This document proposes a social media and branding campaign to increase enrollment at the Design Institute of San Diego (DISD). The campaign would focus on increasing DISD's visibility and establishing its brand identity. Key elements include leveraging student and alumni participation on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest using the hashtag #designSD. Partnerships with local businesses and an art installation on campus are also proposed to boost community engagement and exposure. Hiring a student brand ambassador is recommended to manage social media accounts and monitor brand awareness and student engagement metrics. The goal is to enroll 10 additional students over 12 months to generate $140,000-$180,000 in revenue.

1. #designSD
DISD Marketing 2012
Ricky Kassab
Josh Trent
Owen Salerno
Andrew Hermiz
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2. DISD Renovation
-San Diego’s “Best Kept Secret”
-Value Differentiation - Family, Student to Faculty Ratio
15/1
2

3. Current Analysis - Back Links
 AI-SD 27,657
 Mesa JC 4,390
 DISD 1,323

4. Current Market Value of Social
In Facebook fan studies from last year, the value of a fan
ranged from $3.60 in a Vitrue survey to $136.38 in a
Syncapse assessment.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

5. Establish DISD's brand by leveraging identity and increasing
visibility.
10+ Enrollments
12 months
Community Social Media Brand Awareness
Partnerships Campaign Campaign
Art Installation Local Alumni Relations Facebook Back links+ Pinterest #designSD Video Tagline
DISD Business #designSD Increase ranking Instagram Student/Faculty YouTube Interior Design
Campus Takeovers SeoMoz.com Twitter SMM-Contest 30-60
#designSD Sec-
Design Event IKEA Alumni Contest SEO Create Intro Advertising- DVP
Engage Partnertship Gatherings Increase 'Likes" SeoMoz.org Video Cutting Edge
Collaboration Testimonials Exisitng Students Analytics Website Design School
Local Bus T.O High ROI Autoplay Family, Close
HS Relations Testimonials #designSD #designSD
Local, Identify Video Visibility Blog
Blog High traffic development
SMM
Fun, Exciting Design
Events Competition
Open house Engage
"Pre-College" Student
Program Participation
Early
Marketing

6. Brand Awareness Campaign
Who is DISD?
 Very focused (one degree)
 Compare with the best
Why do they matter?
 Family-like atmosphere
Keep message consistent

7. Video
Video will display several “features” of having a small
family-like campus life.
 Student to teacher ratio
 Student attention in and outside of class
 Attention by the experts
Visitors will feel emotional benefits of features:
 “No place like home” feeling
 At peace
 Comfort & care
These are benefits that you will not get at a larger design
school

8. Tagline
Tagline that briefly describes who you are as a brand:
“Interior design runs in our genes”
Benefits:
 DISD owns interior design. They are the experts.
Prospective students will see this everywhere
 “Genes”: relates back being a family.

9. Advertising
Compare DISD with the best
Ad example: Briefly display curriculum on one ad. Caption that
says “Just compare with ________ school. These ads can be
modified and displayed by region if there is a competing school
around.
Benefit: Students nationwide will recognize that their local design
school can’t compare with DISD’s curriculum.
Communicate one focus and one focus only. Better to be the
Ad example: Show a pie chart or graph that shows 100% of energy
and resources go into Interior design. Show another school with
interior design, industrial design, and other fields take part of the
pie.
Benefit: DISD is the expert and is dedicated to make you an expert.

10. Social Media Campaign
The focus of our Social Media strategy is to increase
student involvement and participation of the Design
Institute’s social media marketing. We feel that this will
increase the Design Institute’s brand as well as awareness
among potential students. Each social media network will be
focused on the hashtag #DesignSD so that conversations
can be focused and followed with ease.

11. Instagram
The strategy behind the Design Institute’s
use of Instagram will be for students to
Instagram pictures of completed design
projects. We will create a page on the
Design Institute’s website which
aggregates all Instagram photos that
are posted with #DesignSD, in effect
creating an online portfolio of the entire
Design Institute student body.

12. Twitter
We would like to see the Design Institute initiate a live
Twitter feed on their homepage. Students would be
encouraged to write tweets about classroom
experiences and observations. By collecting tweets
under the #DesignSD and having a social plug-in
prominently displayed on the Design Institute’s
homepage, it is an easy and effective way for
potential students to get a feel for what it’s like to be a
Design Institute student.

13. Pinterest
The strategy behind the Design Institute’s
use of Pinterest should simply be a
place for students to collect ideas and
inspirations. While the use of hashtags
is limited at this time, we feel that using
the #DesignSD hashtag is still important
to the overall social media strategy and
for collecting student pins.

14. Facebook/Blog
We feel that the Design Institute blog
could use a bit of rebranding itself. We
would recommend a name change to
#DesignSD to fit in with the overarching
social media strategy. We would also
recommend increased participation of
students on the DesignSD blog.
Facebook should be utilized to promote
blog posts.

15. Community Partnerships
 Student Government/ASB
 Alumni Association
 Business Partnerships
 Art Installation

16. Student Govt. & Alumni Association
 Form a student government that will be responsible for
putting together materials for high schools and junior
colleges and send out representatives for
presentations.
 Start an Alumni Association that establishes a
networking program and parent meetings.
 Alumni and ASB work together on creating contests
and programs that will attract prospective students.

17. Business Partnerships
 Use local business partnerships to offer exclusive
internships with DI students.
 Partner up with companies like Ikea and Target to help
renovate local landmarks, community centers, etc…
 Student and Alumni social media feeds that feature DI
students who intern or work for prestigious companies
or firms.

18. Art Installation
 Have students work on an art installation that will stand
right in front of campus.
 Something that is big and unique enough to attract all kinds
of people.
 Goal is to make it a city landmark.
 Instagram and twitter hashtags associated with pictures of
the installation.
 Promotions, contests, and most importantly, exposure will
come out of this.

19. Student Brand Ambassador
-Assistant to Director of Communications
-Passionate about interior design / SMM savvy
-30 hrs per week
-Tuition reimbursement / Hourly wage
-Responsible for all SMM
-Student engagement
-Brand awareness accountability
-Social media accountability

20. Student Engagement
Student participation
Recruitment in contests and groups
Video testimonials
Action plans / Surveys

21. Social Media Accountability
Content management
Analytics
Customer engagement
Market research
Media

22. Brand Awareness Accountability
Video production
Art installation(s)
Business, Alumni, JC+HS relations
CRM of 50 unique internships

23. Investment - 12 Months
Student Brand Ambassador - $32,000.00
Social Media Analytics / Tools $1,000.00
Current Student / Faculty use - $0.00
Total Investment $33,000.00 - $35,000.00
ROI - Predicted 10+ Students Enrolled
Value of $140,000.00 - $180,000.00 (g)

24. Questions?