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PROLOGUE
Every School Says the Same Three Things
A parent has four tabs open on a Tuesday night. Four schools, four websites.
They are not comparing you to the public school down the road. They are comparing you to the three schools that came up next to you in the same search.
By the third tab, the tabs have started to blur. Small classes. Caring teachers. Educating the whole child. A student on a lawn, mid-laugh, in a school sweatshirt.
Every one of those claims is true at your school. That is the problem.
Sameness reads as risk
When four schools make the same promise, a family cannot choose on merit, so they choose on whatever else is in front of them: price, drive time, which cousin went where. You did not lose to a better school. You lost to a tiebreaker.
And this is rarely a writing problem. In most schools, nobody has ever been asked to sit down and work out the one true thing only your school can say, in a sentence a parent could repeat to their spouse an hour later without checking their notes. That work never lands on anyone's list, because it is not due to anyone by Friday.
The crossout test
Take the headline on your homepage. Cross out your school's name, write in your closest competitor's, and read it again.
If it still holds up, what you have is table stakes. Table stakes belong on the page. They just cannot carry it.
A claim only starts working for you when a competitor could not honestly make it too.
Three moves
Find the thing you would defend in a board meeting. Not the nicest thing about your school, the most specific one. It is usually a little odd and slightly inconvenient to explain, which is most of the reason it never made it onto the homepage.
Make it checkable. "Small classes" is a feeling. "Our average section is eleven students, and every junior defends original research in front of a panel" is something a parent can verify, and then repeat to someone else at a dinner party, which matters more. Nobody from your school is in the room when they read that page. The details have to do the job instead.
Say it above the photo. Not in the mission statement, not on page three of the viewbook. In the first thing they read, before the lawn and the sweater.
August is the right week for this. Fall inquiry season has not started, which means you can still change what those families find when it does.
One quick win
Open your homepage and your closest competitor's homepage side by side. Read only the first screen of each, out loud. If you cannot tell from those words alone which one is yours, you just found this year's real marketing project.
Your school is genuinely different from the one down the road, and everyone inside the building knows how. The question is whether a stranger with four tabs open could work that out in one screen. What would they say yours is about?
Thanks,
Brendan
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UPCOMING EVENT
For MarCom Society Members Only
If You Don’t Define Your Story, Someone Else Will
In an increasingly competitive educational landscape, schools can no longer rely on generic messaging or program lists to differentiate themselves. Brands are a signal of trust, and to build a strong one, schools must have clear and consistent storytelling. This session explores how schools can define and articulate a compelling brand story that goes beyond logos and taglines to shape perception, strengthen reputation and support enrolment and engagement goals. Participants will learn how to identify their school’s positioning, uncover emotional and functional benefits, and build messaging that aligns with the institution’s mission, values, and community experience.
Guest Expert: Emily Rabe
Emily Rabe is a Toronto-based marketing leader and currently Director of Marketing and Communications at The Bishop Strachan School. She is a strategic, results-driven marketer known for building alignment across teams and translating insight into high-impact campaigns that drive enrolment, engagement, and brand growth.
With experience spanning education, retail, and agency environments, Emily has led integrated marketing strategies for organizations including Party City, Jackman, and Bath & Body Works. Her work blends data, storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver measurable results—from record-breaking application growth to multi-channel campaigns that increase sales and customer engagement.
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