There were a number of challenges the organization faced, not the least of which was internal friction with “base brand” Champlain College stakeholders who felt the online offering was cheapening the brand. We needed to position this division differently, to be more compelling to external prospects and palatable to Champlain leadership.
We set out to celebrate the college’s practical approach to vocational learning
Given some of the internal politics, we reached deeply not only in gathering student prospect insights, but also garnering Champlain leadership’s enfranchisement in the overall process. Using the college’s own motto “Let Us Dare”, we re-imagined the entire marketing mix to form a much more compelling, modernized offering.
The college’s hands on approach to learning is a core strength
Short term, we used our marketing and digital ecosystem audits to dramatically improve search engine optimization for the current site with the key ingredient being our bringing onto the site the rich course catalog (which was stored off its main domain). Long term, we led the college (both Continuing Ed and leadership) through a process of re-imagining the goto-market funding model to be subscription based, with heightened certification opportunities. Critically, we were able to help align Continuing Ed and leadership around this new vision.
Our hard work paid off, with the CPS division seeing a 47%% increase in year-on-year enrollment as a direct result of our SEO and new digital outreach efforts. Since implementing the subscription model, the Continuing Education division has moved from strength to strength, having grown in revenues seven fold. Today, CPS is the most profitable division within Champlain College and the subscription service is held up as a model for nationwide emulation.
Golden Effie Winner for Visa financial services.
P&G Global Best In Class Brand Building Award for Pampers
Golden Effie Winner for Crest Toothpaste.
