Refreshed Brand Strategy, Platform, and Awareness Campaign
Clinton, SC | Completed 2023
Presbyterian College, a Christian liberal arts institution nestled in Clinton, SC, recently underwent significant changes, including new leadership and a strategic plan roll-out positioning the school as “America’s Innovative Service College.”
Recognizing the need to authentically reflect its core values of community service, support, and growth, PC aimed to overhaul its brand perception to align with its strategic plan. The marketing team partnered with GMB to create a refreshed brand strategy, platform, and an awareness campaign that captured the entire essence of Presbyterian College.
The Goal:
Create buzz and excitement for Presbyterian College and its new strategic plan while creating a brand platform that resonates with all stakeholders by…
- Defining PC through the modern lens of “America’s Innovative Service College”
- Activating the brand so that it tells the story of how PC was founded on service in an authentic, compelling way
- Equipping PC’s admissions team with updated brand guidelines and assets to help them generate awareness and engagement with PC’s various target audiences
The Challenge:
Staying true to PC’s core values while balancing varying perspectives within PC’s community as we clarified what it means to be “America’s Innovative Service College”
The Opportunity:
Embracing PC’s traditions, defining what it means to be a “Blue Hose”, and emphasizing its commitment to innovation and service through real student and faculty stories.
Go True Blue
PC needed a unifying voice to rally behind and create a cohesive visual story across all media. Leaning on beloved PC traditions, Blue Hose Pride, and the College’s dedication to service, we created a robust brand platform with a supporting rallying cry that united all members of PC: Go True Blue!
Finding Balance with Messaging
Although Presbyterian is in the College’s name, PC is open to students of all faiths and walks of life. As we crafted messaging for the school, it was important to balance PC’s dedication to faith, service, and academics while still conveying its core values of inclusivity and acceptance for all.
Crafting a Rallying Cry
Inspired by PC’s Blue Hose Mascot, the rallying cry represents the pride, support, legacy, and dedication to a college that transformed the future for so many people. It defines what it means to be a Blue Hose, and the campaign “Go True Blue” was a natural progression of the brand platform, embodying PC’s authenticity and bringing the brand to life.
Embodying True Blue Camaraderie
Throughout the brand platform process, there were varying opinions among PC’s team about who they were as a college and what messages needed to be prioritized. Our intake sessions and brand pillars workshops allowed the GMB team to identify patterns in language and vocabulary that united all perspectives under one messaging strategy.
Generating More and More Buy-In
The entirety of this project emphasized the importance of having the right people in the room at the right time. The PC team was very involved throughout the brand process; it was obvious they were invested in the PC brand and wanted to collaborate closely to get the messaging and visuals right. Their support opened the door for a lot of conversation, allowing us to take the brand further and generate more buy-in for the brand platform and campaign.
Ushering in a New (Visual) Era
With the brand platform and messaging strategy complete, the next step was to craft visual language representing the PC of today. Creating an elevated secondary color palette and outlining additional typography options gave PC a fresher look and feel that accurately reflects what PC stands for now and where it’s going in the future.
Results: Finding PC’s Voice
The True Blue campaign became a rallying cry for the entire PC community, igniting enrollment marketing efforts and equipping the internal team with consistent messaging. The close collaboration between marketing and admissions resulted in a brand that both teams were excited to promote and resonated with prospective students. PC stakeholders fully embraced the new brand identity and have since brought it to life through signage, billboards, swag, digital and print campaigns, and other marketing collateral, reflecting a renewed sense of pride and excitement about PC’s future.
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