Public Relations Society honors SC team for Career Ed marketing

Southwestern College’s communications department brought home the gold—then some silver, too.

A reboot of the marketing for SC’s Career Education Department stimulated sharp enrollment increases.The community noticed and so did the Public Relations Society of America, which presented SC’s communications team of Lillian Leopold, Alexandra Demontaño, Brenda Mora and Ernesto Rivera its Edward L. Bernays Mark of Excellence Award.

With the help of the marketing and consulting firm 3fold, the college is now able to reach a wider audience and direct students towards profitable careers, Leopold said. Many of the Career Education courses had been underenrolled, she said.

“We want to encourage the community to look at Career Education,” she said. “There are a lot of job opportunities in those areas.”

A plan was created that included content analysis, surveys, resource planning and goal setting.

Rivera, a Marketing Communications Associate, said market research showed SC has one of the top enrollments in the county, but the lowest advertising budget.

“3fold has really pushed us and made us think in different ways,” he said.

Rivera said his team decided on photos that showed students in action such as nurses attending to patients, architects overseeing building construction and police on duty.

“We didn’t want pictures of someone just reading a book,” he said. “We wanted students to visualize what they could achieve.”

Leopold said she and Rivera felt like they had hit the mark. PRSA officials agreed. SC was presented the Marketing Consumer Products and Services Silver Bernays Award. Featured programs also benefited. Police Academy enrollments went up 14 percent, business management 21 percent, and Medical Assisting went up 555 percent.

“The college is trying to sell opportunities,” Rivera said. “That’s our product. Better opportunities and better futures. It gives this whole department great purpose.”

It was the college’s first ever PRSA award. Leopold said winning was professionally rewarding for the department.

Demontaño, the newest Marketing Communications Associate, said the team was just getting started with SC’s marketing revamp—the voice of its message is still developing.

She described that voice as “bold and strong.”

“The school has a lot to give and a lot to offer, and that’s what we’re trying to say when it comes to our CE programs.”