Principals given a marketing lesson

When parents have choices, principals must not "soft-pedal" the merits of their schools, a marketing expert says.

By KELLY RYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 6, 2002

LARGO -- Before he shared ideas on effective school marketing, Ken Banks told more than 100 Pinellas County school principals Thursday that he's studied the district's complicated new school choice plan.

So, he said, he feels their pain.

"When I got done with that, I had no idea where my kids would go to school," said Banks, chief executive of KAB Marketing in Largo, to a chuckling audience. "I was glad they were grown."

Banks delivered a one-hour primer on selling a school in the new era of school choice. Banks, a close friend of district spokesman Ron Stone, gave the talk for free.

The district's marketing director, Andrea Zahn, gave many of the same pointers months ago when she ran her own session: put fliers in nearby preschools, send letters to parents of current students, post enticing notes on marquees.

"They weren't interested last September," Zahn said. "It was too far away."

But now choice is here. The district is mailing a "declaration of intent" form to families next week, asking them to begin making their school choices for fall 2003. Other deadlines are creeping up.

That means parents are starting to shop, and schools must distinguish themselves.

That's why Banks visited the district administration building. He brought a resume that included marketing for Circuit City stores and Eckerd Corp. He also brought a sense of humor -- something often missing when district leaders fret about choice.

The first step for principals, Banks said, is to define their schools' identities. And that means more than saying they're "family friendly," he said, referring to a term used on many school brochures.

Instead, Banks said, a school should simplify its message and name specific programs, achievements and goals. That message must be clear to the school's staff, from office workers to the principal, so it is clearly communicated.

"Don't be ashamed to be aggressive about the positives of your school," Banks said. "Don't soft-pedal it."

During the session, some principals doodled or yawned or whispered as Banks urged them to find business partners, use radio or TV ads and send mass e-mails to employees at nearby businesses. He suggested advertising on buses, inserting pamphlets in newspapers and sending direct mail.

In the end, principals said they got good ideas. But those ideas didn't come with funding -- and they might have come too late.

"The comment I heard was: "I wish we had heard this two years ago,' " Stone said.

Felita Lott, principal of Pinellas Central Elementary, said she had not thought about radio ads. Joan Minnis said she now has a list of churches, private businesses and city leaders in St. Petersburg she plans to turn to for help.

Minnis is the principal of Garrison-Jones Elementary in Palm Harbor, but was named Wednesday as the principal at the new Thurgood Marshall Middle School. Thurgood Marshall won't open until next fall, so Minnis has to recruit a school full of teachers and students. She knows she needs to move fast.

"The only thing is, everybody is going to be doing it," Minnis said. "You'll have to compete with someone else or you'll have to get to the businesses first."

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