Strategy for international college in bangkok thailand

1. Marketing plan for DPUIC INTERNATIONAL www.dpu.ac.th/dpuic/ Bangkok Thailand
By
Garvin Boonsong
http://www.linkedin.com/in/garvinboonsong
(626) 607-4349, garvingaryboonsong@gmail.com
Competition
Dhurakij Pundit University International College (DPUIC) is an international English business private
education program in Thailand. Unlike public universities DPUIC doesn’t receive funding from the
government. Therefore in order to stay afloat DPUIC must keep on recruiting new students
Like all public and private university faces a lot of competition in both Thailand and overseas. DPUIC is
not only competing for prospective students that might stay in Thailand for international program but
overseas prospective.
Due to the fact there is greater and greater competition, DPUIC need to find more and more way to attract
new students as well keep current and existing customers satisfied.
QUESTIONS FOR SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
• What is the strategic marketing plan for DPUIC?
• What is the current marketing situation?
• How is DPUIC doing in terms of number of students for each department?
• If there is a strategic marketing plan for DPUIC is there
o What is the positioning for DPUIC?
o What is branding for DPUIC?
o What are the current target markets for DPUIC?
o What are the marketing initiatives for DPUIC?
• What are DPU and DPUIC organizational goals?
• What are the marketing goals of DPU and DPUIC?

2. HOW TO DEAL WITH COMPETITIVE SITUATION
Dhurakij Pundit University International College (DPUIC) is an international English business private
education program in Thailand. Unlike public universities DPUIC doesn’t receive funding from the
government. Therefore in order to stay afloat DPUIC must keep on recruiting new students
Like all public and private university faces a lot of competition in both Thailand and overseas. DPUIC is
not only competing for prospective students that might stay in Thailand for international program but
overseas prospective.
Due to the fact there is greater and greater competition, DPUIC need to find more and more way to attract
new students as well keep current and existing customers satisfied.
To deal with competition, increase profitability, in my opinion DPUIC must do 5 things
1. Understand their customers
• Understand the demographics and geographic profiles of their customers
• Understand the needs, desires, problems of their customers
• Understand the tangible and intangible reasons why they want to learn English
• Understand how customers look at the world
• Understand the factors that influence them to choose private English labs
• Understand why they choose one institution vs. another
2. Develop and articulate their branding, positioning, and USP
3. Focus on meeting the need and exceeding the needs of their customer to maximize lifetime value
of the customers
4. Do competitive Analysis
5. Use Multi channel marketing and integrate all marketing channels to achieve DPUIC goals
MARKETING PLAN FOR DPUIC

3. Schools like DPUIC need to develop and use an integrated marketing plan as well as enrollment plan. The
integrated marketing plan and enrollment plan will direct and coordinate all school marketing effort.
The integrated marketing plan and student enrollment plan will be composed of marketing mix such as advertising,
public Relations, Sales promotion, road show, direct marketing, Word of mouth, Sponsorship, scholarship, .
Webpages, Facebook, Twitter, Blog to achieve several objectives
1. Build brand awareness
2. Communicate the features and benefits of the school and each benefit
3. Communicate their value proposition
4. Communicate why should students come to this school
5. Get to know people with a specific need to know and trust them
6. Communicate the way they are different from other schools
This will lead to new prospects and new students
MARKETING RESEARCH
One of the things that DPUIC must do to compete an increasing competitive higher education marketing
environment is research. Doing research will help DPUIC administrators and people in charge of
marketing to answer many questions about that pertains to their schools.
By constantly doing research, administrators in DPUIC in things such as customer satisfaction, product
development, areas of improvement, communication messages, marketing mix to use. Doing research will
be basis of sound strategies to attract, recruit and retain existing students.
Like all business DPUIC portfolio consist of many existing customer segments. To be successful in
retaining and attracting students like the one in the customer portfolio, DPUIC must conduct research for

4. each of the customer segments because often the needs, desires, the people who influence them, what they
want to achieve and how to reach them are different from other in the customer portfolio.
Some of the research that DPUIC can might conduct for each of the customer segment includes research
to understand characteristics of customers, competitor analysis, satisfaction, and brand insight research.
Other type of research that schools might do include whether schools deliver on brand promise, the people
that influence to go school, why they choose to go university, what they are looking for the school
One of the types of research that schools must do is to truly understand their current student portfolio and
the different
Doing research to understand the different profiles of customer portfolio
DPUIC have different people they want to influence. For each of the people that DPUIC want to
influence, DPUIC need to collect research and insight by doing things such as analyze customer
database, conduct survey, conduct focus groups, read what they read, read blogs,
The Information collected through formal and informal research can be used to create a portfolio for each
of the buyer personas which might compose of
1. demographics, psychographics, technographics, psychographics and Value and Lifestyles (VALS)
2. their goals and aspirations, their fear, how do they see the world, their problems, why they go to
university,
The more organizations can know about the groups of people they want to influence, the better they can
write marketing materials in terms of social media, print advertising, brochures, post card, website.
By taking the time and effort to truly understand buyer personas, organization will have a chance to
empathize your buyer personas, eliminate the agony the guessing of what to say to where and how you
communicate with your buyer personas.

5. Universities must also must focus on positioning their school by effectively differentiating their school
and different programs from direct and indirect competitor.
Factors Influencing Decision Making of Students
DPUIC can use many IMC tools to get people to come to their schools. Advertising mix that universities
can use get people to come to school include Print, Radio, TV, Billboard, Catalog, Brochure, Flyer. The
Public Relations that school can use include Trade Show, Sponsorship, Newspaper,Magazine/Journal
article. The Online tools that schools can use to website, blog, Twitter, Facebook. The other social
networks that schools can use include Personal Selling, Front line Staff, Professors, Sales Promotion,
Scholarship.
To get people to come to their schools, schools must find ways to distinguish schools from other schools
such through criteria such as class availability, type of classes, class times and location, the quality of
their curriculum, their prices, their teachers, the reputation our school what their alumni have achieved,
the quality of people.
To deal with competition schools not only must attract new students but must focus on meeting and
exceeding the need their customers. This is important because customers are the most important group of
people in any organization including schools, and university. Without getting new students and keeping
current existing students satisfied, much university might not be financially viable.
To attract new students and get increase customer satisfaction, schools must take a customer orientation or
customer centric approach their business by understanding, meeting and exceeding the needs of their
customers. This is important for several reasons.
If student’s needs or expectations of the DPUIC are not satisfied, customers will not only come back to
school or attend class, they will tell lots of people not to come but will tell lots of people not to come.
If student’s needs or expectations of the DPUIC are satisfied, customers will not only come back to
school or attend class, they will tell lots of people to come but will tell lots of people not to come.
If DPUIC fails to deliver a value, students will not only stop going to DPUIC but tell other people not to
go our school.

6. FRAMWORK FOR DPUIC MARKETING PLAN
1. Target markets by geographic, race, reasons why they come
a. Buyer Personas
i. Descriptions
ii. Consumer insights
iii. Needs, desires, fears, typical life like
iv. Who influenced them to come to DPUIC
2. Consumer Behavior
a. Who influenced them to come to DPUIC
b. What mediums can reach target market
c. What are the perceptions that each target market has of school
d. Different needs and desires for each school and target market
e. Proof of university
3. Positioning of School
a. What is value propostion for DPUIC? What is the main messages and sub messages for each
school? What are the features and benefits of each school?
b. What are the features and benefits
c. What make school different than other competitors?
d. What makes department different from other competitors?
4. IMC
a. Lead Generation Strategy
b. Referal Strategy
c. Recruitment and Enrollment Strategy
d. Customer Relationship retention
e. IMC tools
i. Trade shows
ii. Press
iii. Alumni and Association
iv. Radio

7. v. Tv Advertisement
vi. Facebook
vii. Social Media
viii. PR
f. IMC Communication model
i. Who (individual, target market)
ii. Messages
iii. Medium
5. Consumer centric, lead generation
a. Brochures
b. Web Copy
c. Radio
d. PR
POSSIBLE POISTIONING FOR DPUIC
1. Helping Thai students prepare for new century
a. New way of thinking
2. Warmest of family
3. Professors Challenges to think outside the box
4. Your English will get better
POSSIBLE GOALS FOR DPUIC
1. Helping Professors build reputation of DPUIC
2. Branding DPUIC
3. Positioning DPUIC
4. Getting more leads for students for DPUIC
5. Getting more students
6. Get more industry support
7. Help students get a job
8. Recruiting Professors