Posts

Header photo

What Charter Schools Can Learn from the Barbie Movie’s Marketing Strategy

/0 Comments/in , , /by

August 2, 2023

Consistency in branding is key.

Even those who haven’t seen the movie would recognize that shade of Barbie pink anywhere. The consistent use of the color in everything from billboards to product launches has left a lasting impression on consumers and created an automatic association with the Barbie brand. Charter schools can also establish a strong and recognizable identity.  As a first step, create a simple brand style guide that outlines rules around key details such as colors, font, and logo, and share it with teachers, coaches, and others who use the school’s brand elements. When your branding is the same on the school marquee, baseball jersey, and weekly newsletter, it will become more easily and quickly recognizable over time.

It’s also important to make sure your school’s mission and core values are communicated clearly and accurately to drive home your message and make it easy for prospective families to understand your focus. Conduct an audit of your website, communications, and promotional materials to ensure consistency in messaging. Remember that every time someone interacts with your brand is an opportunity to let them know why they should choose your school!

Partnerships can help to strengthen your brand.

The Barbie movie is a fantastic example of how partnerships can raise awareness and create buzz around your brand. From Barbie-branded apparel to bright pink hot sauce, we are constantly reminded to go see the movie. And while we aren’t suggesting you partner with Crocs to make a pair in your school colors (although this would really make your brand stand out!), there are a lot of other partnerships that could work for your school and support your branding efforts.

You could approach a popular local restaurant and ask them if they would host a fundraiser to donate a percentage of sales on a given day, such as your school’s opening anniversary or during national charter schools week, to tie into your larger campaign. In return, you would mention the promotion and thank the restaurant in flyers and/or emails sent to families. You might approach a local community center, church, or grocery store to ask if you can leave promotional materials in a high-traffic area. Another example is reaching out to local organizations and business to inquire about volunteer and/or mentorship and internship opportunities. And jokes about Crocs aside, other items could work – for example, consider teaming up with local artists or designers to create a new co-branded product with input from your school’s art, business, or engineering classes.

All of these strengthen your brand awareness while helping others in the community to understand your story and be compelled to share it!

Good storytelling keeps your audience engaged.

Strong marketing got people to the theatre, and a compelling story kept the buzz going and generated positive reviews. Charter schools can also harness the power and potential of storytelling to keep families engaged. Charter schools have the important elements of a compelling story – the characters, the mission, the stakes.  In practice, storytelling for charter schools looks a little different. Schools tell their stories at special events, on social media, and face-to-face with students, parents, and community members (for example, at board meetings and school tours). Share your achievements often and widely, and connect them to your school’s mission to reinforce your brand.

–

By implementing these key lessons from the Barbie movie’s marketing strategy, your charter school can enhance its branding, improve engagement with your community, and make a lasting impact with your message and mission. A consistent and compelling brand identity, coupled with strategic partnerships and effective storytelling, will contribute to increased awareness of and support for your school.

 

 

Facts about Charter Schools

Watch Your Language! How We Can Use Our Words to Reinforce Facts About Charter Schools.

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Melanie Horton, Senior Marketing Manager

August 8, 2019

With so many myths out there about charter schools, it’s important that we as advocates use language that encourages the spread of accurate information about our schools. This is just as important when communicating with others in our own school communities, from parents to teachers to local leaders, so that we continue to cement the very concepts that drew us to charter schools in the first place.

Charter schools are public schools. We often hear people – inside and outside the movement – referring to local district schools as “public schools” and our schools as “charter schools”. Since charter schools are public schools, we should not reserve the label of “public” for district schools, and we should instead refer to district schools as just that – district schools. Both charter schools and district schools fall under the umbrella of public schools. You may also want to consider referring to charter schools as “public charter schools” to further drive home the message.

Open Enrollment. One myth that exists about charter schools is that we’re allowed to “cherry pick” our students by administering admissions exams. Let’s make sure we always use the term “Open Enrollment” and not “Admissions”, as some may associate “admissions” with the private school or college admissions process, which involves determination based on academic record and other factors.

When open enrollment rolls around, we need to collect prospective students’ personal information so that we may enter them into a lottery for the available spaces at the school, and we do this by asking their families to fill out paperwork.  Instead of referring to this paperwork as an application, which implies a selection process (or at the very last, a formal review and determination by a greater authority), let’s aim to use another term such as “form”. While it’s true that the form must be reviewed to ensure compliance with a charter school’s lottery guidelines, we do not want to imply that students are being evaluated or judged in any way. This might seem like a small detail, but the words we use can have powerful implications that either support or detract from the truth about charter schools.

To reinforce that all students are eligible for enrollment in charter schools so long as they meet the requirements outlined in the lottery guidelines approved by the schools’ authorizer, we can post these guidelines at the school and remind stakeholders that students are randomly selected during the lottery.

Accountability. We often hear from critics that charter schools aren’t accountable and don’t have to abide by the same rules as district schools; that charters can “do whatever they want”. While charter schools have some regulatory freedoms relative to district schools, which allow charter schools to meet the unique needs of their communities, we accept this flexibility in exchange for increased accountability for student and operational results. New charter schools are required to submit a robust charter application that outlines the school’s proposed educational program, governance structure, budget, and additional details specific to each authorizer, and must renew their application every few years in order to continue existing (how often depends on the authorizer).

Renewing a charter school involves submitting a charter renewal application in which the school must show tangible progress toward the goals laid out in the original petition.  Schools may be denied renewal for poor academic performance or financial mismanagement, so this is serious business.

Let the members of your community know how charter schools are held fully accountable in a multitude of areas throughout the year as well as how they are required to prove – every few years – whether they’ve earned the privilege of continuing to serve their students and families. We can communicate our accountability by keeping our stakeholders in the loop when we’re going through the renewal process or fulfilling another local compliance requirement. This can be as simple as briefly sharing these milestones and achievements in the employee and parent newsletters and at board meetings.

Let’s remind the people of our communities – across the spectrum of advocates, critics, and the uninformed – that charter schools are about choice, accountability, and innovation.

What other positive language suggestions do you have for charter school advocates? We’d love to hear from you and build out our recommendations. Leave us a note in the comments section!