THE POWER OF BRANDING TOGETHER

KIT THE POWER OF BRANDING TOGETHER Kari Papadopoulos Director of Marketing & Communications

Revealing Their Gifts This inclusive process revealed that Roeper offers what families of gifted children seek, but prospective parents do not always realize one or more key points:

Why Roeper?

“When our son was in kindergarten in public school, we saw quickly that it wasn’t the right fit for him. He thought he was different from his peers, and couldn’t connect or relate to his classmates. When he visited Roeper, he felt an immediate connection and found a community of like-minded peers and staff that made him feel at home instantly.”

— a parent

As a multifaceted school, Roeper represents a complex messaging challenge. In the near 30 years since Admissions and Marketing teamed up to create our last viewbook, a marketing tool used to recruit new families, a lot has changed: phones are no longer primarily for calling, CDs came and went, Google has all the answers, and Amazon has changed the way we shop. As technology evolves, how we communicate and the channels we use transform.

Understanding our key messaging, such as the value Roeper delivers every day to families, guides us in attracting new families and, consequently, in maintaining a dynamic community. So, when assessing and crafting our new messaging that speaks to today’s prospective parents, who better to consult than (a) faculty, about what we deliver to gifted students, and (b) current parents, about why they choose to be a part of the Roeper community?

Aristotle famously stated that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is no greater truth than when applying this notion to the organization of a learning institution. The Roeper Community understands Roeper the best. When we include everyone, trust one another, and strategically work together toward common goals, we grow and thrive as an institution. Our goal in the development of these marketing materials was to capture the authentic voices within our community.

With the guidance of an educational marketing firm, we conducted research of our competitive landscape, both local private and public schools, distributed questionnaires, and held on-campus interviews and discussion groups with faculty and current parents to develop key admissions messages that would attract and engage new families.

These messages then materialized into three marketing pieces: a Viewbook, a Fact Book, and a Community Referral Guide.

• what “gifted” means and that it could describe their child; • Roeper’s flexibility opens incredible challenge and achievement; • Roeper and “gifted education” are egalitarian and necessary, rather than elite.

Through intentionally crafted copy and photography capturing the student experience, the following creative rationale developed:

• Roeper must own the term “gifted” and shape positive perceptions of the term and what it could encompass. • The story of being gifted is really a story of seeing and revealing a person’s gifts. Recognition and care are essential.

From this rationale, the reality of how Roeper takes great care to reveal gifts that previously may have been hidden inspired the overall concept for the admissions viewbook.

Why Roeper?

from a teacher … Roeper finds teachers whom they truly believe in and then allows them the freedom to teach their specialties, from their passions and strengths. This trust, one that is born of mutual respect, has allowed me the freedom to create a number of new classes.

Spread the Word Despite carefully placed printed advertisements and varied use of social media channels, word-ofmouth continues to reign as the most effective communication medium for Roeper. For this reason, we invite you to peruse our new materials at Roeper.org/Admissions and hope you will share your experiences with your family, friends and acquaintances. F