Hi Miranda,
There’s a strong claim at the heart of this ad: one of Scotland’s top independent schools, award-winning, with performing arts front and centre. But when a parent scrolls past this on Facebook or Instagram, the real question isn’t “are you good?”—it’s “are you right for my child?”
Here’s the test…
Imagine a parent scrolling at speed — phone in one hand, school tabs open in the other, head full of deadlines, diaries, and dinner plans. This is an ad that parents like — but will they remember it tomorrow? Would they get a sense of what only you offer? Or would it blur into the same reassuring-but-generic noise we’ve seen from dozens of schools? Because when messaging blends into universally positive language, it becomes emotionally agreeable… but not commercially distinctive.
That’s not a dig, it’s a pattern. We’ve analysed over 100 school ads running right now in the UK, and most sound eerily similar. Same phrases. Same format. Same promises.
So we built a simple test, just a mirror. A moment of reflection. If you passed your ad in the wild, would you know it was Erskine Stewart’s Melville? Would a parent?
Erskine Stewart’s Melville in the Wild
These are your current Meta ads. Let’s look at them through a parent’s eyes.
What’s Working
✅Clear brand names and reputation: Referencing both Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School grounds the ad in credibility and legacy. That carries weight.
✅Award recognition: Leading with “Independent School of the Year for Performing Arts, Music and Drama” is a strong, specific accolade and helps the ad stand out from generic “outstanding school” messaging.
✅Video presence: Including a video adds energy and movement. It’s a good way to embody the “performing arts” message.
What’s Getting Lost:
❌Generic top-line promise: “Give your child the best start in life” is overused and underpowered. It’s a promise that every school makes, and no one can prove.
🗣️Missing emotional link: For an ad promoting performing arts, there’s surprisingly little emotion in the copy. The arts are vibrant, expressive, moving—and that feeling should be coming through.
Without being too cringy - this causes something called paradox of choice. When every option looks the same, people don’t feel empowered. They feel overwhelmed. So they scroll past, not because they didn’t like what they saw, but because nothing stood out. If you're not subverting the pattern, you’re at risk of getting skipped over.