Situation: Nationally ranked and constantly upping its game, Ball State University wanted to evolve its existing brand (launched in 2017) and strategy to be bigger, cooler, smarter, and more uplifting. While its We Fly brand had been embraced by the internal Cardinal community, BSU still needed to increase undergraduate enrollment and raise brand awareness and visibility.
Solution: Establish a new brand strategy to help We Fly to work even better, connect faster and in bolder ways with prospects, while showcasing BSU’s power to set up students for great success. We took Ball State’s brand from largely institutionally focused to a more student support focus. We leveraged its success stories by weaving in powerful people stories and colorful details to illustrate what We Fly means at BSU. A new design approach, bolstered by more graphic treatments and an abstract treatment of the University’s wing detail, brought new energy and big movement to the visual identity. The newly evolved brand strategy amplified outcomes, introduced new graphic elements and motion, and gave the brand the powerful relaunch and boost it craved.
Results: We connected the messaging of We Fly to what Ball State can and has done for students. Give it punch. Give it power. Let it fly.
This work launched with a national media campaign and has been running with great success since Winter 2024. So far, this is what we’ve seen:
- 35,681,703 impressions via overall campaign performance with 4,821 conversions
- 374% increase in Visit button clicks
- 70% increase in Landing Page views
- 93,459 new users to the website via the campaign, with a total of 112,972 visitors, equaling a 50.71% engagement rate
- 1,593,694 impressions generated by CTV/OTT advertising running across Disney, USA Today, CBS, Fox, NBC, and the CW
- 6,313,588 impressions via Facebook/Instagram advertising
- Strong and steady enrollment numbers in an increasingly tough market
What we did: comprehensive brand study, brand tracking research, brand strategy, brand concept, logo development, brand implementation, brand and social media guidelines, brand training and consultation, COVID communications, photography, video production including brand anthem and storytelling series, enrollment materials, environmental design, web design and messaging consultation, visit center welcome presentation, brand awareness campaign including digital, transit, OTT/CTV, out-of-home, and radio, brand refresh, ongoing brand campaign management