ISC Research: Case Study of Pearson
Pearson expands international schools market with support of ISC Research
Lisa Evans is the Senior Marketing Communications Manager at Pearson. She explains the significance of the international schools market to the company and how Pearson is responding to this:
The international schools market is a very important market for Pearson and is growing in importance. As a business we have been marketing to the international schools market for ten years. During this time we have seen significant growth in the number of international schools which has been helped by globalization. Enrolment has remained strong, even through the global recession. The international schools in general have maintained their strength through the global downturn.
Over the past four years there have been four significant changes that I have witnessed in the international schools market:
- An increased number of international schools run for-profit and an increased number of corporations involved in international schools such as Shell.
- An increased number of local children attending many international schools. This is impacting the number of students who are learning where English is their second language and this is influencing the way we prepare materials and resources for this market; producing more that are suitable for incorporating ESL teaching within one single resource. For example the materials may have an ESL strand or an ESL component to help the teacher involve those children fully.
- A blurring of distinction where international schools are focusing less on a wholly UK or US curriculum and instead delivering a more international curriculum; especially noticeable is the increased use of the IB and IGCSE.
- An increased demand for digital delivery. Some schools are requesting complete digital delivery, others are wanting to introduce more digital resources and ask for a blended support. There are still some schools that want print only. As a result of this, Pearson is now doing far more publishing of digital material. The increase in our digital materials which incorporate an audio element also provide an additional support to ESL children.
Pearson has been working with ISC Research for several years to provide our market intelligence and quality data. Pearson has a massive rep force around the world working with local and international schools. The support we receive from ISC Research is fantastic and ensures our reps are able to focus on selling and servicing our clients rather than researching market data and school contact information, freeing up a huge amount of time for them.
The ISC Research services of particular benefit to us as a business are the news service and newsletters which are really helpful for keeping everyone constantly up to date on market changes and developments and saving everyone trawling through the newspapers. We consider this a very important service.
In addition, the quality data that ISC Research provides on the individual international schools is crucial for us for maintaining effective marketing and communication. The marketing communications team uses a blend of on- and off-line communications to reach the international schools market, maintaining regular contact with our customers and potential customers via email and direct marketing. The ISC Research data helps us to reach all our clients easily. The responses to our email campaigns, in particular, are above the industry average and this is due to the quality of the data that ISC Research provides. As a marketing and communications team, knowing that data is there and consistently up-to-date is, for us, crucial.