martech@imageseven.com.au, Author at imageseven

248: Why visible clarity shapes parental decisions – 1/5

In episode one of ‘Creating clarity parents can see and navigate’, Charlie explores why visible clarity is more than a design issue. He explores how parents experience a school through its website, visual identity, photography, publications, signage, social posts and everyday communications. Charlie then poses that parents do not see these touchpoints as separate from the school experience. Instead, they use them to judge how organised, professional and trustworthy the school is.

247: Designing a marketing strategy that builds confidence intentionally – 5/5

In the final episode of ‘How parents form confidence – and what it means for your marketing strategy’, Charlie discusses how to turn parent confidence into a deliberate part of a school’s marketing strategy. He explains why schools need to look beyond enquiries and conversions, and build confidence through clear positioning, structured messaging, connected touchpoints and shared ownership across the entire enrolment journey.

In the next lecture, Charlie will explore how to create clarity that parents can see and navigate. He will discuss how brand, websites, visuals and the role they play in creating an overall experience that can help parents understand and trust a school.

Speaking the same language – Interview with Daniel Walker

Daniel Walker, Principal of Canterbury College in Queensland, Australia, spoke with SMJ about navigating diverse parent expectations and refining the College’s key messaging to clarify their value proposition and enable staff to ‘speak with one voice’.

250: School choice: what’s changed, what’s next – Interview with Graham Catt

In this interview episode, Brad is joined once again by Graham Catt, Chief Executive Officer of Independent Schools Australia, to discuss what School Choice Counts has achieved and what now matters for school leaders. Graham explains why the campaign’s strongest stories were not about sectors, buildings or funding, but families, students and communities. He argues that Heads need to move beyond election-time advocacy by building ongoing relationships with local MPs, helping parents understand how policy affects fees and affordability, and equipping families and school communities to engage confidently in conversations about school choice.

Rebuilding broken trust

A new school Head walked into the lion’s den: a disgruntled community plagued by confusion, uncertainty and frustration. The hostility was palpable but understandable. The previous leadership had left a significant capital works project underway that parents knew little about, along with an unaddressed decline in student performance and an academic philosophy that, at least on the surface, seemed to conflict with the school’s core values.

249: Strategy drives story. Meaning before message.

In this episode, Brad, Bel and Scully examine why strong school communication begins before the writing stage. Combining the principles of strategy drives story and meaning before message, they explain why schools can sound articulate while still leaving parents unsure about what matters most. The trio discuss how weak strategy turns communication into a list, why more content rarely builds confidence, and how clearer intent gives story direction and message weight. They challenge Heads to settle purpose and meaning before asking marketing teams to write.

246: What changes when strategy aligns with how confidence is formed – 4/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan and Suzanne Willcock – How parents form confidence – and what it means for your marketing strategy – What we see

In episode four of the Insight Series on how parents form confidence, Charlie is joined by imageseven Group Account Director Suzanne Willcock to explore what happens when a school’s marketing, enrolment and leadership teams are working from the same understanding of how confidence is built.

Drawing on her experience working with schools across Australia, Suzie explains why prospective parents rarely arrive at tours and open days as blank slates. Instead, they arrive carrying a level of confidence that has been shaped long before those interactions take place.

Together, Charlie and Suzie discuss how misaligned messaging creates friction, confusion and unnecessary pressure on enrolment teams, while strategic clarity helps parents arrive better informed, ask better questions, and seek confirmation rather than persuasion.

Media monitoring matters (more than you think)

By the time a story about your school breaks in the news, it may already be a talking point of people halfway around the world. Imagine if the first time you hear about it is when a parent brings it to you at the school gates. As a Head, keeping on top of public perception and community chatter is vital in protecting and enhancing your school’s brand. That’s why media monitoring is no longer a ‘nice to have’ for schools – it’s an essential tool for reputation management.

248: Reputation risk management with your board – Interview with Tracey Cain

In this interview episode, Brad is joined by Tracey Cain, Chief Executive Officer at H/Advisors, to unpack reputation risk in independent schools. Tracey explains why what matters to a school community must matter to the school, and why that community now extends beyond staff, parents and students to alumni, neighbours and local influencers. She explains how Heads and boards can prepare before risk eventuates by listening early, testing likely scenarios and building the trust, policies, processes and culture needed to manage risk as part of day-to-day school operations.

Listening at scale

This is the question behind the Felt Experience Indicator (FEI), a tool we developed to capture the day-to-day experiences of students, parents and school employees. Last year alone, nearly 19,000 people in schools around the world responded. Their reflections became the basis of a recently published white paper, Listening at Scale: An Analysis of the Lived Experience of School.

247: Experience beats message

In this episode, Brad, Bel and Scully explore the sixth principle in the series: experience beats message. They discuss why messaging can open the door, but parent confidence is shaped by what families repeatedly experience through tours, follow-up, responsiveness and prospective parent touchpoints. The trio examines how mixed signals weaken trust, why the enrolment journey is the brand made visible, and why Heads must lead the standards, systems and behaviours that give the school’s message something true to stand on.

245: Confidence is built in systems, not moments – 3/5

In episode three of the Insight Series on how parents form confidence, Charlie discusses why confidence is rarely built in one standout moment. While open days, tours and campaigns all play an important role, he argues they usually confirm what parents already believe, rather than create that belief from scratch. Charlie explores how confidence is built over time through repeated, consistent signals across the prospective parent journey, and why strategy matters in aligning people, messages and touchpoints so confidence can be built purposefully.