The two words school and brand seem an odd juxtaposition. One seems very commercial, brash and brings to mind large logos and expensive advertising campaigns. The latter feels earnest, worthy and perhaps even onerous.
Whether either is true, or matches your perceptions of the two words, is the point of branding. Branding creates a set of perception in peoples minds and enables them to make choices.
This has become particularly important for school branding. People don't have time to research every school they would like to and so make a short list. This can be a very short list in some cases. The short list is defined by their perception, or branding, of the school. If you aren't 100% clear about what you offer compared to the other schools parents are considering then they really won't know.
1. What do you stand for as a School? This may have been documented as a mission statement, values or as an ethos. If you have this and are comfortable with it this forms the cornerstone of your school branding. They are a description of how your school is, or how you would like it to be. This is different to how your school values are communicated.
Initially it's probably worth looking at these against some of the other schools parents and pupils consider as alternative options. Are their statements similar, or could they be perceived as being similar? For example is there a reference in there to valuing the individual? It's a worthy intention but a frequently occurring one and doesn't help separate you from other schools. Try not to be too esoteric though, creating confident pupils is an easy thing to say but darn difficult to prove. When you have five statement that describe your school you then need to prove this.
2. How do you prove this? Once you have decided on what you stand this needs to be substantiated in a human way which would ideally be quantifiable. For example, if you believe that you are the best sporting school in the area this could be illustrated by tournaments won, the particular background of staff or previous pupils who have gone on to do great things. This needs to be done as fully as possible across all the statements that describe you and then tested to ensure they are motivating.
3. How do you test this? At the initial stage talk with staff, parents and your pupils to see if they feel your ideas are reflective of the elements of the school that make them proud. Transfer your ideas to your school website and communication keywords and monitor and analyse the changes in behaviours of visitors, parents and pupils. Don't expect to get it right first time, even experienced communications professionals need to test and refine to ensure is optimised.
4. How do you build the perception of your brand? When you have worked out what your going to say its time to start interlacing it into your school communication plan. If your specialism is the arts don't necessarily push a school play, most schools do these. Why not try and see if famous or notable formers pupils could do a small interview on their time at your school or growing up in the area. Include this in the school magazine you send out to parents and look to syndicate it to your local paper. You probably don't have the time and money to push every one of your school's PR stories, and unless there are very few schools in your area, your media outlets won't broadcast everything. Its essential that the stories you do push out are on brand and motivating.
5. How do you ensure the message is consistent? A firm control over all publications, whether a school website or prospectus is key. The media you are using also needs to reflect the message you are communicating. If you want to position yourself as a modern school don't issue videos and music on USB sticks and DVDs, broadcast it on your own school website channel. Vimeo and YouTube are fine for this. If you are presenting yourself as having traditional values you don't want to have a logo in dayglo colours and a graffiti font. It's normally worth considering getting an external consultant to come in and do a communication audit to ensure consistency, the first stage of this process is often free and priceless.
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