BRANDING FOR SCHOOLS: A CO-CREATIVE APPROACH

By Indranil Gupta, Founder Director & CEO, BrandNEW Associates

It is a commonly held view that if you have indulged in branding (the act of making a mark or giving a name to a product/ service/ entity), you have created a brand. Nothing could be further from the truth! Mere creation or launch of a brand name and logo (more appropriately termed identity) is not the automatic passport to becoming a brand. There is much work to be done!

A brand must be a dynamic source of influence that registers credibility and attraction within the minds of its target group.  However, this is easier said than done… all this takes strategy planning and process.

A brand’s performance and sustainability primarily rests with the inner core of those who represent it – its champions from the internal organization. The criticality of brand internalization – the process of infusing belief in the culture that the brand stands for – cannot be over-emphasized. It is fundamental that brand internalization happens for good measure as preparation before external communication is undertaken, as mismatch of brand promise with brand experience can be disastrous. In a school system, where the touch points with the external audience are many, good ambassadors carry far more weight by word of mouth than the power of advertising or PR or event marketing.

The process of branding is therefore essentially one of institutionalizing a culture. Defining what you stand for, how you are relevant to your audience, and different from other options… which is about your school’s positioning, supplemented by its brand architecture (vision, mission, values...)  form the mandatory pillars of your existence. Beyond spelling these out, they have to also be lived up to on a day-to-day basis, fortifying the belief among all stakeholders concerned. Your school may have a name and a logo, a vision, mission, values and a slogan, but it qualifies to become a brand only through the distinctive and compelling experience that your stakeholders come to expect.

The greater the involvement of the key ambassadors of the brand in the conception and/ or delivery of a brand’s culture, the more the likelihood of a brand’s long term success. It has been seen time and again that personal contributions and co-creative energies help instill ownership of a mission, and thereby generates added impetus to a cause. When brand transformation or culture change is being targeted, it is an opportune time to activate some of the most passionate minds (irrespective of hierarchy) in articulating the new pathway, whether it is for fresh creation, improvement or overhaul.

While the opportunities and vehicles for marketing communications are many, the process of branding must be undertaken only upon enunciating a very clear statement about what problem exactly the school wishes to solve. This will help sharp focus the intent and agenda, and prevent wasteful expenditure of undertaking a laundry list of activities that do not synergize with each other or produce desired results.

What should old and established educational institutions do when new schools (offering glamorous buildings and modern equipment, or new age learning methods) take away the limelight? How should brand-new schools profile themselves to take the best steps forward?

Strategies differ depending on the prevalent circumstances. Older heritage schools pursue ways to leverage their history through their well-established network and consider ways to present their propositions afresh in a new way, including contemporizing their brand identity or slogan. More recent entrants attempt to leverage their record of achievements in a short span of time to register their story with impact. Standalone new schools concoct new age benefits for the new age student in an attempt to dazzle the new age parents. Franchisee schools attempt to utilize brand familiarity from another location to stretch success in new territories. And so the story goes on.

Not many schools have the resources or deep pockets to pursue a high voltage advertising campaign. While newspapers and their special educational supplements as well as billboards do show up a fair degree of communication activity around admission time, at other times schools tend to stay linked to their community of focus through non-intrusive but subtle reminders of their existence and activities. Schools in the past have tended to stay away from what they perceive as the commercial and competitive frame of branding. Education is too ‘pure’ a field, they would say, to resort to such tactics. The changes in the environment have led to an alteration in that thinking.

Today there are intelligent, cost-effective ways to strengthen a school’s reputation, using methodologies that don’t necessarily require major expenditure. Sure, there is the power of PR (often misinterpreted as Press Releases), of Customer Contact Programs, Education Roadshows, Social Media Advertising, Electronic and Print Media Campaigns, et al. However, nothing comes close to the intrinsic value of a brand in action that spells value for its customers.

Structuring a strong set of brand identity guidelines, perfectly coordinated visibility materials, communication messages that are credible and well-integrated, and a code of behavior that spells harmony, generates recall and likeability… these reinforce positive experience for all those who come in touch with the brand. And with every successive and successful interaction, users become loyalists, and loyalists become ambassadors. Referrals provide the most powerful brand persuasion… much more than push advertising.

Indigo Airlines is a prized brand because you know that you will get single-mindedly on-time performance, a squeaky-clean, nice-smelling aircraft with comfortable seating, pleasant-looking and smartly-attired stewardesses, branding and advertising that is playful, engaging and totally integrated, etc. etc. Even if the airline goes on a wobble, its goodwill serves as a magnet disallowing the loyal frequent flyers from straying too far.

In summary, good branding is about designing cultures. Cultures are usually created by icons, who invent new codes, who show the way for others to follow. A school’s Vision, Mission and Purpose must be a well-articulated set of engines for your organizational journey. Cultures are built on a strong foundation of Values, and these Values if coherently chosen and practiced, always converge on a well-understood Brand Essence. The Essence is the foundation for Positioning… the one promise that the brand stands for. For example, Nike stands for Adventure, Raymond for Perfection, Mother Teresa for Hope, Indian Express for Fearlessness… What do you stand for? What values should your school offering stand for? Your alumni should be a good reflection of such values as a body. Else, you are prone to biting the dust after merely achieving the transient glory of announcement, without succeeding to build the true glory of achievement.

TIGER, TIGER, BURNING BRIGHT

An ode to Cricketer Tiger Pataudi, ex-India Captain, on his passing away in 2011

There was no denying I was in love with the Nawab of Pataudi since my childhood days. Ever since I can remember to have held a cricket bat, I was inspired by this dashing young man and held in awe by the manner in which he played his cricket, in the way he led the Indian team as the youngest captain ever, and the grace and style he exuded both on and off the field. In the 60’s before TV had entered our drawing rooms, I recall being stuck to my transistor till late at night to hear the running commentary with bated breath and incredible excitement as Tiger made a fantastic century at Headingly in 1967, or when India won its first away Test match against the New Zealanders later that year under his crafty leadership.

My first glimpse of him was at my school in La Martiniere, Calcutta where he came in to address us when India was playing New Zealand in 1965. He held us enthralled with the candor and finesse with which he fielded questions. We all wanted to be like him. Asked what he predicted would be the result in the series (Calcutta was the 2nd Test of the 5-match series), he said, straight off the bat, ‘they’ are a good team, but we should do well in Delhi. Sure enough, two Tests later, India beat the New Zealanders at the Feroze Shah Kotla, where Pataudi himself cracked a brilliant century.

Years later over lunch with the Tiger, I reminded him of this story. In his laconic way, he drawled, “Yes, I knew we would have the measure of those guys on a spinning track like the Kotla.” By this time, I had had the good fortune of coming personally close to the legend himself. His cricketing career done, and even his journalistic career (as editor of Sportsworld) put to bed, Tiger was into commentary and flirting with politics. My own advertising career in JWT India (then called Hindustan Thompson Associates) had me in a lead role of the venerated ITC (Wills) account, one of the principal sponsors of cricket through the 80’s, had me hobnobbing closely with many of the biggies of the game, even travelling with them. Having pioneered the Wills Books of Excellence series on various sports, my personal project was then to launch India’s first film tribute to the emergence of India in One Day Cricket through a documentary video. I had signed on film-maker Ramesh Sharma to direct the film, but now needed an anchor to tell the story behind India’s string of successes from the 1983 World Cup to the 1987 Asia Cup. Having identified Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi as a potential anchor, it was an adventure for me to fix an appointment with his PA and go to pitch the idea to him in his home one afternoon. He and his family were gracious as hosts, and in short, I came away having surprisingly easily obtained his concurrence to participate in the project.

With that began a period of close association with the Tiger, and I came to know him not only as an icon on my mental pedestal, but also as a human being with surprising humility.

Tiger had a flair about doing things; once he focused on anything, he would get his teeth into it. He had an infectious sense of humor, and was always candid and insightful in his comments. He really got into the script of our film and participated with verve and enthusiasm, and even offered his own back-garden to be the venue of filming some of our interviews with touring Pakistani cricketers, Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir.

Personal recollections aside, here was a man who touched many generations with his greatness. He attracted cricket lovers to throng to the grounds, he walked close to the high profile world of Bollywood and television along with his celebrity family members, he worked to support the people of his various constituencies Bhopal, Hyderabad and served ably in cricket administration to uphold the propagation of the game. He was an unassuming man of great personal magnetism and charisma, and despite being the focus of adulation of millions, this short, diminutive gentleman stood tall and stood apart. They simply don’t make Nawabs like him anymore. RIP.

THE UTILITY OR FUTILITY OF FEEDBACK

BY INDRANIL GUPTA

In today’s day and age of rampant tele-marketing, online surveys and retail questionnaires, one would think brand marketers are constantly improving their proximity to consumers. Sadly, this is a fallacy. The way many marketers seek consumer data not only yields misleading results, but often adds a negative spin on the campaign objective itself.

There is a well-known restaurant chain that serves grills over a charcoal sigri on the table followed by a buffet spread. Great food, variety and value… eat as much as you like. What more could one possibly want? I’ll tell you what I’d want. I’d want some privacy. I’d want some conversation time with my fellow diners. Because every now and then one of the waiters will invariably come in to disrupt proceedings, intent on asking questions on my current level of enjoyment, which variety I am liking, my past experiences if any, etc. etc.  And just when I’ve politely answered all questions, another steward will pop up and, like an ace kabaddi player, infringe into my domain and make similar small talk. If by now my answers have taken on a curt if not exasperated tenor, and the so-called brand ambassadors have retreated somewhat, I should not think that I have won the battle. Along with the bill will come a questionnaire asking me to provide ratings on every minute of time spent inside the restaurant, every section of the buffet and whether I will revisit or refer. Irrespective of whether you filled in the form or not, within the next 48 hours will come a phone call from the telemarketers of the restaurant chain asking twenty questions.

If you think this is a stray incident, think again. Upon going to get my car serviced, I was accorded a similar treatment. This time even the person giving the car the final polish brandished a separate form to sign off on. The call centre got into action within minutes of my driving out asking if the car felt right. It was not too long before the car manufacturer also unleashed its own set of agents for further feedback.

I can understand the first batch of enquiries at the restaurant… it’s a safety measure that could yield course correction in case any condiments were in excess. However, when the repetitive intrusion begins, the consumer realises the diminishing value of encroachment on time, and experiences increasing levels of frustration. Were all these involved processes going to truly yield added value to the consumer? Judging from the mechanical way such ‘surveys’ are administered, much of it is lip service, and it is apparent that the agenda isn’t to disrupt the status quo. Very little attention is usually given to mine such data, reveal a new product idea, propose pricing or positioning adjustments, or cater to unmet demand.

There is no thought given to selecting an occasion when the consumer could be motivated and feel privileged to provide views. The demographic profile of the feedback-seeking agent is often mismatched with the background of the consumer. A customer who has chosen to converse in English, oftentimes is pitted against a feedback agent who converses in a dialect impossible to follow and who races like an express train!

In a brand’s strategy planning cycle, the initial situational analysis (“Where Are We”) as well as the measurement of post-campaign results (“Are We Getting There”) are heavily dependent on a marketer’s sensitized ear-to-the-ground. It is imperative therefore, that the process of eliciting feedback must be viewed on a strategic plane, as it is an important (chosen) touchpoint of brands with consumers that can potentially fortify or erode brand equity.

Marketing isn’t about driving by looking at the rear-view mirror, but by fuelling expectations and a brand’s surging forward to meet them. Every pit-stop in a brand’s journey, even for feedback, is then about maximising the consumer experience with sensitivity and empathy, at a happier meeting point, and charging the batteries for both sides to win.

The author, also known as IG, is a veteran adman and brand guru, and Founder Director of BrandNEW Delhi NCR. This article was published as part of his fortnightly column BRAND IG-NITION for BusinessWorld. The views expressed here are strictly his own.

IG: 07-03-17