In education branding often carries negative connotations due to its association with the cut-throat business world. Yet branding is often among the most important processes a school can undertake, as it produces a clearly shared strategy for disseminating that school's mission, vision and values for all stakeholders. It is also crucial when branching into social media, a platform that can lead to confusion, negative feedback and even public relations disasters if it is not aligned to your strategy. The bottom line is that you cannot have an effective social media strategy without a clearly defined brand.

This page draws from a presentation that is part of the effort to establish the importance of branding at NIST International School, and can be used as a platform to spark change within your school.

International schools in the 21st century

Where do we stand?

​The international school market has expanded rapidly over the past two decades and will continue to experience exponential growth in the next ten years. Nearly twenty cities around the world boast more than 50 international schools, and three have exceeded 100.
​
​This rapid growth also entails more intense competition, as schools vie not only for greater numbers of students, but also those who are mission-appropriate. They must similarly struggle to attract the best teachers in an environment in which teachers are already in short demand. In short, schools must evolve or be left behind by the competition.
How will you tell your school's story?

The competitive international education market requires that schools not only find ways to differentiate themselves, but also share their stories with the greater community. Traditional marketing and communications are no longer sufficient in a world of globalization, transparency and social media.

By reviewing your school's mission, vision and values, and exploring your brand, you are taking the first steps toward defining what makes you unique.

​Why are brands important?

Not just companies do it...
​
Branding is not just a noun. It's also a verb, a continual process that we undertake to define who we are. This starts with logos, colors and fonts. When you have carefully crafted your brand, aiming to create a particular perception among your community, even small changes can lead to reactions you may not want.

Consider each of the changes in these brands. A more dramatic change in both font and color transforms the edgy, powerful band Metallica into something far less intimidating. Even smaller changes in color or font fundamentally change the way we perceive McDonald's and Harvard University.

​The first thing you see

Many people instinctively think of a brand as a logo, and in some cases this is extended to include fonts, colors and other basic building blocks of marketing. 

The reality is these only represent the surface, yet they are highly important. The way that your school is perceived depends heavily on these first impressions, and they deserve attention as a result. Just as we consider the appearance of our teachers to be important, the proper use of logos, fonts and colors is important. You may have the most wonderful school in the world, but if people don’t see it, they won’t recognize it.

Looking beneath the surface
​
When we look beyond these surface elements, we we begin to realize that a brand is also much more. It includes the feelings, emotions and concepts that we associate with a company. This can even be applied to some individuals, both fictional and real; Superman and Michael Jordan are both powerful brands.

The key is that these companies and individuals carefully craft the surface elements to align to their deeper values. In doing so, they ensure that as many people as possible buy into the image they're trying to create.
When we believe in a brand, we become a part of that brand.
The core of a brand

This emotional connection strikes at the core of a brand. When we combine a brand's surface imagery with its mission, vision and values, we arrive at the essence of the brand. This is the combination of factors that define the brand both internally and externally.

However, an equally important part of a brand is the perception it creates. An organization can strive to reach people through its marketing and communications, but its messages will always be received uniquely by each individual.

Building a brand

How does it all come together?
​
Linking the basic building blocks of a school brand with its deeper elements requires an understanding of how they are related. Because the branding effort at NIST aligned to the review of our mission, vision and values, we had the advantage of exploring this relationship in depth.

By breaking the mission, vision and values apart, we recognized the ways in which we wanted to reinforce particular concepts and feelings within the community. This in turn led us to select particular messages and imagery that could be used repeatedly. The use of the logo, fonts and colors fueled the designs to reinforce this.
Consistency consistency consistency 

The key to launching a branding effort in a school is ensuring that all stakeholders—teachers, students and parents—see these same messages and imagery repeatedly. It can be a major challenge when the value of this consistency is not always recognized.

One simple approach to take is modeling what is expected. Be proactive: offer help, design templates and create resources. Make it as easy as possible for others to access information about your brand. The more they are exposed to this, the more they will understand how important it is to be consistent.
The goal

At NIST we worked to recreate our image from the ground up. This included a complete redesign of our website, blog system, magazine and other documents according to the brand standards we established. Branding requires time, effort and dedication, but what you will accomplish can create new opportunities for your school community.

Equally important, consider how the messages and concepts you want to cultivate can be expressed through other channels using these same standards. How will you represent yourself on social media? To the external community? To teachers and parents who may remember your school in another time?
Build your brand
​
Ensuring that your new brand standards will be followed first requires recognizing that a brand does have a very real, very tangible value. This value depends on the degree to which the standards lead to a consistent, positive image for your school.

Protecting that brand does not have to be negative as long as there is a shared understanding of its importance. Just as Michael Jordan turned a legal case into an opportunity to further build his personal brand, schools can create a culture in which following the standards is a positive effort.
Shift perceptions

One of the most difficult challenges in launching a branding or rebranding campaign is getting all staff and faculty on board. In many cases old letterhead or logos may still be used, templates may be ignored, and messages may be mixed. In each case the best approach is positively, but firmly, reinforcing the need for consistent standards.


If possible, destroy or use old materials internally, and review the standards with others. A few simple questions can help frame the need for change within your school.
Centralize your brand

The number of questions that can be raised during a branding review is staggering. How do I get those specific colors? Where can I get the new letterhead? How do I create a new email signature? By creating a dedicated webpage or resource centre, you can address most of these in a single location.

At NIST we purposefully chose to create a page that is publicly accessible, as it aligns to our school's values. Transparency is important to us, and we want both the internal and external communities to understand who we are and how we choose to represent ourselves. 
The power of branding
​
Change will not happen immediately, and in some cases it may be frustratingly slow. Every company has faced this, including many of the most well-known brands in the world. Trust in the vision of your school, be a positive model for your brand and guide others in understanding its value.

Through these small steps, your story will stand out among the sea of voices in international education.