For branding, differentiation, and positioning of educational institutions for the staff and teaching staff of the Telkom Bandung Tourism Vocational School, Telkom University lecturers in collaboration with the Telkom Bandung Tourism Vocational School organized a PPDB (New Student Admission) mentoring activity on Thursday (20/01).
The activity held onsite at the Pariwisata Vocational High School Hall, Telkom Bandung, was a series of Community Service activities for Telkom University lecturers who collaborated with three faculties (Faculty of Communication and Business, Faculty of Applied Sciences, and Faculty of Economics and Business).
In this third week, the mentoring activity carried the theme’ Branding Development, Differentiation and Positioning of Educational Institutions’ by presenting three speakers from lecturers of the Digital Public Relations study program, Faculty of Communication and Business, namely Martha Tri Lestari S.Sos., MM., Lusy Mukhlisiana, S.Sos., Kom. and Dr. Sri Dewi Setiawati, M.Sc.
From the central theme, the three presenters divided it into three materials consisting of Reinventing Strategy, Positioning and Differentiation at SMK Wisata Telkom Bandung; Branding vs. Educational Institutions; and Successful Competing with Branding.
Martha Tri Lestari revealed the importance of positioning for an agency or institution in her presentation.
“Positioning an educational institution in the public’s minds is very important; therefore, continuous improvement is needed. One of them is utilizing social media monitoring measurement,” said Martha.
Lusy Mukhlisiana also stated that the essence of branding educational institutions is to be remembered, trusted, and chosen. Educational institutions need a branding strategy to communicate the school’s distinctive program that distinguishes it from similar schools to win hearts and be at the top-of-mind of the community.
Not only differentiation and positioning, Dewi as the speaker, also revealed that perception is one of the essential keys needed for an institution to build its institutional branding.
“The key to building branding is perception. Building a perception requires an understanding of the character of products and institutions, so communicate these characteristics, so that the public can understand the characteristics of our brand,” said Dewi.
The staff and teaching staff of the Telkom Bandung Tourism Vocational School who were present on site seemed very enthusiastic about the material provided by the three speakers. It can be seen from the many participants who actively ask questions, discuss, and provide constructive criticism and suggestions so that a policy formulation is obtained, which will undoubtedly be beneficial for the program’s sustainability.