Sustainable marketing for schools

For a lot of us, it is not that we are short of ideas.  It is the less glamorous question of sustainability that makes life complicated.

Let me give an example. Last Sunday, we welcomed more than 200 new families onto the ISB Campus, marking the beginning of the ISB experience for nearly 350 new students.  The event: a new family information day, specifically designed to provide a one-stop-shop for all those last-minute questions; a way of ensuring that both parents and children feel prepared for those first few days of school in a new location.  The theatre was full, as the school director and board chair offered their welcome and spoke about the school and its learning vision.  The gym was full, as families moved from stand to stand, asking questions about everything from school buses and private music lessons to where they can purchase the ever popular 'Students Starter Kits'.  Outside, meanwhile, half-anxious students mingled, ate and started to make new friends.

And, thankfully, the sun shone.

Looking back on the last week, though, I'm wondering whether it was always like this.  Phones ring, constantly, as parents desperately wait for positive news about the children that sit on waiting lists in almost every grade.  Long, complex meetings and telephone calls with internal colleagues about how we can provide more spaces without compromising the quality of the educational experience we offer.  A round-the-clock help desk, providing answers, badges, forms and directions.  And this is to say nothing of the team responsible for ensuring that our websites are updated, emails sent out, envelopes stuffed, digital screens filled with content, and everything is filmed or photographed so that we keep a record of the unfolding story of the 2011-2012 school year.

Of course, beginnings are always frantic and the beginning that is 'back to school' at the end of every Summer is no exception.  What has changed over the past few years, is that we have become particularly sensitive to the importance of marketing, not only at the moment of 'attraction' (first contact with the school through advertising and our website) but at the moment of 'induction' (first welcome and introduction to the school).  And this means that the definition of our role, as well as the scope of our ambition, has grown exponentially.  Hence, the new family website, new family information day, dedicated help desk and Student Starter Kits - the later being yet another one-stop shop option for parents who want to ensure that their child has everything they need for the first day of school, without the hassle of taking a trip into town and seeking all manner of school supplies in a country they don’t yet know.

Looking around, it’s all great.  But it is precisely at this point that the question of sustainability is inevitably and appropriately raised. 

Can we keep this up?  We can't keep adding to our 'to do' list and running, cap in hand, to Human Resources for more and more people.  Someone has to do the cost-value analysis and chart the real and lasting added value of even our best ideas.  And not just once - every year, line by line, idea by idea.

Even today, on the eve of the students’ return, there was a tangible mixture of stress and excitement in the air.  Every desk and every phone was occupied. 

If a passer-by had taken the time to look closely, however, they would have noticed that one of the keys to our current sustainability is, in fact, the ‘resource’ of our own students and recent graduates. 

Rebecca was explaining to a family on the phone what documents we still needed in order to process their application.  Anna was creating posters and badges.  Atsuko and Antje were processing Starter Kit orders, while Silvia was editing a video from footage taken the information day last Sunday afternoon. 

All but one of these volunteers and interns are currently or were previously ISB students - part of a programme specifically designed to offer young people work experience in the field of communications, marketing, event management and school admissions; a programme that is also strategically designed to 'capture the student voice'.  After all, each one of these students not only support our work, but literally embody the very product that we are attempting to 'sell' to families and visitors to the school.

As international schools all over the world open their doors over the next few days for another school year, it is really only ever about the learning experience of our students.  I’m lucky enough to be able to support this effort with a team of outstanding professionals who understand the critical role we play in helping families find their place in the story of our school. 

The truth is, though, despite even our best efforts and most innovative ideas, we simply could not sustain what we now do without the support, insight, creativity and energy of the students who support us in this task.