Creating a Marketing Plan - Part 6 of 12

      This is the sixth of a 12-step program to create a marketing plan specifically for your school.  You may choose to use this material in a variety of different ways, such as:

• Assigning each week to a staff member over the summer so that everyone will have something to work on;
• Waiting for all 12 parts to be posted, then downloading them all into one document so you can have a complete set before starting work, or
• Joining the SchoolAdvancement eCommunity so that you can receive an email each week when the next part is posted.

     These 12 parts are designed to be short "thought-starters" which get you to think about how they relate to your school, with an assignment relative to what you need to do in the ensuing week to prepare for the next part (sounds just like a class, doesn't it?).  The "Objective" of this 12-week course is to begin to think about AND DO what you need to do to begin to effectively market your school in order to increase enrollment.

     Let's review!  Last week, you determined your school's "position."  It's the position you want to hold in your constituents' minds.  That will determine what position you hold in the marketplace.  Conversely, you can also determine what position you want to hold in the marketplace.  That will determine what position you hold in your constituent's minds.  Applying some logic to those two statements, you come to the realization that the marketplace exists not as a physical entity, but as a mental one.  Marketplace used be defined by a physical area - a territory that a school, or a shop or store, or a parish served.  However, boundaries have changed.  The automobile made sidewalks obsolete, and created the need for parking lots.  The Internet has virtually eliminated physical boundaries for many shops and stores, and, with the advent of cyberschools, the traditional position of a school is changing. 

     This week's main objective: Determine Your "Brand."

     Market leaders (position) are known by their brand - Kleenex (not simply facial tissue), Q-tips (not simply cotton swabs), and Oreos (not simply chocolate sandwich cookies).  A company's brand is made known by their name and their logo - Coca-cola's trademarked cursive signature means you know you're buying Coke and not Sprite.  Car brands are targeted to specific demographic segments.  Cadillac tried to have an "entry level" car once - they called it the Cimmaron (which amounted to refitting a Chevrolet Cavalier with leather seats).  Bad idea.  Regrouping, their market research showed that the Cadillac brand is targeted to a specific age demographic - which is why, 25 years ago, Cadillac commercials emphasized luxury, a smooth ride and a powerful engine, accompanied by music provided by the 101 Strings Orchestra.  Today, Cadillac commercials are set to a soundtrack which blasts Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."  Yep - yesterday's rockers are now in the 50+ age range, so the marketing has to change to attract the core demographic.

     Branding is also important because it sets you aside from everyone else, emphasizing your remarkability, and solidifying your position.  Branding is where your logo and slogan combine to present a visual image and succinct wording of what makes you - um - YOU!  Many schools (as well as companies) just put some type of logo together, without realizing how important it is, what it conveys to the public, and what it says about your competitors.  A brand is just as must an emphasis of your strengths as it is a symbol of what your competitors are not.  It's what you're going to be putting out into the community as your image, so if you're not comfortable with it, not sure of what it means, or believe that it's a weak representation of your school, it should not be used.

     Perhaps a better way to describe branding is to show what happens in its absence.     Let's say you were looking for facial tissue, but didn't want to pay the price the store was charging for Kleenex.  You have your choice - Scotties, the store brand, or generic.  If generic is your choice, you may not care about decorative packaging, a square cube over a rectangular box, anti-viral additives or 3 ply tissues for extra strength.  When brand is not important, you become a commodity, meaning you're just like every other product out there.  Tissue is tissue is tissue.  When you reduce yourself to a commodity, price wins every time.  When we're talking about schools, if parents see no difference in the schooling offered by the public school and your school, the least expensive alternative will win.  Branding emphasizes the remarkable qualities of a product.  People will still buy Kleenex today - but save money by using coupons, waiting for a sale and then stocking up, or buying in bulk.  People will find ways to pay for a brand that they desire.

     Therefore, you must make your school desirable.  It's not enough to say, "We're a Catholic School," or "We teach Christ-centered values."  How do you demonstrate that?  Perhaps by saying, "Preparing the future leaders of the Church, " or "Putting Christ-centered values into action," and then walking the talk.  When people ask your alumni, "What school did you go to," and they say your school, you want the reaction to be something like, "I should have known you went there" because they demonstrate what your school espouses.  The brand identifies you in the community among your constituents.  When your alumni embody those brand attributes, they are living testimonies to your school.

     Check out some of these "Brand" logos:

          http://www.aquinasacademy.org/

          http://www.ourladystarofthesea.org/

          http://www.stkdcc.org/

     So what is your brand?  Do you have one?  If so, are you confident with it (note I didn't say comfortable)?  Does it need to change to reflect your remarkability and your position that you want to occupy?

     This week's assignment - determine your "brand."  It works along with your position and your remarkability.  Those are the three ingredients you'll need to begin to flesh out your marketing plan.  Next week - the skeleton of that plan.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2009 (Original Publication Date: 20090706)

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