LMU - Magnetry

Tapping Into a Higher Power

Loyola Marymount University

Building an enduring brand.

When we first partnered with Loyola Marymount University, our first mission was working hand in hand with them to discover their North Star. We dug through 150 years of history to create a roadmap and brand framework that would speak to generations of ethical leaders.

That’s where we started. With a brand architecture and messaging map rooted in the values and goals of the university and its most cherished ideals. After surveying various schools and colleges in the university, we eventually built consensus around a strategic foundation focused on LMU helping to create the world you want to live in.

The university's core mission statement of “Empowering Enlightenment” summarized the lofty goals of the school AND their ideal candidates. It speaks to both the Jesuit history of LMU, but also raised the ceiling on where that kind of noble ambition could go.

Then we had to translate this into a unifying creative campaign that would represent the entire university and the Jesuit mission to use enlightenment to make a better future. The school rallied around a bold theme that urged students to create the world they want to live in.

Ignition.

Working with our partners at LMU, we put our heads together on how to articulate and creatively execute this platform across the entire reach of the university. Then we launched a recruitment campaign that challenged and inspired potential students.

Radiating Optimism.

Realizing the cynical times we live in, we wanted this campaign to ignite a sense of passion in the students, faculty and staff. The work had to entice prospective students to imagine their own brighter take on the world.

LA as the canvas.

This campaign had to live across social, digital as well as on campus but it truly came to life all around Los Angeles as it set the tone for the future of LMU and what it represents. The outsized impact was made possible by an efficiently planned and aggressively negotiated media strategy.

Word got out, as it does. And soon the audience was responding. Our goal was to drive traffic to the Ignite landing page and generate conversions and engagements on the lead gen page, while also stoking a longer-term spark for students who will be enrolling further down the road.

A campaign with legs and heart.

We continue to work with the university on extending the campaign both creatively and from a media strategy perspective. We're finding potential candidates where they live on Tik Tok, Insta, Reddit, Twitch and other digital hangouts while still having a dramatic presence in the real world.

While this is a lesson in building a voice, Magnetry views it more as building trust. Working hand in hand across departments throughout the college on strategy, creative, production and media, we helped a university come together to find their voice for decades to come.

In just 6 months we saw:

203,528 new student interactions
178,279 new campaign site visitors
9,344 lead conversions
74,784 users driven to LMU.edu at large

Far beyond a single initiative.

Our partnership continues to evolve far deeper than an isolated campaign. We are constantly collaborating and creating projects that exist and support the main university, while solving problems for a wide variety of stakeholders within the school. For a university like LMU, that includes things like a massive athletic partnership, a quick promo campaign for a top film school, and a campaign for specific colleges like the College of Business Administration.