Founder^s Personal Branding and Professional Image in Building Public Trust in Pesantren in Madura Dewi Quraisyin
Comunication Science, Universitas Trunojoyo Madura, Bangkalan, Indonesia
Abstract
For Madurese people, pesantren remain the main reference in finding educational institutions. The Madurese community^s trust in pesantren cannot be separated from the influence of the kiai as the founder. Kiai has the most important role in the development of a pesantren. As a founder, the kiai is the ^soul^ of the pesantren. Personal branding and professional image of a kiai will become a ^buzz^ in building public trust in the pesantren he leads. Personal branding and professional image of the founder will have a significant impact on the credibility and level of public trust in the pesantren. This will also make it easier to attract public interest in pesantren, as well as build wider connections and networks which will later provide many benefits for the sustainability of pesantren. Moreover, if the pesantren is a new pesantren which is in tight competition with other pesantren which previously had many in Madura and had a good reputation.
Founder competence (kiai) in religious scholarship, his dedication and integrity as an Islamic religious leader, and supported by other essential capabilities, will become a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for a kiai. This UVP will form a reputation that will stick in the minds of the public as the personal branding and professional image of a kiai. personal branding and professional image will highlight the personal strength of the kiai to build reputation, build trust, and communicate the differentiation that the kiai has in the development of the pesantren they own. Kiai will appear as the ^face^ of his pesantren. This ^face^ will appear in society so that people choose the pesantren they lead to become a place of study for themselves or their children.
This qualitative research will examine the UVP owned by the founder of the Nahdlatut Ta^limiyah Pamekasan Madura Islamic boarding school, namely kiai Musleh Adnan. Kiai Musleh Adnan was previously a religious public speaker whose name was widely known by the public, especially in Madura. With the ability to deliver religious knowledge using simple, relaxed, and entertaining sentences but full of meaning and religious advice, kiai musleh is easily accepted by the public. For this reason, the pesantren, which has only been established since 2020, currently has more than seven hundred students and more than a thousand congregations in the sermons which are routinely carried out by the kiai every week.
Keywords: Islamic Boarding Schools, Personal Branding, Professional Image, Madura.
