Purpose
Branding is important, especially for college financial education programs. A brand, or an organization’s image, helps students recognize that a financial education program and the program representatives are knowledgeable and understanding. The University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) Student Money Management Center (SMMC) has found success with building a program brand that includes the aforementioned elements, as well relevance, fun, and approachability.
Branding is important, especially for college financial education programs. A brand, or an organization’s image, helps students recognize that a financial education program and the program representatives are knowledgeable and understanding. The University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) Student Money Management Center (SMMC) has found success with building a program brand that includes the aforementioned elements, as well relevance, fun, and approachability.
Market research helped determine
that UNL students perceived financial education as not relevant to their lives
and boring, and financial educators as unapproachable. Thus, the SMMC focused
on building a powerful brand that would position the program as relevant, fun,
and approachable. Other motives for building a brand were increasing
credibility among the University and state-wide community in order to gain more
program partnerships and media exposures to order to support UNL recruitment
efforts.
The UNL SMMC focused heavily on branding activities from January 2012 to December 2012. Branding activities included
resource development and event development. Print resource development focused
on making financial education topics relevant to the target audience, such as a
resource titled “The Biggest Money Rip-offs.” Resources were also created to
tie into campus-wide events that connected to students’ values, such as a
resource focused on “being green.” Electronic resources also helped change the
target audience’s perception of financial education by showcasing financial
education resources in different formats, such as pins on Pinterest. Social
media campaigns focused on building up the “approachable” quality of the brand
and increasing the number of brand ambassadors.
Financial education events helped
position the program as relevant and fun. To avoid “boring” events, all events
included competitive games, money personality quizzes, and piggy bank
decorating. Event sponsorships were also an important part of brand development
and helped change students’ perceptions of financial education. For example, a
partnership with the UNL Health Center’s Stress Free Zone helped students
realize that they could relieve stress through money management. Additionally,
educational activities were offered in high-traffic areas. These activities
were focused on helping busy students quickly get financial tips. Students
completed short activities, such as “Financial Horror Stories,” and were then entered
into prize drawings.
Results
These tactics were
proven to position the program as relevant, fun, and approachable. Due to
successful branding efforts, there was a 24% increase in the number of students
who took advantage of program services, including one-on-one counseling
sessions and workshops, compared to the prior year. Students who completed
surveys after participating in program services described the SMMC as: approachable,
friendly, understanding, fun, practical, knowledgeable, and helpful. Additionally,
according to a random survey of program participants, 84% indicated they used
program services because they viewed SMMC services as “relevant.”
The program
formed partnerships with an additional 32 University organizations. These
organizations partnered on offering financial education workshops and resources
for UNL students. According to a random survey of program partners, 100% of the
partners decided to work with the SMMC due to their perception that SMMC
representatives had expertise delivering financial education to college
students in formats and language that college students prefer. Partners who
completed surveys described the SMMC as: knowledgeable, creative, fun, entertaining, and
practical.
Additionally,
national publicity exposures were estimated to be over 1 million and were
recognized by University officials.
Conclusions/Implications
Branding is important, especially
for college financial education programs. College financial educators need to
take the time to determine how they want college students to perceive their
program. If educators can uncover the reasons behind negative perceptions, they
can craft a branding strategy that will help change their image and help them
build a program that students will feel comfortable utilizing. Successful
branding efforts can have significant positive effects on program usage,
program partnerships, and publicity opportunities.
