I've Been There.
In-house marketing has its perks: stability, deeper institutional knowledge, and the opportunity to grow multidisciplinary skills in ways that freelance or agency work often doesn’t allow. But it also comes with challenges: unrealistic deadlines, assumptions that designers can do everything from animation to social media strategy, constant shifts in creative direction, every department wanting its own identity system, endless revisions, and superiors with no concept of visual hierarchy asking to “make it pop” or just “make the logo bigger.”
A Brand Strategy Changed Everything
I was burned out—constantly reacting to new demands from workaholics whose main job seemed to be dreaming up even more projects. But when we developed a true Brand Strategy, everything changed.
It clarified what types of projects actually moved the needle, helped define marketing goals and audience engagement, and created clear guidelines for visuals, messaging, and workflows. More importantly, it gave us a framework for efficiency—allowing me to focus on high-impact creative work while establishing much-needed boundaries.
Strategic guides for visuals and messaging don’t restrict creativity—they give it purpose. Guardrails keep everyone on track, ensuring that creative efforts genuinely connect with your school’s audience. A strong brand strategy also helps the entire organization understand what the marketing team does and why their decisions are intentional.
Now to Convince the Boss
When proposing a Brand Strategy, administrators may push back with concerns about time, cost, or necessity. But in many cases, they simply don’t understand what a brand strategy actually is.
They may assume you’re just proposing a new logo and color scheme. The truth is, a logo is not the brand. A brand strategy isn’t about superficial design changes—it’s about clarifying the emotional, intangible identity your school already has and ensuring that it resonates with those who matter most.
In fact, the most successful rebrand I ever worked on—the one that saved my career—included very minimal changes to the visual identity system. Instead, we focused on defining the organizaion’s core identity, purpose, and audience connections.
A well-crafted brand strategy ensures that all communications—written, visual, and experiential—align with what makes your school unique and valuable. It’s like a curriculum framework: without it, lessons (or marketing) become disjointed, inconsistent, and less effective.
Show How a Brand Strategy Helps Leadership
If you’re trying to convince your leadership team to invest in a brand strategy, focus on their priorities: efficiency, admissions, and community engagement. Here’s how a strong brand strategy delivers:
1. Find Your People
By analyzing your most engaged and passionate community members, you can identify what draws them to your school. Building a brand strategy around their perspectives allows you to attract more families and staff who share those values.
People are naturally drawn to brands that reflect their own beliefs and aspirations. When schools lean into their authentic identity, admissions efforts become more targeted and effective—bringing in families who already align with the school’s mission.
2. Strengthen Reputation & Trust
A clear, consistent brand fosters trust with prospective families, current parents, staff, and the international educator community. When all messaging aligns with a defined strategy, your school’s reputation grows stronger and more intentional.
A good brand strategy not only guides consistency but also defines why you’re being consistent—ensuring that all communications support the bigger picture.
3. Increase Efficiency & Focus
With a well-defined brand strategy, your marketing team spends less time reinventing campaigns and more time executing impactful outreach. It also clarifies everyone’s role in school communications, ensuring that marketing isn’t constantly reacting to last-minute requests but instead working towards long-term goals.
The Cost of Not Having a Brand Strategy
When approaching decision-makers, acknowledge that investing in a Brand Strategy requires time and resources—but the payoff is clear. Without one, marketing efforts become reactive, inconsistent, and less effective. Here are some of the hidden (and not-so-hidden) costs of operating without a clear strategy:
1. Inconsistent Messaging & Confused Identity
A strong brand doesn’t mean everyone thinks the same way—it means they share a common understanding of the school’s identity and values. Without that clarity, different departments, teachers, and leadership may project conflicting messages to prospective families.
Rather than just being consistent about which shade of blue to use in your logo, wouldn’t it be better to be consistent about what that blue stands for?
Worse, if your marketing doesn’t align with your school’s true brand, you may attract families or staff with misaligned expectations—only for them to realize too late that the school isn’t what they thought. That disconnect creates dissatisfaction and can lead to higher attrition rates.
2. Marketing as a ‘Fixer’ Instead of a Strategy Driver
Without a clear strategy, marketing teams are often reactive instead of proactive—constantly putting out fires rather than shaping long-term success. This wastes creative talent, leads to burnout, and forces teams into endless cycles of last-minute requests.
A Brand Strategy sets a strategic precedent. Think of it as a legal framework and your marketing team as the lawyers. Their job isn’t to change the law every time someone asks—it’s to interpret and apply the strategy to new challenges while keeping the core brand intact.
3. Wasted Time & Resources
Without a strong brand foundation, marketing teams spend countless hours adjusting messaging, re-explaining the school’s identity, and completing projects that don’t align with long-term goals.
Even worse, schools waste resources on initiatives that fail to resonate with their audience. A well-defined brand helps schools measure their impact more effectively, ensuring marketing efforts focus on the right audiences and the right metrics—rather than guessing what will work.
A good brand strategy not only guides consistency but also defines why you’re being consistent—ensuring that all communications support the bigger picture.
