Mott Community College hired BluFish Consulting as their agency of record for the 2016-2017 academic year. This was a crucial time for the College as they were in the midst of dealing with the Flint Water Crisis which had gained national attention.
Not only was the city negatively impacted, but the College’s enrollment numbers were down by 19% compared to the previous year. We had to move fast as the fall semester was only months away.
Our primary focus was to do a complete brand overhaul in order to give the College the public-facing image that it deserved. We started with perception studies in order to understand Mott’s current reputation. From this research, we identified a common theme amongst the target audience which was a desire to do more in life. As a result, the “Ready for More” campaign was born.
A large component of this campaign was compelling imagery. We wanted real students to tell the “Ready for More” story, so we worked with Mott to identify these individuals and then took beautiful black and white photos of them to be used throughout all campaign materials. Our goal was to inundate the campus and community with “Ready for More” campaign in a memorable way. The dramatic photography accomplished just that.
This campaign included outdoor, print, digital, television, transit, radio, direct mail, internal marketing efforts (including brand guidelines), and more. Large format graphics were installed around campus in an attempt to enliven the atmosphere. Not only did we want to reach prospective students, but we wanted to instill a sense of pride amongst current students and staff in order to generate word of mouth referrals.
Outcomes: This campaign was a large success. Not only were enrollment goals exceeded, but the client continually received positive feedback from community members and key stakeholders about the College’s improved image.
We received a total of six ADDY awards, including one gold award for this campaign.
