Years
A desire to serve and inspire people from all walks of life has long defined Marian University.
Marian decided to set a daring, but achievable with the right help and resources, Wildly Important Goal of doubling the number of graduates by 2025. How does a small, private university start on the path of recruiting the desired students that would help them reach and surpass their strategic goal over the course of nine years? Marian needed to stand out in Indiana and as a private institution when the competition for enrollment numbers proved more challenging than ever.
Marian started by partnering with Up&Up to uncover who they were and find out how to share that story with their target audiences. They wanted to combine their deep-rooted history and tradition with a modern approach to adapt to the ever-changing higher education industry. We wanted to work with Marian because of their strong focus on student success and commitment to the greater good–one of our fundamental company values.
Leading with Strategy

Brand Platform

Compelling visuals and exploratory core messaging gave life into execution, which shows in each deliverable.
Brand Activation
We created banners and other signage on campus that reminded Marian students and visitors to find the strength within themselves. The brand messaging platform also speaks to alumni and the community with a bold sense of pride.
Content Strategy, Production and Activation
A microsite was built to accompany the viewbook and serves as the main landing page for paid media. We also created a multi-channel content strategy to share the new messaging and stories through the website, email, and social media. This helps drive students to Marian at various points in the funnel. At the top of the funnel, a brand video, out-of-home advertisements, and digital display ads were placed in targeted markets to build overall awareness and boost interest. Also, an organic strategy targeted students searching for particular academic programs, while email and social media were used to push out stories and information aimed at increasing yield.
Up&Up helped us define our brand, developed key messaging, and created design templates for the website, an advertising campaign, and print collateral. Their work played a big part in our recruitment success the following year—a record FTFT freshman class that was up 27 percent over the previous year.”
– Mark Apple, Vice President for Marketing Communications, Marian University
The Results
Since the launch of the brand, Marian applications and deposits have increased year over year. More importantly, the SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration) sessions applications rose significantly. The SOAR session historically have produced the highest yield among prospective students.
Overall, Marian earned 12 percent increase in applications over 2017, a 12 percent increase in deposits over 2017 and a 50 percent list in early orientation and registration sessions. Marian also welcomed their largest FTFT freshman class in university history in Fall 2018.
The story continues to unfold as Marian works toward a history-defining 2025–and well beyond.

BRAND STRATEGY
PROJECT TYPES
Photography
Web Experience