Situation: Converse College has always been a place of transformation through opportunity. In 1889, it focused on providing those opportunities to women. In 2020-21, as it transitioned from women’s college to an all-gender university, Mindpower helped the College capitalize on this opportunity to reposition, reinvigorate, and reintroduce Converse University to the world.
Solution: Mindpower had two roles: strategic communications partner and rebranding partner for the institution. We built a custom quantitative research tool to gauge public awareness and perception throughout the region. And we held qualitative focus groups with internal audiences to gain a deeper understanding of what made Converse a powerful women’s college, as well as what core values and experiences needed to be drawn forward into its future.
Results: The transition announcement went off without a hitch. Viewed as a powerful strategic decision, it set the stage for the new brand platform launch to follow and the reintroduction of Converse to the world. Enrollment opened to men in the fall of 2020, a full year ahead of schedule. In July of 2021, the College officially became Converse University. And now, it’s prepping to welcome its largest new undergraduate class in more than three decades. Its new class will include students from 30 states and 17 countries and boasts an average GPA of 3.95.
What we did: strategic communications, qualitative and quantitative brand research, brand positioning and strategy, creative brand expression, brand toolkit, recruitment materials, photoshoot concepting, coordination, and direction.