Breaking The Brand Free of Silos [Podcast]

Dr. Andrew T. Weller

Dr. Andrew T. Weller is the Dean of Enrollment and Strategic Marketing at St. Stephens & St. Agnes School in Alexandria Virginia. Previously he was the Director of Admissions for Avenues: The World School, the Executive Director of Advancement at Ridley College (Canada) and the Director of Admissions at Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia. Andrew was a board member of the East Bay School for Boys, served on the inaugural Admissions Leadership Council, served four years on the planning committee of the TABS/NAIS Global Symposium, and now serves as an advisor to the Admission Directors Institute of the Enrollment Management Association. Andrew has B.S. from Alfred University (NY), M.S. from Marymount University (VA), and an doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jonathan Downs

Jonathan Downs is the seventh headmaster of Millbrook School, a role for which he began preparing while he was a student at Millbrook. After graduating in 1998, Jon went on to earn undergraduate and advanced degrees from Middlebury College, the Bread Loaf School at Middlebury, and Harvard University. For the past 20 years, he has been immersed in teaching and leadership roles in independent schools including Northfield Mount Hermon, Newark Academy, and Providence Day School. Jon returned to Millbrook in 2010 as director of admission before adding development and communications responsibilities in his new role as assistant head of school in 2017. He served on the board of trustees of two local schools—Dutchess Day School and Millbrook Early Childhood Education Center—and he currently serves on the board of Whitby School in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Andrew Quoted

 “We have not seen the MarCom office as equal to other administrators in the school.”

 “Moving the MarCom office to the upper school campus has been a game-changer.”

“The Director of MarCom not only reports to the Head of School, but is also on the senior admin team.”

“As the director of MarCom’s role has evolved, it also needs to evolve with the type of person you put into that role… As MarCom becomes more sophisticated, we need to hire people who have those skill sets.”

 Downs Quoted

“MarCom is down in the basement doing service work. The physical proximity of offices often matters in school.”

“Independent school educators often see branding and marketing/communications as ‘icky’ and ‘inauthentic.’”

“[About COVID] You need to communicate about communication itself. It’s so utter meta. Without that infrastructure in place, it makes a bead of sweat go down my back thinking about a school that just doesn’t have a [MarCom} department.”

“We’re not thinking out far enough to put the people [employees] in the seats that need to be there and we’re just playing catch up.”

 “At the heart of it, when you step into a school, you need to care about kids no matter what you’re doing.”

 “Brand is the delivery of the mission.”

 “This is a people business. Billboards won’t do it. Facebook advertisements won’t do it. It’s not about data-driven analytics. That’s not how a parent chooses a school. They’re going to choose it because the other parent had a good experience …and they respect the heck out of them.”

What You’ll Learn

• The effects of silos in private school marketing.

• What school is the only independent school with an accreditated A.Z.A. zoo.

• How many delivery trucks come to Millbrook each day. And how that’s relevant to this topic.

• When and how MarCom can and should outsource.

• Why many directors of MarCom feel overwhelmed and can’t be strategic.

• Why MarCom professionals from other industries are coming into independent school MarCom.

• How these professionals acclimate to a school environment.

• Mission vs. brand.

• Why do parents choose our school vs. another? Why do donors? Why do teachers?

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