9.Price /.People and Promotion/.Positioning

It is simplistic to consider that price is only applicable to the physical goods market. Price is obviously a key factor in the private sector of education where parents are paying different fee levels at different schools. Some parents will make choices between private fee-paying schools and what they consider 'good' state schools. It is also noticeable that some parents 'mix and match' private and state schools at different stages of their child's education or 'top-up' state provision, for example through individual music tuition or examination coaching. The concept of 'price' can also be seen from the school's perspective because the introduction of formula-led funding linked directly to pupil numbers has meant that each pupil has a price. Schools, while not in a free market, are in a quasi-market and expand various parts of their activity after considering the cost and revenue implications.

A significant factor in education is that a large proportion of the educational product is delivered through the people in the school. Thus, a key determinant of the success of the educational marketing effort is the people in terms of their motivation and quality.

There are a number of techniques and approaches that can be employed to convey the intent of the school, the educational activities and the benefits of the product. These techniques and approaches include such things as communication via publications, the media and the people associated with the school.In industry and commerce a great deal of attention is given to market positioning. It can best be considered as the way that your clients perceive your organization in the marketplace. 'traditional', 'responsive', 'academic', 'caring', 'good extra-curricular provision', 'high quality special needs provision', 'good discipline', 'strong moral values', 'a religious ethos' are all descriptions which clients use when talking about schools. In a sense they are identifying a school as having a clear reputation for a specific group of attributes which define its position in the educational marketThere are a number of key factors in the marketing process that increase the chances of a successful outcome. There are a few key factors that were found useful in developing an effective and appropriate marketing strategy for a school:

1. Avoid confusing strategy with tactics. As was mentioned earlier, rushing into marketing effort without a clear set of objective or a well thought-out approach can lead to ineffective marketing and a significant waste of resources. There is a considerable difference between reacting to other schools' marketing efforts or other people's agendas and developing your own strategy and setting your own agenda. The latter focuses on the school being a strategically pro-active organization rather than a reactive organization.

2) Avoid lack of planning. Plan the planning time! Time for reflection and discussion should be build into the planning process so that simplistic solutions are avoided. The key elements in effective communication with the clients must be considered, tested and adjusted before the final strategy decisions or achieve solutions quickly mean that there is the danger that they will be the wrong decisions or wrong solutions if insufficient attention is given to discussing the full implications or the alternative solution.

3) Avoid lack of focus. The problem is usually 'too much and too much detail'! There are three things that a good marketing strategy needs and these are focus, focus and focus! The more objectives or activities that are undertaken, the more likely it is that the marketing effort will become diluted. Focusing on a limited number of issues and employing focused strategies is likely to lead to a greater success. Marketing should not be seen as a one-off event but a series of activities over time. As such these should be sequenced and paced and not undertaken all at once. Too much information can be confusing whereas a clear and simple message that is reinforced by a wide range of people and sources is likely to be very effective.

4) Manage the marketing culture as well as the marketing activities in the school. The central mission for schools is that they should provide the highest quality education possible. Nothing suggests that this mission does not or should not remain as a central focus. If the school provides high quality education, then marketing is the proud display of the quality. Marketing therefore should not be considered as one of those management functions that only concern a few people and has little to do with the work of the school. It sits side by side with the educational process and must be integrated into the school's work and culture. We need to promote need to be convinced that this is something in which they need to be actively involved: they need to become 'ambassadors' of the school. As with a number of innovations and changes in a school, the chance of success may depend not necessarily on the context or the nature of the change but on how it is managed. This illustrates the well-known management maxim that 'the way that you manage the change is as important as the change itself'.

5) Incorporate marketing into the school development planning process. Short-medium and long- term plants should involve a marketing strategy for managing the school's reputation and promoting its aims, goals and activities. Marketing should not be 'bolted-on' to other management activities. It should not be considered as an afterthought but as an integral part of an activity. The way that we communicate and promote the activities which the school undertakes should be consideration at the design stage and not the implementation stage.

6) Develop an outward-facing and not an inward-looking school. Schools need to relate to the communities which they serve and staff should look to taking the quality of what they do out to the market and promoting it. They must realize that it is their responsibility to change perceptions of the school in the wider world. All too often professional educators have not communicated effectively what they are doing or seen the necessity to do so. As a result politicians and other parties have filled the vacuum and dictated the educational agenda. To reverse this trend we need to lose some of the traditional reserve associated with the public sector and be far more proactive in communicating and linking with the wider community.

We should not be apologetic about marketing. We should take the initative and put across positive images of the school. This can be done in the ethical as well as an effective way. Communicating and promoting the school's aims and achievements also reinforces a positive image for those working inside the school.

7) Promote the concept and practice of the responsive school. Schools should be market-oriented and not product-orientated, user-orientated and not provider-orientated, client-driven and not organization-driven. This means that those involved in the development and operation of the school should take a strategic view of client wants and needs and should also be responsive to the needs and opinions of clients as expressed on a day to day basis.