ASA’s Director of Digital Marketing Recognized by American Marketing Association (AMA)

“It’s about empathy for your customers – future students. By understanding their needs, problems, and frustrations, we can build solutions that solve their problems, satisfy their needs, and provide a delightful user experience.”

ASA’s Director of Digital Marketing Denys Kapush said he undertook the study of UX Design and Research at the University of Michigan because he hoped to use the arts and tools of marketing to help future ASA students better understand how ASA College offers a pathway to success.  According to Mr. Kapush, empathy is the key factor in doing one’s job well as a Digital Marketer in the Higher Education arena.

He should know: from 2017 to 2018 Mr. Kapush led a digital marketing effort that generated 48% more leads for the college, and earned him a nomination for AMA’s Higher Education Marketer of the Year Award.

Mr. Kapush is impassioned about higher education marketing and how he can assist future students who are making a weighty decision as they contemplate attending college. As he says, “Getting a college education is life-changing.”  As measured by higher salaries and borne out by statistics, the ability to long-term plan, and household stability will improve significantly if one decides to invest in higher education. However, due to the time and financial commitment that students must invest up front, many potential students waiver in their decision to invest in themselves vis-a-vis college.

Successful digital marketing, in the field of higher education, acknowledges the importance of the decision that future students face. As Mr. Kapush says, “Today, prospective students have an enormous amount of information available at their fingertips, allowing them to research, compare, connect, and interact with colleges entirely online. Student’s behavior and decision-making processes have changed dramatically, mainly due to technological and social forces. As a result, marketers had to transform and become student-centered like never before…” That is to say, marketers have to focus on building bridges – between all the information at hand, and the goals of the future students who are trying to process said information.

Without Mr. Kapush’s efforts, ASA College’s successes certainly wouldn’t shine as brightly in the eyes of prospective students.  Mr. Kapush undertook a complete overhaul of the college’s main website in order to make it both easier to navigate and more accessible from all devices (desktop, mobile, and tablet). Additionally, he reached out to the college’s department chairs in order to collect and promote the personal breakthroughs and career foundation-building that teachers and students experience every day at ASA. By way of example he is currently working in tandem with the Chair of the Legal Studies Department Seny Taveras on a series of videos titled, “ASA Talks.”  The videos feature professors, students, and leaders, in conversation about topics that matter to our students. As Mr. Kapush says, “Our marketing team has to showcase all the amazing and life-changing moments happening every day at ASA and present it to the world.”

During his time with ASA College, Mr. Kapush has grown ever more appreciative of our value as a College, which he believes stems from the diversity and unique strengths of our student body. “Every day, students have a fantastic opportunity to make friends from all around the world and learn firsthand about a variety of nationalities, religions, and cultures in the classroom setting as well as outside of it.”  We applaud Mr. Kapush for being part of the College’s mission to build global understanding and appreciation among our student body through his innovative, 21st century marketing techniques.