233: Putting your school brand purpose first and is anyone on Threads?
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
Release Date: 09/04/2025
250: Where brand and website inconsistency erodes trust – 3/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – The Insight Clarity of message depends less on one strong asset, than on the system connecting every interaction. Charlie explores why a school can follow its style guide perfectly, yet still feel difficult for parents to understand. Exploring the differences between style guides and design systems, he looks at the layers beneath execution, from strategy and message architecture to visual identity and experience design. When those layers connect, parents are less likely to notice the system itself....
info_outline
249: Where brand and website inconsistency erodes trust – 2/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – The Reality Small disconnects in brand experience can do more damage than a school realises. In episode two of ‘Creating clarity parents can see and navigate’, Charlie discusses how outdated documents, broken links, mixed messages and confusing website journeys make parents work harder to understand a school. That extra effort can quietly shift confidence into doubt. He explores how a more coherent visible experience can help each touchpoint reinforce the same promise, rather than leaving parents...
info_outline
248: Why visible clarity shapes parental decisions – 1/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – Orientation 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. ...
info_outline
247: Designing a marketing strategy that builds confidence intentionally – 5/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – Applied 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...
info_outline
246: What changes when strategy aligns with how confidence is formed – 4/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
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...
info_outline
245: Confidence is built in systems, not moments – 3/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – The Insight 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...
info_outline
244: Where schools unintentionally create doubt – 2/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – The Reality In this episode of the Insight Series, Charlie examines why schools do not usually lose enrolments because they lack visibility, but because prospective parent confidence has been gradually worn away. As part of the Insight Series on how parents form confidence, he explores how inconsistent messaging, unclear differentiation, unsupported claims and internal misalignment can create doubt at key points in the enrolment journey. Charlie also explains why simply...
info_outline
243: How parents form confidence long before they enquire - 1/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – Orientation In episode one of ‘How parents form confidence – and what it means for your marketing strategy’, Charlie explores why enquiry is not the beginning of the school choice journey, but a sign that a decision is already taking shape. He explores how parents often form views of a school well before making contact, drawing on reputation, word of mouth, lived experience and repeated brand signals over time. Charlie also probes the commonly...
info_outline
242: Applying brand clarity in schools – 5/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Why school marketing works differently – Applied In the final episode of ‘Why school marketing works differently’, Charlie explores what it looks like to apply brand clarity to a school. He explores how a school brand is shaped by far more than marketing outputs alone, with every touchpoint contributing to how families interpret the school and how confident they feel in their decision. Charlie then shares a practical framework for assessing brand consistency, encouraging marketers to gather staff perspectives and...
info_outline
241: What new school marketers learn the hard way – 4/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Why school marketing works differently – What we see In episode four of Why school marketing works differently, Charlie is joined by imageseven Account Director Cassandra Kirkpatrick to discuss what marketers often underestimate when they enter the education sector. Drawing on her own experience, Cas explains why school marketing is rarely limited to campaigns or advertising, requiring marketers to wear many hats, translate complex educational language, and build support for marketing inside the school. Together, Charlie and Cas explore the...
info_outlineSchool marketing and communications with Charlie Maughan, Rita Kilroy and Harrison Shearn
In this episode of SMC, Charlie is again joined in the studio by Rita and Harrison. The team explores Meta’s latest addition of Threads as a placement option and whether schools should consider advertising on Threads. In the Deep Dive, the trio dissect comments from Carlsberg’s new CMO regarding their renewed commitment to brand purpose and the importance of clarity and value proposition, and discuss the similarities with school marketing and branding. Finally, in Rants and Raves, the team swoon over Edith Cowan University’s latest project update video of its new city campus, and how schools can take inspiration when launching major projects to engage with their community.
Episode links:
- Trends Ads Expand to All Meta Advertisers - Andrew Hutchinson - SocialMediaToday
- 'Impossible to move away from': Why Carlsberg's CMO is doubling down on 'Probably the best' - Niamh Carroll - Marketing Week
- ECU City Campus Flythrough - LinkedIn
Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following:
- Email: smc@imageseven.com.au
- Survey: imageseven.typeform.com
Here at imageseven, we are always on the lookout for great people to join the team and we have a few opportunities open. To view our available positions or enquire further, head to https://www.imageseven.com.au/work-with-us/