<p>A different angle on the marketing materials discussion…</p>
<p>As I was thinning out our Boarding School information folder a while back, I was struck by how well done (and substantial) some of the brochures are.</p>
<p>My wife remarked that, in comparison, the few day school brochures we’ve seen are fairly weak and relatively lean. The subtext of her observation is that “how can day schools expect to compete and win in the face of this sort of marketing juggernaut?”</p>
<p>Would love to hear others’ experience with day school marketing materials. Any that stand out to you?</p>
<p>As of now, I’ve seen viewbooks from only day schools. That said, I can’t campare day versus boarding, but both my parents and I were very impressed with the quality of the viewbooks sent in by local schools. The paper was clearly very expensive, and heaps of thought were poured into the content of the view books.</p>
<p>I have to stress that I am new to private school applications, so what seems impressive to me may be mediocre to others.</p>
<p>Day schools are competing only in the market of families that can drive to the school.
In our area, for the top schools, that means about five times more applicants than they can accept. That is a pool of students that is plenty deep to choose from and no additional marketing is needed.</p>
<p>Boarding schools are competing nationally and internationally for students, who make a choice to commit to travel to their school. The marketing materials are the first contact for many families, which makes that investment more worthwhile.</p>
<p>@rolopolo: Request the Andover or Hotchkiss materials and let me know what you think.</p>
<p>@siliconvalleymom: Great point. I never thought about it that way. That said, the K-12 day schools do have a battle to retain their 8th graders for the high school years.</p>
<p>Boarding School tuition is also 30-50% higher than most day schools, so parents are going to expect a few more bells and whistles. Having said that, I think Choate has intentionally stayed off the “glitzy promotional materials” wagon. There’s is plain and simple, but gets the job done. Frankly, I am happy with a really good website and a basic book that explains the curriculum and course offerings well. I think more than a few of the BS websites could do with a makeover.</p>
<p>Day Schools are getting a lot of twofers and threefers. So, I don’t think they need to work as hard. I also think this is a factor in acceptances. When my oldest was applying, one of the day schools asked why our second child who was two years behind wasn’t applying and implied that the kids would have a better chance of getting in if both were applying the same year. I don’t think they need to work as hard. They fill their classes pretty quickly. They are advertising to families vs. individual candidates. And yes, I know BSs too have lots of sibling pairs, but they typically don’t apply and interview in the same year.</p>
<p>Parents can visit Day Schools in person. Brochures are an afterthought. In my area, private day schools have no problem filling the HS division. In this economy, they do have some trouble filling the lower grades.</p>
<p>It’s probably a very small percentage of people, one would hope, that use the viewbook as a major factor in the decision to choose a school. They are expensive. Perhaps more interesting to discuss are the school videos.</p>
<p>Perhaps you are in the collateral business in one form or another…
I think these days the website is much more important than a glossy brochure – day or boarding.<br>
After going through the college process last year, they are more savvy. Marketing glossies are not too thick. Many colleges will have more of a mailings campaign. As you will see, some boarding schools also have a mailing campaign although it not as common nor as frequent as a college campaign.</p>
<p>It may be that many day school rely less on advergising and more on word-of-mouth reputation - e.g. local families whose kids went to the school and loved it, etc.</p>
<p>I liked that I received a customized post card from St. Pauls showing action shots of my 3 sports, saying this could be you. I also prefer veiwbooks w/ pictures of the campus instead of close ups of some random students smiling.</p>