Because utilisation drives the economics, admissions is the commercial heart of Crownstone. The marketing and admissions strategy exists to do one thing above all: fill the campus toward capacity as quickly and durably as the reputation will allow. It combines brand-building, targeted recruitment, scholarships and referral, and international and boarding recruitment to reach the finite pool of high-income families in the catchment and beyond.

Admissions and marketing channels

• Digital marketing — targeted campaigns to high-income families across the Gauteng catchment and expatriate communities.
• Corporate partnerships — relationships with employers offering schooling as part of relocation and executive packages.
• Scholarship programme — merit and sports/arts scholarships that seed excellence, build reputation and drive word-of-mouth.
• Alumni engagement — a deliberate alumni-and-philanthropy strategy building endowment, advocacy and long-term brand.
• Education expos & outreach — presence at expos and community events to build local and regional awareness.
• International recruitment — boarding-led recruitment of regional, national and expatriate families to fill the 600 boarding beds.
• Referral programmes — structured parent and alumni referral, the highest-conversion channel in premium schooling.

The enrolment plan

The admissions strategy translates into a year-by-year enrolment plan, against which marketing spend and admissions capacity are sized. Each year’s intake must both recruit new cohorts and retain existing ones, retention is as important as recruitment, since a premium school’s reputation and word-of-mouth compound with every successful cohort.