Job: To create complete branding and marketing strategies for College Vision, a new college prep company headed by two former AOL human resources senior executives.
Agency: Chantilly-based ImageWorks Studio
Theme: “Charting the Path to Exceptional Futures”
The Concept: Purcellville-based College Vision is “like Kaplan but on steroids,” said ImageWorks Studio co-owner and managing partner Michael Delpierre.
After witnessing the college admissions process firsthand, the two founders realized that a proactive approach to helping students get into the right schools was missing. College Vision builds “customized admissions plans for parents and students, taking it to the personal level,” Delpierre said.
The target audience is the parents of high school students — starting as low as the ninth grade. Services include SAT prep, assistance applying for scholarships and financial aid, realistic college choice recommendations based on grades and extracurricular activities, and counseling for student athletes.
The Plan: College Vision approached ImageWorks in early 2006, and the company launched later in the year with a marketing and branding package primarily using the Internet. “A Web site is the key for any company,” Delpierre said.
College Vision’s Web site features visuals of a bucolic college campus, a student in a cap and gown looking toward the horizon through binoculars, and an abstract logo of a graduate. The site provides information-rich resources including a blog, clearly lays out the benefits the company has to offer, and allows visitors to chat live with college counselors.
ImageWorks also used search engine optimization technology to increase traffic to the Web site, a technique Delpierre said has the “best return on investment out of any marketing strategy today.” E-mail marketing templates have also been created.
Aside from Internet strategies, ImageWorks designed brochures and collateral items such as stationery and a letterhead, and drafted news releases.
What’s Next: ImageWorks is still refining the search engine optimization, drawing ads to the Web site and finishing up exhibits for college fairs.
Creative Team: Scott Margenau, co-owner and president; Delpierre, co-owner and managing partner; and a tight-knit team of designers and developers.
Background: ImageWorks Studio was founded in 1995 by Margenau. Clients include the CIA, the Campbell Soup Co., Perot Systems Corp., Dulles-based M.C. Dean Inc., Washington-based BioScan Inc., and Herndon-based NetworkSolutions.
