Challenger Brand Issue: A top-rated business school leaves the ivory towers behind.

Insights
The Darden School was highly ranked among graduate schools by leading business publications and industry experts. Despite this brand “halo”, applicants generally made Darden their second choice, after Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. The school’s unaided brand awareness was low and they had no clear market position. They were viewed as having excellent traditional programs, but still considered a secondary choice to brand leaders.

Challenger Brand Solution: Emotional Connection
So how did we differentiate Darden from other highly ranked graduate schools in a category that was primarily differentiated on heritage? First we made a connection between what Darden could offer its students and what companies where looking for in their employees. Darden excelled in courses pertaining to e-commerce management and it fostered an entrepreneurial spirit that was required for success. So to help enhance the brand among perspective applicants, we positioned Darden as the school that looks over the horizon to prepare its students for the new economy. Next, we developed a print and web banner campaign that used humor to grab the attention of prospective students and corporations and to present Darden’s positioning in the marketplace. The advertising ran in leading business publications like Forbes, Fortune, U.S. News & World Report and The Financial Times. The campaign also broke with the serious and conservative tone used by many of their competitors which further helped to set Darden apart.

Results
The 12-week print ad(s) and web banner campaign produced more than 6,300 hits to the Darden website and a yield of 0.83 compared to industry standards of 0.45 to 0.50. Darden’s ranking in U.S. News and World Report also jumped from #9 to #6.