241: What new school marketers learn the hard way – 4/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
Release Date: 04/02/2026
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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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240: What school brands actually are – 3/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Why school marketing works differently – The Insight In episode three of ‘Why school marketing works differently’, Charlie reframes what a school brand actually is — and why clarity and consistency often matter more than creativity. For prospective parents, brand is not decoration. It’s a risk-reduction mechanism in an emotional, high-stakes decision. What builds confidence isn’t novelty, but familiarity, proof and alignment across every touchpoint. Charlie explores why school marketing behaves less like traditional B2C and more like...
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239: When schools get marketing wrong – 2/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Why school marketing works differently – The Reality In episode two of ‘Why school marketing works differently’, Charlie explores the reality of how school marketing can go off track when it borrows from the wrong playbook, especially a bottom-of-the-funnel mindset that overweights performance marketing and underinvests in brand-building. Charlie discusses what’s often misunderstood about marketing in schools: the long decision journey, the need to build confidence and trust, and the hidden cost of campaign-only thinking. When a...
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238: Why school marketing works differently - 1/5
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Why school marketing works differently – Orientation 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...
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237: Welcome to The Insight Series
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
Introducing The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan 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. Got questions or feedback for Charlie...
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236: The solution to your video content needs
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
School marketing and communications with Charlie Maughan, James Tindall and José Caceres 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...
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235: Stop chasing clicks: how brand building drives long-term school growth
SMC: School Marketing and Communications
School marketing and communications with Charlie Maughan, Rita Kilroy and James Tindall In this episode of SMC, Charlie and Rita are joined by Senior Account Manager James Tindall to chat about why it’s time for school marketers to stop chasing clicks and start building brands that last. In Making News, the team first discuss fresh data showing CMOs shifting their focus from performance marketing to brand awareness and what schools marketers can take from this. In the Deep Dive, they explore why authentic, experience-led content cuts through digital fatigue, and how live events can spark a...
info_outlineThe 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 assumptions marketers bring with them, the challenge of long enrolment cycles, and why listening to stakeholders is often the key to understanding what makes a school genuinely distinctive.
Episode Links:
- The B2B Buyer Experience Report – 6sense
- School Choice: A Research Report - Independent Schools Australia
- Parents often lack metacognitive insight into what drives school choice decisions. - PLOS ONE
- The B2B Buying Journey: Key Stages and How to Optimize Them – Gartner
Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following:
- Email: smc@imageseven.com.au
Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you’re ready to take your school’s video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate