Palo Alto University

THE PROJECT

Following the completion of Palo Alto University's brand positioning strategy, the University turned to Red Cactus to develop a brand rollout plan that would communicate Palo Alto University's dedication to addressing pressing and emerging issues through research and training in psychology and counseling. This included focus groups, in-depth interviews, and "Living the Brand" workshops to engage the campus community and clarify the best ways to communicate and live out the brand marketing strategy.

To help launch the new brand campaign, we also helped to develop a brand ethos video to position Palo Alto University "At the Forefront of Psychology and Counseling." 

THE IMPACT

Following its official launch in April 2021, the brand was successfully integrated across all marketing and communication efforts, including advertising, print collateral, a webinar series, and a new university website. In 2022, the campaign won seven Educational Advertising Awards, including "Best in Show" for Brand Advertising. 

Red Cactus completed Benchmark Awareness Research in 2021 and 2022 to gauge awareness and perceptions of the newly revitalized brand; reporting that Palo Alto University continues to significantly increase positive awareness and name recognition among key constituents and throughout the region.   

Building on the success of Palo Alto University's brand campaign, Red Cactus also completed new academic program research to assess the demand for a new Ph.D. program. Through secondary research, a competitive positioning analysis, focus groups and in-depth interviews, we helped to identify the qualities, characteristics, modalities, and outcomes that would be most desired for the newly proposed Ph.D. program. This included recommended marketing and recruitment strategies to successfully recruit its first cohort for the fall of 2023.