Behind every successful school, there are groups of people who work behind the scenes, tirelessly day in and day out. Specifically, in this case, a marketing genius, Mrs Agar. A woman who uses her skills and abilities to improve our school both in the background and the foreground. I had the pleasure of interviewing her to broaden my understanding of her as an individual and what exactly her job entails.
Many people may not be privy to what exactly marketing entails or what exactly her role is to the school. Mrs Agar says: “Marketing at a school involves presenting the best image to the outside world about that school, as well as improving internal and external communications, and presenting the schools brand in the best possible manner that is consistent”.
Her days are normally quite varied as she can work on anything from social media posting about events, student achievements and announcements, to posting information on the D6 communicator, to organising sponsorships for the school and teams, and handling advertising.
“In addition, I also help write content for various teachers for events or functions they might be having, such as designing posters, and I manage the brand content for the school such as logos et cetera. I have also been involved in the design and procurement of the new sports uniform for the school, which is to help to put our best brand forward to the outside world”. She also helps with school events such as assisting with the promotion of Mr and Miss Fourways and will also be helping with the online voting system as she manages the school website. Mrs Agar also updates the site on a regular basis.
When asked how long she has been working for the school, she started off by saying that both her children used to come to Fourways High so she provided some of her graphic design services free of charge. And then she adds, “Last year, when the previous Marketing person left, Mr Holliday asked me to pitch for the job, so I’ve been working formally at the school since April 2023”.
Living in such an ever-changing and fast developing society, it can be quite difficult to keep up with what’s “trending”. I was curious about how she manages to stay informed about the trends and developments in marketing and social media.
To which she responds, “I’ve been working in design for almost 30 years and design principles remain the same. It’s just the trends that change. I keep on top of it by consuming a fair amount of social media to see what other people are doing and I follow a number of leading design blogs to see what is currently on trend. I also use forums such as Reddit where there can be a wealth of useful information, and in addition YouTube is a hugely helpful resource as long as you’re following the right content developers”.
When asked what she thinks sets Fourways High School apart from others and how she showcases that uniqueness to prospective students and families, Mrs Agar replies, “I think Fourways High holds very high standards both for itself and for students and I think it’s really important in today’s world that young learners understand that those who succeed are going to be those that work hard and ask a lot of themselves and those around them. The school has got beautiful facilities and visitors are often surprised that a government school can sustain so many amazing extracurricular options for the students. In addition, Fourways High staff are dedicated to helping their students succeed and I’ve seen firsthand the amount of time and effort they put into making that happen. I believe that Fourways High offers an environment that is dedicated to growth, learning and creativity that is hard to beat”.
Marketing is a fast growing industry as technology continues to thrive and evolve each day. Mrs Agar shares some advice for people looking to get into marketing saying that they should “not specialise too early”.
Instead, they should “try and get as much experience from as many different fields within Marketing as possible, such as learning how to copywrite, or getting involved in design, event management, branding, etc”.
She explains that the reason for this is that many marketing departments prefer to have somebody who can be a “jack of all trades”, meaning that you can slot into doing whatever that department requires.
“A person wanting to do this job should also understand that being able to meet deadlines is absolutely critical, and you sometimes have to work beyond normal work hours. If you’re wanting to work 8 to 5 this is not the job for you! In addition, you must learn to be flexible because your day might not go as you had planned because things come up that need to be dealt with immediately and the things you had planned, must go on the back burner. A person who gets very stressed about interruptions would not do well in this job, but somebody who is eager to learn and prepared to be flexible will find the job very rewarding.”
She adds that as with most jobs you must start at the bottom and work your way up. But by doing your very best right from the beginning, you’ll pick up a wealth of experience that will help you to climb the corporate ladder or start your own business later.