The brand gap is the single most important reason that schools are not realizing enrollment and fundraising goals.
What is the brand gap? Author Marty Neumeier says the brand gap is “The gulf between business strategy and customer experience.”
For schools, this translates into a divide between the reputation they strive to create and the reality of what current and prospective parents think about them.
To determine whether or to what degree your school is in the throes of a brand gap, you need to uncover your school’s intended brand and its perceived brand. You can do that by asking the following questions.
The Intended Brand
Have educational, enrollment and advancement leaders answer these questions:
- What do you believe is the most important thing your school offers students
- What does your school deliver that other schools don’t
- What are the most impactful outcomes of an education at your school?
- How is the parent experience at your school different from that at other schools?
- What are the intended attributes of a graduate of your school?
- What is your big why?* What is the overarching rasion d’être of your school?
Answers to these questions can also be revealed in your school’s mission, vision and values; educational philosophy; staff handbooks and faculty guides; and communication to current parents
(* Watch Simon Sinek’s incredible Ted Talk – How great leaders inspire action)
The Perceived Brand
Have current parents and, if possible, prospective parents answer the questions below. This can be done in focus groups or via a distributed survey. Prospective parents can include those in the admissions pipeline and, if possible, parents who inquired or toured but chose another school. Prospective parents’ views can also be ascertained via parent review sites, Niche reviews, and social media comments.
- When you think about OurSchool, what’s the first word that comes to mind?
- In your opinion, what is the best thing that OurSchool offers?
- What does OurSchool offer that other schools don’t?
- What type of student would be most successful at OurSchool?
- What type of family would fit in best at OurSchool?
- How does OurSchool compare to other schools in our catchment area?
Bearing in mind that there will never be a perfect match, there are two possible outcomes to this analysis
One – The intended and perceived brands are relatively well-matched. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back and then think about how you can make the match even tighter.
Two – The perceived brand is much different than the intended brand.
There are two broad potential reasons for the mismatch, with a different prescription for each. Basically, you can either change what you are offering or change parents’ perceptions.
One possibility is that in the minds of parents, the reality of what your school is offering doesn’t match up to what is intended.
In this case, your value proposition is being described but not delivered. (You can see more on that concept here) You need to have a heart-to-heart with educational leaders. Present the survey findings to them as well as an assessment of whether your school is delivering the product/experience you say you are. You can also look at what is being offered by other schools and discuss possible changes or improvements to what is being offered.
The other possibility is that while you offer high-quality programs with excellent outcomes, parents don’t see it that way. This is a messaging challenge. Here’s what you can do about it:
- Develop a messaging guide that provides the tools and the words to effectively and consistently communicate what makes your school stand out. You need all school stakeholders “singing from the same hymn book.” This guide will direct the messaging in recruitment collateral, the website, the viewbook, teacher-parent communication, and speaking notes. For more on creating strategic messaging, see this blog post.
- Leverage testimonials from current parents, students—particularly those approaching graduation—alumni and their parents, donors, school administrators from the institutions where your graduating students enroll, and community members. Nothing is more influential, and testimonials can be integrated into all forms of communication.
- Elevate your digital presence. Optimize your website’s SEO and content, ensuring it targets parents’ interests. Consider using lead magnets that are focused on areas in which your school excels. Likewise, make sure that any digital ads clearly highlight offerings and achievements. Use video wherever possible.
- Align the admissions experience. Be strategic in creating events and tour routes. The brand gap could be a result of prospective parents not seeing what they expect when they visit your school. All admissions communication must convey what makes your school stand out in ways that are compelling and consistent. That applies to personal and email communication, tours routes and scripts, spoken remarks at recruitment events, follow-ups, and even acceptance packages, videos and related messaging.
- Create a formal ambassador program that trains parents to be strategic storytellers and effective docents to prospective parents. For more on what your parent ambassadors need to know, read this.
One way of looking at the idea of a brand gap is to imagine that schools have two brands – one that the school thinks it has and the one in the minds and hearts of those who interact with it. But, courtesy of Marty Neumeier, we know the hard truth is that “a brand is not what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.”
That means schools can only have one brand. By bridging the gap, you can create one brand that is powerful, differentiates, resonates with parents and drives enrollment success.