HOW WE HELPED A MANHATTAN PRIVATE SCHOOL BREAK DOWN PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS AND REACH THEIR MISSION-ALIGNED FAMILIES

Learn how we helped the Lycée Français de New York launch a data-driven campaign that positioned the bilingual, bicultural private school as a champion of global education to increase their 2023-2024 enrollment numbers.

THE CLIENT

The Lycée Français de New York is a world-renowned bilingual French and American college prep day private school in the heart of New York City that serves an international community of students aged 3 to 18. Its philosophy emphasizes care, discovery, excellence, and French rigor and a cross-cultural curriculum for students of 60 nationalities who speak 34 languages altogether.

THE CHALLENGE

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Lycée began a concerted effort to attract right-fit families due to changing travel restrictions from international families and local families leaving New York City for suburban towns and rural areas. Market research indicated that some parents had preconceptions about what a French bilingual education might offer - namely, that it meant strict academics and rigorous environments, without the focus on care and individual attention that is also a hallmark of a Lycée education. Their objective is to grow enrollment in 2023-2024, with a focus on Preschool and the early grades. 

We were asked to work alongside the Lycée marketing and admissions teams to develop a campaign that would shift those perceptions and position their school as one that promotes global citizenship, focuses on globally-minded education, fosters care, and ultimately opens doors for their students, wherever they go.

THE STRATEGY

Through our campaign development research, we discovered that there are benefits to a bilingual French education that go beyond learning a new language. Beyond the practical benefits of speaking a second language (or a third… or a fourth), the very act of learning a new language - and diving deep into another culture - helps to create compassionate, curious children with a true love of learning.

In order to put a successful campaign into market, we knew we would need to target area families with global mindsets - and share with them that a Lycée education is about far more than becoming fluent in French.

THE EXECUTION

With these insights as our foundation, we worked to create a concept that would show the duality of the Lycée's bilingual, bicultural education - and its benefits - in a fun and immersive way. In this case, we welcomed the Lycée’s talented in-house designer onto our creative team to help bring the Lycée’s unique look, feel, and style to our campaign.

In our creative, the speech balloon elements closely resemble the Lycée logo in both color and concept, conveying the connection and merging of cultures. Playful illustrations add a fun layer to the ads, making them more human without using photos of people. The graph paper background is a nod to French culture and the paper schoolchildren learn to write on in France.

The final creative concept is fun, playful, and human – making it easier to target the families of students in earlier grades. 

To round out the campaign with ‘real life’ images for Google Responsive Display and other dynamic placements, we leveraged the school’s library of images that included teachers engaging with students, day-to-day school life, and the wide range of athletic and after-school activities their students enjoy.

THE RESULTS

This campaign launched in the Fall of 2022 and is still in market. Make sure you check back here to see how the campaign performed – we promise to update you on the results soon!

See what the client is saying:

Metric's data-driven approach has given us new insight into our admissions work and is helping us better target and steward right-fit families through to enrollment. They are a terrific, collaborative strategic partner to our team, always available to share ideas with top-notch service and support.

Elisabeth King, Director of Communications & Marketing

Metric Marketing creates results through data-driven big ideas. Read more of our success stories, learn more about the services we offer, or use the contact form below to get in touch with our team.