Business Plan and Marketing of Central Queensland University

Question: Discuss about the Marketing of Central Queensland University. Answer: Background of the University Originally, the University was established in 1967 in Rockhampton. Initially, the university was known as Capricornia (Institute of Technology). It was one of the few Australian Institutes to start the provision of distance learning by 1974 (CQUniversity, 2012). Further campuses were developed between 1978 and 1989 in Gladstone, Bundaberg, Mackay, and Emerald. Later in 1992, the institute attained the status of a University and it became to be known as Queensland University. Currently, the CQU has grown to open branches throughout Australia, its campuses in Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Cairns, and Noosa (CQUniversity, 2012). Apart from the campuses, the University has also study centers in Yeppoon and Biloela, Partner study hubs in New South Wales, Cooma, Queensland, and Karratha, also the University has opened Distance Education centers in Townsville and Perth. The University has been in existence for more than 20 years, and now after merging with CQ TAFE in 2014, CQU has been able to provide a range of diverse educational courses and training programs to an average of 30000 students studying for various educational programs, ranging from certificates to doctorate degrees (Queensland Government, 2017). The areas of study include Accounting and Law, Apprenticeships, Performing and Visual Arts, Digital Media, Creative, Health, Education and Humanities, Information Technology and Psychology, Engineering and Built Environment, Business, Work and Study Preparation, Trades and Training, Science and Environment,and Social Work and Community Services (CQUniversity, 2017). The amalgamation of CQU and TAFE saw the development of the first Queensland dual sector university. The university provides an approach that is more comprehensive towards training, education, engagement and research in the whole region of Queensland and beyond. Market Summary Generally, there are 43 universities in Australia, among these universities there is a specialty private university and two international university ( Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2011). In terms of employment, the universities provide jobs for more than 125000 staff. In 2014 the Australian economy gained from more than $ 140 billion from the universities ( Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2011). The universities have provided education for more than 1.4 million local and international students. The Australian market serves both the local and international students, with the average enrollment of international students standing at 375,000. The third largest service export in Australia is the international student education which accounts to close to $ 22 billion annually. With the regulations changes and demand in qualifications requiring qualifications for specific opportunities for employment, the 37% of age group of between 25-35 years old holds a bachelor or higher degree. According to a recent demand assessment report, the number of student enrollment to Australian universities grew to 1.41 million in 2015 (Australian University Network, 2017). Going with the average growth rate, it is expected that the annual growth rate is at 8%. This indicates that in coming years, the annual revenue generated by the universities in Australia will continue to increase. Market Segmentation and Analysis of the Target market The CQU has spread across Australia, including the Queensland region and other major cities such as Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, etc. The students are made up of students from all over the world, with the majority of the students being the local students who are in need of quality education at a reduced cost. Students can enroll in four major courses, namely: Research higher degree, Vocational Education and Training, Undergraduate and non-award, and Postgraduate coursework. Through its numerous campuses, the university has access to the vast Australian market and opportunities to attract international students. According to the universitys website, in 2016 more than 5000 students were international students out of the total number of 22000 enrolled that year. Demographic Segmentation The university provides different modes of learning for its students ranging from distance learning to campus study. The university also provides arrange of different types of courses and more than 41 exchange programs. The information below shows the university market segmentation: Variable Specification Lifestyle: Wealthy class, Higher class, and Middle class. Age: 17-35 Gender: Female and Male Education Level: Above or high school Student Citizenship: Australian and International Personality: Self-confident, independent, and future concerned PEST Analysis PEST analysis allows the staff, management, president, and the chancellor to make a decision that is more informed concerning planning, finance, and management that are influenced by changes that are originates from the political, economic, social, and technological. Political The government policies, that appeals drastic changes to procedures and policies that influence the activities of the university. The government taking over to run the university Immigration laws changes impacting the international students intake. Regulations affecting the finance management. Economic Funding shareholders decisions that may have negative or positive effect. Fee structure restrictions Changes in the resources costs, such as real estate, technological infrastructure, and human resource. Risk of moving crucial staff which was involved highly in the universitys growth Social Drastic population changes. Demographic dynamics, resulting in diversity increase. . Dynamics of employment opportunities which encourages students to enroll into the university . The Social Media effects. Dynamics of qualification expectations. Staff that is not qualified. Information globalization. Technological Standards update requiring infrastructure changes. Settling for the appropriate technology that is relevant in the current and future world. Maintenance of IT systems including the upgrade of the systems. Competitor Analysis Just like any other business industry, all the Competitor Analysis As with any industry, all the universities compete with each other to get as many students as possible and to provide the best quality services to those students (Queensland Government, 2017). CQU competes with major universities because of its presence across different cities in Australia. Keeping CQU at the center, an analysis of the industry suggests that university of south Queensland pose a direct competition to the. These two institutions have their headquarters located in Queensland and their competition aspects include the students in distance, postgraduate, and undergraduate learning programs (CQUniversity, 2012). Both institutions are competing to get the share of the international students. There is a very tough competitive environment between the universities. However, with the new initiatives that are being initiated by CQU such as the new expansion, are enabling the university to have a competitive edge. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis The CQUs SWOT analysis has been performed below: Strengths: The CQ Universitys vast geographical presence is the universitys primary strength. Also, the university is among the learning institutions that are most engaging and inclusive universities. According to the World University Ranking (Studycairn, 2017), the CQU is a tops the list of under 100 Young Universities. Weaknesses: The completion rate of the university is among the worst at 42%. Because of this, some people perceive it as not being a good university. Opportunities: The university need to enhance the image of its brand so as to improve the national and international perceptions (Yoram Wind, 2000). Additionally, the university should take advantage of its presence and increase the enrollment numbers. The university has massive resources, and at such it should increase the competition rate by capitalizing on those resources Threats: Some of the threats affecting the performance of the CQU is the mismanagement of resources at campus level. The pooling of resources by other competing universities. The government funding restrictions that could otherwise help students from low income family. Value and Brand Positioning Analysis The university is run on Leadership, Openness, Engagement, and Inclusive values (CQUniversity, 2012). The value analysis demonstrates that the school is looking to positon itself as the university of the people. The differentiation of values is based more on emotional modifiers and not in terms of financial or educational aspects. The satisfaction rate of the university is 81% based on the recent report published by Sydney Morning Herald (Knott, 2017). The report indicates that most of the students are satisfied by the quality of education provided by the CQU. The brand name also has been positioned among the top 100 Young Universities based on the world ranking. Marketingand Promotional Objectives The market and promotional objectives of the university is to createmarketing strategies that will ensure the delivery of the revenue and reputation aims and objectives of the university with the public and private sector. Mechanism Create a marketing plan that is integrated across the university to generate income growth on the following business segments: Establishment of focused strategic long-term RD with other business stakeholders. Conduct research and consultancy. Provision of educational programs. Develop relationship with the target students employers by communicating to them the quality of students from CQU. Improve international collaboration and engagement among the leveraging CQU staff and academic staff. Market Mix Strategies The main objectives of marketing are to satisfy and meet the wants and needs of the target customers better than the competitors. Marketing is a skill that every organization must be able to implement in order to realize success (Hanover Research, 2014). Market mix refers to the set of controllable and tactical marketing tools which include promotion, place, product, and price that the business combines to attain the desired response from the target market. When determining, brands offering the market mix is very crucial, and mostly it is referred to as four Ps. Product Product is that attracts the use, acquisition, consumption, attention and which can satisfy a need or a want. A product can be intangible like a service or tangible like a good. Therefore, for an educational brand is an intangible service (Clayton University, 2014). The marketing of this kind of a product is inclined towards school facilities such as workshops, training labs, and libraries. The universities can differentiate their products based on the quality. Price Pricing plays a very important role in the market mix, since it captivates consumers and provides revenues to learning institutes (College, 2015). Price refers to the amount of money that a consumer exchanges to acquire a particular service or product. Promotion The universities need to link their target market to the public. They must inform the students and parents concerning their aims and activities so as to inspire them to develop an interest in their institution. Educational institutions must develop strategic promotions that encourages their target audience to buy their services. Place (Distribution) Place as a component of market mix comprises all organizational activities that avails the product to the targeted consumers. It can be explained as an act of availing product or services to the customer for easy accessibility (Hanover Research, 2014). In most instances, the providers of services adopt the approaches of direct marketing in the distribution of their services to the target audience. In marketing of higher education, place simply refers to the accessibility and availability of the institution to its stakeholders. Media and Budget Allocation The Board of Governors of CQU needs to approve a $347.3-million balanced operating budget for 2016/17 that is centered on priorities by enhancing and maintaining the quality of education and building capacity to retain the best staff and students (CQUniversity, 2012). In the coming years, the planning and budgeting will be informed by the Universitys Enhanced Planning Tool. These tools ensure that there is transparency across administrative and academic units, which can inform the development of budgeting and planning frameworks. Conclusion The research shows that Central Queensland University in Australia, hast the largest footprints in terms of geographic presence. The institution is also getting more numbers of the distance learning and international students. With the future perspective, the university should pay attention to the rates of graduation and improving the market and public perception. The Central Queensland University has numerous opportunities ahead because of the ever-increasing educational demands. References Australian Universities Quality Agency. (2011). Australian University Quality Agency. Melbourne: Australian Universities Quality Agency . Australian University Network. (2017). CQUniversity (CQU) Profile. Retrieved from australianuniversities.com.au: https://www.australianuniversities.com.au/profiles/cquniversity-cqu.html Clayton University. (2014). Clayton State University Integrated Marketing Plan 2014-2017. Clayton University. College, K. S. (2015). University College Strategic Marketing Plan 2015-2017. Kennesaw State University College. CQUniversity. (2012). CQUniversity Annual Report. Brisbane: CQUniversity. CQUniversity. (2017). Courses. Retrieved from cqu.edu.au: https://www.cqu.edu.au/courses Hanover Research. (2014). Trends in Higher Education Marketing, Recruitment, and Technology. Hanover Research. Queensland Government. (2017). Central Queensland University (CQU) Rockhampton. Retrieved from dilgp.qld.gov.au: https://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/planning/priority-development-areas/cqu-rockhampton.html Studycairn. (2017, 5 2). CQUniversity Ranked #90 in latest Young Uni Global Rankings. Retrieved from studycairns.com.au: https://www.studycairns.com.au/12688-2/ Yoram Wind, D. R. (2000). Market segmentation.