Case study: Brookes Education Group Global Marketing Strategy Implementation 21-23
Overview:
Brookes Education Group, an international network of bespoke schools, lead by Dux Studio, launched a comprehensive global marketing strategy aimed at enhancing brand development, increasing engagement across digital and social platforms, and fostering stronger relationships with key stakeholders. The marketing strategy focused on supporting local school initiatives while aligning with overarching global goals, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.
This case study illustrates how Brookes Education Group implemented its global marketing strategy and the resulting impact on brand awareness, student recruitment, and community engagement.
Strategic Goals: The 2021-2023 Global Marketing Strategy for Brookes Education Group
Brand Alignment & Further Development:
Unifying the messaging and brand representation across all schools, shifting the narrative from an IB World School Network to a bespoke offering that emphasizes curriculum variety, lifestyle, and global university preparation.
Working with local marketing teams to identify unique selling propositions (USPs) for each school while maintaining alignment with the global mission.
Increase Digital & Social Engagement:
Enhancing the group's digital presence by driving website traffic, boosting social media engagement, and converting inquiries into enrollments.
Focusing on WeChat for the Asia-Pacific market to connect directly with prospective parents and agents.
Enhance Communication Processes:
Implementing streamlined communication between global and local teams to ensure consistent messaging and approval processes.
Establishing monthly global marketing meetings to ensure alignment across all schools.
Corporate & Global Identity Innovation:
Positioning Brookes as a thought leader through corporate messaging, PR articles, and partnerships.
Launching a global brand campaign highlighting Brookes' values of Creativity, Connectivity, and Character.
New School Development & Expansion:
Supporting the opening of new Brookes schools with tailored marketing and communication strategies.
Implementation:
1. Brand Alignment & Development:
Dux Studio worked closely with local marketing teams across its schools to develop unique, localized campaigns while ensuring that messaging aligned with the overarching Brookes brand.
This effort included:
Refining the global brand identity and incorporating curriculum diversity (IB, AP, GCSE) and lifestyle focus.
Refreshing brand guidelines and ensuring each school implemented accordingly.
Coordinating marketing roll-outs for new school developments, ensuring brand consistency in new regions.
Outcome: Brookes successfully redefined its global brand identity, with schools across all regions reflecting a unified message. The bespoke, individualized school model resonated well with local markets, helping Brookes differentiate itself from competitors.
2. Digital & Social Engagement:
Brookes invested in its digital and social media presence to drive inquiries and engagement, particularly in the Asia-Pacific market.
Key initiatives included:
A WeChat-based strategy in China, sharing weekly updates about Brookes' curriculum, school life, and enrollment opportunities.
SEO optimization across Brookes' global websites to increase traffic by 25%.
The launch of a January global campaign for Brookes Westshore focused on Creativity, Connectivity, and Character, which targeted prospective students and parents through social media, paid advertising,and the recruitment branch.
Outcome:
Website traffic across all Brookes schools increased, surpassing the original target of 25%.
Inquiries from the Asia-Pacific region saw a 40% increase, with WeChat engagement playing a role.
The global campaign led to 21,000 clicks through to the school website and reached 2,359,952 people globally in the first two weeks. Within the first two weeks, the campaign increased inquiries by 20%.
3. Enhanced Communication Processes:
Brookes developed a clear and consistent communication framework to manage global-to-local messaging. The marketing teams established regular monthly meetings to discuss campaigns, share updates, and provide strategic guidance to local teams.
Created a Global Communications Approval Process that ensured messaging consistency while allowing schools flexibility in localizing their marketing efforts.
Implemented a brand policy that ensured all schools adhered to the global Brookes identity, while still allowing room for local personality and market adaptation.
Outcome:
The streamlined communication process reduced approval delays, leading to faster execution of marketing initiatives.
Brookes schools improved collaboration between marketing and recruitment as well as brand consistency across the network, leading to more cohesive marketing globally that benefited local target audience and international target audiences.
4. Corporate & Global Identity Innovation:
Brookes worked with a PR partner, Telum Communications, to develop thought leadership articles that highlighted the group’s values and educational philosophy.
A global marketing strategic focus was launched across social media focusing on Brookes’ three core values: Creativity, Connectivity, and Character.
2 PR articles were published across Asia-Pacific by Q2, highlighting Brookes’ innovative approach to international education.
The Scholarship campaign emphasized Brookes Westshore offerings, featuring stories from students and alumni that showcased the group's value in developing well-rounded, globally minded individuals.
Outcome:
Brookes' media presence in Asia-Pacific increased by 20%, leading to a measurable increase in brand recognition.
The Scholarship campaign drove a 25% increase in social media engagement and boosted traffic to the website and WeChat account.
5. New School Development & Expansion:
Brookes’ marketing team played a key role in the successful launch of new schools in Asia and other regions.
This included:
Conducting market assessments and segmentation to identify opportunities for growth.
Developing tailored marketing strategies for each new school, ensuring alignment with Brookes' global identity while addressing local market needs.
Outcome:
The new school roll-out in China was well-received, with the marketing campaigns successfully driving engagement and interest in the China location.
Key Metrics & Results:
Digital Engagement: Website traffic increased by 25%. Linkedin, a key focus for digital marketing and engagement, increased within 1 year by 92.3%. Instagram increased following by 15% within 1 year.
WeChat Campaign Success: The targeted WeChat campaign for the Asia-Pacific region resulted in an increase in engagement from China, driving interest in international and local admissions.
PR & Media Coverage: Two thought leadership articles were successfully published across Asia-Pacific, enhancing brand visibility and thought leadership positioning.
Communication Efficiency: The introduction of a global communications process improved execution time for campaigns, synergy across school planning, and connection between schools.