Neuger Communications Group

Measuring the Impact of Collaborative Marketing

The Situation:

The Lutheran Educational Conference of North America (LECNA) provides marketing support designed to increase enrollment at 41 Lutheran colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Member institutions make significant investments in the consortial activities, in direct payments to the group and in staff and travel time. Could LECNA prove that those investments were delivering a reasonable return?

The Communications Challenge:

LECNA needed to measure the impact of a wide variety of activities, from college fairs to print publications to online activity, across all fifty states and into Canada, to students, parents and other key constituents. The measurement had to be rigorous, relevant and accurate, and needed to identify ways in which the consortium should continue to invest scarce resources.

Strategy:

The data analysis team at Neuger Communications Group assembled all of LECNA’s contact data, spanning three academic years, almost one hundred fairs, several dozen e-mail campaigns and several mailing campaigns. We also received comparative data from 30 participating institutions, which was collated and standardized. This created the opportunity to compare enrollment results for students included in LECNA’s efforts with those recruited only by the individual colleges.

Results:

The comparative results demonstrated that students who had received direct contact from LECNA were more likely to apply and to enroll at participating schools. This resulted in an additional 2,796 enrolled students, which represents an additional $75 million in revenue for the 30 participating colleges. This not only served as validation for LECNA’s ongoing efforts, but also for us, as Neuger Communications Group helped to develop and produce nearly all of LECNA’s communications.