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Hi ESU,

We’ve hand-selected these case studies to show you our range and depth in higher education marketing and advertising. As you wade through, you will see that we’ve got the strategic, creative, and media chops to help ESU develop an airtight communications plan, inspired creative, and outstanding results.

Welcome ESU,

On this page, you’ll find the case studies we’ve selected especially for you. All of them showcase the talent, passion, and ingenuity we put into everything we do. Reach out if you have any questions!

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Elevating awareness in an uphill market.

Bloomsburg professor and student sit in front of monitors at an on-campus media editing station

Bloomsburg University Recruitment Marketing

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Bloomsburg University Recruitment Marketing

Home Work Bloomsburg University Recruitment Marketing

The Challenge

Bloomsburg University has always been focused on student access and success, and a rebranding effort in 2019 helped to sharpen that focus. But then BU needed to enhance brand awareness, support enrollment growth, and communicate its value proposition in the crowded Mid-Atlantic higher education landscape to multiple audiences—undergraduates, transfer students, graduate students, and parents.

Strategy

Partnering with Bloomsburg’s marketing and admissions teams, idfive developed an integrated, multiyear campaign strategy, informed by audience demographic data developed during the University’s rebranding. The objective: to drive site traffic, engagement, and CTRs to the BU Admissions microsite and position “Bloom” as a top choice for prospective students and their families.

While the FY20 campaign focused primarily on brand awareness, the FY21 campaign capitalized on the increased brand awareness to deliver a hybrid brand and lead generation approach. Among the tactics added were Facebook and Instagram retargeting and creative A/B testing across the Google Search, Facebook, and Instagram campaigns.

Media

With ongoing active account management, and using the information gained from the previous years’ campaigns, the idfive media team further refined audience segmentation in FY21 by audience type and location.

Facebook social campaigns and Instagram story placements focused on driving engagement with two main strategies: prospecting and remarketing.

Prospecting ads targeted parents, students and curated high school lists, as well as newly implemented Facebook/Instagram page and website visitors lists created with existing lead and inquiry contacts.
Remarketing ads targeted recent Facebook/Instagram page and website visitors of the BU page and lookalike audiences created based on this list of users.

259

Percent above Google Search industry benchmark, Aug. to Oct. 2021

It’s been rewarding to partner with the Bloomsburg team and push the media plan to deliver more each year as capabilities in attribution and tracking have expanded.

Erinn Hesse

Associate Director of Client Services

Results

Year-over-year CTR performance, FY20-FY21:

Facebook ↑24.33%
Instagram ↑ 39.71%
Google Search ↑ 166.12%
Google Remarketing ↑ 915.24%

Defining the voice of a community pillar.

Aims Community College

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Aims Community College

Home Work Aims Community College

The Challege

Aims Community College shatters the common perception of “community college,” with multiple locations and state-of-the-art facilities—including commercial-grade flight simulators, maker spaces, and a new community welcome center, to name a few features. But it lacked a cohesive brand to support its vision as a “first choice” and recognized leader in student success.

The Strategy

With an initial scope of work to analyze the current Aims brand, idfive started in a familiar place: with research, consisting of:

a brand communications audit of Aims’ existing messaging architecture, brand assets, and marketing materials.
comparative analysis of three competing colleges’ brand attributes.
an AudienceScan to determine audience sentiment (actual and desired) using surveys, interviews, and a review of existing research.
a Brand Perception Workshop to engage internal stakeholders to shape brand attributes, platform, and messaging architecture.

The final deliverables included branding, a new tagline, a refreshed mascot, a viewbook, and a brand anthem video.

Branding

After presenting our findings to the president and her cabinet, our scope of work expanded to include developing a revised Aims Brand Guide. With a refreshed brand promise and platform (including supports), a revised logo, and reenergized voice and tone, the College wanted a tagline that could succinctly express the new brand’s position. Working collaboratively with the Aims MarComm team, we launched a research-based initiative to identify a new Aims tagline

— a process that started with brainstorming sessions and ended with surveys and focus groups with major campus stakeholders.

The winner—All In—is best described by our focus group participants: “Catchy, and easy to remember.” “it’s everything we are.” “It’s an allegory and delivers a broader message.” “It’s what the Aims community is.” “Put a stamp on it.”

Aims Red

Aims Black

Aims Slate

Evolution Blue

Corn Husk

Fountain

Design

Arty the Aardvark has come to represent comfort, familiarity, friendship, and kindness. For example, at Arty’s Pantry, students receive free food and basic supplies.

Since Arty isn’t your stereotypical college athletics cheerleader (Aims doesn’t have sports) the redesigned Arty needed to be more than just another pissed off mascot. He needed to be a positive, energetic personification of the institution and community.

Through a highly collaborative and iterative process, Arty emerged—he’s a little bit “dad bod,” a lot “can-do spirit,” and All In.

Viewbook

A refreshed college brand requires a bold, new recruitment publication. We wanted Aims’ new viewbook to connect with prospective students on an emotional level—a critical goal for the admissions team—while also communicating the College’s distinctions with bold visuals and user-focused content. The viewbook was also the first embodiment of the new brand guidelines we had developed for Aims, and aided in expanding on the brand’s look and feel.

To ensure the viewbook is compelling, a unique peek-a-boo cover was designed which opens to an exciting spread explaining what it means to be All In.

Video

For Aims Community College, creating a video that flips the script on who they are and what they offer was a critical next step in rallying a local and national audience of perspective and current students, staff, and the community. After partnering with idfive on an award-winning brand, “All In” tagline, mascot, and marketing materials, Aims possessed a more cohesive and effective messaging platform to articulate the Aims advantage.

With a 90-second montage of students in experiential learning environments at multiple locations and state-of-the-art facilities—including commercial-grade flight simulators, maker spaces, and a new community welcome center, idfive was able to help Aims shatter the common perception of “community college.” Our video production team helped Aims go “All In” and be recognized as a first choice option and leader in higher education.

Building a universal brand for astrophysics.

Deep space photograph displays a distant star cluster and nebula

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

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Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Home Work Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

The Challenge

Since its founding over half a century ago, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian became one of the leading astronomy and astrophysics centers in the world. But brilliant research didn’t necessarily translate into a brand that told a clear story of who they are and how their discoveries continue to expand humanity’s knowledge of our universe.

Research

We began our engagement with CfA with a two-pronged approach, reviewing existing communications and interviewing some of their top researchers and leadership. To gain an outside view, we also interviewed research partners, funders, and advisory board members. We had two clear goals in mind: understand the CfA, and find out how they’re perceived by the world.

850+

Researchers and staff.

For a life-long space nerd like me, working with CfA was an amazing experience. It was such an incredible privilege to get to interview some of the leading astronomers and astrophysicists in the world and learn more about the discoveries CfA has made and continues to make every day. I know all of us at idfive are immensely proud of the fact that our work is helping CfA tell their story better so they can continue to expand humanity’s understanding of the universe.

Sean Carton

Chief Strategist

Strategy

Our research revealed two key data points: 1) The CfA is regarded as one of the world’s leading astrophysics organizations; but 2) nobody really understood their structure, and that misunderstanding often led to difficulties in securing funding or recruiting scientists. They were doing some of the most amazing science in the world, but outsiders were confused about who was doing it.

Branding

We realized that in order to tell the true story of CfA, their name had to change. We wanted it to communicate CfA’s preeminent position in astronomy and astrophysics while communicating the equity of Harvard’s and the Smithsonian’s contributions. The new name – The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian did exactly that, emphasizing science over structure.

Design

We wanted to create a visual presentation of the new name to reflect the CfA’s long commitment to science and collaborative discovery. The symbolic gradient of the logo is reminiscent of a stellar spectrum—a key tool of astronomy instantly recognizable by their external audiences—while the logo’s contemporary typography speaks to both today and tomorrow’s discoveries.

CFA RED

CFA VIOLET

Website

The redesigned CfA website, published in March 2021, features copy guided by updated messaging and a design informed by updated brand visuals. The website’s content strategy puts science first by prioritizing ongoing research via a “Big Questions” section, and highlighting research, people, and facilities within the navigation.

Conclusion

Through all of our work, idfive has helped the CfA navigate a complicated institutional environment to ultimately implement a clear, compelling, and consistent brand that speaks to both internal and external audiences. United and energized by the new brand and marketing, communications, and fundraising tools, the CfA can now focus on the incredible research and discoveries that lie ahead.

Banding together under a bold umbrella.

University of Hartford

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University of Hartford

Home Work University of Hartford

The Challenge

The University of Hartford created their UHart Start Strategic Action Plan as a guiding light for the next five years, then they partnered with idfive to turn their action plan into a rally cry that would generate excitement and share their vision with stakeholders and the community.

The Strategy

After analyzing UHart’s strategic plan, idfive got to work by reorganizing the plan’s contents to lead with a shared vision in its realized state, and then use goals and objectives as proof points, creating a compelling narrative for the next five years and beyond. We also reformatted the action plan into a glossy, full-color 20-page booklet that puts the University’s future in the actual hands of key stakeholders, as well as a bi-fold mailer summarizing the plan for additional audiences.Finaly, we built a robust and engaging landing page hosted on the main site that detailed UHart Start’s story while granting full transparency into the plan’s details and responsibilities.

Print Collateral

It’s nice to have a plan, but policy and strategic documentation can often look and feel sterile and calculating. Our job for UHart was to make it fun, dynamic, and useful. We started by remixing the UHart Start plan into a 20-page booklet. Leading with a bold visual representation of the UHart community’s vision, the spread showcases each goal with flair. The result is a tangible representation of UHart’s promise.

For those in the extended UHart network who are curious but not directly involved in the strategic action plan, the mailbox still offered an opportunity to showcase the vision for their beloved institution in a way that still feels real. The mailer succinctly summarizes the plan with a call to participate and engage. But even more importantly, it delivers a physical reminder of the benefits of buy-in to a donor base that rose to the occasion with a 30% increase in unrestricted donations during 2020.

Landing page

UHart’s vibrant brand color palette and pattern library beckon users to dig into strategic action and find out how to engage in key initiatives. The website rewards curiosity and exploration by progressively disclosing information to increasingly specific user questions. Along the way, custom module designs keep things visually interesting as users progress from passing interest to downloading the fully ratified policy document.

The Result

Getting people excited and engaged with a strategic plan with just policy and strategic documentation can be herculean. Using the sum of its parts and remixing it into something exciting, compelling, and full of enthusiasm is how we did it.

Since deploying the landing page, the average time-spent-on-page was around 2:28, showcasing a higher-than-average engagement rate, rather than the average of 0:52.

2:28

Landing page engagement rate

Creating tomorrow’s public health heroes.

A Drexel Dornsife student wearing glasses smiles while sitting on a bench with a slate wall background

Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health

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Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health

Home Work Drexel Dornsife School of Public Health

The Challenges

Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health has a strong foothold in its Philadelphia hometown. At the same time, it’s a nationally ranked Top 20 school with a global reputation as a leader in urban public health.

Here’s how idfive told that impactful story to a diverse audience to increase applications for the program.

In 2019, the American Public Health Association held its Annual Meeting & Expo in Philadelphia, attracting over 17,000 attendees. Dornsife had an opportunity to make a powerful statement in its hometown. The event was also an opportunity to promote Dornsife’s Master in Public Health program to the public health community.

#1

School of Public Health in Philadelphia

Using lookalikes, retargeting, and contextual tactics we were able to boost enrollments 25% YoY - 35% when including online as well as in-person enrollments.

John Love

Senior Media Strategist

Marketing/Media

The campaign focuses on the school’s global impact while reinforcing Dornsife’s strong foothold in Philadelphia. With emotional imagery and stories of Drexel Dornsife students and faculty who are solving public health problems locally and across the globe, the creative serves as both lead generation and general awareness messaging for a targeted campaign that supports Drexel Dornsife’s admissions team efforts to increase MPH program enrollments by 25% by:

Increasing brand awareness:

The volume of branded search keyword traffic to the Drexel Dornsife site
The number and frequency of ad impressions

Engaging qualified prospects

The number of requests for information submitted through the landing page
Amount of social media campaign engagement (likes, shares, comments, etc.)
Click through rates for campaign tactics

Event Promotion

idfive created an experiential conference space, sponsorship banners, charging stations, and print ads to boost brand awareness. The environmentals offered compelling stories about education and research — from national safety for firemen to research about the inequality of health in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. The campaign included strategic billboard placements and delivered ads to audiences in close proximity to the conference center to capitalize on the convention to support awareness of Dornsife’s differentiators .

Promoting the human side of online learning.

Walden University

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Walden University

Home Work Walden University

The Challenge

Walden University is one of the largest online universities in the world with over 50,000 students in over 120 countries. One of Walden’s core strengths has been developing innovative new modalities and evolving their programs to meet contemporary challenges. When they wanted to launch some of their newest, they turned to idfive for creative approaches driven by research.

Research

It’s tempting to think of “adult learners” as a monolithic category, but both we and Walden understood that nothing could be further from the truth. While most adults going back to school do share similar challenges when it comes to balancing learning with the rest of their lives, what drives them very much depends on their profession, their interests, and their ultimate life goals. Unless we knew them, we couldn’t speak to them.

MSEd

So we got to know them, and the knowledge we gained drove each unique campaign. For the relaunch of the MSEd we learned that if we were going to get noticed we had to break away from the very crowded competitive set by being bold, sounding fresh, and ditching the cliches every other program seemed to be using. Our ads featured bold, single-color backgrounds, exuberant, real-looking people who looked nothing like the ho-hum stock photos featured by other schools, and typography that evoked real-life classroom tools such as notebook paper and blackboards.

Woman standing in front of teal background laughing

MSW

In order to reach out to prospective MSW students we had to take a different approach. For these audiences Walden’s long-time emphasis on social change already resonated: our research showed that “change” was the key word when it came to motivating people to go into social work. The imagery of this campaign focused around images of real students and their stories of how their education would empower them to bring real change to their communities. Using a dark, somewhat muted palette for the background along with strong, simple sans-serif type, the effect was to put the student front and center, projecting power and determination.

Doctoral

Prospective students interested in doctoral programs had similar motivations and shared many of the same characteristics as the prospective MSW students. People interested in earning their doctorates, regardless of the discipline, were driven people determined to make real change, something many had experience with through their work with their communities. These were inspiring people and our campaign reached out to them with a story-driven approach featuring accomplished alumni in close-cropped, eyes-forward poses and short, declarative copy about their accomplishments. The effect was like having an intimate conversation with each, one designed to draw in the prospective student and inspire them to action.

Undergraduate Academy

Our research also showed that adult learners who had committed to returning to finish their undergraduate degrees after being out of school for a long time were pretty determined folks, too. They had to be because they often had to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to gain the education that would help them obtain a better life for themselves and their families. We tested two concepts for the new Undergraduate Academy with them: “It’s Your Turn” focusing on empowering their decision and “Think Again,” a phrase which pivoted on the double meanings of both “thinking again” and using education to reconsider their lives. Walden eventually chose “It’s Your Turn” and the campaign imagery focused on simple shots of “everyday” adults in the target demographic boldly filling the frame over an “It’s Your Turn” watermark background, their eyes raised towards the future drawing the viewer to the straightforward, encouraging, empowering headlines.

Celebration Slate

Cool grey

Graduation Gold

Traditional Teal

Tempo

Finally, our campaign to promote Tempo, Walden’s new self-paced modality for undergraduate learners used straight talk and bold statements to make sure that prospects knew “yeah: you got this” when thinking about completing their degrees. Knowing that employers were taking a more active role in educating their employees as a way of increasing workforce effectiveness and employee retention, our campaign addressed the needs of employers as well, speaking directly to them to emphasize that the program would be ideal for improving the effectiveness of their employees and that their financial support or support offered by giving employees time off to complete their degrees with the Tempo program isn’t a cost: it’s an investment in their own business.

Survey responses for Tempo campaign research

Campaign Optimization

Much of Walden’s media buying is handled by another agency employed strictly to handle those transactions, so idfive collaborated with them and our partners at Walden to create a wide range of formats and executions for all five campaigns. We utilized a wide range of channels in most cases, including traditional banner advertising, social media advertising, email, and, in some cases (eg. the Doctoral campaign) even print collateral such as posters.

Wherever possible, a “test, optimize, focus” approach was used, starting with multiple executions of online ads that varied headlines, imagery, and, in some cases, colors — all within brand and campaign standards, of course — which would run in flights on targeted media. Results were analyzed regularly, often on a daily basis in the early stages, and creative that performed the best replaced creative which did not yield optimal results. Using this method, the campaign was quickly optimized around the most effective ads yielding the greatest response rates.

Alumni Magazine

Walden Magazine, published twice a year for an alumni audience, highlights the contributions that Walden graduates make to their communities and the world. The 2021 Summer/Fall issue—with a theme of Finding and Building Community in a Transformative Time—took the community focus to another level. Walden already had an important story to tell: as a leader and early adopter in online education, they maintained a sense of community throughout the challenges of education in the time of Covid. But in early 2021, both of Walden’s founders, Rita and Bernie Turner passed away.

From Confronting Healthcare Disparities in the LGBTQIA+ Community to Stopping the Spread of Covid-19 in the Navajo Nation, the magazine flips from an expected, somber tone to a celebratory one. With a visual focus on what makes Walden special—people—the 2021 Summer/Fall Walden Magazine both engages its audience and honors the University’s founders in equal measure.

Redefining business school prerequisites.

A woman smiles while standing at podium during a speech in a conference room

Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

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Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Home Work Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

The Challenge

The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School competes for students in a difficult global market – one that’s gotten even more challenging as economic, political, and demographic forces erode enrollment numbers at business schools nationwide. A decidedly different kind of b-school, Carey looked to focus on both International and domestic students who take a more holistic, mission-based approach to business—fulfilling the Carey mission to “teach business with humanity in mind.”

The Solution

Research/Analysis
Graphic Design
Copywriting
Media
Enrollment Strategy
Branding

Expressing the wonder of space exploration.

Nighttime photo of the Milky Way visible over a mountainous horizon

Johns Hopkins APL Civil Space

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Johns Hopkins APL Civil Space

Home Work Johns Hopkins APL Civil Space

The Challenge

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Civil Space project needed a brand new website to communicate the magnitude and “cool factor” of their work — from defending the planet from asteroids to unraveling the mysteries of the universe — to multiple audiences. And they needed it in nine months. It was rocket science. Literally.

Check out the APL Civil Space website.

Going Boldly

Sure, idfive developers had created interactive maps before. But to meet the challenge of galaxy travel, they created a destination map of the universe — going boldly where no developers have gone before.

Number of templates, including an interactive galaxy map

Strategy

Following our tried-and-true script, an idfive team kicked off the project with our Discover360™ process. We spoke with scientists, engineers, management, marketers, and educators. [A side note: These are some awesome, inspiring folks, some of whom worked on the country’s first space program in the ’60s.] We surveyed a wide cross-section of potential site visitors. We geeked out on web analytics and content audits (not to mention interstellar space), and scoped out what others in the field are doing. Armed with all of that data, we were able to share with our partners a creative brief and strategic direction that would inform everything from site architecture to design. Our aha moment: The site needed to appeal to a wide range of audiences — from middle-school students to rocket scientists — without confusing the one or condescending to the other.

Then COVID-19 hit.

But the idfive team and our APL Civil Space partners refused to let a global pandemic get in the way of our momentum. We switched our brainstorming workshop to a virtual format and presented the first rounds of a proposed Information Architecture and wireframes. Following revisions and approvals, we moved to the design phase and presented three concepts. Elements from all three were incorporated into the final design.

To meet the tight timeline and maximize budget, our developers completed the front- and back-end work concurrently with the design phase, relishing challenges like building a map-of-the-galaxy app. Our copywriters made sure that the final copy would appeal to space novices and rocket scientists alike.

Design

The visuals needed to be as awe-inspiring and compelling as space itself. Our design “North Star,” as pointed out in the project creative brief: “Think of the first time you saw the night sky on a clear, moonless night — away from artificial light or interference.” One picture = 1,000 words.

Development

idfive developers took the challenge of engaging site visitors to a new level by creating a Drupal 8 widget with Augmented Reality and 3-D assets that delivers state-of-the-art space instruments to your screen. Or maybe you have an iOS and want to drop the New Horizons spacecraft on your kitchen counter.

Conclusion

The APL Civil Space website engages school children, rocket scientists, and everyone in between with a richly visual, highly interactive experience — one that piques curiosity, encourages further exploration, and induces wonder. Just like the night sky on a clear, moonless night.

Connecting alumni, one moment at a time.

Goucher alumna Mildred Dunnock wears a black feather boa in a striking image used for the Undaunted campaign

Goucher College

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Goucher College

Home Work Goucher College

The Challenge

Goucher College announced its intention to raise $100 million dollars by 2022 for an ambitious campus construction and renovation effort. To do that, it would need to inspire donors, alums, and stakeholders — many who’ve had no contact with the school in years — to reconnect and give. The school’s change from female to co-ed in 1987 and the addition of new degree programs made the challenge of meaningfully engaging alumnae/i even more complex. Despite the significant changes at the school over the decades, leadership believed there was still an emotional thread that connected all Goucher students. The college partnered with idfive to find it — and reignite support for the school’s future.

Decorated event space with large posters

The Solution

Through a comprehensive discovery process, idfive and Goucher College found that what excited alumnae and alumni most was recounting the personal moments at the school that changed the trajectory of their lives. It could have been the day they chose to explore a new discipline, a lesson learned in defeat, or an opportunity to stand up and speak their mind.

Inspired by these stories of students taking their first tentative steps despite the uncertainty that lay ahead of them, we developed Goucher Undaunted, a comprehensive online and offline fundraising effort. Each of the campaign’s tactics invites audiences to remember the moments that matter to them while asking them to support the moments-to-come for future students. A giving page features stories of Goucher alumnae/i plotting the moments and places on an interactive campus map. A video shared over social media and during the campaign’s opening gala expresses Goucher’s underlying legacy. And a series of digital and print assets communicate the Goucher Undaunted mission.

In the first year, the campaign has already raised half the funds it needs while giving alumnae/i a reason to reconnect with Goucher College and each other.

Branding

The Goucher experience is marked by shared experience, combined with a signature bold approach to liberal arts education. The Goucher Undaunted emblem reflects that purpose and rallying cry.

The yellow color of the surrounding box and highlighted “UN” represent Goucher’s influence on the lives it touches. Goucher as a contained place and unified concept is comprised of the same lasting element that capacitates the magic “UN”ning moment that summarizes the Goucher experience.

Undaunted Blue

Undaunted Gray

Undaunted Yellow

Goucher Blue

Accent Blue

The Result

The campaign reached half of the total goal in its first year while giving alumnae/i a reason to reconnect with Goucher College—and each other.

There’s more where that came from. Explore our website, meet our team, and learn about idfive.

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