Pulling Back the Curtain
Recently, I had the pleasure of catching up with Johan, our Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy, to get behind Bennett's busy scenes.
What is your specific area of expertise?
I specialize in building and implementing Bennett’s digital marketing strategies and online presence, which includes website development & maintenance, blogging, email campaigns, online ad campaigns, and social media strategy. I’m also a member of the Bennett IT team, helping to develop and maintain our digital policies and infrastructure. In the past year, I’ve helped to develop our company’s HubSpot CRM for use by the Business Development team, and separately, the student portal & CRM (using a platform called Nifty) which is being used by the IHS Scholarship Program team.
How long have you worked in marketing? What did you do before you joined Bennett?
In some way, shape, or form, I’ve been in the marketing world for the last fifteen years or so. I still occasionally marvel at what brought me to where I am professionally today. I always say that everyone should spend at least some time in the hospitality industry, and I did my due diligence! After 15 years in and out of restaurants working front-of-house, I would like to think I came away with a good deal of social intelligence. You learn to read people quickly and spark up instant, meaningful interpersonal relationships in mere moments, while also developing a thick skin— it comes with the job. Concurrently, I spent some years as a touring musician, which is where I first started gaining ground in the world of branding, marketing, publicity, and creating an online presence. My band toured the East Coast heavily for about four years, and while it was far from glamorous, and I'll never get those lost hours of sleep back in this lifetime, I wouldn't trade those experiences and lessons learned for anything in the world.
Though it seems like a long bridge to cross, the music industry actually led me quite organically into the world of graphic design, website development, and digital marketing. A few years and a few online courses down the road led to my sustaining a fully work-from-home lifestyle (in 2019, before it was "cool"!) for a handful of international clients. Along with developing websites for dozens of small businesses, I was also involved in marketing and publicity for a handful of large festivals, concert venues, and charitable events.
At one point, I was introduced by a mutual friend to Bennett's Tony Entwisle who was looking for help maintaining Bennett Schoolplacement’s website, blog, and email blasts. When Bennett acquired SCI and became Bennett International, I was offered a full-time position, which I gladly and wholeheartedly accepted!
Do you have any tried-and-true advice for companies trying to successfully market their services?
· Specialize and differentiate from the point of conception. If you try to appeal to everyone, you'll end up appealing to no one.
· Stay consistent and have patience in the beginning when you're dealing with your first prospects. Clearly define what you can do and what you can't do—don't try to change your core identity and processes to fit the needs of your first prospects just to try to convert them into clients. That way lies madness.
· I cannot stress enough the importance of surrounding yourself with a great team.
What is your favorite part of your Bennett work?
I’m passionate about people, community, connection, and expression, and Bennett allows me to explore these in our everyday work. Everyone on the Bennett team wears many hats, and I love that the company allows me to get involved in several projects in varying capacities – this sort of approach allows everyone to do their best work!
I feel truly blessed to work with a company that prioritizes empathizing with and helping others, which is something of a dream from a marketing perspective.
If you could take a year's sabbatical (and money/time were no object), where would you live?
Costa Rica —my wife Ashleigh and I recently worked remotely from there for a few months and absolutely fell in love with the country, its incredible inhabitants, a deeper connection with nature, and the “pura vida” way of life, which wasn’t always easy, but was immensely rewarding each and every day.
Your enthusiasm is infectious! Thank you, Johan, for your expertise & understanding of who Bennett is, what we do, & how we do it.
Thank you, Erin.
Erin Brady serves a dual role as Co-Director of Private Client Services and one of Bennett’s Global Team Leads, supporting Bennett’s consultants in Canada and parts of the U.S. In the latter, she oversees consultants working with families relocating to Greater New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Phoenix, and Toronto. She also serves as the Bennett International liaison for a leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm in New York. Erin joined Bennett in 2006 and has worn many hats over the years, consulting with families relocating to areas throughout the U.S and to non-U.S. locations; she eventually focused on U.S. boarding school and New York city placements, PreK through grade 12, though she was frequently called on for other tasks such as co-managing special projects and serving as the Senior Account Representative for a large Global Relocation client.
To read more about our top-flight team, please see here.
Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges & universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.