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In fight for students and dollars, school districts are looking to boost their brands [Naples Daily News, Fla.](Naples Daily News (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 27--NAPLES, Fla. -- Last year at a Lee County school board meeting, communications director Amity Chandler took the microphone and began to talk to board members about what she called the district's "brand." Brands are relationships, she said. She suggested the board start thinking of ways to deliver a "consumer experience." "I know that sometimes from a government perspective, that's difficult to wrap your head around, but I would encourage you to think Starbucks. When you walk into a Starbucks, whether you're in Florida or New Hampshire, you expect the identical experience because Starbucks has mastered the brand experience and the brand expectation," Chandler told board members. "So that is what we would want to see in a branding process should we move forward." It may sound odd, a public entity trying to sell itself like a business. But at a time when parents have more choice than ever about where to send their children to school, experts say it can make sense for a public school system to create a brand identity to distinguish itself from charter schools or private schools. "It comes down to quelling competition," said Shane Haggerty, the owner of Public Assembly, an Ohio-based public relations firm that specializes in education marketing. "School funding comes from student enrollment, so it's kind of a fight for those students." The Collier County school district also is in the middle of a rebranding. Superintendent Kamela Patton said the district's current logo uses an old mission statement and the name "The District School Board of Collier County," which she says is out of touch. "That's not how people refer to us," she said. "It looks like there's a disconnect." The Collier district surveyed the public earlier this month to choose one of three new possible logos, all of which refer to the district as "Collier County Public Schools," the way it is commonly referred to. The district will be updating its logo to roll out with its new app sometime in the next few months. Branding initiatives in Sarasota County may have helped the school district maintain its funding. Scott Ferguson, a communications specialist at Sarasota County Schools, won an award in excellence for branding last year from the National School Public Relations Association for a package of promotional materials touting his employer's status as an A district. Ferguson said he believes the district is doing a good job of promoting its brand, particularly to voters who may not even have children in public schools. "Since 2002, voters have passed referendums to tax themselves additionally so that our schools have more funds to use," he said. "Branding and marketing reinforce a perception or reputation that's already there. We're just reminding people that we're not just for the parents. A good school district helps the whole community." Patton said she wants Collier County Public Schools to be known as an incubator for future leaders and a frontrunner in technology. Over the past three years, district officials have met with local CEOs, marketing experts and professors to essentially solicit free marketing advice. "Our brand and our logo is what helps sell houses in Collier, so they buy a house here instead of in Lee or Miami," Patton said. "We are not just a bunch of little schools; we are part of a larger community." The plan has been to put the district's best foot forward for as little money as possible. Collier's new app, for example, was built by an existing vendor, so there wasn't an additional cost, Patton said. District employees will continue to use up their business cards and letterhead with the old logo until they need to be replaced, so as not to waste materials. In Lee County, the district has contracted with Priority Marketing, a Fort Myers public relations agency, for $72,000 a year. While some might balk at the cost, Chandler said the marketing firm helps with graphic design and projects in lieu of adding another employee to the district's three-person communications department. (Collier County, to compare, has eight people on its team.) "That support is necessary in a district this size," Chandler said. Chandler said she and Superintendent Nancy Graham have mutually decided there's no need to rebrand the district, but rather a need to build upon its existing image. "We're confident in our laurels," Chandler said. "Our goal is really to tell the best story every day and to make sure that people understand the amazing things happening in our classrooms every day." Haggerty, the Ohio expert, said anti-tax groups have made public schools "something of a political volleyball." Marketing a district by telling student success stories or sharing news about great teachers is one way to combat that image. "The stories that are told in the media are true, but they don't represent all education," he said. Although school districts across the country have made a push to market themselves better and build strong identities over the past decade, Haggerty said some school boards are hesitant to spend money for such efforts. "The main thing that holds people back is just knowing that it's taxpayer money and there's going to be a public record of the spending, but I think it's well worth it. The cost of doing nothing is letting lies and misinformation get through," he said. "Letting other people define you is definitely more harmful." ___ (c)2014 the Naples Daily News (Naples, Fla.) 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