Absorbing VAT- a marketing case study
Insights, Successes, and Lessons for Strategic Communication
Why VAT was critical
Labour indicate that VAT on IE will be a key policy if elected
Gigg made their commitment to absorb VAT
2023
March 2024
The election is announced
May 2024
July 2024
Labour have a land-slide election victory
The IE sector starts lobbying the government to not implement their policy
2024
November 2024
Rachel Reeves delivers the budget statement confirming VAT on IS
January
2025
2025
12 independent schools have announced their plans to close due to the VAT policy on school fees
VAT on school fees is officially introduced
However, thanks to their clarity, courage, planning and foresight, we are able to continue supporting him with his Giggleswick career. With the support and encouragement of the academic and pastoral staff, we look forward to seeing just what he can do with the astonishing array of opportunities on offer to him.
What it meant to Gigg
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The Press Release
It was important to recognise that this was a decision unique to our school and our overall strategy.
Focused on the benefits for our families
Provided transparency about how we have been able to achieve this without inpacting the quality of provision.
Marketing’s Role
This was a financial decision that required a strategic marketing approach to ensure clear and effective public communication. Additionally, it was essential to remove any political context and position the decision purely within the framework of the school's commitment to its community.
Strong message
Consistency
Addressing concerns
Deliver training to the school community so that we are all using the same language
Directly address concerns from our future families
Provide real-lofe examples about hwo this has not impacted the qualtiy of our provision
Creating a strong, clear message
Avoiding complex financial jargon
Emphasising stability, trust and value
Managing expectations
Leadership buy-in
Positioning VAT as one element to our marketing strategy and that this should be viewed as the cherry not core elements of our messaging.
Staff Training
Everyone in the school should understand our position and any team that could be a touch point in new families journey understood the rationale behind the decision.
Parent and Agent engagement
Word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s arsenal, so we focused on ensuring families clearly understood the decision and its impact on their child’s education. With our agent partners, we kept the messaging simple and direct, as many view the UK market as a whole and may not realize how unique our position is. We continue to reinforce this message to differentiate ourselves.
Early Wins
Data-Driven Results
Registrations are up
Acceptances are up
Event sign ups are up
Event attendance up by
Lessons learned
If I could re-do what would I focus on?
Highlighting to staff that this is not going to instantly impact admissions. We need to think about the longer term benefits.
Prior to launch we did not discuss what misconceptions could be shared and how we would approach them as a school.
We used parent voice further on the in the campaign, but this should have been used at the first point of launch. Ideally next year we will have pupil case studies.
Ensuring that this was seen as the cherry rather than the main offering at Gigg school.
Longevity
Misconceptions
Voice
Feedback
Challenges we faced
Skepticism
Competitor responses
Keeping the message alive
Key Takeaways
Alignment is key with all stakeholders
Ensure message clarity and consistency
Monitor and adapt based on feedback