Volga Avechkina,

PhD in economics, Head of the chair, Institute of management and business, Minsk, Belarus.

Mikhail Karalevich,

Student, Economic faculty, Moscow State University

PROMOTION IN EDUCATION

Key words: MARKETING, ADVERTISING, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, INSTITUTE, TARGET AUDIENCE.

Summary: The article is devoted to the problems of the organization of promotion in education, appealed to the target audience. The example of practical advertising given in the article is taken from the experience of work of one institute in Belarus.

Introduction. Marketing and advertising as one of it instruments are used in any area of the promotion of goods or services, including education [1]. Marketing researches in the system of education are conducted for more than 20 years. This problem is connected with the increasing competition between universities in attracting the attention of the school-leavers and university entrants.

The purpose of the paper is to reveal the main directions of advertising of the educational service. The results demonstrate the necessity of the marketing subdivision in the organizational system of the institute and the experience is able to be used partially in the practice of institutes.

Key part. «The international journal of educational management» was published in the USA in 1989. The American Marketing Association is holding an annual symposium on the marketing in higher education from that very period. Numerous conferences, which are affecting the problems of educational services, are hold in many countries currently. For example, the Belarusian State University held an international scientific-practical conference "International Management and Marketing in education" in 2011.

The United States of America is a leader of the world market of high educational service (»30% people get high education in the USA), then follow – Great Britain, Germany, France, Australia, China, Spain. The cardinal competitors are the countries of North America, West Europe, Australia and Japan. These countries spend »20% of their educational budget on advertising. The aim of these steps is to attract attention of different segments of the customers to the subject of advertising, to form or maintain interest of the target audience [2].

By the way, there are 55 high educational organizations in Belarus: 46 – state (govern) and 9 – private institutes and universities. More than 5% of the population of Belarus – are students. But the problem is that not all of these high educational organizations use the creative marketing methods and tools of promotion in their practice of work.

In general outline the education (as a sort of the service) is an immaterial and long-term used product. It has a special public importance and focus, personal character effects and is directed to the human mind.

Consumers of the product of educational services are forming the target audience:

1. School-leavers, students and trainees (they want to get knowledge and good job by specialty) as well as companies, firms and organizations (they want to get skilled specialist) can be attributed to the consumers of educational services of the higher school. Institutes and universities have to satisfy their needs.

2. One more important customer (and consumer) of a public educational programs is the society, most often is presented by the State (Governs sets special requirements and standards of education). This target group of the consumers is not only aimed at the professional training of the labor force, but at the satisfaction of the needs of individuals in the intellectual, cultural and moral development. State allocates a certain budget for the development of the system of education.

3. Customers of educational programs can be parents, who are involved in the decision of choosing the university and paying for their children's education.

4. Besides, the target groups of the high education are the number of entrants and secondary schools, teachers and providers (publishers, manufacturers of educational furniture, office supplies, etc.) and, finally, the media.

All of these target groups have their own needs and expectations of the educational programs of the universities.

Institute of management and business (IMB) was established 20 years ago in Minsk (Belarus). There are more then 5 000 students in the institute. They are learning in it by specialties of management, economy, low, and finances, book-keeping now.

Numbers of the target customer groups make it necessary for IMB to create different forms of advertising and different methods of communication with each customer group. So advertising need to be distributed in many forms with the help of various means: print; traditional media, such as newspapers, radio and television broadcasting; Internet (website), meetings and conversations in the schools; “Days of the open doors” in the Institute (conversations with the staff, demonstration of films and slide-and-sound programmers); meetings with the persons who have completed education in the Institute. It is intended for individuals and legal persons – consumers of the advertising – with the specifics of the target groups.

Information activity of the Institute includes the research work, collecting, processing, storing and distribution of the information. These form the system of the organizational resource as well as make the providing access to it.

Conclusion. The most accurate definition of marketing is that given by Philip Kotler – as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others [3, p.5]. So marketing can also be considered as a system of measures to increase the competitiveness of the higher education organization by following market requirements, which are the demands of the consumers.

The educational institutions are the subjects of the market, which are forming supply, offering and selling educational services. Education is a special form of activity of the organizations in providing educational services, which needs the really developed system of information and promotion (advertising) plus the really developed system of exposing the main directions of advertising of the educational service in the conditions of the increasing competition at the educational market.

Endnotes:

1. Capon, N. Marketing management in the 21st Century / N. Capon and J.M. Hulbert. – New Jersey, 2001. – 637 p.

2. Internet resource – Routine: http://www.belisa.org. by /ru /izd/ stnewsmag /1_ 2012/ arty_20_202.html – Date: 02.11. 2012.

3. Kotler, Ph., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J., Wong, V. Principles of marketing / Ph. Kotler, G. Armstrong, J. Saunders, V. Wong / 3-d Europ. Edition. – London, 2001. – 856 p.