Your school brand is your personality. It can take years to build brand loyalty and a reputation as a trusted entity. This is why it is vital when undertaking a brand overhaul to ensure it is the right decision for your school and that it will offer a good return on investment. That might be through an increase in enrolments or through a more positive community perception of the school.
Trying to decipher whether your school has outgrown its brand? Here are some pointers to consider:
- Reduction in school enrolments
Your school could come across issues with student retention or even reduced enrolments overall. The community demographics may have changed and your school no longer appeals to the wider community. These examples are all barriers to growth and may be a sign that your school needs to revisit its brand proposition to ensure it is still relevant and appeals to your current and prospective students and parents. - Embarking on a new direction
Perhaps your school is considering changing from a single sex school to co-educational, or you wish to focus on your sports facilities to attract young budding athletes in the community. These are examples of how your school can embark on a new direction. In such cases, your old brand may become redundant and no longer reflect what your school wishes to represent moving forward. This is a great opportunity to revisit your brand proposition and key messages to ensure they are still relevant to your school community. - If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
There are, unfortunately, many examples of ‘rebrand disasters’. Gap is a prime example; it had to revert back to its original logo design after just one week of rebranding, due to the overwhelmingly negative public response.
The moral of the story is … if your current school branding works, don’t feel you need to completely overhaul it. Any redesign should enhance and refresh your brand, and keep it relevant to your parents, staff and students.
A rebrand is an exciting new adventure for any school, but it requires investment and commitment. You need the support of your parents, but your staff also need to be on board and fully supportive of the change. Having a solid strategy in place will ensure that the rollout runs smoothly and your school can go on to achieve great success and positive feedback from the community.
