USC Marshall School of Business

Higher Education

Client Snapshot

Sector: Higher Education
Focus: Undergraduate Admissions
Stage: Transitioning from regional visibility to national competitiveness
Cycle: Complex, long-consideration engagement with multiple decision-makers

The Challenge

USC Marshall is one of the country’s top business schools — but in the increasingly competitive landscape of undergraduate recruitment, brand equity alone wasn’t enough. The school was being considered too late by top-tier students and lacked consistent messaging to communicate its distinct value early in the decision cycle. Admissions teams needed a more strategic, system-oriented approach — one that could reach prospective students and families earlier, communicate clearly across multiple touchpoints, and support staff with tools that were as scalable as they were personal.

Our Approach

We looked to the Growth Enablement Loop™ to assess where gaps in clarity, connection, and conversion were holding the institution back. This was more than a refresh — it was a realignment. We engaged key stakeholders, conducted direct research with prospective students and parents, and built a message architecture rooted in what mattered most to them. With shared language in place, we designed an outreach system that aligned messaging, experience, and tools across departments — so USC Marshall could show up consistently, confidently, and persuasively at every step of the decision-making process.

What We Delivered

Discovery → Brand Systems

Admission communications audit for USC Marshall’s top 10 competitors
Direct insight from 2,400+ prospective students and parents
Strategic positioning and messaging platform that reflected the school’s unique value
Audience segmentation and targeting strategy to support personalization

Alignment → Integrated Growth Systems

Narrative and toolkits tailored to both student and parent decision journeys
Messaging for early-stage engagement and high-impact follow-up
Campaign concepting across digital, print, text, and email platforms
Narrative and toolkits tailored to both student and parent decision journeys

Activation → Experience Design + MarTech Strategy

Experience enhancements to in-person and digital admissions events
Streamlined and elevated web content tied to the new messaging
Personalized communications to increase campus visit turnout and enrollment confidence

Intelligence → MarTech Strategy

Development of multi-stage email campaign workflows tailored to decision journey stages
Sequenced content and triggers for prospective students and families within USC Marshall’s Salesforce CRM
Collaborative mapping of admissions communications to Salesforce touchpoints for data-driven engagement

The Outcome

With a new message framework, digital strategy, and integrated outreach tools, USC Marshall strengthened its presence in the early stages of the student decision journey. Internal teams aligned around a consistent voice. Prospective students engaged earlier. Families received the clarity they needed. And the school moved from tactical efforts to a cohesive engagement system that could scale over time.