Author: Geile/Leon

Reflecting on 30 years: A conversation with Geile and Leon

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Reflecting on 30 years: A conversation with Geile and Leon

#GEIL30N

As a copywriter who’s still in the early stages of his career, my eyes are always looking forward to where I’m headed, what I need to learn, and how the industry will change in the coming years. Of course, I can’t predict the future, but what I can do is try to see things through the eyes of those who have been there, done that. And how convenient – I happen to work with two of them! As Dave Geile and Tim Leon take their business into its 30th year, I felt there couldn’t be a better time to seek out some words of wisdom from them. Unsurprisingly, the insight they shared felt too good not to share with the rest of the world. No matter what your background or profession, I hope you’ll find as much value in our conversation as I did.

Without further ado, I share my conversation with Dave Geile and Tim Leon as they reflect on thirty years in this crazy business.

“What do you believe are the biggest reasons that G/L has been around for three decades?”

Dave
“The culture. Not only here in the office, but how we present ourselves to new business. We aren’t sales-y or pushy, and I think that always plays well. In every meeting we have, whether or not we get the business, we always leave with a good relationship. We trust our employees and our clients trust us – as long as things are getting done, and getting done well, trust will always drive things forward.”

Tim
“I think it’s been our ability to evolve. This industry and business overall has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, and we’ve been able to keep up with it and make the right changes to our service offerings, softwares, skills, and whatnot. I agree with what Dave said – we really trust our employees, and we trust them to help us stay ahead of the game. That’s had an immeasurable impact.”

Dave
“Also, I think often times others focus too much on winning awards. We like to focus on solving the problem at hand for our client, whatever that may be. If our solution happens to win an award, that’s great, and we’ve got plenty of them, but what’s more important to us is the work and the results. We produce fun, good stuff, but more importantly, it’s stuff that works.”

What changes through the years do you believe have had the biggest impact on your success? Are there any specific moments that stand out?

Tim
“I’d say when we evolved from an integrated marketing communications firm to more of a brand-driven strategic marketing firm. When we developed Distilled Thinking in 2003, I think that was a big moment for us. It was a long process, but when we finished we felt like we really had something unique and, most importantly, valuable to offer our clients. The second thing for me was including public relations in our offerings – it really rounded us out, and I felt the same way years ago about our digital services as we developed those capabilities and ramped up our expertise in that field.”

Dave
“That’s what I was going to say… I’m answering first next question.”

If you could give some advice to yourselves 30 years ago, what would you say?

Dave
“Believe in yourself. Damn the torpedoes! When we started this agency, it was three weeks after my wife told me our second child was on the way, so I thought: ‘this is either going to be the greatest thing ever or the worst decision of my life.’ But we had the confidence that we can do it, and if you care about what you do and the people you work with, things are going to work out. And here we are 30 years later. So, just believe in yourself.”

Tim
“Stay relevant. You can’t become complacent. I truly believe that what we do today is better and different than what we did three years ago, and what we do in three years will have to be better and different than what we do today. It’s always been that way and always will be. Stay relevant and be prepared to adapt.”

How does your philosophy towards marketing today compare to your philosophy 30 years ago?

Tim
“There used to be a quote on my door from David Ogilvy that said: ‘It’s not creative if it doesn’t sell.’ And I don’t think that’s changed. It can be creative as hell but it has to be strategic and it has to move the needle. In fact that’s even more true today with how metrics-driven marketing has become. Our clients are getting measured on performance, and it’s our job to help them there. Tactics have changed, but the philosophy never has.”

Dave
“I’d echo that. Our job is to build your brand and make you money. That’s always been the goal.”

As advertising has changed through the years, what are the essential truths of the industry that never have?

Tim
“Well, there’s the same thought that it needs to sell. But to go further I’d say relationships matter. The relationships that we have with our vendors, our employees, former employees, clients, whoever – they all have an impact. Don’t discount the value of a great relationship. Through the years there have been so many opportunities that came about from being referred by someone who liked us or who worked for us. It’s had a real business impact to work hard at maintaining good relationships with everyone that we’ve been involved with. I’d also say it’s always been important to hire good people and let them do what they do well. Inspiring a positive work environment means trusting your employees and giving them the chance to make things their own.

Dave
“Yeah, you know that’s – “

Tim
“ – Oh! And watch your cash flow. This industry is and always will be streaky. Be diligent so you’re prepared to weather the ups and downs.”

Dave
“… what he said. I’m going first again next question.”

What are some of the most prominent lessons you’ve learned about business overall?

Dave
“Be a partner to your clients. They will always appreciate it. I know agencies who will nickel and dime clients at every turn, even putting you on the clock for a quick phone call. That’s not how you build good partnerships or relationships. Great partnerships are defined by working through the tough times – having the tough conversations and trusting each other to truly want what’s best for the other. Business is about relationships, and that’s why we’re always transparent and upfront, so that we can establish that trust.”

Tim
“I should’ve saved the cash flow answer for this one.”

What does “Make It Mean Something” mean to you?

Dave
“Find the good in things. Not everything is always as it seems, but there’s always good in there, and that’s the story worth telling.”

Tim
“For me it just means serving clients, brands and people with everything we do. It’s how we conduct our lives here. We work with people who want to positively impact the world around them.”

How do your goals today compare to your goals thirty years ago?

Tim
“Well at the start it was just making it. (laughs) Survival. Wondering how am I going to put food on the table this week… Now what’s changed for us is thinking about what our legacy is going to be. You don’t think about that when you start, but now that you’ve proven to yourself that you’ve got a successful business model, you think about what that legacy is going to be. How it’s going to live on.

Dave
“Yeah exactly. How do you set it up to go on. I think if the place can’t go on without Tim and I here, then we’ve done something wrong. You look at agencies whose founders have long gone but their legacies are as alive as ever. That’s what you think about now. That’s what we want to leave here. A place that you everyone else can take and continue to build.”

What has been the most rewarding part of the last 30 years?

Dave
“I think for me it’s watching people grow. I think about employees who started with that spark but didn’t quite have it all fleshed out, there was a nugget of brilliance at a time, and now years later you see them and they are just unbelievably talented all the time. Over 30 years I’ve seen lots of employees go from fresh out of school to creative directors and marketing executives and whatnot, and it’s just been so fun to see them grow.”

Tim
“For me it’s just that the place has always remained a part of our lives. It’s gratifying to build a business and a culture and it has such a big impact on your personal life too, and the thing is through it all… we’re still partners. Other than my wife, I’ve spent more time with Dave than anybody else! A business partnership is like a marriage, and this marriage works, and that’s a really amazing thing to have.”

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30 Years, Countless Beers: How we’re making our anniversary mean something

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

30 Years, Countless Beers: How we’re making our anniversary mean something

#GEIL30N

Every day, Geile/Leon strives to “Make It Mean Something.” No matter the client, the product or the medium, making it mean something is about telling a story and giving an audience a reason to care.

In 2019, our business turns 30 years old. As we look back on our story to date, we find it important to not just tell it, but, as always, to make it mean something. This yearlong celebration is about cherishing the relationships we’ve made, reflecting on the lessons we’ve learned, showcasing the people who have made it all possible, and giving back to the city we call home. After all, 30 years isn’t just a number. 30 years is the story of the Geile/Leon family that has brought so many people together, and it’s a story that we believe everyone – no matter their industry or profession – can learn from and enjoy.

Throughout 2019, we’ll be reliving our greatest triumphs, laughing about our craziest memories, and sharing our best advice – all right here on this blog and on our social channels. (Editor’s note: Now might a good time to go ahead and plug our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Follow us if you don’t already!) In addition, we’ll be doing 30 Acts Of Kindness, as our employees find 30 opportunities to volunteer, give back, and improve our community… more on that in a future blog!

We hope that you’ll enjoy this anniversary celebration as much as us, and we invite you to share any memories or stories that you have from over the years with us using the hashtag #Geil30n! In the meantime, keep an eye on this blog and our social channels – the fun is just about to get started!





30 Years, Countless Beers: How we’re making our anniversary mean something

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Finding Your Happy Place in Rural Areas

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Finding Your Happy Place in Rural Areas

General

I came across an interesting Washington Post blog (https://www.weforum.org) on some research published a little while back by the Vancouver School of Economics and McGill University concerning the geography of well-being in Canada.  With over 400,000 responses from 1,200 communities across Canada, the study truly covered the country’s entire geography.

Their chief finding centered on a correlation between population density (concentration of people in a given area) and happiness.  When researchers ranked the average happiness of all of these communities, they found that average population density in the 20 percent most miserable communities was more than eight times greater than in the happiest 20 percent of communities.  The paper concluded that life is significantly less happy in urban areas versus rural areas.

The research found that people in the happiest communities have shorter commute times, less expensive housing, and less transient population of residents.  They are more likely to attend church and are significantly more likely to feel a “sense of belonging” in their communities.  There are other studies done in the United States that support the “rural-urban happiness gradient” which states simply that the farther away from the cities people live, the happier they tend to be.

For me, this study supports why we are seeing growth across new lifestyle segments including weekend farmers/ranchers, hobby farmers, gentleman farmers, backyard gardeners, etc. These are all people who aren’t quite ready to pull up roots in the city and move to a small town.  But they are seeking a break from the hustle and bustle, and find it in gardening, part-time farming, or raising chickens, horses, or a few head of cattle.

If you are marketing to this population, thinking of ways to tie into this happiness factor with your brand could be very effective.  Geile/Leon Marketing Communications professionals can help you find that emotional connection between your brand and the rural lifestyle audience.

Tim Leon is President of Geile Leon Marketing Communications and owns a 137 acre property in southern Missouri where he can be found on the weekends.

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Trending from G/L: Debating Like A True Marketer

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Trending from G/L: Debating Like A True Marketer

Creative

These days it seems like there is a debate about something new EVERY DAY.

Some of the topics can be a little, well, trivial in the grand scheme of things, but nonetheless are discussed in fervor on social media.

Are women’s pockets inferior to men’s? Yes, yes they are.
Is St. Louis the microbrew capital of America? Well, no…but we are near the top!
Are hit songs starting to sound a little similar? Yeahhhh.

These kinds of topics can generate some pretty strong opinions that inevitably circulate through our culture. But typically, there’s a decided shortage of facts to backup our claims. That is, of course, what makes these debates more of a matter of opinion. But now, The Pudding is here to shift the conversation from online shouting to in-depth sleuthing.

The site The Pudding has taken these entertaining cultural debates and put an actual answer to them. They conduct their own research and collect original data. Then they showcase their findings in a creative and super digestible way.

They use the “emerging form of journalism” called visual essays to tell their findings. Every essay on the site has interactive graphics to highlight the research and data in a way that is accessible to everybody.

Browsing through, you’ll see that the available essay topics are relevant and intriguing too.

The Pudding has tapped into something our culture didn’t even know we needed. Someone to help us FINALLY settle those debates you and your friends have over drinks on a Friday night.

How’s this relate to advertising? What The Pudding does and what those of us in the marketing world do are in essence one in the same: effectively communicate the truth about a particular topic. Getting to the bottom of what truly makes a brand or product unique and telling that truth in an engaging way is the key to good marketing and advertising. Imagine the latest debate is whether or not to purchase your brand or product. Is a shouting match of “buy” vs. “don’t buy” on social media going to be effective? Probably not. But how about a well-researched campaign that connects the essential truths about your brand to the people who will most likely value those truths? Now you’re talking. That’s what Making It Mean Something is all about, and it’s what we do every day here at G/L.

Great creative work is backed and inspired by great research. When you’re ready to discover the essential truths of your brand and make those truths mean something to your audiences, give us a call.

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How User-Generated Content Is A Necessity For Brand Awareness

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

How User-Generated Content Is A Necessity For Brand Awareness

Brainstorms

If you’ve ever seen the movie The Truman Show with Jim Carrey, you probably remember laughing at the various “product placement” scenes. The premise of The Truman Show, for those who haven’t seen it, is that Jim Carrey is unknowingly the star of a reality TV show – his entire life is broadcast by hidden cameras, and every experience and interaction he has is controlled and scripted. We learn that in order to finance the popular show, the creators rely on paid “product placements” during the broadcast… and as every marketer knows, these don’t always fit in so seamlessly, resulting in placements (almost) as painstakingly obvious as this:

At the core of product placement in marketing – both exaggerated and fictional as in the scene above and real as in popular TV shows/movies – is a desire to have your product/brand be seen in its natural habitat, where consumers are already looking. Is there an MTV show host that’s popular amongst your target audience? Pay for them to drink an ice-cold Coca-Cola on-screen! As marketing professionals, we want to gain consumer trust by presenting our brand/product in an authentic way while being seen by as many as possible, but as consumers, we know that one of the first things we do when making a purchase decision is seek out reviews and information as told by impartial people – or what some might call user-generated content.

According to this article from SmartBrief, in search marketing, adding customer star ratings to Google PLAs can increase Click-Though-Rate by 17 percent and lower Cost-Per-Click by 15 percent. Furthermore, 77 percent of consumers say they trust other customer photos over brand photos.

See the connection here? We want consumers to see our brand/product in its natural habitat and in an authentic, trust-building manner. When you look at it that way, reviews, comments and user-generated content become a goldmine of opportunity, because that’s exactly what they are – authentic presentations of your brand from impartial sources. In their own way, these digital elements are free product placement, and brands should be capitalizing.

Whether it’s aggregating and sharing customer reviews or simply interacting with people already using your product/brand, there’s an incredible amount of opportunity to gain and keep consumer trust through user-generated content. Is product placement dead? Of course not, but why pay to have an ice-cold Coca-Cola prominently placed on MTV when you could simply share an already popular video in which someone drinks a Coca-Cola? Your brand is already being placed in content, free of charge, and with the help of social media, there’s such a wide variety of user-generated content being shared. All that brands have to do is spread and share it! Not only that, but as the article says, user-generated content gives consumers social proof about the product or brand they are considering, which is a strong influence on purchase decisions.

Relationships go both ways when it comes to products, and one way to break that two-way barrier is through user-generated content. Consumers have always sought out recommendations from those they know.  Before the internet, word-of-mouth had a huge influence on purchase decisions. But the truth is, that hasn’t changed in the digital world, except that now, word-of-mouth recommendations live publicly and permanently online for the world to see. At G/L, we’re seeing the positive impact that leveraging user-generated content can have both for our clients and for some of the biggest brands in the world. The word-of-mouth recommendations that can boost your sales and the voices advocating for your brand are already out there, isn’t it about time that you give them a megaphone?

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The Industry For Me – My Summer As A G/L Intern

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

The Industry For Me – My Summer As A G/L Intern

Design

Thinking about Geile/Leon, there’s one word that keeps coming back into my head over and over again:  genuine.

When I first stepped into the G/L office located in The Hill, I was a nervous graphic design major looking for a summer internship.  I glanced around the colorful, artfully-designed room and the creative people buzzing about. Whelp, I’m in way over my head, I thought, somebody, please, get me out of here.

That’s about when Dave Geile walked up to me, shook my hand and invited me into his office to talk.  After just a few minutes of conversation filled with more than a few genuine laughs and smiles, my nervousness had completely melted away, and I knew that I’d found the perfect place to spend my summer, and the perfect people to spend it with.

So, now, here I am, finishing up my last few days at Geile/Leon before packing my car and driving back to school.  But, before I go, I must share at least a little bit about my fantastic summer here.

When I imagined interning for a summer, I figured, “here come days filled with fetching coffee and sitting around bored.” I thought that the cliche portrayal of internships was cliche for a reason. But at Geile/Leon, on my very first day I was learning about and helping with PR projects and hearing about everything that the graphic designers had in mind for my summer. At lunch, they poured into me over tacos at a local restaurant, asking about what I had learned at school, what kind of work I wanted to do, and discussing different ways that they could help me grow as a designer and professional. I didn’t feel like an intern – I felt like a colleague.

Throughout this summer, I’ve had opportunities to design, to sit in on creative meetings, and to learn more than I ever could’ve hoped to.  I’ve been blown away by the incredible talent and creativity of the people that work here, which are perhaps most evident during brainstorming sessions, of which I’ve loved every second. Through status meetings and lunches, it’s been a joy to be a part of the jokes and day-to-day activities that make an office like this one so special.

The graphic designers spent time looking over and providing feedback on my designs, teaching me some tricks of the trade concerning layouts in different advertising pieces, the nuances behind producing a logo for a company, the significance of contrast for organization, and so much more.  I’m excited to be able to take my new knowledge and skills back to college with me, so that I can keep growing in my graphic design courses.

Even more than taking my skills back to college, I am thrilled to know that I love the world of marketing.  Spending time in the office has taught me more about what real-world graphic design will be like than any class at college could.  I find designing fun, of course, but designing for a purpose is so much more exciting. The process becomes a puzzle of how you can combine creativity with mandatory elements to solve client marketing challenges in unexpected ways.  It’s a challenge that I delight in.

I can confidently say that I have and always will cherish my time spent at Geile/Leon this summer. I will miss working with each and every one of the genuine, hard-working, talented, and inspiring employees that work here.

Natasha Ferkel | Geile/Leon’s Summer Intern

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A Crash Course In Marketing Your Online Courses

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

A Crash Course In Marketing Your Online Courses

General

Today nearly every university offers online courses to both full-time and part-time students, making online courses a rapidly growing component of an increasingly digital age. Online enrollment is the fastest growing segment of higher education and is expected to jump to 5 million by 2020*.

While these universities offer online courses on topics like marketing and business analytics, many of them don’t seem to practice what they preach. Or, perhaps more likely, many universities haven’t adjusted what they preach to reflect the new age of digital marketing and data-driven business solutions. Here are few tips based on our experience in promoting online course:

The A-B-Cs of Online Course Marketing Efforts

Three important factors in getting the most out of your online course offerings are awareness, enrollment and retention, and full-funnel reporting for attribution reporting and campaign optimization.

A: Awareness

It shouldn’t be a surprise that program awareness is critical to your success. Our experience has been that Google, Yahoo and Bing are the most likely places prospective student visit to start their search. But with so many universities all vying for the same audience on these sites, it can be very confusing to decide which school is the best choice.

We believe the best way to attract the best-fit student is for university marketing and enrollment staff to first fully understand their school’s brand, its unique point of distinction. Then clearly define the target audience. And finally, build awareness by communicating to this audience via succinct and effective targeted messages.

Through digital advertising, universities can target a very specific student based on their online browsing habits and self-selected interests on social media. With the right set of analytics, you can develop messaging based on where the student’s level of interest is, whether that be just beginning their research into programs or ready to enroll. Additionally, utilize retargeting to reach and optimal level of frequency to raise awareness, impart the brand message and provide students with definitive reasons to choose your program.

B: Enrollment and Retention

The success of your online education marketing isn’t measured strictly in enrollment alone, it’s measured in enrollment and retention. That’s why it’s important to maximize your dollars in getting the enrollment and retention that you need. What’s your cost per enrolled students? How much higher is the cost per retained student? Your goal should be for those numbers to be as close to being identical as possible – that means developing the right messaging, on the right media channels, for the right people to attract the right, quality students. Enrollment and retention is often a result of communicating the university’s brand promise, and communicating it in a way to proper inform prospective students so when they chose your school, their experience will fulfill their expectations which leads to a satisfied and retained student.

C: Full-funnel Reporting

Digital marketing is one of the most trackable forms of marketing. It is possible to track the number of times a prospective student sees an ad down to which ad converted that student into a retained student. A full-funnel marketing is the best approach to marketing online course. It ties together the ‘top of the funnel’ efforts such as brand building and awareness to the ‘bottom of the funnel’ actions taken by prospective students. Universities can be incredibly efficient with their marketing dollars and optimize campaigns on the fly. With a full funnel view, you can shift budget dollars mid-cycle to the marketing channels that are converting the most students. From initial awareness to final enrollment, a full funnel marketing program and the proper analytics, you will identify the best performing messages, channels and call-to-actions for each online program offered. And to tie it all together, we recommend a marketing automation dashboard for data reporting and to monitor the entire enrollment funnel.

We’ve Got Answers!

Need help in increasing the efficiency of your online course advertising? To start, we offer a low cost digital audit so you can see how you compare to other schools in your consideration set. Call Dan Diveley at 314-727-5850.

Next lesson: Market Targeting – Hit Your Bullseye     

* Source: OCS 2016 Report

 

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Designing for Prospective Students

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Designing for Prospective Students

Advertising

Designing for prospective students can be as fun as it is tricky.

Prospective students can tell how adaptable and up-to-date an organization is within seconds of visiting their site or interacting with them digitally. How an organization presents itself online almost certainly mirrors what’s going on behind the curtain, and it’s pretty obvious. There are several basic things to consider when designing for prospective students:

Function and Content is Key

An organization has to be accessible and the interface has to be easy to navigate. Nothing is more frustrating than being unable to find basic information. These prospects want to know what you have to say and they want to be able to access the most information easily. Putting the most important information up front and making is easily digestible is a great way to get students interested in finding out more about the organization.

Good UI Design

Some say that the best design is invisible. At the very least, don’t let the design dictate the function. Design around the user interface and make it as clear and easy to navigate as possible. You want to be able to outline a clear path through the site for the end-user, while allowing them the freedom and flexibility to explore.

Social Media

Incorporating social media can add some honesty and even brevity to a website. It shows that other REAL people are interacting with the organization and may provide a glimpse of what it’s like to be involved. It also gives the end user the ability to share their own opinions about the organization.

Be Honest

No one has a more finely tuned BS meter than young adults. The best thing an organization can do for itself is be completely honest and transparent. In turn, the quality of people you’re trying to reach will be enhanced. This starts with research on the part of the prospect. If they are getting mixed signals on what is being presented digitally, they will find it pretty easy to move on.

Want to talk more about design? Fill out the form below or email us at [email protected] and we will lend our time to discuss your communications and design needs.

[gl-hs-form form_id=’1863abe3-c1e4-43d0-a298-c7b132f8ce03′]

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Trending from G/L: Making Your Marketing Memorable

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Trending from G/L: Making Your Marketing Memorable

General

When it comes to advertising, the most important metric is “memorable.” Not memorable like the family trip to the Grand Canyon, but memorable like something that your target audience will simply know. Memorable is what keeps us singing a silly jingle from 20 years ago. Memorable is what makes the difference between marketing and communicating.

Memorable means something that you know without thinking about. Take GEICO, for example. You know who they are, and you undoubtedly know their tagline too, but when’s the last time you thought about what GEICO actually stands for? Or what ESPN stands for? (For the record, it’s Government Employees Insurance Company, and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.) But beyond the obvious advantage of being shorter, the names we know these companies by are quite simply more memorable.

Think about it – how did you memorize the order of operations in elementary school math? It may have been decades since you had to find the value of X, but you still remember it – Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally! Is that shorter than “Parentheses, Exponent, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract?” Not much. But is it a hundred times more memorable? You bet.

Everything around your marketing communications, from tagline to design, needs to be memorable. When your audience sees your product, they immediately know who you are. When they hear your name, they immediately remember your tagline. With a strong brand and message, any company or group of letters can become memorable for every person.

A great brand is what makes a group of letters take on a bigger meaning than the words they stand for. If you told someone a product was from “International Business Machines,” they probably wouldn’t have much of an opinion or reaction. But if you told that same person that “International Business Machines” is “IBM,” they’d hold the product in extremely high regard. A brand that’s communicated – and named – with a focus on being memorable is why cooks everywhere “spray some PAM in there” and don’t “spray some Product of Arthur Meyerhoff in there.”

If you’re looking to create a brand that’s more memorable, G/L can help with that. If you’re wondering what other companies you never knew the full names of, enjoy this article, then give us a call.

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Trending from G/L: The Changing Workforce and Making Good College Decisions

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Trending from G/L: The Changing Workforce and Making Good College Decisions

Advertising

There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it? / The Graduate

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree and an executive position at a corporation is still a good option for many high school students, some may want to think their route to employment a little differently.

NPR recently ran a story about high paying trade jobs sitting empty while high school grads line up for university classes. The article discusses the perception that a bachelor’s degree is the fulfillment of the American dream, and the path to a good job.

Unfortunately, the reality right now is that a lot of college grads are having a rough time landing a job while industries are on the hunt for employees with different skill sets. Industries across the board are talking about a “skills gap” that exists as they struggle to fill mid-level technical positions.

For decades, parents and high school counselors have placed an emphasis on guiding students toward colleges for economic reasons, and in some cases, because of an outdated image of non-degreed workers being unskilled. Those attitudes now may be shifting. Many students who obtain certifications and mid-level skills and experience at technical schools have plenty of job offers, at good salaries, without needing to attend four-year programs, or incur large student loans.

These mid-level skills can be used in the electrical industries related to control systems or automation. The IT world, for example, has tremendous opportunities in application web development and computer network technology. They may require certifications and hands-on training but they don’t require a four-year degree.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) quotes a report from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute that says over the next decade, nearly 3½ million manufacturing jobs will likely be needed, and 2 million are expected to go unfilled due to the skills gap. 

Not every high school student wants or needs a bachelor’s degree to gain entry to a successful career. Let’s hope that we accept the needs of our changing economy so that we can help students make good choices. There are great technical schools that are using state-of-the-art technology to educate students in companies and fields where they will excel.

Ranken Technical College in St. Louis is an outstanding example of how schools are preparing students for a changing world. Ranken is focused on aligning its programs with industry needs so it can provide skills-based learning and job placement. Approximately 80 percent of their students are involved in work-based learning at any given time which pays off for them and for their future employers.

The future doesn’t have to be in plastics – there are lots of choices in lots of different areas. We might just need to think a little differently about how we approach them.

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications is a brand-driven marketing agency based in St. Louis, Missouri that specializes in higher education marketing. If you’re looking to update your university’s branding or enrollment outreach, please call 314-727-5850 or by clicking here.

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