eBusiness Weekly
Joseline Sithole
The Grade Seven 2019 results are out! And my niece Shumirai Eva Sithole who went to Cross Kopje Junior, got a string of ones in her subjects with the exception of that “awful” three she got in Shona. (This intelligence, I must say, comes from me her aunt). I hear she cried uncontrollably because of that three, but back in our family we ululated and had a “blast.” Elsewhere, a giant fell.
Chancellor Primary School lost its pole position, as the school which produces students with the most 5 units, to Rusape-based John Cowie Primary School.
To make matters worse, poor Chancellor Primary School was also edged out of the top three by its long term rivals; Baring Primary School and Mutare Junior School. Mr Nyawo, the Headmaster of John Cowie attributed this very high pass rate to professionalism and the care that was rendered by the staff. As you can see brand Manicaland other than being known as jocular is extremely serious with its education.
In the high school realm my former school St David’s Bonda has been overtaken by events though it still posts some remarkable results. Well, I am a Bonda Girl myself and would like to say it’s the best girls school ever. That red skirt, green jersey and white blouse had certain advantages and wielded some major power back in our days. That uniform meant that boys did not just come to you with incomplete stories and poorly written love letters.
Though we were banned from visiting mixed boarding schools especially the Dancing Club (for obvious reasons) boys in our era considered it as a blessing, an honour and privilege to go out with a Bonda girl. Parents did not stress about us passing but just how many “As” we were going to get.
The successes of the Bonda girls are well documented throughout the world and the school has achieved a couple of firsts.
However, brand Bonda’s magical powers are slowly waning as new kids on the block such as Knowstics High School and long-time rivals St Faith High School have dominated academic results. So how can schools such as Bonda and Chancellor re-strengthen their brands? And how do SMEs who want to get into this sector build solid educational brands.
Know and understand your product
Firstly, schools need to understand that educational enterprises are also business enterprises (with the exception of our public schools) and therefore should be self-sustaining while at the same time making a reasonable profit. Your products are your students and what you hope they will achieve after they leave your school.
It is very important that schools are clear on the “products” that they are “manufacturing.” It seems to me that what drives Zimbabwean Educational entities is the need to produce results.
This was confirmed by research by Southern Africa Development Consultants, which revealed that parents prioritised pass rates among their top three drivers for choosing schools.
However, sometimes pass rates are achieved through constant drilling of past examination papers, which negatively affects children’s analytical skills.
To this end schools should do tracking studies to understand and appreciate what their students become when they leave school.
I browsed through a few websites to identify what “products” the schools were offering. My most favourite ones are these. Hill bright Science College is heavily biased towards producing a science oriented “product” that has “moral upstanding” in society. Girls College in Bulawayo, “moulds women for the modern world.” St George’s College has a unique one. Young Boys enter as Salvete (Boys) and Leave the College as Valette (Young men) Boys to Men. The man theme is also carried over by George Stark High School in Mbare ”Better Build Boys than Repair men”
Schools that place great emphasis on attaining academic results do so to their detriment. To this end, schools should seriously consider the notion that academic prowess is the only measure of success. As such, headmasters and school associations should stop “gushing” about results but consider the quality of their students to meet a highly globalised environment. Besides, the Billionaire Club is up of B rated students such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs to name just a few.
Competitor analysis
In Zimbabwe there are distinct educational categories that include: Trust Schools, Mission Schools, Government Schools, Private colleges or Academies (as they are affectionately called these days) and others.
Schools should understand which segment they fall into and then scan their competition within that segment. Competitor analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategy content for identifying opportunities, threats, weaknesses and strengths of your brand. It is thus important to identify who your competitors are and what they are offering.
This exercise should also include profiling their marketing strategies, value propositions and what gives them the edge. Here is “WORD” from Bill Gates. “Whether it’s Google or Apple or free Software we got some fantastic competition and it keeps us on our toes.”
Brand positioning
Philip Kotler, widely considered as the father of Modern Marketing says that Brand Positioning is “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”. In other words, brand positioning describes how a brand is different from its competitors and where, or how, it sits in customers’ minds.
Schools should thus be clear on what makes them stand out from their competition. As much as possible schools should avoid bad press. St Therese High School, a boarding school in Makoni West taught the world how “a kissathon is done”. In this world of social media, raunchy pictures of school pupils were plastered all over social media. I wonder how many parents will be sending their children to this school. According to Warren Buffet it takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it.
Know your target consumer
Schools need to gather intensive demographic data on their target markets and conduct intense consumer profiling studies. Gathering this data will include intensive collection of demographic and psychographic data. Demographic data answers to the question of, who are your clients, while Psychographic data answers to, Why do customers buy our products? (In this case why do parents send their children to your school?) Demographic data includes; knowing your target market’s gender, marital status and other key characteristics such as age. Psychographic profiling answers to spending patterns and lifestyle. For example, parents’ income levels affect the way parents pay their school fees so it is important to understand what income levels the parents fall into.
Brand personality
It helps to think about your school as a person with an unmistakable personality. Brand Personality goes beyond your vision, mission and school motto. How you implement is the most important one.
Most schools have dreary and unmemorable school mottos. Coupled with this are uninspiring badges and symbols and unmatching school colours. A research done on 265 school mottos revealed the following words as the most favourite that are included in school slogans: These are, Excellence, Leadership, Dream, Inspire, Lead and Diversity. If you are still starting out you might want to avoid those cliché words such as Perseverance and be more creative with your Mottos. I found these interesting ones on the Internet: An Education that lasts a Lifetime, Build Become; and Greatness starts Here.
My most favourite in Zimbabwe, is that Prince Edward one, “Facienda. Parum Factum” So Much to Do So Little Time. Word has it that those were Cecil John Rhodes’ last words. Remember to be “brutal” about how your uniform is worn. If you are starting a school, ensure that you choose colours that are different from your competition (Something most banks in Zimbabwe failed to do-largely blue). We are a bit wary of blue and grey uniforms. Kindly plant some flowers at your school and keep the lawns neat and tidy. That reception area is absolutely important. My most favourite grounds are Arundel School grounds and Eastern Heights School Reception Area. According to Geofrey Zakarin, “Determine who you are and what you are not. The rest of it is a just a lot of noise.”
Be consistent (yet flexible)
Strong brands are consistent with their offering but also flexible enough to do away with obsolete ways of doing things. For example, a school that does not embrace Information Technology will do so to its detriment.
You would want to keep your brand intact by regularly surveying your brand through an audit. According to Josh Miles the purpose behind a brand audit is plain and simple “to gain a fundamental undertaking of where your brand stands in its current stage.” If you think about that you will do things differently. Simon Mainwaring points out that, “Define what your brand stands for its core values and tone of voice and then communicate consistently.”
Powerful school brands consist of high quality instruction, a solid school culture and very concrete organisational acumen. A new paradigm shift is needed in Zimbabwe schools.
Though grades are important, schools should aim to produce a well-rounded “product” who contributes positively to society.
In this day and age decisions should be driven by data collection and research, staff training programmes are also necessary to build strong brands.
A challenge for this week, if your school were an animal what would it be?
Joseline Sithole is the Founder of Southern Africa Development Consultants. You can email comments to [email protected]
