Education
Ideas.
Columbia Southern University (CSU) partnered with evok to develop a multi-channel campaign that would elevate brand awareness and target and drive prospective students through the conversion funnel. The campaign needed to align messaging across multiple media channels, including TV, radio, OOH, digital, and social media. The goal was to create unique marketing narratives targeting a variety of student personas that would be cohesive under one overarching theme, delivered in an authentic and genuine manner. To achieve this goal, we developed a strategy that focused on understanding and speaking directly to CSU’s target audiences. Through persona development, evok identified four key segments: The Returning Student, The Seasoned Transfer, The Value Seeker, and The Connected Professional. Each persona had unique characteristics, needs, and challenges that informed the creative approach. The strategy was to create messaging that resonated with these audiences by addressing their pain points and highlighting CSU’s unique value proposition as a flexible, affordable, and accessible online university.
Work
Created and executed an in-depth industry research study involving interviews/ surveys and detailed persona development. The “We See You” campaign was crafted to recognize and validate the challenges prospective students face. The campaign speaks directly to audiences in a relatable and empathetic manner with a creative formula that calls upon students with an identifier unique to their situation (“The Debt Doubter,” “The Multi-Tasking Parent,” etc.). It not only reassures them that CSU understands their circumstances but also provides supporting information on the school’s unique offerings. These include affordable tuition, fully online classes, and personalized support to help students cross that graduation stage. Each ad features a clear call-to-action, directing prospects to “See yourself at CSU” and visit the campaign landing page to learn more.
The results from the “We See You” campaign were overwhelmingly positive, marking significant improvements in brand awareness, engagement with potential students and increased enrollment.
Located just south of Orlando, the City of St. Cloud engaged the evok team to develop a stand-out brand identity uniquely representative of their Florida hometown feel. With a diverse population, longstanding roots in the military community and boundless potential for growth on both residential and commercial fronts, the task at hand was to create a “do it all” brand that not only reinforced St. Cloud’s best assets but also introduced it to a new market.
Following extensive community forums, meetings with residents and local business owners, and on-site exploration, we uncovered deep findings about St. Cloud. These insights included a desire to uphold the city’s small-town roots and tight-knit community — a great place to raise a family — while still inviting expansion to bring in businesses and amenities. With these findings as a guide, our team got to work.
The City of St. Cloud’s logo was developed to represent the community by incorporating elements of its natural surroundings and celebrated history. From the colors to the relaxed script font, this logo encompasses the essence of St. Cloud. Additionally, our team coined a “mosaic” approach to the city’s branding, allowing both the logo and tagline to be customized depending on application.
The “mosaic” branding style designed for St. Cloud allows the City to customize the logo depending on each application by changing out the tiles used. The primary brandmark with the wave, sandhill crane and military stripes tiles lives on all-encompassing pieces, such as destination ads and as the logo on websites, stationery, etc. For special applications, such as department-specific pieces, the tiles can be changed out to better represent the subject matter.
The City of St. Cloud tagline was also developed using the “mosaic” branding approach. As with the primary logo, the overarching tagline of “Your Centerplace for Life” is used on all-encompassing pieces. For special applications, such as promoting specific activities, the tagline can be tailored by switching out the last word to an approved variation, such as “Your Centerplace for Business” and “Your Centerplace for Recreation.”
Armed with an updated identity, the evok team assisted in a widespread rollout of the St. Cloud branding — from street signage and marketing materials, to developing an in-depth brand standards guide to help inform future pieces.
Results
positive response to campaign ads
of prospective students expressed interest in enrolling
increase in national brand recognition
national brand recognition in key markets (Columbia, SC and Jacksonville, FL)
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