smj: school marketing journal

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle, Andrew Sculthorpe and Belinda McCubbin

Imagine a change to Friday pick-up arrangements buried in a crowded school newsletter. The school sent the information, but the parent missed it. Brad, Bel and Scully explore why attention follows value and how competing, worthwhile requests can dilute the messages that matter most. They discuss how Heads can organise communications around families' needs, protect space for strategic priorities and ensure those priorities shape what the school does, not just what it says. Episode link:

• Reflection and Leadership Guide: Attention follows value and focus protects impact

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle, Charlie Maughan and Gavin Carroll

Parents keep asking about a decision you have already explained. Could short-form video make the reasoning clearer? Brad speaks with Charlie Maughan and Gavin Carroll from imaginate about using video to address specific communication needs instead of simply producing more content. They discuss how planning video content early can avoid last-minute pressure on stretched teams and provide Heads with an opportunity to speak naturally on camera to communicate their message clearly. Schools can then measure the videos value through parent understanding and fewer repeated questions, rather than view counts alone.

Episode link:

• imaginate – Video production for schools

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle, Andrew Sculthorpe and Belinda McCubbin

A parent enjoys your school tour, but can they explain what makes the school right for their child? Brad, Bel and Scully explore why clarity requires shared understanding across staff, not simply better wording. They explain how everyday stories make a school's promise tangible to families and how wider evidence can help families assess how consistently the school delivers on that promise. For Heads, the challenge is to align staff judgement and be candid when the evidence reveals gaps. Episode link:

• Reflection and Leadership Guide: Clarity scales and story precedes statistics

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle, Dr David Willows and Suzette Parlevliet

In this interview episode, Brad is joined by [YELLOW CAR] co-founders Dr David Willows and Suzette Parlevliet to examine what 30,000 accounts of school life reveal about students, parents and employees. They explore why relationships matter and how a lack of coherence can surface as student pressure, parent confusion and employee workload concerns. The challenge for school Heads is to listen beyond surveys, communicate the insights and align what the school promises with what its community experiences. Episode link:

• [YELLOW CAR] website
• Get in touch with [YELLOW CAR] - [email protected]

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe and Belinda McCubbin

In this episode, Brad, Bel and Scully examine why quick wins can borrow from future trust. They distinguish acting quickly from short-termism, where immediate pressure replaces a school's long-term strategic direction. The discussion explores why marketing that reassures leaders can unsettle parents, whose school choice can unfold over years rather than campaign cycles. The trio challenge Heads to maintain continuity through change and consider families' longer decision journey. Episode link:

• Reflection and Leadership Guide: Short-termism weakens trust

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Chris Post

In this interview episode, Brad is joined by Chris Post, Headmaster of the Boys' Latin School of Maryland in Baltimore, the United States of America, to examine how strategy can guide decisions and drive action. Chris explains why broad, agreeable plans fail to move a school forward and why sharper choices require rigorous debate and alignment between the Board and leadership team. He shares how a strategy-on-a-page keeps priorities visible, guides decisions about programs, positions and resources, and creates the discipline to ask what should continue, what should change and what needs to stop. Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe and Belinda McCubbin

In this episode, Brad, Bel and Scully examine two connected principles: consistency builds trust and reputation lags behaviour. They explain how families build confidence from patterns across touchpoints, while contradictions act as a confidence tax. The discussion explores why reputation changes only after behaviour has been experienced long enough to be believed, and why pressure reveals whether a school's priorities and decision logic are genuinely stable. They challenge Heads to resist short-term reputational fixes and ensure communication reflects behaviour the school can repeatedly prove.

Episode link:

• Reflection and Leadership Guide: Consistency builds trust; Reputation lags behaviour

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Ros Curtis AM

In this deep dive episode, Brad is joined by Ros Curtis AM, Principal of St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School, to reflect on 16 years of leadership as the School grew from around 800 to more than 1,400 students. Ros explains how clear values, a relentless focus on students and consistent storytelling helped strengthen academic reputation while protecting the School's sense of community. She discusses why marketing must reflect reality, how trust is built through relationships and integrity, and why Heads are stewards who must guard against complacency and arrogance.

Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Alan Jones

In this interview episode, Brad is joined by Alan Jones, Principal of Christ Church Grammar School in Claremont, Western Australia. Together they examine why the Head is central to school philanthropy. Alan explains that the ask only becomes possible after trust has been built and the educational purpose is clear. He describes fundraising as a long-term relationship, strengthened when donors understand the difference their support can make and feel part of the school's direction. He also explains why Heads must thank donors personally, steward relationships carefully and show what their generosity has achieved. Get in touch at [email protected]

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe and Belinda McCubbin

In this episode, Brad, Bel and Scully continue examining two principles: differentiation or invisibility, and the market defines value. They explain why distinctiveness should create clarity without becoming rigid, and why differentiation communicates particular value rather than superiority. Parent language and enrolment feedback become leadership intelligence, testing whether the school is understood as leaders intend. They challenge Heads to decide what their school must be known for, sharpen that signal consistently and ensure the promise made to families aligns with their experience. Episode link:

• Reflection and Leadership Guide: Differentiation or invisibility, and the market defines value

Get in touch at [email protected].