Cresson, Pa. – Mount Aloysius College has announced that its new “Elevated” brand, developed entirely in-house, has won six awards in four national and global competitions, including four Gold awards, one First Place, and one “Best Of.” The brand, which launched in summer 2022, is themed around “Elevated,” and introduces the College’s promise of “unmatched support” for all students.

The honors include gold awards for Integrated Marketing Campaign, Total Advertising Campaign, and Total Recruitment Package from The Educational Advertising Awards; a gold award for Recruitment Series from The Collegiate Advertising Awards; Best University Integrated Ad Campaign (Education Category) from The Internet Advertising Competition; and First Place for the Promotional Campaigns category in the ACUI Steal This Idea competition.

“The Mount took higher awards than large universities across the country who had hired the best ad agencies available,” said President John McKeegan. “I am thankful not only for our small internal team crafting this giant work in-house, but also for our trustees who put their confidence in our plan, as well as our students, faculty, and staff who demonstrated incredible support in their engagement with the process.”

The new Mount Aloysius College brand took approximately a year to develop. After a research phase including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and presentations with faculty, staff, students, alumni, prospective students, and others, the new brand promise began to take shape. Next came a creative exploration of the research, and eventually the unveiling of “Elevated.”

“Yes, we are the highest elevated campus anywhere in Pennsylvania,” said Sam Wagner, Vice President for Marketing and Communications at Mount Aloysius College. “But more than that, the student experience at the Mount, both academically and personally, ‘elevates’ them to both career success and personal fulfillment. We heard it from our freshmen, our seniors, faculty, staff, and generations of alumni who have experienced the College’s long history of ‘unmatched support.’ This brand theme wasn’t pulled out of thin air, it has permeated the values and mission of Mount Aloysius since its earliest days. We believe that is why it has been so effective.”

“The national data shows that the majority of institutions hire creative agencies for this type of work, and pay massively for it,” said Jake Yale, Vice President of Enrollment Management at the Mount. “President McKeegan, Sam, and I discussed the project initially and decided that we had the talent, creativity, and support of the community to succeed with an in-house project. The whole process was invigorating and we’ve had a tremendous response from our prospective students and families.”

The award details are as follows:

The Educational Advertising Awards gave gold awards in three categories: Integrated Marketing Campaign, Total Advertising Campaign, and Total Recruitment Package. The Educational Advertising Awards are a national competition to recognize the field of educational marketing and advertising. This year, over 2,000 entries were received from over one-thousand colleges, universities and secondary schools from all fifty states and numerous foreign countries. The Mount competed against colleges and universities of all sizes and against agency-led work. Judges for the Educational Advertising Awards consisted of a national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, marketing and advertising professionals.

The Collegiate Advertising Awards awarded the Mount with gold in their Recruitment-Series – Schools Under 1,000 Students category. The Collegiate Advertising Awards is a national program that honors today’s higher education marketing professionals. Gold Awards designate a score of 95 to 99 which places the work in the top 5% in the nation.

The Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) awarded the Mount Best University Integrated Ad Campaign (Education Category) for 2023. IAC is a global competition that seeks to highlight the best online advertising in 86 industries and 9 online formats, including online ads, video, mobile, newsletter, email, and social media. Entries are judged based on creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, use of the medium, and memorability, and will compete head-to-head with other entries within their specific category.

ACUI (formerly the Association of College Unions International) awarded the Mount with first place for the Promotional Campaigns category in their Steal This Idea competition. ACUI is the oldest non-profit educational organization in America and focuses on enhancing campus communities.

In addition to Wagner and Yale, the creative team behind the branding included Sean Steffy, Brand and Visual Marketing Specialist, and Courtney Edmundson, Marketing & Communications Specialist.

To learn more about Mount Aloysius College, visit www.mtaloy.edu.

PHOTO CAPTION: (L-R) Sean Steffy, Brand and Visual Marketing Specialist; Sam Wagner, Vice President for Marketing and Communications; John McKeegan, President; Jake Yale, Vice President for Enrollment Management; and Courtney Edmundson, Marketing and Communications Specialist.