Teachers College was using a one-size-fits-all marketing approach that led to confusion among prospective students. They partnered with Earthbound Media Group to develop a targeted campaign using digital printing. EMG conducted research that found students wanted relevant information quickly. They created a system where prospective students fill out an online form selecting their interests, which triggers the automated printing and mailing of a personalized brochure within 7-10 days. The new approach provides customized information to each student and has increased qualified leads and applications to Teachers College while reducing waste compared to their previous mass marketing methods.

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2. Teachers College Uses Relevance to Improve the Admissions Experience
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Project: Teachers College Uses Relevance to Improve the Admissions
Experience
Vertical Market: Education
Business Application: Direct Marketing/Lead Generation
Teachers College had been using a mass-marketing approach in its
communications, sending the same comprehensive brochures and media to
all interested students.
Inundated by irrelevant information, prospective students became confused
when attempting to select a program that fit their specific needs. The College
realized it needed a cost-effective strategy that would eliminate confusion,
tap into its ever-changing audience, and strengthen the Teachers College
brand.
Program Objectives
• Elimination of the one-size-fits-all mailing system that is wasteful,
expensive, and ineffective
• Development of an adaptable, multi-touch recruitment campaign that
distinguishes Teachers College and appeals to prospective students on a
one-to-one level
• Establishment of a continuing process to generate national and
international leads, collect data on prospective students, and provide
them with relevant information in a timely manner
• Employ marketing that connects to each individual and builds an
unusual level of comfort around the Teachers College experience
Significant Results Reported by User
• Cost-effective, customized communications cut down on both confusion
and waste
• Prospective students come away with relevant information and a more
positive user experience
• Although the program is still new, it appears to be generating a steady
stream of qualified leads—more than 3,500 annually
• 30% of new prospects reference this campaign as their first contact with
Teachers College
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Description
Teachers College, Columbia University, is one of the oldest and most
prestigious graduate schools in the country, but it faces the same challenge
that all colleges do—intense competition for the best students.
Unlike many schools, however, Teachers College was open to out-of-the-box
thinking about its marketing activities. When it met the team from
Earthbound Media Group (EMG) at a conference and began discussing the
possibilities of targeted marketing, Teachers College knew it had found a
great partner.
EMG’s creative energy, technical expertise and knowledge of the marketing
challenges faced by higher education overshadowed the fact that it had not
worked with TC before. It was awarded the project without having to go
through a formal bidding process or competition.
The discovery process was quite involved. EMG took a very careful, step-by-
step approach with a great deal of planning. It began with a simple question:
“What do students want and how do they want it?” By working with focus
groups, EMG found that graduate students wanted relevant information,
delivered as quickly as possible, and were most interested in what other, real
people—similar to themselves—who were actually at TC had to say about the
college.
This knowledge helped set the direction and was the basis for the
overarching theme: “The Faces of Teachers College.”
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4. Teachers College Uses Relevance to Improve the Admissions Experience
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The next step was vital to the project’s success. According to Barri Roberson
of TC, “We needed to do a keen analysis of our current marketing plan—
what was working and what was not. You need to be fully aware of your
organization, your systems and processes, in order to create a new system
that is really going to work. It takes time, but it’s worth it!”
The resulting plan for the new campaign included a number of elements:
• A series of static Lead Generation postcards, one for each of TC’s nine
areas of study. These are sent to people requesting information from all
venues outside of the Web site, and to purchased lists. Recipients are
directed to the TC Web site for more information. The URL, though not
personalized, is specific to each mailing, so it is trackable.
• An online “Request for Information” form. Teachers College has nine
different areas of study and 120 programs. The online form
(http://www.tc.columbia.edu/users/request.htm) allows students to
choose one area of study and up to three programs that they are
interested in. It also collects additional information that enables a more
relevant communications dialogue with each student.
• The form is tied to an internal administrative VDP software application,
custom-built and back-end database-driven, which instantaneously cre-
ates an electronic brochure based upon the entries made by the student.
This E-brochure, an abbreviated preview of the final print piece, is de-
livered to the student via e-mail a short time after the form is submitted.
• Each entry is then automatically “pushed” to a print and fulfillment
partner where the personalized brochure is printed, finished, mailed,
and received within 7 to 10 business days.
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• Captured contact information is used for follow-up communications,
which include e-mail and additional brochures.
Full implementation of the plan took about a year. It began with creating
design templates, being careful to ensure that the design allowed for the
longest copy necessary. The templates were shared with the copywriter who
was also given word counts to write to. EMG arranged for photo shoots and
interviews with real TC students from the various academic departments.
(During this time, EMG created a virtual tour of the campus, which enables
some of the creative effort to serve multiple purposes and is available for
potential students’ review on the Web site.)
Working closely with TC, the team members created the online form,
carefully choosing the information they wanted to gather from their
requestors. EMG also created the template for the E-brochure.
Image and content libraries were assembled, using standardized naming
conventions. It was determined that each brochure would include:
• First-name personalization
• A cover photo featuring the student’s preferred Area of Study
• Information and more photos featuring that Area of Study
• Copy and photos of up to three different programs within the Area of
Study
• An interview with a TC student from that Department
• Information on student life, which would vary depending on whether the
student is from in state or out-of-state
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6. Teachers College Uses Relevance to Improve the Admissions Experience
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Eighty-five percent of each brochure is variable and customizable to a
specific student. (One caveat: EMG says that if it could change one thing
about the project, it would be to simplify the variability. Although
impressive, the brochures would have been simpler and just as effective with
a more judicious use of customization.)
By this time, EMG had found its printing partner, Entremedia, and set up the
production system. The final InDesign files and .csv database were given to
Entremedia and put into XMPie. Sample files were test printed for approval
and tweaked as necessary.
Once set up, the workflow is automatic: New lists are sent to Entremedia
every two weeks in .csv format. The lists are cleansed through a standard
program and go directly to XMPie, which is set to map and create a PDF file
that is RIPped and sent to the press. All an operator needs to do is to approve
the printing. After that, the brochure is printed on heavyweight, coated
paper; trimmed, folded and saddlestitched; and wafer-sealed for mailing.
As for the Lead Generation Postcards, approximately 80,000-90,000 are sent
out annually, leading to 15,000-20,000 online requests for information, or a
response rate of about 20%. The college receives about 3,500 applications
from this program annually.
The system was designed to grow with the College’s needs, and will soon
expand to include several additional follow-up brochures.
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Client Teachers College, Columbia University
www.tc.edu
Teachers College is one of the nation’s oldest and largest graduate schools of
education—a place whose founding vision was to bring educational
opportunities to all members of society, and whose faculty and students, time
and again during more than a century of leadership, have demonstrated the
power of ideas to change the world.
Print Provider Entremedia
www.entremedia.com
Entremedia delivers integrated solutions primarily for direct marketing: cost-
effectively generating new customers and sales. Entremedia employs
“information leverage” to systematically target and motivate the ultimate
purchasing decision-maker and the individual consumer.
Agency Earthbound Media Group
www.earthboundmediagroup.com
Earthbound Media Group (EMG), a cross-media and creative communications
agency, offers award-winning marketing solutions, eBusiness consulting,
enterprise-level Web strategies, dynamic 1-to-1 personalized publications,
stunning film production, and interactive services. It has had an impact on a
diversity of industries, including higher education, commercial, healthcare,
retail, and non-profit organizations.
Hardware Xerox iGen
Software XMPie
Target Audience Graduate students
Distribution 100-700 customized brochures, printed and mailed every 2 weeks
Date Launched in May 2007; ongoing
© 2008 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org Best Practices in Digital Print Case Study