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Revealing our true colours

Dulwich Prep Cranbrook is a large prep school in Kent, for children aged 3-13 years. Current parents, staff and pupils described Dulwich as a warm, friendly, nurturing community where children of all abilities and talents flourished. External audiences however saw Dulwich as lacking in personality, and a school where only the most academic and sporty children thrived. 

The school was suffering from a classic case of perception not matching reality.  We needed to build the school’s reputation arounds its genuine strengths.

Research conducted by a third party identified a reputation issue. We delved deeper, to understand the Headmaster’s vision, the genuine strengths of the school, and how children benefited from a Dulwich education. We conducted in-depth interviews with staff, ran focus groups with parents and undertook a communications audit.

What became clear was the school’s strengths were being misinterpreted because the benefits weren’t explicit enough. There was no over-arching narrative that connected all the strengths into a compelling and distinctive proposition.

Competitor analysis identified obvious, non-negotiable differences between Dulwich and other local independent schools, that needed to be made virtues, rather than ignored for fear of exposing imagined weaknesses – such as the size of the school and the purpose-built, modern buildings.

Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Drone
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook

Building on the key insight – Dulwich’s immaculately presented modern buildings were counter-intuitive to the Harry-Potter-Hogwarts-loving generation; and the Headmaster’s ambition for every child to believe in themselves – we built a compelling narrative around ‘from the inside out’.

Crystal clear on what makes Dulwich special, and how the school’s strengths benefit children, we defined the school’s purpose. With staff, in workshops, we sharpened Dulwich’s proposition and agreed key messages.

Brand Positioning Workshop
Dulwich Brand Idea
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Brand Purpose
Dulwich Brand Positioning Workshop

Spending time getting to know parents and staff meant we were able to encourage them to imagine how the school could be even better. 

With their wish list and ambitions for the school in mind, we identified six new values that would help the school evolve in line with the school’s newly defined purpose.

We created a tool for the senior management team that helped them embed the values. It required evidence of each value in action and made sure the benefit to the children was explicit.

Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Prospectus
Dulwich Prep Brand Values
Dulwich values
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Brand Values
Direction. We brought in creative agency, Rubric Creative, to bring the brand proposition to life.

Dulwich threw off its grey façade, revealing the vibrant community inside.

Personalities were brought to the afore, and the monogram, like a torch, shines a light on each child, revealing their individual and extraordinary potential.

We worked with the web agency to ensure key messages were front and centre, and evidence of the warm, vibrant community was plentiful.

We brought in a copywriter to help establish the tone of voice. 

And worked closely with Rubric, ensuring all applications of the identity were spot on and in line with the brand strategy.

We supported the marketing manager on the internal launch and comprehensive roll-out of the identity: Q&A sessions with governors, parents and staff; writing briefs; evaluating executions; developing a brand vocabulary and writing large chunks of the website.

The proof points collected by the senior management team using our messaging matrix tool were integrated into all communications, clearly demonstrating the benefits of Dulwich’s philosophy and approach.

Dulwich Website
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Boarding
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Messaging
Dulwich Prep Branded Applications
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Advertising
Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Social Media
Good Schools Guide Dulwich Prep Cranbrook

Impact

The whole school community is clearer and more confident about what makes Dulwich special and why.

The school’s purpose and values have stimulated a more innovative culture.

An exciting range of new initiatives have been introduced from coding club, girls’ cricket to new apps for parents and inspiring visiting speakers.

The warmth and dynamism of Dulwich life is now captured brilliantly and shared through the new website, social media and internal communications – everyone is invited behind the scenes daily to witness the magic within through the streaming of live performances, videos of edited highlights or tweets of class-happenings.

Dulwich’s academic and sporting achievements continue to impress but increasingly people recognise the school’s prowess in other areas. 

Dulwich Prep Cranbrook Reputation Brand Impact
Dulwich Prep Parent Endorsement

One year after the launch, we ran focus groups with parents who were new to the school. All were clear on Dulwich’s strengths. All felt the school’s communications captured the warm, vibrant, and nurturing community, and were a true reflection of their experience so far.

The Headmaster’s focus on building children’s inner confidence has been recognised by Independent Schools of the Year 2020 awards in the Student Wellbeing Category. The judges were looking for schools where ‘the promotion of student well-being sits at the heart of its ethos and informs and underpins the life of the whole-school community.’

The school’s approach to Covid 19 is incredibly impressive. From the speed of the reaction to the crisis, the quality of the education they have provided online, the warmth and strength of community enhanced through use of social media, to the confident covid-19 secure re-opening of the school in the summer term. The values are there for all to see.

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Say hello

nick@robinbrandconsultants.com

Nick +44(0)7752446284

nikki@robinbrandconsultants.com

Nikki +44(0)7980 213342