St. Michael’s College School is placing goodness ahead of greatness to stand out in a hyper-competitive private school landscape. The “Be The Good” campaign is the school’s most significant marketing effort to date, with hero spots set in libraries and gyms featuring the tagline.

“Right now, many put greatness at the top of the food chain,” says Nicholas Maiese, director of marketing and brand strategy (and English teacher) at St. Michael’s College School, a private Catholic institution for young men in midtown Toronto. “We are suggesting that goodness is, in fact, a higher calling than greatness. Being good isn’t easier than being great; it’s actually harder and the world needs more of it.”

The approach is informed by the school’s research that “character and values” are the lead drivers in the private school sector in Toronto. “Given our faith-based education platform, we believed that this was territory that we could lean into,” Maiese says.

The campaign is by agency Good & Ready, which first partnered with St. Mike’s in the spring of 2023. Media planning was led by 3Kings Media.

In the fall, the shop produced “Be the Good: All-Stars,” which launched during the NHL All Star game in February as a way to “make some noise and be intrusive” and included high-profile TV and in-venue placements at Scotiabank Arena. The current campaign is running on TV, digital and OOH.

“Given the increasingly competitive nature of the category, the school felt that it was time to increase our presence in the marketplace,” Maiese says.

The school was founded in 1852 and established by the Basilian Fathers, initially offering a combination of a high school and university education. Its alumni network numbers more than 11,000.