With students out for the summer, private schools across the country have an opportunity to breathe and prepare for the coming fall semester. With that in mind, we asked ISM Consultants to offer their own summer reading list for you this year. We won’t quiz you, but you will improve if you apply the strategies and research found in these books.
Marketing to Millennials: Reach the Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever
by Jeff Fromm and Christie Garton
This selection focuses on the nature and habits of the single largest generational consumer bloc in history. Even as the corporate world decries what can seem for some to be a challenging set of character traits and habits, this generation offers great promise for the future—both in their discerning purchases and their value-based expectations of the marketplace.
Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing
by Douglas Van Praet
Just as education relies heavily on neuroscience in pursuit of greater learning outcomes for students, the world of consumer marketing is now focused on neuroscience in pursuit of what it takes to build loyal followers (and consumers). This is a highly relevant read in an era of rapid innovation and the developing new economy in which our schools—and Admission Offices—must operate.
Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy
by Kit Yarrow
This book speaks to the psychology of purchases, particularly in this post-Great Recession economic climate. Purchasing power seems just as robust as ever, but the modern consumer mind is now far more discerning, with more information, reviews, and rankings to consider than ever before. This dynamic adds an even greater burden on marketers to drive their attention inward to the experience clients have on a day-to-day basis with the companies to which they have pledged their loyalty—or the schools to which they have entrusted their children.
Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service
by The Disney Institute with Theodore Kinni
(And yes, we mean THAT Disney.) ISM Consultant Amy Riley picked up this book after a recommendation by the Admission e-List group during an August 2015 conference call about customer service cultures in private-independent schools. It’s a fantastic read that she hasn’t stopped raving about since, completely flipping your orientation toward your school’s VIPs.
Additional ISM resources:
The Source for Admission Directors Vol. 12 No. 10 Summer Reading for the Admission Office: Recommended Books and Webinars
The Source for Private School News Vol. 13 No. 6 2014 Summer Reading List for Private School Administrators
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 35 No. 14 Assessing Your School's Internal Marketing
I&P Vol. 39 No. 13 Capitalizing on Word-of-Mouth Marketing
