We wanted to announce today that Clear Admit’s own Alex Brown has just published a white paper discussing the way that online channels and forums have enabled prospective business school students to play an increasingly active and influential role in shaping the dialogue about and perception of MBA programs. Titled “Engagement Marketing,” the paper aims to educate admissions and marketing staff about the ways that applicant word of mouth serves as a credible and readily available supplement to the message schools transmit though traditional marketing materials. Further, it offers tips on engaging the online community and adjusting to this new development. Given the extent to which Clear Admit has participated in this powerful and dynamic forum through our own blog, wiki and participation on various discussion boards, he is clearly in a position to speak with authority on this topic; this is one of two papers Alex has written on the subject of customer-2-customer communication tools.
The ideas in this paper will form the basis of his presentation at the annual GMAC conference this month. Alex will be addressing representatives from the top MBA programs in a talk called “The Impact of Blogs on the MBA Admissions Process”, covering the potential benefits and liabilities of attempting to tap the MBA blogging phenomenon. In addition to sharing his insight with experienced admissions officers attending this event, he’ll also be speaking as part of the training of about 60 new business school admissions staff members at GMAC’s Professional Development Program later this summer, during which he’ll draw more broadly on these ideas about engaging applicants and formulating new marketing strategies in light of new developments in technology and the evolution of the online community.
