Your brand is more than your logo and colors. Your brand is the promise you make about who you are as an educational institution, the needs you fulfill for students and families, and how and why you are different from peers.
If you haven’t done a brand refresh in recent memory, how do you know whether your admissions messaging to prospective families fits what they will experience when they come through your door?
Your messaging will only work if it is accurate, distinctive, and reflects who you are today.
Here are five signs that it is time to refresh your brand, from both a verbal and visual perspective:
- Have eight to ten years passed since your last refresh? Even with your traditions and rich heritage, your school has evolved over that period of time. Does your brand reflect that evolution?
- Do prospective families have misperceptions of who you are and how you educate students?
- Can your close-in brand ambassadors (think parents, board members, faculty and staff, and leadership) describe your school accurately and consistently?
- Is your school referred to by a mishmash of names and nicknames, represented visually by a variety of logos and marks, or simply lacking a clear identity?
- Does your school have less than full enrollment or a decline in its admissions pool?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of the above questions, it’s time to consider a refresh. Not sure where to start? Let’s talk.
