Learning About Branding from Asia's Wealthy Tutors

In many countries, the branding of tutoring services is tied to the tutoring company itself. People are aware of large national companies such as Kumon, Huntington, or Sylvan. There are also many well-known regional or local brands that use the same method of branding.

In many Asian countries tutoring companies have adopted a different method for branding their tutoring business. Instead of putting all the emphasis on the company, they've put just as much emphasis on building the brand names of their individual tutors.

In Hong Kong for instance, tutoring companies put up billboards and ads on the sides fo buses with the faces of their tutors and the subjects they teach. Their tutors are dressed in the latest fashions, have trendy haircuts and are marketed like pop-stars – all in an attempt to create demand for the specific tutor. Richard Eng was one of the first to start this method of branding in Hong Kong and has now achieved celebrity status as one of the best English tutors. His company also has several tutors that are also modeled to be celebrities.

In South Korea, tutor Rose Lee is considered the top English teacher and earns $7 million per year as a result. People might know what company she works for, but when they look for an English tutor they think of her name and they want her as their tutor. The same goes for Woo Hyeong-cheol a South Korean math tutor who earns about $4 million per year. Woo is known as the best math tutor, so people want to attend his classes.

In many other countries, people sign up with a tutoring company and don't know who the tutors are. Furthermore, the reviews provided about a tutoring company may say more about the tutor than the company itself, so prospective students really can't be sure what they will be getting.

Tutors in western countries should emulate the tutors in Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore in developing their personal brands. By building a strong personal brand they can attract more students who are seeking the best teacher at a particular subject instead of just signing up with a tutoring company and taking their chances. Over time as a tutor develops a reputation as one of the best in their field they will be able to earn a higher income, just as sports celebrities earn higher salaries based on their skill level. Tutoring companies can attract more students by leveraging the celebrity status of their tutors.

The idea of developing the personal brands of tutors is an interesting concept and has performed well in Asia and it works in other industries and professions. The same strategy can be applied to tutoring in Western countries and should lead to the same success for the tutors that apply it.