Embracing ‘brand’
Over the summer, I went to an outdoor lifestyle store to buy a new water bottle. The salesperson steered me gently toward a brand I had never heard of and explained it was made with the same materials and technology as the more fashionable, premium names. I don't need to pay more for a brand-name water bottle, so we had a deal.
Schools, of course, are a different proposition. Families are investing in the promise and potential of their children, so those who are able will often pay more for an established brand.
After decades of tuition increases that have outpaced inflation, asking families to pay that premium has, intentionally or otherwise, become the foundation of most independent schools’ business model. And that is okay! It simply means we need to justify that premium with strong brands.
Line up ten marketers and ask them what brand is, and you'll get ten beautifully articulated answers. In this context, my definition of a school's brand is: whatever any person who has interacted with the school says about it at a social gathering with no school personnel present.
We often emphasize messages, fonts, and colors when discussing branding in schools. And that is for good reason: the clarity and consistency with which we represent ourselves is vitally important.
That said, it is difficult to visualize someone who had a bad experience on an admissions tour or on the phone with an administrator sharing their negative impressions with friends but adding, “...that said, I just love their font!”
I suspect we sometimes gravitate to discussions about fonts, colors, and style guides when considering our brands because those elements are more easily identified and enforced than creating a consistent, audience-focused experience at every touchpoint.
A quick way to get into a substantive discussion about brand is for schools to ask themselves what they want that person at the dinner party to say about the institution, regardless of their affiliation with the school. With an answer in hand, we can purposefully shape the lived experience at our schools to yield that exact response.
Fonts, colors, and messages are important. The strongest school brands are the result of an institution-wide commitment lived out in the systems and the way people show up every day. In this environment, the opportunity lies in considering our brands more deeply so that the conversation at that social gathering is one that supports our schools.