THE CHALLENGE
Expand the Brand to Reach a New Audience
UMass Dartmouth’s Success by Degrees Program awards qualified MA state community college graduates a 15% tuition credit for online courses working toward a bachelor’s degree through UMass Dartmouth’s Online and Continuing Education (OCE) department. They were interested in building awareness for the opportunity to a new audience.
OCE partnered with 5 Horizons to expand their design style and explore a revamped approach to branded content, with the ultimate goal of increasing degree completion leads.
THE STRATEGY
A Fresh Look for a Fresh Outcome
Since we knew the audience we want to reach—community college graduates—we focused our strategy on a multi-touchpoint marketing campaign across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Considering the characteristics and general demographics of that audience, we developed a video-based paid social advertising campaign with uniquely modern and playful animations. Our Creative Team began by establishing a look and feel for the overarching program. Then through storyboarding, we wove a consistent style through each digital piece and across all social channels, ensuring that wherever a user encountered the ad, they would experience the same brand.
Distinct But Recognizable
Our designers leaned into brighter, less utilized UMass Dartmouth brand colors like yellow and light blue, distinguishing the program as a unique offering. Moving away from hard angles or color blocks, we incorporated flexible, round, organic shapes to reflect UMass Dartmouth’s modernist campus. We layered architectural and textured elements into the background of each ad and paired them with duotone student imagery and kinetic typography animation.
Moving away from OCE’s typical design style evoked a sense of newness and innovation, while still remaining recognizable. Musical and audio components further captivated our target audience and emphasized the diverse community and inventive spirit of UMass Dartmouth students.
THE RESULTS
200+ increase in leads
With new design and style, we claimed fresh awareness for the Success by Degrees program and successfully increased degree completion leads.
This original design approach was so well-received that we later applied it to the program’s landing page to continue the cohesive experience from social ad to the web. And it set the bar for more out-of-the-box thinking on subsequent ad campaigns and a continued partnership with UMass Dartmouth Online and Continuing Education.
