What is a school brand? Why create a brand? How to create a brand?

A brand is not formed in a day or two. As a school brand, it should be said to be a kind of school culture. School brand refers to the gradual accumulation of the school in the process of its creation and development. It refers to the summary of the comprehensive connotation of a school with a certain degree of popularity and praise. It is condensed in the school's name, logo, teaching facilities, teachers, campus culture and other elements. It It is a concentrated expression of the school's educational philosophy, educational quality, educational characteristics, operating mechanism and school culture.

When analyzing the connotation of a brand school, it is not difficult to find the following three components: school running philosophy, educational quality and profound campus culture formed by accumulation. Among the three, the school philosophy is the soul of the school brand, the quality of education is the support of the brand, and the campus culture is the sufficient confidence of the brand. The philosophy of running a school is the concrete embodiment of educational ideas. The school-running philosophy of a brand school should be advanced and unique, which other schools do not have. Without the guidance of advanced and unique school-running concepts, it will be difficult to form a truly branded school. Educational quality is the quality of education with a certain character, or the character of a school’s education quality. The school's pursuit of educational quality is embodied in the school's school ethos and motto. Campus culture is the sum of a school’s spiritual culture, institutional culture and material culture. It embodies the school's personality and taste, contains the school's history and tradition, spirit and ideas, and demonstrates the quality and unique educational characteristics of the school.

The core competitiveness of the school is mainly reflected in hardware resources and soft resources. Hardware resources are the campus infrastructure and complete facilities. This aspect is not a problem for most schools in Xiaoshan and other economically developed areas; soft resources are the spiritual shaping and guidance centered on people and culture, which is unique. Inimitable.

Brand building is an important part of the school’s core competitiveness soft resources. When the infrastructure of schools in the same area has developed to a certain level, students, parents and society will lessen their interest and consideration in hardware resources and focus on the connotation development of the school, campus culture and reputation.

(1) Brand is the internal driving force of soft competition in schools

Since a school was founded to recruit students, it has completed the communication between the school and students and parents in the development process. Whether good or bad, intentional or unintentional, a certain impression has been formed in the minds of students and parents, and then this impression will be recognized by society. This impression is the prototype of the brand. As a school, what does it say to the outside world? It is talking about the strength and emotion of the school. The combination of strength and emotion is the comprehensive ability and cultural heritage of the school. The degree of comprehensive ability and cultural heritage determines the degree to which society understands the school, and also determines the thickness of the school's reputation (brand) in social recognition. When the thickness reaches a certain level, a brand can be created, and the brand becomes It provides the internal driving force for the school to publicize its soft competitiveness.

(2) Brand is the permanent driving force of the school’s soft competition

The prominent part of the school’s core competitiveness is the result of insisting on a certain factor in hardware or software. Some schools have not been in operation for a long time, but there are no students who cannot teach well, only teachers who cannot teach well, for all students, and for the persistence of all school-running concepts for students, resulting in a good harmonious relationship between teaching and learning, and a harmonious relationship between teachers and students. *The growth of the same major has become an important support for the school’s soft competitiveness, and has also become a well-known brand school. To be recognized by society and leave an indelible mark, we need to continue to promote it, so these school running concepts echo in our ears, the names of these brand schools are burned into our hearts, and the brand becomes a factor for external publicity. , has become the sign of the school's soft competitiveness, and without the persistence and continuous improvement of the school's philosophy, educational quality, and cultural accumulation behind the sign, there will be no brand.

(3) Brand is the expansion force of soft competition in schools

School branding has begun to rise. Through the brand concept, it increases competitiveness and achieves breakthroughs in the differentiation of similar schools to become famous schools and brands. This will in turn expand the school's influence. When the school's soft competitiveness follows the brand, the maturity of the brand begins to feed back the school's soft competitiveness. A good school brand image can create development opportunities for the school. A school with a good image can easily gain social support, parents' trust, and recognition from teachers and students. It can optimize and expand the school's space for survival and development, revitalize school resources, and win more development opportunities for the school.

It is not only intangible spiritual wealth, but also can be converted into tangible material wealth through appropriate methods, thereby promoting the school to continuously optimize in a virtuous cycle. Under this brand effect, the school running effect, the life growth effect of teachers and students, and service The family effect and all social comprehensive effects will be clearly highlighted.

(1) Find the correct brand positioning

Positioning is life. We often say: positioning determines status, and ideas determine the way out.

When determining the positioning, you must consider what your school should do and what it should not do. To find the correct brand positioning and establish a common vision, education managers must first change their thinking paradigm and management philosophy. Organizations should be viewed as organically composed of individuals with rich personalities. We should respect and care for those who are led, and regard them as the source of knowledge, creativity, and ability to improve the organization! And allow school members to fully participate in the process of creating, maintaining, and evolving the school's vision. Only in this way can they be inspired to regard the school's vision as the lifeline of their personal development and work enthusiastically to achieve the school's teaching goals. Because teachers feel that they belong to a meaningful whole and can realize the values ??they pursue through their own contributions.

The core of brand school construction is the values ??of people in the school. As a brand school manager, he should first have the educational values ??he believes in, and focus on the moral management of the school's educational values, helping organizational members to form the most common values ??under the unity of a common vision. In this way, through the improvement of school culture and the establishment of core values ??of educating people, the positioning of the school brand can truly be in line with the nature of education.

(2) Develop brand strategy

To build a school brand, the school strategy must be turned into the school image. To create a good brand image is to formulate specific implementation plans, steps and strategies that are conducive to building a good organizational atmosphere and external environment for the school brand after carefully analyzing its own advantages and specialties after scientifically and rationally positioning the brand; from The unique architectural layout, digital library, advanced laboratories, networked teaching management system, etc., as well as the school badge, school uniforms, school anthem, letter paper, information bag, etc. will better reflect the school’s spiritual connotation and value pursuit. It is conveyed to school teachers and students and the general public through image symbols. In addition, design a series of activities such as public relations, displays, promotional activities, etc., to condense these unified school running concepts, school running purposes, school logos, standard words, standard colors, communication supplies, staff clothing, promotional slogans and all teachers and students. The school's image in behavior and speech is disseminated to school members and the public, and specific implementation measures are formulated. The brand name must be designed well, and the logo must also be planned well. The visual system, appearance image, brand association, anthropomorphic association, quasi-physical association, etc. must be taken into consideration, and all must be specially planned and designed.

(3) Strengthen brand promotion

Building a school brand image must start from within. The school's high-quality services and good organizational atmosphere are the basis for winning public trust and reputation, and are also the basis for a series of activities to promote the brand externally. The school brand is not just a slogan that is spoken every day or a written strategic plan, but is deeply embedded in the values ????of the school's teachers and students. In the process of teachers and students' persistent practice, the school's education is demonstrated through natural actions. Concept and spiritual outlook, it is the overall cultural atmosphere of the school. Internal brand promotion is committed to imprinting the school spirit on every move, word and deed of each school member. This imprint may even affect their life, thus becoming the most vivid promoter of the school brand. Creating a good brand image requires the joint efforts of all school members.

For the shaping and integration of the school’s image, external public relations are also essential. Proper brand promotion, such as setting up a special promotion agency and taking advantage of various opportunities, such as school celebrations, exchange meetings, summary and commendation conferences, teaching and research reforms, admissions and graduation information releases, etc., can make the society understand and care about the school. And make the school's achievements known to the government and the public, win greater visibility and reputation, and thus obtain various resources needed for school construction, as well as more recognition and support from the government and the public. The publicity and packaging of the school brand must be carried out in a variety of media and in a variety of ways to achieve the expected goals. In addition to making full use of mass media such as newspapers, radio, and television, the network platform must also highlight its communication advantages.

(4) Focus on brand connotation

Use school culture and teaching quality to shape the school brand.

The core connotation of a school brand is the cultural taste of the school. The process of cultivating a unique school culture is also the process of creating a school brand. When you walk into a school, the first thing you see is an external environmental culture, and then you will find the attitudes and ways of talking and doing things among the teachers and students of the school. This is the external manifestation of a school culture. Brand building is inseparable from teaching quality. In other words, the core factor that constitutes what we call a brand is the quality of the product. Without quality, there is no brand. Quality is not only the core factor that constitutes the brand, but also the fundamental identity of the brand. Education, as the purpose of human reproduction and re-creation, is ultimately a process of objectification of goals. The goal is quality. School education is the objectification process of school goals. The process of objectification is also the process of brand formation. The results of objectification are reflected in the physical and mental development of teachers and students. So we can draw the following conclusion: Whether a school can become a brand school mainly depends on the physical and mental development level of its students and teachers, and the students are the most important. The students in one school are no different from the students in other schools. What kind of brand school is it?

(5) Building a brand for teachers and students

Schools are places that educate people and are engaged in cultivating people. They are different from factories, hospitals, shopping malls, governments, etc. any organization. Therefore, school branding has different manifestations than other organizational brands. In a sense, the school brand is mainly the brand of the people! People's brand image is the most convincing factor in a school's brand image. 1. Cultivate famous students Whether a school is influential can be determined to a certain extent by checking whether it has cultivated many outstanding students. Outstanding students are also a school product brand. The image of successful students is the most vivid and direct reflection of the school's brand image. The quality of school ethos, school discipline, and the quality of education are clearly visible to students. An old principal said with emotion: To evaluate a school, the quality of its school spirit, school discipline, and quality of education can be determined by standing at the school gate and watching the students go to and from school. Their speech, behavior and mental outlook are the best illustration of the quality of school education and teaching and the level of management. Students include not only current students but also students who have graduated, that is, alumni. They always add glory to or tarnish the school brand from different angles and aspects. If a school has students with excellent test scores, wins many competitions, is civilized and courteous at all times, pays attention to social ethics at all times, and has many outstanding alumni, then the public will definitely give the school more praise and recognition. Why are Peking University and Tsinghua University so famous? Where is the name? They are famous for their students and nothing else. These schools have become famous because they have trained batches of outstanding students. Therefore, the wealth of a school does not lie in its equipment and school buildings, but in the quality of its students from generation to generation. 2. The project of cultivating famous teachers is crucial to any school. Famous schools cultivate famous teachers, and famous teachers create famous schools. Whoever has a high-quality teaching staff will have high-quality education. This has become people's common sense. When people evaluate a school, they always pay attention to the status of its teaching staff. Therefore, teachers’ age structure, educational background structure, and professional title structure, teachers’ professionalism, academic level, teacher ethics, teachers’ interpersonal relationships, appearance, and even speech and behavior all reflect the school from different angles and to varying degrees. Brand image. Not only teachers, the school image also involves every cadre and employee. From the concierge to the kitchen workers, from the office receptionist to the library and laboratory administrators, their quality and work quality are closely related to the school's brand image. There is no small matter in school education. Even serving tea and water, welcoming students to school, answering phone calls, etc. all reflect the quality of the school's brand image. 3. Develop famous principals

The principal is the soul of a school and the source of a school’s ideas. A good principal means a good school. In the process of building a brand school, the principal It is undoubtedly the most important factor, because the image of the principal and his team, especially the principal, is a key element of the school's image. The principal is the legal representative of the school and is fully responsible internally and fully represents the school externally. People often say: There is a school just like the principal. As a social role, the principal's image is not only his own, but closely related to a school. Being a principal who is thoughtful and dares to set new standards is the prerequisite for building a brand school. A brand school in the true sense is often the best interpretation of the principal’s school-running ideas.

The principal's idea of ??running a school is not something that comes out of thin air. It is the principal's foresight, assessment of the situation, full consideration and possession of the school's existing advantageous resources for running schools, and the integration of the principal's unique personality, which gradually becomes clear. Looking at the development history of many famous schools, it is not difficult to find that they all have one or more charming and highly respected principals. Therefore, in a sense, famous schools create famous principals, and famous principals create famous schools.

(6) Improve brand innovation

If a school wants to maintain its brand and maintain its vitality for a long time, it must continue to carry out brand innovation. In the process of becoming a brand school, there is no ready-made model that can be applied. Managers must focus on building the school's core values ??and shared vision based on the specific conditions of their own schools. On this basis, they must form a cultural field that is consistent internally and externally and radiate from the inside out to create a school cultural brand. But this brand is not static. With the development of the times, the brand must also innovate. Innovation is the inexhaustible driving force for the school to implement its brand strategy. The so-called innovation is to gradually understand the perspective of the predecessors in observing things and the framework of thinking about problems, and constantly obtain the cognitive achievements left by the predecessors, and then use this as the background, basis, and clues to reflect on the thinking framework that one has established. Only when one criticizes and forms another set of frameworks and paradigms that can better explain the world can it be called true innovation. Innovation is an extremely difficult process, and only talents are the subjects who constantly reflect on and innovate on the organization and themselves. Only by forming an innovative culture and actively influencing the learning of its members can the school organization continue to develop and self-transcend. This is the inexhaustible driving force for a school to maintain a high-quality brand and continue to move forward.

A good school brand image can enhance the educational energy of the school. A school with beautiful appearance, good school spirit, high quality and good reputation is itself a powerful educational force. Teachers and students are exposed to it. In the long-term edification and infection, their behaviors are standardized, their minds are cultivated, their quality is constantly improved, and positive reinforcement occurs between them. In short, in the current situation where educational resources are highly convergent and education supply and demand are beginning to reverse, brand building has become very necessary! There’s never been a better time to build your school’s brand. Competition among schools has changed from simple quantitative competition to qualitative competition.