NMC study cites merits of ‘word-of-mouth’ ad scheme By MARIAN A. MARAYA

No other advertising strategy can be at par with what the “word-of-mouth” can do, a marketing study put together by the Northern Marianas College reveals.

The study, conducted by an NMC Fundamental of Advertising class late last year, showed that about 95 percent of international students who attend NMC had learned about the college through interpersonally-relayed messages.

“No amount of advertising can match how others perceive you and what word of mouth can obtain,” the study stated.

With that in mind, the authors have also come up with several recommendations on how the college can best spread the word about itself and what it has to offer.

The students had proposed advertising schemes primarily aimed at increasing the college’s foreign and local student enrollment.

Authors believe that more public awareness on NMC’s offered services would pave the way toward achieving its marketing goal.

The college, according to the study, should modify its website into a fully informational and user-friendly online venue.

The site should describe in full detail all degree and certificate programs offered, provide all the necessary information, such as requirements, enrollment procedures, class schedules, and registration dates that would be easily understood by all.

In addition, the college should also maximize the use of distance education and its own campus radio station to reduce advertising expenditure.

The study also advocated the use of other forms of media to create deeper public awareness.

It suggested the development of promotional packages that would contain materials for varied types of audience such as parents, students, teachers, and school administrators.

Authors of the study agreed that NMC should position itself as the next level of education after high school to prepare students for off-island colleges.

NMC Director for Development and Alumni Relations Tony Guerrero, the college’s marketing head, has backed efforts by the advertising class to improve the efforts at luring more students into NMC.

Mr. Guerrero is doing his part by banking on neighboring Asian countries to pursue post-secondary education at the college.

The college’s long-term plan is to collaborate with various private agencies in Japan with the possibility of creating a center solely for Japanese students at NMC.

Japanese and CNMI education officials are mulling over the establishment of an exclusive institution to cater to a large portion of Japanese high school dropouts at CNMI’s lone college.

Through NMC’s Adult Basic Education and General Education Diploma program, Miyazawa Gakuen President Yasou Miyazawa is seriously weighing the possibility of sending its junior and senior high school dropouts to obtain high school diplomas at NMC.

Japan’s stringent school system policies inhibit close to its yearly 200,000 dropouts to pursue secondary education at a later time in their adult lives.