USC Marshall School of Business

USC's Marshall School of Business had been quietly advancing in the rankings and increasingly found themselves competing for top-tier students against the Whartons, Stanfords, and Harvards of the world. But, while USC is a respected university, it's not Harvard.

Then again, Harvard is no Marshall. And we discovered a maverick spirit here that you just don’t find at the Ivies. Similarly, one of the most common refrains we heard from students and parents was, “Marshall is not what we expected—it's so much more!”

We developed messaging focused on the surprise factor that students and parents were reporting, positioning Marshall as the alt-Ivy—more Silicon Beach than Wall Street. Flip-flops and startups versus wing tips and corner offices. Our objective? Boost attendance at Explore USC, the deal-closing event of the year for admitted students.

Results in the first year included:

• 55% increase in Explore USC attendance

• 37% verification email conversions

• 23% increase in early applications (indicating a first-choice college)

This one-year assignment turned into a four-year engagement, during which Marshall became a top 10-ranked business school, moving up from #13 to #9.