College Advertising Ramps Up

As education brands struggle to stand out, large online for-profits battle it out with private and large public universities in an increasingly competitive category.

After a decade of steady spending, reported advertising tracking data showed that higher education brands spent a whopping $1.2 billion of advertising in 2013. That’s a 6.4% increase over 2012, and Jan-Apr 2014 is pacing at the same rate.

Online Programs Redefine the Higher Ed Marketing Landscape

The top ten spenders, 37% of all dollars ($458K), were driven by online universities with University of Phoenix spending 1 out of every 3 dollars.

TV is the New Recruitment Battleground

National TV was the #1 medium with University of Phoenix and other online for-profits driving the category media mix. Interestingly, traditional schools spend a greater share online versus online universities, which use TV for mass reach. We should mention that reporting services* do not include any search engine marketing dollars that would significantly increase category estimates.

Online: Non-profits Battle For-profits

The rising interest in online education has fueled several different models for non-profit online universities. In many cases, they are outspending for-profits and filling consumer demand as for-profits fall under the scrutiny of Washington.

The One Million Dollar Club
5% of institutions spend 77% of the dollars

Colleges and universities spending over a million dollars in advertising in 2013 made up just 5% of higher education institutions, but 77% of all the dollars invested. These brands put a lot of pressure on the 3,257 colleges and universities that had reported spending in 2013. Of the 169 schools that spent over a million dollars, 39 schools spent more than $10M, 23 between $5-10M, and 130 between $1-5M.

Public Universities Double Down

Surprisingly, as tuition rises, you would think the appeal of public universities would, well…sell themselves. Public institutions were among the largest spenders in the category, outside of online institutions, aggressively spending to protect their regional turfs. In fact, several state universities doubled their spending over the period: Arizona State University $3.3 to $7.7M, Rutgers University $2.0 to $7.0M, University of California $4.8 to $8.2M, University of Chicago $2.1 to $6.9M, and University of North Carolina $2.6 to $3.4M.

Elite Schools Spend Aggressively to Stay on Top

Online for-profits have always recognized the value of marketing to drive their business, but now leading public and private universities appear to be ramping up their investments to protect their positions. Many of these sought after elite schools more than doubled their spending levels in 2013. Here’s a sample.

Looking forward, we anticipate spending in the higher education category for both public and private schools to continue at a robust pace. For-profits, under siege from lawsuits and regulatory problems, are investing heavily to keep the conversation positive and quarterly earnings unsurprising. As the new online landscape redefines higher education marketing, an increasing share of universities may be putting up membership fees to the One Million Dollar Club.

*Source: Kantar Media

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