A keynote presentation given at the International Schools Admissions and Marketing Conference. The Hague, Netherlands. March 2009

2. All Aboard the Cluetrain
10 rules of branding you can’t afford to ignore
David Willows
www.isb.be

3. Let’s be honest
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Everything’s changing.
Everything’s becoming more complex.
Our kids seem smarter than we are.
International Schools
And it just keeps on coming.

4. Let’s be honest
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Everything’s changing.
Since the last time I gave this talk.
International Schools
The world has changed.
I have changed.
The 10 rules have changed.

5. Let’s be honest
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
So we are left with 3 key questions:
What is the past I need to let go of?
International Schools
What is the future I need to embrace?
What are the pieces that never change over time?

6. Let’s be honest
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
As we rush headlong into an exciting future
the ancient principles of communication stretching
back to ancient times still apply.
International Schools

7. Let’s be simple
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Our journey has consistently been one of
finding simplicity in the complexity
International Schools

8. Defining what we do
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
1. Attraction
External Communications
6. Release 2. Recruitment
International Schools
5. Retention 3. Induction
Internal Communications
4. Engagement

9. Defining what we do
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
story of ISB
Telling the
find their place in
and helping others
International Schools
that story

10. The View from 30 000 feet
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
International Schools
It feels like a mountain to climb.
But let’s go to the top of the mountain and
see what it looks like from up there.

11. The View from 30 000 feet
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
International Schools
Remember: Someone moved the mountain on a
particular day in 2008

12. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
From up here, all you see is
brand.
The View from 30 000 feet

13. The View from 30 000 feet
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
International Schools
Like it or not, we live in a branded universe.
You, your school, ‘we’ all have identity.
Manage it, or it will manage you.

14. The View from 30 000 feet
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
International Schools
Like it or not, we live in a branded universe.
You, your school, ‘we’ all have an identity.
Manage it, or it will manage you.

15. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
THE BRAND YOU SEE
The View from 30 000 feet

17. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
THE BRAND YOU SEE
The View from 30 000 feet

18. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Markets are nothing more
than conversations… Our
only hope is to talk.
International Schools

19. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Conversations are a
profound act of humanity.
So once were markets.
International Schools

20. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
The only advertising that
was ever truly effective
was word of mouth, which
International Schools
is nothing more than
conversation. Now word of
mouth has gone global.

21. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Further, these voices are
telling one another the
truth based on their real
International Schools
experiences.
The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual (Rick Levine et al, 2000)

22. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
•What conversations are you starting?
•With whom?
International Schools
•Using what media?

23. 1. All aboard the ‘cluetrain’
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Are you a lurker or do
you jump right in?
International Schools

24. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
In his famous essay “The
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Hedgehog and the Fox,” Isaiah
Berlin divided the world into
hedgehogs and foxes, based
upon an ancient Greek parable:
International Schools
“The fox knows many things,
but the hedgehog knows one big
thing.”
Good to Great and the Social Sectors (Jim Collins, 2006)

25. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
Core Values
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
What are you passionate about?
International Schools
Unique Selling Point Time, Resources, Brand
What are you best in the What drives your resource engine?
world at?

26. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
Core Values
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
What are you passionate about? Great schools
cannot overlook
the importance
of leveraging
their brand
International Schools
Unique Selling Point Time, Resources, Brand
What are you best in the What drives your resources engine?
world at?

27. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Breakthrough
cannot be
sustained
without a
International Schools
clear brand

28. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
brand’ mean?
But what does
‘leveraging the
2. Funky Hedgehogs

29. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Funky business is when
an organisation
slavishly applies the
‘rules’ of the brand to
all business decision-
International Schools
making.
The Brand is more than
a name or a logo. It
Funky Business Forever:
is a promise and a
How to Enjoy Capitalism
contract with every
(Ridderstrale & Nordstrom, 2008)
customer.

30. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
A brand is always more
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
than the sum of these
parts:
•Name
•Logo
International Schools
•Packaging
•Price
Funky Business Forever:
•History
How to Enjoy Capitalism
•Reputation (Ridderstrale & Nordstrom, 2008)
•Advertising…

31. 2. Funky Hedgehogs
A brand is always more
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
than the sum of these
parts:
•Name
•Logo
International Schools
•Packaging
•Price
Funky Business Forever:
•History
How to Enjoy Capitalism
•Reputation (Ridderstrale & Nordstrom, 2008)
•Advertising…

32. Let’s be honest
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
As we rush headlong into an exciting future
the ancient principles of communication stretching
back to ancient times still apply.
International Schools
CONVERSATION
TRUST…

33. 3. The Next Now
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
The brands that survive will have:
•Global relevance
International Schools
•Hyperlocal desirability
•Strong ties to multiple niches

34. 3. The Next Now
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
The customers will require:
•Precision: know who I am
International Schools
•Reciprocity: let me speak as well
•Flexibility: how we do business together
(YouTube: Marketing@Google: Dean Crutchfield)

35. 3. The Next Now
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Like it or not, families,
companies and organisations
purchase international school
International Schools
education in just the same way as
they buy a new BMW, iPod or pair
of Chanel sunglasses.

36. 3. The Next Now
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
…a new BMW, iPod or pair of Chanel
sunglasses.
And who is buying BMW right now?
International Schools

37. 4. Fancy a Coffee?
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Its all about an experience that happens to include coffee.
International Schools

38. 4. Fancy a Coffee?
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Its all about an experience that happens to include coffee.
•Make it your own
International Schools
•Everything matters
•Surprise and delight
•Embrace resistence
•Leave your mark

39. 4. Fancy a Coffee?
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Its all about an experience that happens to include coffee.
Starbucks as the ‘Third Place’:
International Schools
•WORK
•HOME
•STARBUCKS

40. 4. Fancy a Coffee?
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Its all about an experience that happens to include coffee.
ISB
Starbucks as the ‘Third Place’:
International Schools
•WORK
•HOME
ISB
•STARBUCKS

41. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
How do you bottle that experience ?
4. Fancy a Coffee?

42. 4. Fancy a Coffee?

43. 4. Fancy a Coffee?

45. 5. Coherence, coherence, coherence
Finalsite University International
OUR PROMISE
Applied in multiple contexts to multiple audiences

46. 5. Coherence, coherence, coherence
Finalsite University International

47. 5. Coherence, coherence, coherence
Curriculum
How do kids learn about environmental impact?
What is the experience of students at ISB?
Finalsite University International
Environmental
Facilities and Services
Committee
How is ISB organised?
What will students,
How will we model
parents and faculty
good practice?
do?
External Relations
How does ISB communicate its vision?
How does it engage resources and partners from outside?

48. 6. Tell me your story
Finalsite University International
Why do people keep things
bottled up inside? It makes no
sense. Nothing good comes from
that.

49. There it is again….
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
As we rush headlong into an exciting future
the ancient principles of communication stretching
back to ancient times still apply.
International Schools
CONVERSATION
TRUST…

50. 6. Tell me your story
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
One story.
A thousand ways of telling it.
International Schools
Yet every time it is told,
the story changes.

51. 7. Monitoring the Brand
Finalsite University International
How do you know your brand is successful?
Yoghurt
Arch Deluxe
New Coke
Fly in Leather

52. 7. Monitoring the Brand
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
How do you know your brand is successful?
International Schools

53. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
8. Diagnose the pain

54. 9. Understanding why brands fail
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
•Brand amnesia
•Brand ego
•Brand megalomania
International Schools
•Brand deception
•Brand fatigue
•Brand paranoia
•Brand irrelevance
Brand Failures: The truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time
(Matt Haig, 2003)

55. 9. Understanding why brands fail
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Amnesia Do we know what we stand for?
Ego Do we think of ourselves too highly?
Megalomania Do we think we can be best at everything?
International Schools
Deception Does our product match our description?
Fatigue Have we run out of ideas?
Paranoia Have we lost a sense of ‘self’ in lawsuits,
constant reinvention and obsession with competitors?
Irrelevance Do we have a product anyone wants any more?

56. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Do the maths…
10. Build alliances

57. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
10. Build alliances

58. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
10. Build alliances

59. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
+
=?
10. Build alliances

60. International Schools
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
2
10. Build alliances

61. 10. Build alliances
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Michael Fullan writes about 8 elements of
sustainability.
3. Lateral capacity building through networks
International Schools

62. 10. Build alliances
VISION PARTNERS
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
TAKING US FURTHER
International Schools
THAN WE COULD GO ON OUR OWN

63. Sneaking into 11th Place
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Brands have life cycles too.
Look after them.
They will look after you.
International Schools

64. And in the end…
Admissions and Marketing Conference 2009
Find simplicity in the complexity
Stay learning focused
Take risks. Encourage innovation.
International Schools
Embrace change.
Learning from the past.
Accept mistakes.
Enjoy.

65. To keep the conversation going….
David Willows PhD
Director of External Relations
International School of Brussels (ISB)
Kattenberg 19
Brussels, Belgium
Telephone: +32 2 661 4223
GSM: +32 485 732564
Skype: davidwillows
Blog: http://davidwillows.squarespace.com
www.isb.be
www.isb.be
The International School of Brussels - Kattenberg 19, 1170 Brussels. Belgium - Tel: 00 32 (2) 661 42 11 - Fax: 00 32 (2) 661 42 00