The proposed title of the project
The title for this project is “marketing of colleges in a celebrity obsessed culture”. The research will explore if the use of celebrities or well known authority figures in participation in college and university learning is an effective means of promoting colleges and universities. The questions that this research will answer are:
How are authority figures and celebrities used in promotion of organizations and products apart from colleges and universities? What universities and colleges have used authority figures and celebrities for promotion purposes in the past? How are they using them as a means of promotion? What results have the universities and colleges achieved? Are they planning to continue using this form of promotion? Will they decrease or increase this form of promotion?
Personal interest
In my entire career, I have been working in advertising and promotion. The topic is of interest to me because I have seen firms make use of celebrities in effectively marketing their products. Examples of these firms are American Express, Buick, and Nike. Because of this, I believe that it could be effective in promoting colleges or universities. I will benefit personally from this research project. This is because I can secure colleges and universities who can hire me to assist in the implementation of promotions involving authorities and celebrities.
Potential benefits to colleges and universities
The research findings and conclusions will provide insights and guidelines that will enhance the effectiveness of marketing communication for colleges and universities. Davenport University will be one of the project’s beneficiaries. The improvements in marketing effectiveness will tremendously reduce marketing costs. The project will be vital in helping colleges and universities enhance student enrollment.
Methods of gathering information
This research mainly calls for use of primary data. This is because there is little secondary information available on this topic. I will use literature, the internet and electronic database searches of full text articles for secondary data information. I will search for secondary information on the use of celebrities in promotion of products and services related and non-related to colleges and universities. In primary research, I will conduct five telephone or face to face interviews with university marketing and promotion professionals. I will also conduct three interviews with celebrity agencies firms or marketing firms.
The respondents in this project will be college, university, and celebrity marketing professionals. I will interview the subjects using open-ended questionnaires and discussion guides as primary research instruments. Because of the small number of respondents, I will not carry out statistical analysis. I will compare information from the interviews to determine if the use of celebrities by universities is an emerging trend in promotion. I will also compare the interview information with secondary research information. The main objective of this project will be determining whether the use of celebrities can be vital in college and university marketing. Responses from the interviews will contribute to addressing the research objective.
Knowledge and skills for undertaking the project
The first area of knowledge and skills is marketing strategies that I will use to explain how colleges and universities are promoting their affiliation with celebrities. Understanding of organizational behavior is also vital in analyzing cultures of colleges and universities. This is in terms of accounting, economics, and finance to provide the financial perspective of use and cost of the celebrities. Report writing skills are necessary in preparing an effective report. Presentation skills are vital in preparing and presenting the project’s oral report. Another vital knowledge that is relevant is how to conduct primary research. Knowledge of sample selection and questionnaire design is crucial in this project.
Previous Research on this Topic
I have not conducted research on this topic for another class. This means that I will not submit any prior work to the professor.