The IDC Marketing Realm: A Direct Persepctive from
Marketing Director Mimi Laufer
The driving force behind Raphael Recanati International School student life,
lies in the heart of the Arison-Lauder building. The Director of marketing in the
international school, Mimi Laufer, embodies the role as envoy to IDC.
By Abigail Kirschbaum
First year student, Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy
Faced with the multitude of marketing
based questions thrown at her on a
daily basis, Mimi Laufer feels that her
“job truly is the best job in the world.”
She thoroughly enjoys observing the
“ideological,
mental,
and
developmental,”
cycle
in
which
international students manage to
circumnavigate.
On the subject of adequate marketing,
Laufer finds it most effective to
promote the
Raphael
Recanati
International School experience by
utilizing
students
as
the
representatives themselves. One of
IDC’s objectives when molding the
minds of students is to embed a sense
of appreciation in order to encourage
promotion of its mission statement
abroad. Laufer expresses her respect
for the ability to which international
students can attract the potential
student population, primarily by visiting
their former high schools or summer
camps and talking about their
experience in the RRIS.
When relaying the ideologies of the
school to the international community,
Luafer
encourages
student
ambassadors to present IDC through a
non-bureaucratic lens. “We want to
emphasize the individual values of
each and every student.” Laufer
emphasizes
the
importance
of
potential applicants to realize that
IDC’s application requirements do in
fact cater to the academic criteria of
the universities in their countries of
origin.
For example, rather than
requiring American applicants to
endure the hardship that is the Israeli
psychometric
exam,
American
students are alternatively able to
submit either the SAT or the ACT.
Mimi Laufer
As a “tight knit, family-oriented,”
institution, Laufer advocates the
tangible marketing option exhibited on
“Open Day.” Students on gap year
programs as well as academically
inclined tourists from abroad are able
to see the school first hand, and fall in
love with its “Zionistic ideology,” On a
daily basis. IDC hopes to leave a
lasting love of Israel within the
mentalities of its Jewish and nonJewish students alike. Both parents
and students are thus presented with
the opportunity to search for answers
beyond the participation in a single
“gap year” program; answers which
they can of course discover at IDC.
Speaking of marketing strategies,
Laufer adds that the best Marketing
teacher she had was Jonathan Davis,
head of the Raphael Recanati
International
School
and
Vice
President for External Relations,
whom she adds, contributes greatly to
the Marketing efforts of the RRIS.
The type of passionate, Zionistic
student that considers Israel as his or
her muse for success in the academic
realm, belongs at IDC. Laufer
addresses her utmost appreciation
and underlying astonishment for the
temporary emigration that international
students endure. Laufer is amazed by
students’ voluntary willingness in
uprooting themselves from their home
- based lifestyles in exchange for the
controversial sphere of the Israeli
political and bureaucratic system.
In
appealing
to
international
audiences, it is important to market
based on the desires of potential
applicants. When advocating IDC’s
academic prestige, Laufer aims to
“suggest options, rather than to solely
tell people exactly what to choose.”
Also,
the
closely
maintained
relationships of the alumni are yet
another tactic utilized in captivating the
awareness of international applicants.
Spreading the word of IDC’s
excellence and productivity by way of
appreciation
from
the
alumni
community has proven to be highly
effective. The list of graduate school in
which IDC alumni has attended
includes
Harvard,
Princeton,
Sorbonne, and McGill, another method
used to entice the international
community of knowledge seekers.
As a result of the fast-paced Internet
world in which we live, the IDC
marketing system is constantly
stressed for time. According to Laufer,
the consistent reliance on Facebook
and other networking sites by
incoming students, strains the Q&A
body of marketing representatives. It is
thus imperative according to Laufer, to
drill the students of the IDC with basic
knowledge
regarding
the
inner
framework of the IDC.
After working at the IDC for nearly
seven years, Laufer still values the
satisfaction that she receives from
observing the accomplishments of
international students. She is aware of
the passion and drive it takes to act as
a student alone, but is enlightened by
the extra drive that it takes to succeed
abroad.