Your unseen advantage
Parents judge not just what a school is, but what it means for their child. Two schools can look identical, yet one is valued more highly by parents because of the meaning they create.
Parents judge not just what a school is, but what it means for their child. Two schools can look identical, yet one is valued more highly by parents because of the meaning they create.
In this special Deep Dive, Brad sits down with Dr Mark Merry, long-serving Principal of Yarra Valley Grammar and former National Chair of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia (AHISA), for a conversation about leading a school through scrutiny, crisis, criticism and change. The duo explore why authority is earned through relationships and how culture is shaped in the small everyday moments. Mark also shares a grounded approach to media and reputational pressure including why staying silent can backfire, how to front issues without becoming defensive, and what it looks like to hold the narrative when emotions are high and information is moving fast.
Let’s be honest, parent engagement isn’t what it used to be. As Heads of school, you’re dealing with families who have more choices, more information and higher expectations than ever.
Most schools have a mission statement. Some use it as a reference point for decisions and others treat it as a familiar phrase that sits in the background.
In this episode, Brad and Bel explore what happens when a mission becomes a practical leadership tool and the importance of having a directional mission. The duo discusses how direction shapes priorities, messages and resourcing. If it’s decorative, it tends to appear in documents but rarely changes behaviour or drives decision-making. Part 1 sets up the key tests you can use to assess whether your mission is genuinely guiding strategy across your school.
Welcome to the first topic in The Insight Series. In this orientation episode, Charlie sets the context for why school marketing often feels harder than it should — and why that tension isn’t accidental.
School choice is a high-stakes, identity-driven decision shaped by long timelines, multiple influencers and emotional weight. Parents are often well advanced in their thinking before they enquire, reshaping how marketing must work.
Charlie explores what this means for school marketers, often carrying responsibility without full authority, and why brand building in schools is less about promotion and more about reducing risk and building confidence.
This episode begins a five-part exploration of why school marketing works differently.
Ask a teacher what your school stands for. Then ask a receptionist, a Head of House, the enrolments officer. If their answers don’t sound roughly the same, you have a problem. Not a branding problem. A purpose problem.
Many school leaders feel they are doing ‘all the right things’ in marketing – posting consistently, investing in digital, telling their story – yet their school is still not being chosen by prospective parents. In this interview, Brad speaks with digital marketing practitioner Brendan Schneider about the real issue behind underperforming marketing – relevance. They discuss why differentiation is leadership work, how digital marketing simply amplifies unclear positioning, and a simple leadership exercise to uncover whether your team can clearly answer the question parents ask: ‘Why your school?’
The instinct to refine, polish and elevate what your school offers is part of what makes you an effective Head. But that instinct can backfire when you fix things that are not broken. Especially in enrolments – reality isn’t the only truth that matters. Perception is equally powerful.
The first episode for 2026 sees Belinda ‘Bel’ McCubbin welcomed as a regular voice, sharing what’s changing in schools this year. The trio introduce two new formats: a termly deep dive interview with experienced school Heads and a 92-second mini stories capturing testimonials of common problems faced by Heads and how to move forward. The main conversation centres on first principles, and why they matter when teams are busy, yet outcomes remain unimproved.
In the first episode of 2026, Charlie introduces a new format for SMC – The Insight Series. These short, focused mini chapters are designed to make big school marketing topics easier to tackle, with clearer priorities and practical next steps. Each topic follows a structured flow: Orientation sets the context, Reality names what gets in the way, Insights shares useful frameworks, What We See brings in what’s happening in schools, and Applied turns it into next steps for you.
In the final episode of SMC for 2025, Charlie is joined again by Senior Account Manager James Tindall and imageseven’s Director of Design — José Caceres — to discuss a new video content solution created to help schools produce consistent, high-quality content – imaginate. The team explores how imaginate supports schools by connecting overarching strategy with the demands of day-to-day content creation. In the Deep Dive, the team assess what makes a design feel truly balanced and ‘just right’, focusing on the importance of visual principles such as grids and structure to typography and colour schemes. In Rants and Raves, the trio dissect this year’s Christmas ads and discuss those that created a compelling story and who missed out.
Marketing teams come in a range of different sizes – from the ‘one-man band’ to the team of many. The number and expected outcomes of their responsibilities should be reflective of the size and skillset of the team members, but this is often not the case and as budgets tighten, marketing and communications staff are sometimes the ones feeling the pinch.