Building a connection between success and your purpose.
We repositioned The College Of St. Scholastica to capture more of what makes it unique – and how it helps unique students.
Creative
Data
Education
Media Planning & Buying
Research
Search
Social
The Challenge
An innovative school whose marketing needed to catch up.
The College of St. Scholastica delivers online and evening education — with the quality and support you’d expect from an in-person program. But there was little awareness or understanding with their target audience. Their marketing lacked a connection to the true student experience and their sense of purpose.
The Insight
Helping those who do “everyday good.”
Students with the “helping gene” need a special kind of school. As they prepare for careers in “helping professions” such as nursing, social work and education, they’re pursuing more than a degree. They’re seeking programs that align with their deep-held values, personal experience and goals — and that’s exactly what CSS provides.
The Research
Why were students fiercely loyal to a school whose campus they’d never visited?
Something unique was taking place in Duluth, Minnesota, and we needed to know what it was. How was their experience different than similar schools within a 500 mile radius? The College Of St. Scholastica was clearly had a special sauce and we needed to dig and understand it better.
The Ideation
We discovered the shared values at work and needed to amplify them.
Scratching deeper than the surface, we realized The College Of St. Scholastica offered more than nationally recognized programs and great outcomes: its unique culture embraced Benedictine values including love of learning, respect for others, community and stewardship. This was a natural match for students pursuing the “helping” professions — and the core inspiration for our multi-disciplinary campaign theme.
Smarter Experience
A Purpose-Driven Campaign
Taking all of these inputs together — and intersecting the school’s strongest qualifiers with students’ and prospects’ unique needs – we arrived at a powerful new campaign theme: RePurpose.
When students pour their dreams and energy into a purpose, The College Of St. Scholastica rallies behind them. This idea took the form of an oft-repeated campaign theme line: "Your Success Is Our Purpose." – an idea we wove into just about every display ad, social post and landing page.
The Outcome
Enrollments Are Up. Acquisition Costs Are Down.
Since launch, we've seen an impact that's tangible and measurable. Including a year-over-year increase in RFIs and enrollments, greater cost per lead efficiencies across key benchmarks, and digital awareness that drives engagement at two times the industry benchmarks.
