The Approach

In our time with Tennessee Tech University (TTU) we developed a number of intelligence initiatives to help them underpin their communications strategies with real-world data and insights. Across these studies, we were able to show the breadth of our capabilities by using several different methodologies from deep secondary research and quantitative research like surveys, to ethnographic methods and qualitative research like focus groups.

One significant piece of research we performed for TTU was an extensive perceptual study among high school students who had chosen TTU, enrolled TTU student and TTU faculty. We held focus groups with:

• High school seniors (6 participants who had accepted TTU)
• TTU Freshmen (5 participants)
• TTU Faculty/Staff (10 participants)
• TTU Admissions staff (8 participants)

Our goal was to understand how each of these distinct audiences saw TTU, and how those views potentially change as one’s relationship with the university changes. We found that TTU has a very strong academic reputation, and that the high school students chose TTU because they overall had a very high opinion of TTU. The school, to them, represented a perfect blend of safety, community, academic rigor and affordability.

We also performed creative concept testing for TTU, a process we go through for many clients that improves the quality of creative campaigns immensely. In this instance, we specifically tested taglines against specific communications attributes and feelings we wanted people to feel when they encountered the tagline. As in many concept tests, a clear winner emerged, backed by a robust data picture. Having these insights saves time and money redeveloping creative ideas that haven’t been tested, making concept testing one of the most direct benefits that research provides for clients like TTU.

Another unique research initiative we undertook for TTU was an ethnographic study, during which our VP of Research and Strategy, and an intern of college age booked a campus tour of TTU under the guise of being a father/son group taking a normal college tour. The team took notes along every step of the experience, reporting back to the TTU admissions team on the positives and negatives of the tour experience from a prospective student’s perspective. 

In addition to our custom primary research studies, we built intelligence briefs in response to specific questions from the TTU admissions team. One of those questions was “Where in Tennessee should we be focusing our recruiting efforts?” Using census and other publicly available data including population projections, our team developed a strategy for which areas in Tennessee will be prime targets for TTU’s audience over the next ten years, both in near-term students (high schoolers) and long-term pipeline students (middle schoolers.) This strategy informed college fairs and media strategy moving forward, showing the admissions team which areas would be prime areas for their most important students over the next decade.

TTU turned to DSI to provide an underpinning of data for a number of their marketing and media decisions over the course of our work with them, and they were able to reap the benefits of a strategy based on insights rather than guesswork.