The Pebble Issue 1

features
MPH
By Hyemin Han
This fall, the MPH and greater CNY
In the summer of 2015, Head of School Jim Dunaway attended a workshop for new heads
of schools in Atlanta, where he heard a presentation given by Crane Metamarketing. Dunaway
learned about Crane’s brand work for independent institutions and knew that MPH,
recovering after a year of a crippling financial realization, had to work on its marketing.
After the workshop, Dunaway shared his interest, yet inability, to hire Crane with an
established school donor, who requested anonymity. The donor agreed to pay for what
Dunaway calls the “astronomical” expense of retaining the firm.
But the costs are worth it to Dunaway, who said that there is some perception within the
local community that MPH did indeed shut its doors, or is planning to. The end goal is that
with a new marketing emphasis, Manlius Pebble Hill School and what it is about will become
as recognizable as a can of Coke.
One year after a financial crisis that threatened to shut down the school, it’s easy to question
the validity of using this money to work on branding rather than put it towards something
the school lost, such as scholarships. Dunaway, however, believes rebranding will be
most beneficial to MPH moving forward.
“[It] will, in my opinion, have more long-term positive effects than having used it for
scholarships,” Dunaway said. “We would have run out of that money very quickly with scholarships.
... There would be no continuing value.”
To attempt to understand MPH fully, Crane team members spent 33 hours on campus
conducting interviews, observing classrooms, touring campus and attending MPH events.
They led focus groups with 129 members of the MPH community, including students, faculty
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