‘More valuable than advertising’
As a media expert, Eleanor Bradford brings a fresh perspective to independent schools’ marketing departments. For starters, she says it’s PR, not advertising, that really matters. She clarifies the difference: “Advertising is what you say about yourself. PR is what other people say about you. And the positive things that other people say about you are so much more valuable than advertising.”
Whereas prospective parents are the target audience of a marketing and advertising campaign, PR goes further, engaging with a much wider audience. Alongside parents, Eleanor believes, PR for schools should be reaching out to local decision-makers and politicians, and to the wider community. PR is about making positive relationships with the media, speaking up about national debates, telling stories about individual students, and making decisions about which stories are newsworthy and which aren’t. PR is your reputation.
How PR changed public perception of Gordonstoun School
When Eleanor began her role as head of marketing and PR at Gordonstoun School, she had to contend with its public reputation as the “Colditz in Kilts” of the bleak Scottish Highlands. Eleanor soon invited the media in: “I offered them opportunities to speak to students on certain topics, carefully preparing the students and making sure it wasn’t going to be a negative experience for them.
You don’t want to be making relationships with journalists when the crisis happens.
“When the media came in, they saw the real school. It didn’t take any managing from myself to make the school seem friendly and welcoming – because it just was. When Prince Philip died, we had film crews in, satellite trucks, the works. The Scotland representative for ITN was editing his piece in the truck then broadcasting on TV –聽 the kids cheered him on from the boarding houses; and he played football with them once he was done! Then, when Queen Elizabeth died, we already had the relationships with the media, we were ready to work with them.”
With these media relationships in place, Eleanor had banked a critical aspect of PR for Gordonstoun School: “Inevitably, schools will hit crisis moments. You don’t want to be making relationships with journalists when the crisis happens. You need to have those relationship in place beforehand, helping them to fill their pages with good stories about education. Then, when the crisis comes along, they won’t give you an easy time, but they will listen to you, and they will be fair.”
In the current political climate, PR is more important than ever
There’s negative press about independent schools from the Labour Party. The pledge to add VAT to school fees has engendered a debate about what is fair, about how to address the widening gap of opportunities for children and about what classifies as a “school fee” and what doesn’t. Within the sector, some feel our relations with the public are under attack.
However, Eleanor tells this story with a different focus to her narrative: “Consider this: many of the very politicians and civil servants who are involved in the decision-making about VAT on school fees sent their children to independent schools. Statistically, MPs are more likely to have attended independent schools themselves. It’s unique to have customers who are campaigning against their own sector.”
Make sure local people are aware of the nuances in the story.
It shouldn’t be difficult to convince school leadership about the importance of PR right now. It’s critical that independent schools tell their own story and are valued for who they are and what they do, in national and local arenas.
There’s a call to action from Eleanor here, for all schools: “You don’t have to change people’s minds, but you do have to present your side of the debate. Make sure local people are aware of the nuances in the story. Remind them of the benefits, at a granular level, which impact them more than they might think. The community needs to feel that, even if their child doesn’t attend, an independent school is an important local business and an important local employer which drives investment into the local economy.鈥 Eleanor adds, 鈥淭he story isn’t just about privilege for the rich鈥.
Top tips for creating great PR content
Traditionally, school communications celebrate the successes of the students. That’s lovely for parents to hear. But do these posts engage the local community? Eleanor maintains that “there is a wider job to be done”. Her creative eye helps schools to identify more dynamic stories, and her media expertise gets content to the most effective platforms and audiences.
Top tips for generating great content:
- Consider outsourcing professional support from PR and social media agencies: Be clear with them about the results you’re looking for: “It’s not just about driving enquiries from parents. It’s more about your reputation”.
- Join the big debates: These stories are often being covered by national media, who want access to the young people at the heart of the matter under discussion. Recent big debates include smart phones in schools; what is taught about gender and what kind of period-friendly sports kit girls should wear.
- Tell individual stories: “A student who has never done photography before joining the school but who goes on to win a national photography competition is newsworthy. And it will have a great photo attached!”.
- Use video: Forget “the marketing script about dull branding messages – this stuff isn’t even good to watch as a parent, let alone as a student! A great video at Gordonstoun was of a young lad who was there on a scholarship because he was a brilliant stunt cyclist; in our video, he rode his bike through the school, into the canteen, across the DT workshop during a welding session, down the front steps, and concluded his ride with a jump over the principal! All of a sudden we had all these applications coming in!”
- Know who your students are, and what they’re doing: Keep your ear to the ground for content stories. Listen up in the staff room: “The teachers are often the ones who know the students best.”
How to make the most of social media
Social media platforms are critical outlets for posts, articles, videos and communications. It’s vital to use them well. But which platforms should schools prioritise, and how can they measure their impact? Again, Eleanor shares her media expertise with some savvy, practical advice:
- Stick to what you know: “It’s better to do one platform well than four platforms badly鈥.
- Recognise the media habits of your target audience: “Facebook is probably for grandparents and alumni. Parents are probably on Instagram and LinkedIn. Prospective students are looking at the social media profiles of people who are already at the school. Consider investing in some of your students becoming bloggers and advocates for your school鈥.
- Measure the impact of your social media output: “Use one of the various media-measuring platforms – Meltwater, for example, or Cision. Anyone can sign up to one of these, but they’re not cheap to buy in, and then you need to interpret what it’s telling you. A PR agency will be signed up to work with one of these tools, and will use it to report back to you.”
Safeguarding
Working with students and the media requires some safeguarding precautions. Eleanor advises: “Make sure that the children who are going to be put forward to the media have the kind of personalities where it’s not going to be too daunting. We need to prepare the children carefully. I say to the children – keep it positive, but keep it true. Ask news organisations to turn off the comment function in a social media platform. They have a duty of care, so it’s not unreasonable to ask them what they will do to safeguard a young person. Be careful with the use of surnames.”
A school environment has such huge potential.
So far, so good – a reminder of best practice is always relevant. But it wouldn’t be Eleanor if she didn’t present the story from an additional, insightful angle: “These young people are going forward into a world of social media. We want them to be the society-changers which we say an independent education encourages. A key part of that ambition is having media skills. By getting involved in the school’s PR, students can learn how to interact with journalists, how to manage feedback on social media. They can dip their toes in the media experience, with the care and support of the school around them.”
As the conversation rounds off and Eleanor returns to the in-tray in her office at Spey and says: “We love working with schools. There’s nothing like a school environment for being dynamic, for having such huge potential. At the moment we’re working with a school where they are collaborating with a university to identify rare strains of daffodil DNA! When we’re in meetings at the school we’re laughing with them and saying, what’s next?!”
黑料福利网 Eleanor Bradford
Eleanor Bradford is , working with a number of independent schools. She was previously head of marketing and PR at Gordonstoun School.
Eleanor read politics and international studies at the University of Warwick, followed by postgraduate studies in journalism at Cardiff University. She worked as health correspondent for BBC News for 15 years, pioneering use of social media and regularly broadcasting to audiences in excess of several million.
Eleanor changed tack after starting a family, moving into PR in education as head of communications at the University of Aberdeen. She joined Gordonstoun School in November 2019 and guided the school through two momentous occasions – the death of alumni Prince Philip and the accession to the throne of alumni King Charles.
At Spey, an independent PR and marketing agency, she specialises in high-impact communication campaigns, crisis communications and story-telling.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2024 edition of Independent 黑料福利网, out now.
