The text at hand deals with the improvement of marketing measures at vocational training institutions related to the target group of people with a migration background. Upgrading the economic efficiency and the marketing positioning are the core issues. As vocational training is rated as a way to skilled employment and thus to social integration, an increased participation of people with a migration background can be considered a sustainable social development. In this respect, aspects of sustainability marketing are integrated in the analysis to factor in the aforementioned sustainable social impact on marketing.
For this purpose, the characteristics of the "product" vocational training and the main aspects of the marketing process are initially illustrated from an educational research perspective.
Then findings on the group of people with a migration background as
addressees of marketing and participants of vocational training are summarized. Next, concepts of service marketing are consulted, which emphasize the importance of personnel in the provision of services and the customer-oriented process quality. Given the characteristic of vocational training as a service in need of explanation and regarding the information asymmetry between training provider and potential customer, it is important to signal capacity and build up reputation to illustrate the performance of the training facility and the participants benefits. Considering cross-cultural marketing approaches, it is then discussed whether marketing strategy should
include culture-specific aspects. Thereafter the focus on marketing is expanded by including the aspect of social responsibility and the perspective of sustainability marketing. The latter provides concepts and tools that take into account this double benefit perspective and include societal hallenges in strategic thinking of entrepreneurial activity. Finally, considering
the perspective of organizational development, the question is raised how the goal of improved efficiency and marketing positioning can be reached by organizational changes focusing on central factors of service provision: personnel and customer-oriented processes.
In addition to the theory-driven analysis a practical example is illustrated and analyzed: Elbcampus, vocational training centre of the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts. Here specific training courses and specific marketing activi
ties for people with a migration background have been developed and introduced since 2009. The example illustrates how such vocational
training and marketing activities can be shaped successfully, but the analysis also identifies topics offering as yet unexplored entrepreneurial opportunities.