HIGHER EDUCATION
Are our uni’s getting bang for their marketing bucks? T
he recent release of the 2011 Australian university financial data shows that Australia’s universities spent more than $216m on advertising, marketing and promotion. This not a trivial amount of money and represents about one third of the amount universities spent on repair and maintenance. Given ever increasing staff workloads Percentage Change 2006 - 2011 Advertising Ranked by 2011 and crumbling university infrastructure, and Marketing Advert & ConsultMarketing Expenses the NTEU believes it is important to ask Fees & Total Employee % Total Costs Marketing ancy Total Costs as % of Total Costs whether this a good use of scarce uniCharges Income Costs (2011) Costs Contracts versity resources and whether they are Average Top 10 2.1% 140.2% 36.8% 32.0% 42.3% 41.1% 44.1% getting good value – or bang for – their marketing bucks. Average Middle 18 1.1% 94.2% 60.8% 38.6% 64.3% 58.3% 57.6% An analysis of university financial data Average Bottom 18 0.5% 41.7% 54.0% 35.3% 47.0% 49.8% 46.3% shows that between 2006 and 2011 All Institutions 1.0% 79.7% 54.1% 35.8% 48.7% 48.4% 47.1% advertising, marketing and promotional expenditure for all Australian universities increased from $120m to $216m, or 80%. This varied significantly; versity not the man), ‘bring knowledge to life’ (Western Sydney) and Swinburne University led the pack with an increase in expenditure ‘Worldy’ (Deakin). of 374% over the period, putting it at No.1 on the NTEU’s Marketing In a more pragmatic business sense you would anticipate that League Table. In 2011, advertising and marketing expenditure repreincreased spending on marketing would deliver increased enrolments sented 3.1% of all Swinburne’s costs, three times the sector average. in Commonwealth funded places from 2012 with the uncapping of This means that while the marketing people at the University of Melfunded enrolments. Up to 2011, the marketing objective would also bourne may only have been willing to ‘dream large’, their colleagues be substantially focused upon increasing revenue through fee paying at Swinburne were able to convince senior management that when it students, and/or consultancies and/or contract research. comes to marketing there are ‘no limits’ However, as the Summary League Table (above) shows this is not Other universities to feature high on the NTEU Marketing League apparent from the data. The Table divides universities into the Top 10, Table as measured by the proportion of total costs dedicated to adverMiddle 18 and Bottom 10 by marketing costs as a share of total costs in tising and marketing include ECU (2.5%), Deakin (2.4%), USQ (2.3%) 2011. It also shows the average percentage change in a number of variand UNE (2%). At the other end of the Marketing League Table are ables for each of these groups. The most notable aspect of the Table is Wollongong (0.2%), Sydney and ANU (0.3%), Monash and Melbourne that on average the group of universities that spent most on marketing (0.4%). Ballarat and Monash are also worthy of mention because they (and on average had the biggest increases in marketing expenditure) were the only two universities to decrease marketing expenditure also had the lowest average increase in income, including fees and between 2006 and 2011. So when Monash came up with slogan ‘go charges, and consultancy and contracts. It is also worth noting that boldly’ this was clearly a reference to intergalactic travel and not into they also had the lowest increase in costs including employee costs. the murky world of marketing. It also appears that Ballarat believes it We are not suggesting that this provides proof that increased can ‘learn to succeed’ by spending less on advertising. spending on marketing actually diminishes an institutions growth. So what do you get for your marketing dollar? In many cases It may well be that the slow rates of growth in fee and consultancy more has resulted in less. Thankfully, increased spending has seen income are the impetus for increased expenditure on advertising and the demise of inane throwaway slogans such as ‘infinite possibilities’ promotion. At this stage at least there is little evidence to suggest (La Trobe), ‘a new school of thought’ (Victoria University) or ‘if you’re a that it has been successful. Indeed, when it comes to marketing of star, here’s where to shine’ (UniSA). Some universities, however, feel a universities, the old adage that less is more may have more than a need to persist with such incomprehensible slogans, including ‘best glimmer of truth about it. A of both worlds’ (USC), ‘what’s your next life’ (Charles Darwin, the UniPaul Kniest, Policy and Research Coordinator Source: www.innovation.gov.au NOVEMBER 2012 www.nteu.org.au
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