Success Lies In Sustaining The Brand, Says Dr Madhuri Parti

India has seen a surge of ‘educational brands’ and franchise based schools as well as the group led educational institutions in the recent past which has converted education into a much more commercialized space.

The 2017 edition of BW Education's ‘Top Education Brands In India’ brought industry veterans and various education experts together to recognize and facilitate their ‘brands’

Panelists deliberated on why just building a brand is not enough, the industry now needs course correction simultaneously.

Moderator for the session, Dr Madhuri Parti, Director Academics, Lakshmipat Singhania Education Foundation, pointed out that “building a brand merely is not enough, but sustaining it is where the challenge truly lies.”

Dr Shayama Chona, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri Awardee and Former Principal, DPS RK Puram while talking about commercialization of education further elaborated by saying, “Education is not an expense but an investment.” The Awardee also said that it has become more of a competition amongst parents these days, namely on the basis of which ‘brand’ their child attends, instead of analyzing educational faculty and other such standards.

Addressing a supremely crucial issue of maintaining excellence to sustain the brand, Vinesh Menon, CEO, Education, Consulting and Skilling Services, Vibhgyor Group said, “With 29 schools and 42,000 students, we realized that concrete processes and targeted disciplinary practices are required to maintain a set standard.”

Talking about the issue of course correction, Menon addressed basic problems like that of rote learning, data analytics and how reporting figures and diagnosis of such is necessary.

Also, Menon clarified that it is tough to sustain a brand in the market without profits.  

Dr Chona as well as Dr Parti agreed and pointed out that privatization in this space should not be looked down upon, rather something that should be welcomed. “It is not a sinful word, nor a crime”, said Dr Shayama Chona, while talking about profits in the sphere of education.

Elaborating further into the discussion, Neha Rathor, VP, Sanfort Schools said, “In this industry, while the child is the user, the parent automatically becomes a customer.”

“To build a brand, it is necessary to understand the customers’ mindset”, Rathor further added.

Talking about how the market is constantly evolving, Jitendra Karsan, CEO, Safari Kid said, “Usage of social media is necessary to tackle the competition in the industry right now, though while it can act like  a boon, it can also be a bane.”