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How We Illuminated a School’s True Differentiators

THE CLIENT
Located just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – a city known for its rich American history and vibrant culture – sits the William Penn Charter School: a private Friends school for students in PK through Grade 12. The oldest Quaker school in the world, Penn Charter’s roots have remained at the epicenter of the institution – withstanding the test of time, shifts in educational climates, and emerging technologies.


THE CHALLENGE
Despite its esteemed reputation and a strong historical presence, Penn Charter faced some shifting market perceptions. The school’s recognition for its investment in state-of-the-art athletic facilities and high-performing student athletes began to overshadow its strength in vigorous academics, array of artistic offerings, and prioritization of community. In a market known for its range of reputable private and Quaker schools - many with solid academic programs and a lower cost of attendance - Penn Charter was known but not always understood in terms of its differentiators. The school was looking to elevate their brand into the digital space and find a way to highlight their school’s Quaker values and commitment to excellence.

We jumped in to partner with their team to help restore balance in their reputation around what they call their three A’s – Academics, Arts, and Athletics – and to ensure families recognized the value Penn Charter offers for its tuition.

THE CAMPAIGN

Our new campaign – "Illuminate Excellence" – was designed to appeal to prospective families and promote a culture that uncovers every child’s potential, regardless of their age or interests.

The word “illuminate” is powerful and active, and it reflects Penn Charter’s mission to nurture the inner light within each student. We love how it also ties back to original Quaker principles that showcase how the school supports each child through a journey of personal and academic growth.

The idea of “excellence” is dynamic and personalized – it can be left up to the interpretation of whomever is viewing the campaign, and whatever is most important to them (academics, athletics, personal growth, and more). Members of the Penn Charter community guide each student to discover and develop their strengths, and encourage them to shine their newfound confidence and skills onto others.
"Illuminate Excellence" captures this journey, showing how Penn Charter supports students in revealing and reaching their potential across all aspects of school life.

For example:
  • In the arts, the idea of excellence can be found in the student who has dreams of taking the lead on the world’s biggest stages. At Penn Charter, they’re able to practice this during their school day to get them there. Excellence could also apply to the student who’s always known they had an artistic side, and has fallen in love with a new medium they’ve never explored until arriving here.
  • In the classroom, excellence may mean a student who has the courage and support to enroll in an advanced studies course for the first time. Excellence is also found in a student who came to Penn Charter feeling shy and insecure, and has since learned the power of engaging with their peers in discussions.
  • In athletics, excellence can exist both for the student who has dreams of playing their sport in college or for the student who has just discovered the confidence to try a new sport for the first time.
In all of these circumstances, each student is taking on their own challenges, and uncovering their own definitions of what excellence means to them. They discover that the power to achieve this sense of excellence already existed with them – it just took the support, camaraderie, and warmth of the Penn Charter community to illuminate it.

THE EXECUTION
To represent this concept visually, we wanted to focus on the variety of activities and programs that the school offers – using photos of athletes in their game uniforms, with their instruments, or in the classroom – in a way that would stand out from other schools in the market. In our video platforms, we chose to use animation of our static images to bring a sense of dynamism to the “illumination” effect – paired with upbeat instrumental music. We leaned into the school’s recognizable brand colors of blue and yellow to keep the concept cohesive and true.


Our messaging evolved throughout the customer journey, with calls to action like “Bring Out Your Best” and reflective prompts such as “What Does Excellence Mean To You?” Each phase of the campaign invited prospective families to explore what Penn Charter could offer them, encouraging deeper engagement through inquiries, event registrations, and ultimately applications.

THE RESULTS

Penn Charter’s new recruitment campaign launched in Fall 2023, as part of their push to recruit for the 2024-2025 school year. We’ve seen excellent results in this first year in market:

  • During the reporting period, paid advertising increased Penn Charter’s level of awareness in the region through 1.8M impressions and 32K clicks.
  • Overall website sessions increased by 18% and New Users by 13%. Paid Search contributed largely to this increase as the channel with the highest year-over-year increases (111% and 80%).
  • Paid advertising engaged sessions increased 102% year-over-year during the campaign period, proving that the ad targeting effectively drove highly engaged traffic to the site.
  • Google Search effectively drove traffic from users on the awareness phase of the customer journey, as demonstrated by 60% of clicks coming from non-branded search terms.

We’ll be partnering together to use data and insights from our first year in market to optimize the campaign for another year.

“Brett and his team at Metric are true partners in every sense. They took the time to listen, understand our goals, and delivered a professionally crafted, geo-targeted campaign to reach a wider scope of prospective applicants. Operating in a competitive market with many strong options – public, Catholic, and private schools – Metric helped us highlight and emphasize what makes us unique. Their strategic approach brought in quality leads, and their compelling ads and taglines set us apart. They also refined our Google Analytics goals, enabling more accurate and effective data tracking. We are extremely pleased with their expertise, responsiveness, and ongoing partnership."

Naté Hall, Director of Enrollment Management & April Torrisi, Assistant Director of Marketing and Digital Communications.
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.

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