Talking Stick - January/February 2015 - 38

esidence hall occupancy hovers at only 85 percent.
* University leadership questions if the new livinglearning programs make a difference in student
retention. * Attendance is down for residence hall
educational programs. * Nobody seems aware that
the new residence hall features a host of cuttingedge sustainability features. * Student questions on the department's
Facebook page sit unanswered. * The volleyball camp unexpectedly
has to cancel this year. * An unaffiliated apartment complex on the
edge of campus lures student residents away with the siren song of
flat-screen televisions.

What do these situations have in common?
One answer is that they are the things that
can cause restless nights for a residence life,
occupancy management, area director, resident
assistant, facilities manager, or conference
services professional - not to mention a senior
housing officer.
Another answer is that they are also the
things that stop the housing department's
marketing team from getting a good night's
sleep.
The true answer, however, is that these are
the challenges that, to identify and resolve, a
marketing department must dig into its bag of
tricks and team up with potentially every other
department of a campus housing operation. It
is through this cooperation and collaboration
that answers will be found, and everyone finally
can start to rest more comfortably.
Campus housing marketing departments
take on many different shapes and sizes. Some
campuses host full marketing teams. Others
might have just a handful of staff who may also
split their time in other tasks. And some others
may even be rolled up with the institution's
overall marketing and communications office.
Regardless, each one must support the overall
housing department, develop and protect
the departmental brand, identify consumer
trends, develop and implement key messages
and strategies, and then assess the strategies'
successes.
On top of all of this comes the challenge of
identifying and clarifying how marketing helps
the overall housing department. Most everyone
38

TAlkiNg STick

feels they have a basic understanding of what
marketing is. After all, everyone is on the
receiving end of myriad marketing messages
every day. But not everyone fully understands
how marketing is the art and science of telling
stories that motivate individuals to engage
with a product or service. Concurrently,
marketing professionals must also understand
the business operations and overall mission
of a campus housing organization so they
can translate the policies, procedures, and
experiences into consumable stories. Buyin is needed on both sides in the effort to
demonstrate value. "I believe that if you work
to provide a service, and the group you are
working with sees value in your service, they'll
keep coming back to you and seeing the value
in what you do," says Brittney Rutherford, a
marketing coordinator at Iowa State University
in Ames. "Go out and get your feet dirty -
literally - with your facilities staff, so they know
you're interested in their side of the story and
their point of view."
Connecting marketing and other
departments across the organization is a
necessity. While the marketing staff has its
own skill set, it is also imperative that they
understand the world of campus housing. This
will require marketing professionals, most of
whom did not come up through the housing
or student affairs ranks, to take purposeful
steps. Of course there are resources and
information available through official channels,
such as satisfaction survey results, focus group
discussions, and the like. Many organizations,
though, take extra steps to fully immerse the

Talking Stick - January/February 2015

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