Don't Just Attend—Go All In

Our extensive discovery process involved interviews and focus groups with hundreds of stakeholders, and was informed by external quantitative research of the school’s prospective student audiences. All this fact-finding led us to one key revelation: Emmanuel’s admissions activities needed a more distinctive visual and verbal personality.

We used this recommendation to drive the development of a comprehensive institutional messaging platform—one that we described as “less safe, soft, and polite.” By instilling some bolder, more ambitious language into their platform and then strategically socializing this concept and new messaging with stakeholders at all levels of the organization, we helped spearhead a change in the way Emmanuel thinks and talks about itself. To make this transition as simple as possible, we then adapted the longer platform into a more concise, actionable messaging digest that could be distributed to and referenced by communications staff across the institution.

With the assistance of Emmanuel’s Marketing staff, we embarked on the development of new admissions creative based on our messaging and recommendations. We tested a pair of creative concepts with high school focus groups and landed on the rallying cry of “Go All In” to form the central theme of the materials. This idea played out across a flagship viewbook, targeted junior and yield pieces, an admissions-focused microsite, new video assets, and new institutional and athletic identities.

Additionally, we collaborated with Emmanuel’s internal team to develop a communications plan and theme for the College’s upcoming Centennial observance, making sure that it aligned with this evolving sense of self. Thanks in part to our commitment to transparency and inclusivity throughout the project, the new brand and assets were widely embraced by the entire Emmanuel community—one particularly committed alumnus even went so far as to have the new identity tattooed on his arm.