5° + St. Thomas Aquinas College
Brand Promise • Message Map • Brand Book • Website • Enrollment Materials
The Challenge: Where to Start?
When St. Thomas Aquinas College set out on a brand refresh initiative, the leadership team had clear and carefully defined goals—to renew the energy and focus of the College, improve brand position and reputation, and increase awareness and enrollment.
Where would the plan’s creative thinking be grounded? St. Thomas Aquinas leaders didn’t start with “let’s redesign our enrollment materials,” or “a new tagline will point us in the right direction.” They knew better than to jump prematurely into visual design and messaging. Wisely, this team started with the “why”—Why would a prospective student choose St. Thomas Aquinas College?
The Plan: Start with the “Why?”
In search of the underlying why, the project began with research to delve into the school’s strengths and challenges. By moving beneath the surface, the intent was to get to the heart of what sets the school apart. Nothing short of this understanding would deliver the memorable and marketable branding St. Thomas Aquinas anticipated.
Research included an assessment of previously collected internal research along with a competitive analysis, followed by these qualitative and quantitative components:
The Global Pulse Survey (GPS)—a proprietary tool from 5°—evaluated the perceptions of administration, faculty, and staff concerning the institution’s marketing strategy and execution.
Surveys of key constituent groups identified trends and measured the depth and scope of opinions, priorities, perceptions, and concerns.
Focus groups with administration, faculty, staff, and students probed for insights to elaborate on the survey data findings.
Three enduring aspects of the brand that rose to the surface were 1)support for student success, 2)an emphasis on career readiness, and 3)a prevailing satisfaction and upbeat spirit among students.
What We Discovered
In identifying the “why,” the next steps in branding flow naturally.
For St. Thomas Aquinas, this meant developing brand drivers and a positioning statement that would serve as the framework for all brand messaging. All grounded in the why. This is where the rallying cry and accompanying value proposition were born.
Value Proposition
What’s your big dream? At St. Thomas Aquinas College, we dare you to imagine all you can achieve—in your career and beyond. In a close-knit community dedicated to your success, your education is personalized for what matters most to you. You’ll learn by doing, discover your gifts, and ignite your passion.
Rallying Cry
A rallying cry is not just a statement; it’s about making a statement. It is a summary of what matters most, but also a charge and an internal, inspirational idiom meant to “rally the troops” and provide a source of pride and belonging to all those who share in the call. For St. Thomas Aquinas, that rallying cry became…
