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About the Episode
About the Episode:
Jaime Hunt sits down with Jennifer Umberger, VP and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Kettering University. They unpack what it really takes to break out of higher ed’s “sea of sameness” and build an enrollment marketing engine that actually moves the needle. Jennifer shares how Kettering’s distinct co-op model became the center of a sharper brand story—and how tight alignment between marketing and enrollment helped drive major growth. If you’re looking for a marketing strategy for student recruitment that’s built for today’s expectations (ROI, outcomes, and relevance), this one’s a must-listen.
Key Takeaways
- Different isn’t enough—you have to be understood as different. Kettering stopped comparing itself to traditional institutions and clarified its “why,” not just its features.
- Brand + enrollment alignment is a growth multiplier. Omnichannel enrollment marketing works best when marketing, enrollment, and leadership share goals, language, and accountability.
- Outcomes beat adjectives every time. Kettering leaned into proof points—like paid co-op earnings and real-world experience—rather than generic brand claims.
- Speed requires structure. With 12 concurrent workstreams, Kettering built a plan where messaging, web, CRM, content, and communications all fueled each other.
- Funding can unlock transformation—but sustainability must be the real win. A time-bound grant accelerated the work, but the strategy focused on long-term operations and repeatable impact.
- Professional development isn’t a perk—it’s a performance strategy. Conferences and community (like CUPRAP and AMA) helped a small team level up quickly and confidently.
Episode Summary
Breaking out of the sea of sameness starts with one question
Jennifer shared a deceptively simple prompt that shaped Kettering’s turnaround: “What does it take to matter—and to matter differently?” That question forced the team to stop relying on legacy reputation and start building market relevance that prospective students could instantly grasp. It’s a powerful reframe for any campus stuck in brand blur.
This episode is also a masterclass in sequencing. Kettering didn’t just “do a rebrand.” They connected brand strategy to the entire student journey—web, messaging, CRM, recruitment comms, and even financial aid optimization—so the story students heard matched the experience they actually had.
And the results weren’t theoretical. Jennifer points to a 50% increase in new student enrollment since 2023, powered by an omnichannel approach and a campus-wide commitment to alignment. In other words: smart positioning, paired with operational follow-through—aka the stuff that makes enrollment marketing work in real life.
What makes Kettering University genuinely different—and why does that matter for student recruitment?
Kettering’s differentiator isn’t a slogan—it’s a structure. Students rotate between classes and paid co-op experiences, meaning half of their learning happens off campus in real workplaces. That model isn’t a “nice add-on”; it’s the core product, and it creates standout outcomes that are easy to explain to families thinking hard about ROI.
Jennifer also highlights the scale behind the model: hundreds of employer partners across industries like automotive, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and more. That breadth means students can see multiple career pathways without needing Kettering to be everything to everyone academically. For a focused institution, that clarity is a huge advantage in a crowded market.
The real lesson for your marketing strategy for student recruitment: don’t dilute what makes you different just to sound familiar. If your campus has a distinctive academic model, employer ecosystem, or outcomes story, your job is to make it unmistakable—and make it make sense in five seconds.
Where did Kettering’s brand story go off track—and how did they correct it?
Jennifer describes a common trap: leaning on legacy while trying to “fit in” with traditional higher ed language. After GM divested and the institution became known as Kettering, the messaging shifted toward comparisons—attempting to prove legitimacy—rather than clearly owning the difference. The result? A story dominated by features instead of benefits and proof.
The fix wasn’t cosmetic. The team had to reposition Kettering with sharper market relevance, focusing on outcomes and the student experience—not just program descriptions. That meant moving from “what we offer” to “why it matters,” supported by specific, credible evidence (earnings, experience, career acceleration).
For higher ed leaders, this is also a higher education content marketing lesson: your content can’t just be accurate—it has to be persuasive. If every page reads like a catalog, you’re competing in the sea of sameness whether you like it or not.
How did omnichannel enrollment marketing and internal alignment drive a 50% enrollment increase?
Jennifer points to a key shift: one omnichannel strategy with shared ownership across marketing, communications, enrollment, and institutional leadership. That matters because students don’t experience your campus in departmental handoffs—they experience you as one brand, one journey. When those pieces aren’t aligned, prospective students feel the friction even if they can’t name it.
Kettering also addressed “multiple ports of entry,” recognizing that different audiences need different pathways into the story. And they resisted rushing unfinished work into market just to say they launched something. That balance—speed with discipline—kept the brand rollout cohesive.
This is where data analytics in higher education quietly shows up. You can’t build a functioning omnichannel system without shared definitions of success, coordinated campaigns, and consistent feedback loops. Even if you don’t call it that, you’re tracking performance indicators in education—inquiry flow, conversion rates, yield, and where momentum is actually coming from.
What role did funding and partnerships play in accelerating the strategy?
A multimillion-dollar grant (with a one-year spend window) changed what was possible—and how fast it could happen. What Jennifer expected to take three years was delivered in about 18 months, but she emphasized sustainability: a splash isn’t the goal if the operation can’t support it afterward. That’s a rare (and refreshing) level of candor.
To manage the complexity, Kettering partnered with Carnegie instead of splitting work across multiple agencies. With around a dozen concurrent workstreams and dozens of partner-team contributors, the strategy stayed connected: messaging informed web, web informed comm flows, comm flows informed publications, and so on. Less chaos, more compounding.
The bigger takeaway: sometimes the most strategic move in enrollment marketing is building capacity—fast. If you’re trying to transform brand + recruitment with a tiny team and no augmentation, the math just doesn’t math.
How can CMOs build better marketing–enrollment collaboration (even in silos)?
Jennifer’s approach is simple and effective: lead with value, not turf. She talks about influencing outcomes even when a function doesn’t report to her—by finding shared goals, identifying opportunities, and showing up as a problem-solver. That mindset turns “handoffs” into real partnership.
Jaime reinforces the bigger point: institutional success beats departmental wins. If financial aid optimization, app processing, or yield strategy is suboptimal, marketing can’t “campaign” its way out of it. Great marketing strategy for student recruitment requires the whole pipeline to perform—not just the top of funnel.
And if you’re trying to shift culture, Jennifer offers practical levers: find champions, invest in professional community (hello, conferences), and get creative about funding. Because when collaboration becomes the norm, momentum gets a lot easier to sustain.
Connect With Our Host:
Jaime Hunt
https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC
Enrollify is produced by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.
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