La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground]

About marketing education

La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground] is a publication about the communication strategies adopted by French business schools to market their study programs. This research investigates how institutional promises are formulated through promotional images and how these narratives clash with the actual experiences of students during and after their studies. This investigation uses the double methodology of the qualitative and the quantitative study that we were taught to analyze cases in marketing classes.

As for the quantitative study, I categorized about 800 images from 20 Business Schools according to their composi­tion and thematic. The collection is divided into two main chapters illustrating a progressive shift from student to professional life. It shows how schools chose to illustrate abstract notions such as ‘‘professionalism’’, ‘‘reliability’’ or ‘‘problem-solving. While some images account for actual aspects of student life in business school, the majority depicts staged situations and idealized projections. Many of the images are plain downloads from photos stocks such as iStock or shutterstock.

For the qualitative study, I traveled to Paris in April 2023, and engaged with former classmates, and graduates from different institutions. I presented them with a selection of images and encouraged them to provide feedback, using a methodology inspired by peer review in art school. We began by analyzing the formal and objective elements of the images and gradually delved into deeper layers of meaning. This method was also designed as a warm-up for open discus­sions.

La Cour des Grands is a publication about the communication adopted by French business schools
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], Ed. Claire Ebendinger, 216 pages, English, 21 x 29,7 cm, Halle, 2024,
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], detail: comparison of two similarly structured images picturing students (left) and young professionals (right)
La Cour des Grands is a publication about the communication adopted by French business schools
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], Table of content
detail: “photos of facilities with blury figures dynamically passing by” (left), “photos of facilities and students embodying an inspirational motto” (right)
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], detail: subsection
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], detail: subsection
detail: “photos of facilities with blury figures dynamically passing by” (left), “photos of facilities and students embodying an inspirational motto” (right)
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], detail: Part II
La Cour des Grands [Big Boys Playground], detail: Part II
detail:”Students shaking hands with potential employer on an internship or a first job”
detail: analysing images following a methodology inspired by art criticism and semiologydescription, reception, association, interpretation
Margaux, Aurore and Camille discussing an image (Paris, April 2023)
Meeting point for collective workshops (Paris, April 2023)
Color-coded notes and self-chosen title from Sacha’s and Jeremy’s workshop