Formal K -12 Education = Enterprise Marketing?

Consider what might happen if textbooks were reframed as textbooklets. To see what I mean by textbooklets read here and here.

Consider further if textbooklets were embedded in a multi channel marketing campaign in the service of learning.

The disruptive innovation in education is being made possible because of the technology of mass customization of print/web information products. For the first time in human history, there is a clear path to deliver exactly the right information in the right form at the right time to every student at an affordable cost.

The mantra of marketing is the right information in the right form at the right time for every customer. The conventional wisdom is either marketing is bad, education is good or marketing is the real world, education is just school. The reality is that the outcome of each process can be seen as very similar.

A person learns some new information. The information triggers a decision to acquire a new tool. That tool is used to solve proximate problems. Using the tool creates skill and the emergence of new problems. The tool is refined or replaced. The process continues.

@ Bloomberg.com: U.S.:

"Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Xerox Corp., the copier pioneer pummeled by losses in the previous economic slump, has emerged trim enough to be eyeing acquisitions made cheaper by the current recession.

The maker of high-speed color printers had $1.2 billion in cash at the end of 2008, boosted by Chief Executive Officer Anne Mulcahy’s spending cuts since the last slump. Now Xerox is seeking makers of software that helps tailor advertising to consumers, known as enterprise marketing, said John Kelly, head of the North American services unit. He declined to name targets."

According to wikipedia,
(Enterprise Marketing) EMM is a superset of other marketing software categories such as Web Analytics, Campaign Management, Marketing Resource Management, Marketing Dashboards, Lead Management, Event-driven Marketing, Predictive Modeling and more.

Consider the effect of analytics on student progress. Management of campaigns to improve reading and literacy in general. Lead management of student's college choices. And most especially Predictive Modeling to get to predictable educational results.

Marketing is about communications. Education is about communications. Framed correctly it's the same business.

Meanwhile, why would Xerox buy a company, instead of network with a company? That's just more value chain thinking, in a user network world.