Competitive marketing in FE

In every sector there is a time when it is necessary to reconsider the way we have operated in the past. The FE Commissioner, David Collins, recently wrote to providers and raised the issue of competitive marketing and I believe that letter ought to prompt us to reconsider how we market FE.

Surely it is wrong to use competitive marketing as a way to steer (steal) students from one provider to another. We ought to be using our marketing to provide young people with IAG on the careers they might follow rather than the courses they might take. A course perspective is short term whilst a careers view is more aspirational and long term.

And whilst we are thinking about FE marketing at a higher level, perhaps it is time to consider how we might move marketing from a provider activity to a regional or national activity. I suspect locally based and/or provider based marketing will be necessary to an extent in future but if we adopt a careers focused marketing perspective it then potentially becomes a shared service.

Food for thought? See more in the video below: