School branding has become a must do in public education. If a school is not powerfully branded it risks confusion as to what it stands for, the support of the community, operational funding and the loss of students. Schools need a powerful brand if they are going to be clear about their competitive advantage and compete for the ever-shrinking tax dollars that come with each student.
One branding approach that is proving to be effective is the branding effort going on in Piqua, Ohio. Here is a place where the red and blue Piqua Indian is everywhere. Furnished with new schools thanks to a successful voter approved bond effort, the school district leadership was able to design and furnish schools that fit their brand. This was not always easy, when the architect wanted to go with pastel types of colors the district had to keep saying no. "We had to constantly remind them," says Piqua Superintendent Rick Hanes. Most other school districts have different mascots for each school, not Piqua. Here, everyone is an Indian. "They were not understanding that our brand was the red and blue of the Piqua Indian."
Superintendent Hanes is following a very powerful model -- The Ohio State University. Seeing how one of the most (many would argue the most) powerful brands in the state of Ohio is able to project it's colors (scarlet and grey) and its distinctive "O" into a source of deep pride that makes people want to support it with their children, time, talent and money. This same concept of instilling Piqua Pride starts at very young age...as early as pre-school. The fight songs are learned and all of the new buildings are decked out only in Red and Blue. "You have to understand, we are competing for students just like universities are. Instilling Piqua Pride is an important part of the community structure we have built here. Children have more options than ever before," said Hanes. "If we are going to compete with parochial, private, online, charters and other public schools...we better have a strong brand to be attractive."