Marketing plan for West Chester University's academic and athletic services

Marketing Plan for College University (West Chester University)

The West Chester University offers a large array of academic services for students. This type of educational services is also diversified to include athletics and sports, encouraging physical, as well as intellectual activities. According to the message from the president of the institution, the college is designed, through its facilities, campus and investment in the excellent academic staff, to offer the highest quality in the services provided to students.

External Environment Analysis

In terms of the external environment and factors that affect the activity of the institution, because these are paid educational services, the general trend of the national economy will affect, in one way or another, the demand for the services offered by the university. Indeed, a growing economy will most likely be equivalent to an increasing national per capita income and this will mean that more people will have access to the portfolio of services provided by the university.

In terms of the political and legal environment, this determines the regulations by which the university has to abide and needs in order to function and, in this sense, the university will be advantaged by a set of law that encourage access to education for a large category of consumers etc.

In terms of technological factors, advances in this area will determine the school staff to take measures in order to upgrade their own set of computers, so as to provide the best level of educational services available. As we are aware, the 21st century, as much of the last part of the 20th century, will base education and the educational process on the use of technology in schools and the level of technological development will likely make the difference in terms of service differentiation.

In terms of cultural and social factors, obviously, there is a statistical increase in demand for higher education. More and more jobs demand that the employee will have had a higher education, so this trend will probably increase demand for services at West Chester.

Customer Analysis

Obviously, the services offered here are destined to a large category of graduates and undergraduates, students in general, so we can isolate the demographic variable as individuals aged 18-30 years old. These potential customers have a medium education level, but their interest is towards progressing on to university. In this sense, we would expect to find them in the middle class area, including from an income perspective, with annual family incomes over the $50,000 threshold.

Another small potential targeted customer category is the athletic community, those students that do not necessarily have high grades or incomes that allow them to pay for their tuition. These potential customers generally obtain an athletic scholarship that rewards their athletic abilities.

From a geographical point-of-view, we expect to see customers from and around Philadelphia where the college is located. Indeed, it is simpler for people to attend from these regions, especially since they can even attend while still living at home and without moving on campus.

Competitor Analysis

The university is competing both locally and regionally and on a national scale. Locally, it is competing with other universities in or around Pennsylvania, including here the likes of Drexel University or the Univeristy of Pennsylvania. Competition is done on several different levels. First of all, on the educational level, this including technological equipment in school, general conditions for study, the state of campus, dorms and facilities etc. Second of all, there is also a price/quality ratio competition, in the sense that students would to pay as little as possible for a high level of educational services.

The competition at national level is probably more difficult to sustain, because it means competing with the likes of Stanford, Yale or Harvard, universities that will likely attract foreign students as well because of their fame and international rename.

Ps Analysis

As previously mentioned, in terms of product, the university is offering higher educational academic services, diversified to a certain degree along these lines to include athletics or research on campus. All activities on campus are designed to help this primary objective of offering competitive educational services.

In terms of place, we have discussed that these services are offered in Pennsylvania, although the target is not necessarily exclusive for individuals living in this region. Students from all over the country are encouraged to join West Chester University.

Promotion should most likely target the category of potential consumers we have already identified, especially from a geographical perspective. In this sense, we suggest, first of all, that a campaign promoting West Chester be made in high schools from Pennsylvania. This would include, first of all, presentations of West Chester to high school students, which would include reference to the academic staff, the possibilities of study for those attending West Chester, technological facilities, tuition fees and the possibility of applying for scholarships etc. Second of all, direct mail promotion, with brochures on the university and contact data, can be included as a means of promotion.

As for the price factor, the university, because of public contribution from the national budget, can play along a certain line of flexibility that allows it to be more price competitive. This means that the price factor will play a less important role in the marketing mix and that West Chester can benefit from this to be more competitive on the market.

As we have seen, the fact that the organization operates in the academic sector and market means that there are certain specific conditions that it needs to abide by. These conditions include smaller price sensitivity, an emphasis on the quality of the educational services provided, which would include a large number of factors ranging from technological facilities to the academic staff. Its regional rather than national coverage tends to direct its focus in the state rather than at an U.S. level.

On the Internet at http://www.wcupa.edu/_INFORMATION/FACTS.WCU/mission.htm.Last retrieved on December 12, 2006