THE BRAND
Founded in 1908 as the New Jersey State Normal School, Montclair State’s first graduating class of 187 young adults earned their teaching credentials in the campus’ single building. It's a storied legacy that’s a far cry from the university that Montclair State has become.
Today, more than 21,000 students are enrolled at MSU, where they’re offered more than 300 majors, minors, concentrations and certificate programs. Now a nationally-ranked research, doctoral granting institution, theirs is a story of unprecedented growth and momentum. A story that needed to be told. That’s where we came in.
THE CHALLENGE
It’s a universal point-of-pain for higher ed marketing departments. You service a number of internal clients, many of whom have strong opinions and different ideas about how to get things done.
So while our objectives were to develop an anthemic brand concept with the flexibility to speak both universally and specifically to this spectrum of benefits, we also scheduled interviews and subsequent creative presentations, with both the marketing team and all University department heads.
We then developed a clean, compelling design that framed quick takeaways and that distinctly referenced Montclair State’s unique offerings. And as in everything we do, we aimed to create emotional connections with our target audiences throughout.
THE SOLUTION
Montclair State becomes “Red Hawk ready” and gives every stakeholder their chance to shine. After our interviews with the School and College Deans, we dug deep to build high—and discovered among many things, that Montclair State’s mascot, the “red hawk” had yet to be leveraged in their branding. It was this that presented a powerful opportunity to brand and unify our messaging—while creating an approach that distinctly positioned MSU within in a crowded, lookalike sector.
We called the campaign:
Red Hawk Ready
Undergraduate Admissions Viewbook
