How To Create Award-Winning Advertising: The Independence School

Chosen because The Independence School won Bronze in the 2020 Brilliance Awards for Paid Advertising. Independence’s Director of Marketing and Communications Claire Brechter tells InspirED why it is an award-winner.

“The ‘give me independence’ slogan was absolutely brilliant. I applaud your copywriters for this effective, creative slogan that was distinctly branded to your school.”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

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Who

The Independence School operates in a highly competitive, overcrowded marketplace with an increasingly strong charter school presence and several “big-name” K-12 legacy schools in the area.

The Independence School’s unique selling positions are related to their high academic standards and the importance they place on developing personal independence and a sense of ownership for learning from a young age. Parents who select their school tend to be aspirational and results-driven. They have a keen eye on the next steps and future destinations — high school and beyond. Independence needed a promotional approach that reflected this.

Brainstorm With A Consultant

The original concept of the Watch Me Soar campaign was the result of a brainstorming session between Claire Brechter, Independence’s Director of Marketing and Communications, and Tracy Tigchelaar, the school’s strategic marketing consultant from Finalsite Advantage.

“We chose the concept because it is outcomes-focused — it’s not about what the school does, but what we empower students to do. The campaign focuses on the future potential success of our students. While each individual advertisement focuses on a specific curriculum/career direction, the campaign as a whole shows the breadth of opportunities embraced by Independence students.”

— Claire Brechter, Director of Marketing and Communications

The creative headline uses a clever play on words by incorporating the school name as part of the campaign slogan: Give Me Independence – Watch Me Soar! This slogan was coupled with a range of interests/professions that the team felt matched both the strengths of the school and the aspirations of its parents. Carefully crafted, short messaging to support the subject was another critical element to the campaign’s success.

“You know you have a great ad when the ad could only work for your school — and you all knocked it out of the park! I also loved how you all included fast facts within your body copy; the short copy gave me enough details about your school without overinforming. ”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

Add a Design Partner

Claire and Tracy developed a vision for the look, feel, and content of the ads and provided a creative brief (with draft copy and visual concepts) to Kelsh Wilson Design. Kelsh Wilson has worked with the school on several graphic design projects in the past including the development of their current visual branding. The firm took the brief, refined the concepts further, and produced the final ads.

Garner Results

“The ‘Watch Me Soar’ campaign was the most integrated and successful marketing campaign the school has launched.”

— Claire Brechter, Director of Marketing and Communication

Reaction to the campaign was extremely positive. 3,350 unique website visitors not only landed on the Watch Me Soar page but continued to explore the website. Of those, 2,400 were new users. 12 visitors also clicked the Apply Now button during their first visit, furthering their engagement with the school.

Add a Pandemic Spin

Additionally, during Independence’s time of distance learning, they shared social media posts with the theme of Watch Me Soar from a Distance allowing them to showcase their successful pivot to distance learning using consistent language.

“We’ve received many inquiries from new families as the COVID-19 pandemic has continued,” says Claire. “In part that’s because people heard that we were doing an exceptional job with distance learning, but the Watch Me Soar campaign helped enormously to raise awareness of the school at just the right time.”

“I was also impressed by how you took what could have been a simple print campaign and expanded on it to include digital advertising, a social media campaign, and on-campus signage. Overall, a well-rounded, all-encompassing campaign!”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

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Congratulations, The Independence School! You are brilliant!

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TEAM
Claire Brechter, Director of Marketing & Communications
Michele Harra, Director of Advancement & Enrollment Management
Tracy Tigchelaar, Strategic Marketing Consultant, Finalsite
Kelsh Wilson Design, Design Consultant
Kelli Wilke, Kelli Wilke Photography

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