Case Study: The Commonwealth Medical College
It’s not often that you get the opportunity to create a new brand from the ground up.
The Situation
The creation of a new, free-standing medical school from the ground up is a complex and exciting venture. It is rare that a marketing firm has the opportunity to create a new brand with no history, no baggage – and, to add to the challenge, limited financial resources. This is the once-in-a-lifetime experience that Trickey Jennus embarked upon in 2007 with the creation of The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The founding of this new, independent, not-for-profit medical school grew out of a grassroots effort to address physician shortages in the region. When the process first began in 2007, the goal was to welcome the first class of students in a mere two years. During that time the college had to recruit professional staff, establish physical resources, and obtain accreditation from three different organizations. Because TCMC could not officially call itself a college until receiving degree-granting authority, it was necessary to recruit leadership, faculty and staff to an unaccredited institution. Students could not be recruited until preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education was obtained – a time-consuming process that would give the college only 60 days from accreditation to closing of admissions to acquire its first class.
Trickey Jennus worked with the college’s founders from its earliest days. We were charged with assisting in:
- Recruitment of faculty to support the mission and vision of the college
- Recruitment of students who fit the college’s profile
- Creation of a regional presence to support fundraising and development activities
- Development of a brand for TCMC
As an extra challenge to our team, the college underwent no less than three name changes during this period. In addition, TCMC was required by law to include the word “proposed” on everything, and add a disclaimer to all marketing materials about accreditation during the pre-accrediting period.
In spite of all these restrictions, we joined forces with TCMC leadership with relish at the idea of creating a totally new medical college – new not only in terms of its age but also in terms of its unique vision of medical education.
The Process
When we began meeting with the leadership of TCMC, the college had only three staff members. it also had limited funds, no proud alumni, no distinguished faculty and no grateful patients – all the elements that traditional medical colleges depend upon for recruitment and growth. What TCMC did have was:
- A strong, compelling vision and mission
- An innovative model of community-based medical education
- A powerful base of community support
Through ongoing meetings and dialogue, Trickey Jennus and TCMC developed key messages and communication strategies together. Trickey Jennus worked closely with TCMC at every stage: developing, defining and creatively translating the brand through a spectrum of messages designed to resonate with each of the key audiences.
Because of the strong community involvement of the college, Trickey Jennus also met and worked with many organizations throughout the region, including governmental agencies, consultants, research firms and a variety of vendors. Our commitment to supporting TCMC and to acting on the college’s behalf as a partner extends to our vendor selection and billing procedures. As part of the collaborative process, Trickey Jennus sought out and worked with vendors, including printers, photographers, direct mail houses and others, within TCMC’s geographic region in order to support the local economy. In addition, the agency billed these vendors’ fees directly to TCMC with no mark-up, charging the client only for our time.
The Deliverables
Over the course of more than two years of working with TCMC, Trickey Jennus developed, produced and disseminated a broad range of marketing materials that translated brand and strategy into targeted messages. With such varied audiences, it was crucial that the messages and the media be equally varied. These examples run the gamut from print advertising to recruit faculty, students and inform the community; to fundraising brochures; to web-based marketing and cd-rom production. Yet all share one common thread: a powerful message to establish a new name in higher education.
1. The TCMC website (www.thecommonwealthmedical.com) was designed to emphasize the college’s mission by using board members, administrators and, later, faculty to tell the TCMC story via videos. Every person who interviewed for a position at the college reported watching these videos and being influenced by their powerful content.
2. A campaign of non-traditional higher education recruitment ads asked potential faculty and staff members if they wanted to be pioneers in creating a new model of medical education. These ads captured attention with their strong graphics and unique message. More importantly, they drove people to the website and ultimately attracted individuals to TCMC who shared the college’s mission.
3. A general brochure was created for use in multiple markets which featured key messages about the college and a focus on the community leaders involved in the college.
4. A series of specific positioning messages was developed as talking points for use by all college leadership in interviews and speaking engagements to create a consistent brand identity.
5. Even before TCMC was officially named, Trickey Jennus created a special website (www.theidealmedicalschool.com) with a concurrent ad campaign targeted at current medical students and residents to seek innovative ideas about medical education, interviewing and recruitment. At the same time, it began to position the college as a place that truly values student input.
6. Web communications include a blog written by the dean which played a key role in faculty and student recruitment. The blog has had more than 80,000 readers from around the world. TCMC also maintains a presence on YouTube and Facebook, and participates in student discussion boards relating to medical school admissions.
7. As part of the student recruitment process, TCMC launched a 50-college road trip taking faculty members directly to speak to prospective students. The quality of the faculty was one of the college’s main appeals, so the bus tour functioned as a unique way to promote this.
8. The groundbreaking, student orientation and convocation support materials all reinforced the messages and built the brand with consistency.
The Results
Through the strategic use of communications, TCMC was able to recruit a highly qualified and passionate faculty, strong leadership and an excellent charter class of students. All understand the college’s mission and share a desire to shape the future of TCMC, and of medical education as a whole, with an understanding that their individual input is sought after and valued. Through its marketing, TCMC was able to differentiate itself from more than 130 other medical schools and position itself as innovative, participative and relevant to students. The TCMC charter class was superior to the national average for medical schools – no mean feat for a “first-timer” in this highly competitive field. In spite of limited financial resources and a host of unique challenges, Trickey Jennus and TCMC were able to position the college with a strong brand image that enabled it to achieve its goals and go from vision to reality in just two short years.