The client

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) is one of Australia’s largest education systems, supporting more than 300 Catholic schools across metropolitan Melbourne. MACS partners with school communities to deliver high-quality education while strengthening enrolment, community engagement and long-term sustainability.

The challenge:

Launching a new school is unlike marketing an established one. With no existing reputation, community awareness or enrolment base, success depends on building trust, communicating a clear vision and attracting families well before the first day of classes.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools engaged Affect Media to lead the strategic marketing and enrolment program for three newly established Catholic primary schools:

• Carlo Acutis Catholic Primary School
• St Marianne Cope Catholic Primary School
• St Padre Pio Catholic Primary School

Each project required the development of a distinctive school identity while maintaining alignment with the broader MACS vision and values.

Our approach:

Over a three-year partnership, Affect Media developed and implemented the end-to-end marketing and enrolment strategy for each new school, working closely with principals, MACS leadership and a multidisciplinary team of creative specialists.

The engagement included:

• Strategic marketing and enrolment planning
• Brand identity development
• Logo and visual identity creation
• School signage and uniform branding
• Website strategy, copywriting and development
• Professional photography and visual asset creation
• School prospectuses and enrolment collateral
• Social media campaign planning
• Content development across digital and print channels
• Coordination of designers, photographers, developers and specialist suppliers
• Stakeholder engagement with school leaders and MACS

By integrating strategy, branding and communications from the earliest stages of development, Affect Media helped establish a clear identity and compelling market position for each new school.

The outcome:

All three schools opened with enrolments at full capacity in their first week of operation.

Demand has continued to grow, with future enrolments secured as each campus expands through planned stages of development.

The projects demonstrate the value of combining strategic planning, strong branding and integrated marketing to build confidence within new school communities and achieve measurable enrolment outcomes.

Why it mattered

Choosing a school is one of the most significant decisions a family makes.

Successful school marketing is about far more than promotion—it is about building trust, communicating values and helping families imagine their future within a new community.

This project demonstrates Affect Media’s ability to guide complex education projects from concept through to successful market launch, balancing strategic thinking with practical implementation across multiple channels.