Netflix: The White Company: these are not necessarily brands that you would normally put together in one sentence but, for the purposes of this piece, they all have something in common — clear brand definition.
From a branding perspective, it is immensely helpful that they both created and sell an instantly definable product and their names have become synonymous with that product. This sheer element of clarity is their raison d’etre.
We’d all be surprised if The White Company started selling purple pillowcases or Netflix opened bricks and mortar cinemas. These new born brands were the brain children of their originators, springing from a fertile imagination but also benefiting, undoubtedly, from a good deal of consumer research before they were launched.
Diluted or diffused
Most schools are not new-born brands. They emerged decades if not centuries ago with specific purposes that were relevant to their time and place. Consequently, heads and marketeers are almost always inheriting schools whose original identity and “brand difference” has been diluted or diffused over time in an increasingly crowded and ever-changing market. As a result, regularly revisiting brand definition is vital to ensure clarity and relevance of a school’s marketing activities.
“Undertaking brand definition research for a school is totally manageable.”
If this sounds familiar to you, then it could be time for a review and some research. Don’t be alarmed! Believe it or not, this can be a hugely rewarding and enjoyable process. Compared to the behemoth brands like Marks and Spencer or John Lewis, undertaking brand definition research for a school is totally manageable.
Of course, the redefinition of a school brand could very easily be left solely to the imagination of the head, but there, all too frequently, lies the path to potential disaster.
Evidence-based rationale
From a sheer business development point of view (and let’s remember that independent schools are indeed multi million pound businesses), there are very few boards of governors willing to take a punt on a brand strategy and definition without robust research and an evidence-based rationale.
Most governors will have come to the governing body through a professional or business route and will regard this process as best practice. Marketing departments, the engine house for the delivery of a brand strategy, needs to feel assured that their planning can flow from an agreed plan achieved by consensus from the top down.
Research route map
Step forward Research: “the torch that lights the road to strategy”. It is easy to become lost down a very dark cul-de-sac without it.
So, with the torch lit, here’s the route map.
1. Create a brand definition team.
Invite the representatives from the school’s management to join a brand definition team. These will potentially consist of the head, the bursar, the chair of governors and/or the “marketing governor” plus teaching members of the SLT.
2. Hold an initial brand definition review
Bring together the brand definition team for what is in fact the first stage of the research — a brand definition review in the form of a familiarisation workshop
The object of this session is to get everything everyone knows about the school out on the table or, in reality, onto a flip chart. It offers the opportunity to share pertinent historic information and, conversely, new insights about competitors and the overall state of the market. All this is discussed and shared in the safe space of the workshop with “Chatham House rules” and plenty of coffee and cake to fuel the discussion. Without exception everyone will find this an extremely useful, cathartic and enlightening experience.
“There needs to be consistency in the framing of the research questions.”
Out of this discussion and debate will inevitably spill an assessment of residual knowledge and a recognition of what further insights are needed to build a hypothesis for the relevant redefinition of the brand. These insights will be gained from the results of wider-reaching research.
The research brief will be a key output of this phase of the review. There needs to be consistency in the framing of the research questions across the different research modules in order to discover, overall:
-What your school does well
-What your school could do better (and therefore would make it more desirable)
-How respondents describe your school (this can be done as an open question or by supplying a number of -optional descriptive words or sentences)
-How your competitors are perceived and how they are described.
3. Carry out the brand definition research modules
Taking the research brief developed by the brand definition team as a starting point, the most effective research modules for a brand definition exercise are:
Stakeholders
This module can include staff, parents, pupils, alumni and relevant opinion formers. The research methods used to explore the views of this group will vary according to time and budget. Some can even be undertaken in-house to save money and questionnaires can be issued digitally direct from the head or marketing director. Stakeholder focus groups and interviews are best done via an independent moderator/interviewer who will be able to obtain deeper insights as respondents feel more comfortable speaking confidentially to a professional who is not directly part of the school.
Feeder Heads
Interviews with the heads of schools that feed into your own school (nursery, prep or even senior if your school is a sixth form college) can provide excellent information on how your school is perceived. They can provide insights into how their parents report on their experiences after visiting one of your open days and what they hear about you on the grapevine. You will also be able to ascertain how these heads describe your school to their parents themselves and, very importantly, how they compare you to your competitors.
Non- Joiner parents
Non-joiner parents are a key group to talk to in terms of understanding why they turned you down after being offered a place at your school. Their insights on what your strengths and shortcomings are and how you compare to other schools they considered, visited and ultimately accepted a place from will be invaluable in helping you redefine your brand message.
Competitors
The final part of this jigsaw is to undertake a desk-based competitor review by looking at your main competitor schools’ websites and using publicly available knowledge from which to compare their messaging and features to what stakeholders have said about them. This will allow you to build an overall comparison between them and your school.
4. Analyse the research findings
When these research modules are complete, analyse the findings to see the themes and insights that emerge consistently and thereby will form the basis of discussion and a hypothesis for your brand definition.
“Find the brand truths that really can be supported with evidence.”
It may be that the way the participants in the different research modules define your brand confirms what you originally thought about your school, which provides useful reassurance. Alternatively, the feedback may be different to your original vision in which case you will want to work through this to understand the rationale.
It is highly likely that you will find that the words the research participants use to describe your school will also apply to other schools. Due to the number of schools in the sector this is inevitable! You only need to look through the various residential and county magazines to see the same school brand definition messages repeated time and again. However, do not despair.
This is the junction in the road – and the next stage is possibly the most important of all.
5. Find the “reasons to believe”
The task of the brand definition team is now to ensure that your school has enough evidence to support the brand perception that has emerged from the list of insights and to convert this into a brand definition which has integrity by virtue of the “reasons to believe”. The reasons to believe need to map over the tangible proof secured through the research exercise which renders the brand definition valid and has the power to bring it to life and make it memorable in the heads of parents.
“A well supported brand definition will have the power to endure and weather adverse conditions.”
If you believe you have that proof, then head straight down that well-lit road with confidence and at speed to deliver your brand. A well supported brand definition will have the power to endure and weather adverse conditions. Conversely, if there isn’t enough supporting evidence, take to the next lay-by and reconsider your insights and find the brand truths that really can be supported with evidence before you continue on the journey to the ultimate definition.
Feedback
By involving the key members of the management team in this process you will have reached consensus and brought the school community with you, enlisting everyone’s views. You don’t have to take them all on board but in the case of the wider group of stakeholders you must feedback shortly after undertaking the exercise.
Inform them of the essence of your findings and how this valuable input will help to shape the future of the school, creating an even stronger brand and a better education that they will be proud to be part of and willing to recommend to their friends and family, ensuring the school is fighting fit and future-facing.
This article first appeared in the latest print and digital turn-page edition of School Management Plus magazine, out now.