agree that Philip King has established himself as a successful jack-of-all-trades. A graduate of Harvard University, Philip remembers taking center stage with Academy award-winning actor Matt Damon in a production of “A…My Name is Alice.” But his acting days are now over. These days, Philip finds his niche in empowering non-profit organizations through his newly appointed role as President and CEO of Artez Interactive. “Non-profit organizations are the unsung heroes of our communities,” he asserts. “Artez is the perfect place for me to help these groups embrace a digital future… it’s a tremendous, rewarding experience.” Prior to Artez, Philip was the first-ever vice president of e-business at United Way of Greater Toronto, where he was instrumental in implementing a workplace donor application for United Ways across North America. In his spare time, Philip advises multiple levels of government on issues surrounding technology, in addition to teaching an e-business strategy course at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, where Philip earned his MBA. Born in Tennessee, he says he endures the Canadian winters to enjoy the civil society of Toronto where he lives with his wife, Leta, and two sons, Adam and Sam.
Session Three: Monday, June 5, 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
“Sure, we agree with the brand. But, it doesn’t apply to us -- we’re different!” (Or, “Building an integrated brand in a decentralized school.”)
Multiple logos. Discordant messages. Reluctant faculty members. Fear of change. If you’re building an integrated brand at your school, you’ve likely encountered some resistance. And little wonder. Post-secondary institutions have, for generations, prided themselves on individual thinking and critical debate; on being above the crass realities of business and sales. But as competition escalates, universities are recognizing that a strong brand is the best way to reach target audiences. How do we get everyone to support and sustain a singular brand, especially when our diversity is often a strength? Dalhousie University began its integrated brand marketing effort 2 ½ years ago. Brand manager June Davidson talks about challenges and hurdles, and how Dalhousie is working through them.
June Davidson
Associate Director, Brand Manager
Dalhousie University
June Davidson is Dalhousie University’s Brand Manager and Associate Director, Communications and Marketing. She previously served as Director of Communications for Dalhousie’s fund-raising and alumni units, and was editor of the alumni magazine for almost 10 years. A Carleton University journalism graduate, she holds a blue belt in karate, and shares life with two teenage daughters and an overly-energetic English Springer Spaniel.
Session Four: Monday, June 5, 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
How to Market a Product in an Ethical Manner
Guy Laflamme, the professor responsible for the “Making Niger Our Business” project at the University of Ottawa, and seven of 170 marketing students who worked on the project will soon see first-hand the fruits of their labour. Aimed at promoting increased ethical awareness in marketing practice, the project asked the students to develop and implement strategies for a humanitarian aid campaign on behalf of the people of Niger. The result was $250,000 worth of contributions in kind, in the form of more than 6,906 pounds of medical equipment sent to Niamey by ship, and cash donations of $40,000. Their thousands of hours of work are not only being transformed into hope and an improved quality of life for people in Niger; above all, they are proving that business education can nurture integrity and social awareness. Using this project as a case study at the CCAE conference, he’ll bring his passion and experience to show how social marketing techniques can be used to enhance the reputation of your institution.
Guy Laflamme
Vice-President, Marketing and Communications
National Capital Commission
Guy Laflamme is specialized in marketing cultural, recreational and tourism products with 20 years experience in the field. Presently, Vice-President of Marketing and Communications for the National Capital Commission, he is responsible for promoting Canada's Capital Region across the country. Guy Laflamme is also professor of marketing at the University of Ottawa’s undergraduate program and Executive MBA program Previously, he was Director of Marketing, Communications and Customer Service, at the Casino de Hull. Guy Laflamme holds a Master's in Business Administration (MBA), Marketing concentration, from the University of Ottawa, as well as a graduate diploma in Commerce, Administration and Finance from the École supérieure de commerce in Grenoble. He has also completed a diploma in Broadcasting from the École des animateurs de radio-télévision in Quebec and holds diplomas in Teaching and Geology from Laval University and the University of Ottawa, respectively. Mr. Laflamme received the Trudeau Medal in September 2005 from the School of Management of the University of Ottawa. In April 2004, he was voted Marketing-Communications Personality of the Year, at the Stratège Awards Ceremony held at the 13th Personality of the Year Gala of the l 'Association marketing de Montréal (AMM). He was also named tourism person of the year in 2000 for the Outaouais region and for Ottawa in 2002.
Session Five: Monday, June 5, 1:30 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
Managing the E-Mail Relationship
The good news: Email is an inexpensive tool for getting your message across to your constituents. The bad news: Email is a inexpensive tool for getting your message across to your constituents. As email proliferates, you have to manage the quality and quantity of your communications to avoid donor fatigue. Here are some practical and effective tips for communicating with alumni and donors, as well as other audiences.
Michael Stoner
President, mStoner
During his more than 25 years as a communicator and consultant, Michael has served more than 175 education institutions, nonprofits, and businesses on three continents. He is recognized as an authority on how institutions can use the Internet and the web to communicate effectively with their constituents and how they can effectively integrate communications across channels. In 2001, he launched mStoner, a consulting firm dedicated to helping higher education and nonprofits solve marketing and communications problems and select and implement leading-edge technologies.
Michael published his first email newsletter in the late 1980s and since the early 1990s has concentrated on how the Internet has changed the way people communicate and how institutions can respond to these information needs. Michael has spoken at hundreds of professional conferences (CASE, NACAC, UCDA, and the College Board, plus many others) and leads seminars on developing and using new media in institutional marketing and communications. He has authored book chapters for CASE and Open University Press books and articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education, CASE Currents, the College Board’s On Target and The College Board Review, and NACAC’s Journal of College Admission, among others.
Michael’s experience as a communicator includes media relations, PR, marketing, and publications. He founded the new media division at Lipman Hearne and headed the division until October 2001. He also served as vice president of Halstead Public Relations in New York; director of communications at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University; director of the office of publications services at the College Board; and associate director of university publications at Lehigh University.
Session Six: Monday, June 5, 3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Interactive Marketing Principles:
Best Practices from Global Leaders
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Learn about 5 specific interactive marketing principles taken from global learnings in the CPG and Financial industries. Walk away from this session with strategies and real life examples that will help you raise the bar when it comes to interactive marketing.
Adrian Capobianco
FUSE Marketing Group
Adrian knows how to get a message across. His methods outmanoeuvre and outsmart the competition at every turn. Whenever he comes face to face with an Interactive marketing challenge, he won’t back down and he’s the first to lead the charge.
Adrian has a long history of successes working for global technology companies including IBM Global Financing, Rare Medium and Publicis NetWorks. While at Publicis, Adrian was a key member of the team mandated to build the division in the Canadian market and he worked with numerous clients including Allstream, Canada Post, CIBC, CMDC, Foresters, hp, Nestle, Purolator, Purina and Wal-Mart. Adrian has orchestrated some of this country’s largest interactive marketing campaigns and is often sought after as a speaker on Internet-related topics. Having joined FUSE in 2005, Adrian’s role is to work with clients to help them lead their respective industries in the interactive marketing landscape and to bring FUSE’s brand activation approach to life.
Session Seven: Tuesday, June 6, 9:00 a.m - 10:30 a.m.
CONVERGENCE SESSION:
Designing for the Inbox: Techniques that Guarantee Lift
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This session will equip advanced marketing and communications professionals with critical insight into new trends for e-mail marketing creative. Understanding the impact of recent changes in technology, ISP filtering and creative design will allow marketers to achieve higher response rates, build loyalty, better engage their subscribers and establish achievable goals for their ongoing email marketing programs.
When you leave this session you will:
- Understand the attributes that impact designing effective e-mail.
- Take away strategies and techniques that are proven to add lift to any campaign.
- See how design for usability and information hierarchy will increase response and loyalty.
Wayne Carrigan
Vice-President, Client Strategy
Thindata
Wayne Carrigan, Vice President, Client Strategy, ThinData helps ThinData clients such as Aeroplan, BMO, Delta Hotels, Greorge Brown College and TSN build permission-based email marketing programs to meet their business objectives. He also heads the ThinData team responsible for best-practices, privacy law compliance and anti-spam law compliance.
As one of Canada's email marketing thought leaders, Wayne is frequently interviewed by industry media. He has presented at several key industry events including those hosted by Direct Marketing News, IFCA, IIMA, The Canadian Marketing Association and AIMS Canada.
Please indicate which sessions you may be interested in attending so we can select the right rooms.
