Bishop Strachan’s plan to develop more women leaders

Who: The Bishop Strachan School, with Good&Ready for strategy and creative; Offscreen Romance for production; Married to Giants, Wingman and Alter Ego for post production; and Pirate for audio.

What: A campaign promoting a new strategic plan for developing more women leaders, targeting both existing students and their families, as well as potential new students.

When & Where: The campaign includes static and video ads. There’s no paid media behind it, just email and owned social channels. The ads include links directly to the school’s new strategic plan.

Why: The school’s strategic plan aims to make it a world leader in girls’ education by helping develop more female leaders. “The new strategic plan is the culmination of three years of focused work,” said Dr. Angela Terpstra, BSS head of school, in a release. “We are incredibly proud of this plan and we are confident that it will guide us on our path to becoming a world leader in girl’s education.”

Based on its research, Good&Ready concluded that most private school advertising focuses on the benefits to the individual student. “Our message is squarely on creating leaders for society,” said Terry Drummond, co-founder and partner at the agency.

How: The video ads feature real students delivering stark statistics that illustrate the small number of women leaders in society: Only one Canadian Prime Minister; just 6% of Nobel Prize winners; and just 25% of people employed in STEM careers. In each spot, a young girl appears out of nowhere with a megaphone to declare: “We have a plan to change that.”

“Where leadership has been referenced in campaigns for other schools there has been no context given. We have the stats that prove there just aren’t enough female leaders in the world—in politics, business, cultural fields, or science and technology,” said Drummond. “The context gives our message a feeling of urgency.”

Working with real students was a highlight of the project, said Drummond. “They each nailed their performances. We were blown away.”

David Brown