Enrollment Insights Podcast #36 – Romayne Levee and Big Ideas: Brand Best Practices for Schools

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In this episode:

In the Enrollment Insights Podcast, you’ll hear about novel solutions to problems, ways to make processes better for students and families, and the questions that spark internal reflection and end up changing entire processes.

In this episode, you will hear from Romayne Levee, Director of Education Strategy at Mission Minded. At Mission Minded, Romayne gets to work every day helping independent schools and educational organizations to raise their profiles while also benefiting the communities they serve. 

She has developed dynamic strategic plans and brand strategies for Mission Minded clients from coast to coast, including San Francisco Day School, Friends School of Baltimore, Flint Hill School, and Marlborough School. Romayne’s volunteer service greatly informs her work. She is the founding Board Chair of Vistamar School, an independent high school in Los Angeles, and currently serves on the Board of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. 

Before her pursuit of serving educational institutions, Romayne served as a partner at several blue-chip advertising agencies in Los Angeles. 

2:50 – Using Google for brainstorming
5:15 – Brand defined
6:16 – What brand isn’t
8:54 – “No good cause should suffer from poor communication.”
9:30 – Who is your brand for?
10:07 – Asking your community about your school’s reputation
11:30 – Finding opportunities when the perception of your school’s brand isn’t what you expect
12:20 – The importance of being ready for what you’re going to learn about your institution
14:10 – Encouraging a brand-centric culture at your school
14:44 – “Every single person in the organization is responsible for the way you show up as an organization.”
16:38 – Your brand is the sum of the good, the bad, and the ugly
17:41 – Understanding the outcome and the impact of brand
19:35 – The role of brand in admissions
19:56 – “[Some prospective families] step foot on your campus for the first time already having a strong sense of your brand before you’ve been able to say one word to them.”
20:45 – Every touchpoint with families needs to reinforce your brand reputation
22:28 – When you talk about what your school does, make sure it ladders up to the big idea about what distinguishes your school
23:00 – Are you sending the right signals about your school’s brand?
23:17 – A common misstep in schools: sending signals around inclusivity
25:25 – Bringing an inclusivity lens to institutional messages
29:14 – Continuing the conversation

Resources from the episode:

Connect with Romayne on LinkedIn
Mission Minded
EMA 2021 Annual Conference

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