Norden Farm

From the 6th to 26th March Jon will be exploring a new venue to display his paintings at an exhibition called Three Expressions exhibition together with other artists, Patrick O'Callaghan and Linda Austin at Norden Farm. All welcome.

MONDAY 23RD JAN 2012 JWA PHOTOGRAPHY

We specialise in photography for schools. We try and capture the character of the school through photography. Here is a recent comment from a client, Ian Kellie at Sir Thomas Rich School.

"It was great to see you again, you are a joy to have in school. I spent a pleasant evening looking at the 1,500 photographs – as ever, some gems in there. So you have more than justified our reason for asking you to spend the day here, we shall have ample photographs from which to select. It wasn’t the best day for taking photographs, not much practical work in school and gloomy outside. However, there are plenty of interesting shots, in particular the individual student studies, you have captured some wonderful faces.

With all best wishes,
Ian"


From: Jon Willcocks [mailto:jon@jwaltd.com]
Sent: 05 January 2012 16:41
To: Ian Kellie
Subject: Re: Sir Thomas Rich's Information Book

ITS NOT WHAT YOU SAY IT'S THE WAY THEY SAY IT!

The media is not the message!

Only recently I attended a brilliant concert held at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. One of the most captivating pieces was Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 4, performed on early instruments. It would be wrong to suggest that any one instrument was more important than another because they all worked in harmony to be faithful to the musical score. Similarly we have an increasing number of ways to communicate the virtues of our schools and it would be too simplistic to say one is more important than another. But there are some new initiatives, which are beginning to seriously impact the conventional

methods of defining the school’s profile.

Probably the most traditional is still by personal recommendation. Someone who has had first hand experience of the strengths and weaknesses of a school is going to be able to give you informed advice.

There are also the published academic results; but a school that is driven by its place in the league tables will not suit every child.

Then there is the all important prospectus, which, if well designed, will give a balanced overview of the school’s life, culture and ambience.

But we now live in the 21^st century and all we need to know is available on line. Some would argue that prospectuses are obsolete and have now been replaced by the school’s website. Actually, I don’t think such people understand the need for breadth and depth in conveying the quality of a school, and the good prospectus has a vital part to play!

In recent years we have seen the colossal growth of social media sites.

Put simply, social media incorporates the online technology and methods through which people can communicate, give personal opinions, swap different perspectives and insights into issues they feel important enough to share.

A striking example of this was a whisky distillery in Scotland which has now dropped its website in favour of a permanent facebook entry.

Why would anyone want to do such a thing? Because in this age of social media it is the positive comments about their product posted on facebook which has persuaded the company to drop their website altogether. Their conclusion was that personal testimonials speak louder than contrived advertising copy.

Recently I attended an eye opening conference at the Microsoft headquarters in Victoria, London. The objective was to expose the importance of social media sites in marketing. I found this whole area had grown beyond my imagination in such a short time.

As a rule, independent schools tend to be suspicious of this phenomenon. But I don’t think it is time to put our heads in the sand. I notice that in the US there is already a social media site called Great Schools, designed to guide parents to find the right school for their child. It has been driven by parents’ opinions of schools rather than a school’s opinion of itself.

In England there are numerous social media sites (websites that allow you to create a personal profile about yourself then chat, discuss and share information with others.) Typical examples of social networking sites include MySpace, Twitter, Bebo and Facebook. Slowly these sites are becoming increasingly powerful in driving public opinion. Perhaps it is still early days for these sites to penetrate and change the existing reputation of schools but parent power is growing fast and conversations are no longer confined to the school gates!

It might be worth having links from your existing website to prime social networking sites. Furthermore Google search engines are now crawling through these sites to position your school in its search engines.

OK people will always discuss and share the virtues of your school , but if, as the players at the concert I attended at Kings, your school is motivated by excellence, then you have nothing to fear!

Media and marketing techniques will continue to change and evolve, but whatever yardstick is used when a school aspires to excellence, its quality will remain a constant.

Jon Willcocks

Managing Director JWALTD

WE ARE ALL OUT TO IMPRESS

A question that crops up more regularly today than it did in the past

"Have we got our strategy right?"

“Do we need to stand out from the crowd, it must mean we need a new strategy a new goal!”

Professor Marshall McLuhan used to say the “media was the message” it’s not what you say but the way you say it.- Are we on facebook. The Linkedin Blog have we got this on twitter, how is our IT profile, are we fully maximising the media?

I was at a Schools Marketing conference recently and a designer told me his strategy was to ditch what had been done before and advocate the new. His sales strategy was simply to promote a “new product”, complete with seductive packaging and a new logo. Packaging for him, in his opinion was the best way to increase his business strategy and hopefully the school’s profile.

What’s this all about, what’s going on?

It would seem to me there are a number of issues here that are getting out of balance. Only yesterday a newly appointed marketing lady said to me: “send me some of your work, but I’m only interested if it’s different”.

Why dose “different” make it any more successful in the market place?

We are in the middle, of a financial squeeze. Parents want the very best school for their children, and schools are trying hard to win their attention. They cannot afford to take risks with designer’s fantasies in this highly competitive climate.

Yet so many he marketing teams continue to persuade the head and the governors that “whiz” is the elusive panacea that will get the parents jamming the school’s phones.

But the brutal reality is that even though an application of ephemeral whiz can hide a poor school, it can be detrimental to the integrity of a good school.

More than ever, parents want clarity so that the task of comparing the merits of one school with another are simplified. A marketing strategy that promotes staged smiling children is most un-helpful in defining what takes place in the schools curriculum. Parents want to know what goes on both inside and outside the class room They want to know about the facilities, the ambiance, the location pastoral care the qualities that make a child’s life at that school special.

In essence, each school needs to deliver substance, the marketing material should be seen as the vehicle. The packaging is important, but the tail should not wag the dog! It is important to be IT savvy, but do ensure there is quality in the message. It is vital that in any production there is meaningful content, which constructively informs the inquisitive parent and student.

Only recently I saw a designer had persuaded his client to buy into some very expensive display cases that once opened, revealed a. small and diminutive prospectus inside. One needs to strike a balance between recognising a good creative idea, and one that looks too keen to capture your attention, I dread to think what the school is being charged for postage! Schools are exciting places where the culture of teaching and learning creates sunning images use them! If only the pizazz has been generated by the core business of the School, rather than the wrapping, that would be impressive!

Smile Please

“Say cheese!”

Here we are in a severe recession and parents need to make informed decisions about the most appropriate school for their children. Yet too frequently Independent School prospectuses and web sites resort almost exclusively, to images of smiling children! Yes it is important that children enjoy the process of learning, but “cheesy snaps” are not going to convey those distinct ingredients that make each school special.

In fact to reveal the true benefits of a school takes time and a well thought out strategy. Images that reflect the character and spirit of a school will involve careful planning and research. Furthermore, there is a rare skill in being able to understand the real benefits of a particular school. Is it highly academic, does it major on extra curriculum activities, is it highly artistic or musical, dose in maximise on its unique location, near water mountains or centres in a major city? The process of accurately reflecting the life and spirit of a school is more complex than it first appears! Nonetheless this is very important if we are going to give parents and future children the ability to exercise choice.

Pretty pictures are one thing, but even more demanding is how do you effectively communicate the very qualities that make one school different (or even better) from the next. It’s all too easy to confuse school photography with wedding photography, spreads, festooned with smiling attractive children. In fact many photographers commissioned to handle schools are in fact wedding photographers. But this photographic culture can have a limited scope and even demeaning effect in communicating the real advantages of a particular school.
 All too frequently parents and staff are getting short changed because schools’ marketing material looking superficial and identical to promotional material of competitive schools.
The question, which needs to be addressed, is “how can prospective parents make informed choices for the most suitable school for their children, when the marketing material is identical to other schools?”

The answer is simple – “with difficulty!”

In this time of a financial challenge, parents, more than ever need to be able to make informed choices. The importance of clear information to avoid confusion when selecting a school for their children.
There are a few basic questions that when addressed, will help schools to shape and create effective marketing material. Why are we producing a new prospectus or web site? Who is it for, and who are we aiming at? Who are we competing against? What makes our school distinctive? Do we implement a different culture to other schools that appeals to a particular group? The benefits of a school designed for single sex education, compared with co-education. Consideration should be given to the school’s environment as well as its demographics, which both have a bearing on the choice between boarding and day. Can a creative use of photography enable the school to convey these benefits?

For a school marketing initiative to be effective, parents need to be able to have an insight that reveals the school’s individual character.  Each school must aim to convey why it is different; the quality, the breadth, the unique benefits, the ethos. Inspired photography and clean design can play a pivotal role in enabling parents and their children to make more enlightened decisions about a school. Aim for high quality, no gimmicks, no tricks. Saying “cheese” will not convey the right message! Transparency and clear thinking are the essential ingredients for an effective marketing strategy.

Getting your strategy right will put a smile on your face!

For more information please visit our website www.jwaltd.com

Vive la difference!!!

I recently attended the BSA Head’s Conference where a provocative, but thought provoking Kevin Roberts CEO of Worldwide Saatchi & Saatchi said he found school marketing consistently boring and uninspiring. He went on to say as we were facing a serious financial crisis what steps were schools taking to succeed in the downturn?

Similarly at an AMDIS Marketing conference last year I spoke to two heads that complained that all prospectuses looked the same, (I resisted saying that they are the people responsible for approving them!) Many are beginning to question their whole approach to schools marketing. This is a wake up call! For too long it has been possible to swap the name on the cover of one school’s prospectus and exchange it for another. The real problem is that you probably would not have spotted the difference! These solutions are driven by unthinking suppliers with a “that’ll do” policy. Sadly, this is no joke, but a fact!

There are a number of excellent creative companies, but still too many, that are happy to churn out cost cutting, bland, conveyor belt, design solutions for schools. They will send in a photographer for a couple of days to get a few standard classroom and sports shots. It is not surprising it is difficult to distinguish one school from another. The strategy is well rehearsed; a shiny navy blue cover with the mandatory crest, the serif titling and a picture of children outside the main building. Inside the theme continues each spread is festooned with static shots of smiling children all taken from two meters away! One prep school prospectus I saw recently had three, patronising pictures of the head in it but hardly any of its staff! This approach will do the school no favours.

The other extreme are companies who subject the schools to irrelevant graphic solutions that are different, but for totally the wrong reasons. For example, a very good school in Surrey was pursuaded to adopt ‘EasyJet’ orange in the name of difference. I’m relieved to say they’ve given up on that wild excursion now and have reinstated navy blue! Then more recently, I came across a marketing package for a school, all built around the DVD packaging, where the designers had hidden the prospectus inside the DVD cover, it took me four days to find it, ridiculous!! The “design” should not be the captivating feature of the prospectus, but the “school.” Years ago someone at the Royal College of Art said to me “Good design never gets noticed.” Put another way the design is subservient to its task of effective communication, not a self-indulgent whim. It is only by familiarisation of the life and spirit of a school that an informed design can take shape. Informed design solutions can help parents/pupils make informed decisions about the appropriateness of one school as opposed to another.

Schools are unique. They are all very different from each other. They serve different markets and aim at different clientele. A child will find one school will be more appropriate to his/her needs than another. Prospectus design difference needs to be driven by the school’s ethos, spirit and character, not by bland or esoteric design solutions. The prospectus will be different if it is an honest portrayal.




Front cover for Radley College (also known as "The Pink Cover") created by JWA Ltd., 2008

For more information please visit our website www.jwaltd.com

Our work on ebook

JWALTD  always try to find a fresh solution to solving the brief.

We believe the image speaks a thousand words. So our photography drives much of our 

design work. We are convinced the public are more visually articulate than ever before and 

make judgements on what they see before they read. 

We specialise in the production of marketing material for both the independent educational and commercial property sectors.

Here's a selection of our latest photographic and illustration work on Ebook format.

For more information please visit our website www.jwaltd.com