Cottey College, an all-women’s college in rural Missouri, wanted to update their brand to be more modern and relevant. Looking to resonate with prospective students seeking a specialized college experience, Cottey partnered with Geile/Leon to provide a complete and comprehensive brand overhaul. This included the development of new positioning, tone, departmental logos, collateral, digital elements and much, much more.

The re-branding effort began with G/L’s brand discovery and development process, Distilled Thinking™. First, we interviewed current students and students who declined to attend. With greater insights into their decision-making process, we could better position the Cottey College brand. Next, G/L facilitated an on-campus Distilled Thinking session and conducted multiple internal focus groups. This data showed that the type of student who would be most interested in Cottey was driven and focused on their future.

The “Creators of Incredible Futures” branding, tagline and campaign rolled out in February 2018 with excitement and optimism. The bold look highlighted the unique students at Cottey with hero portraits that make the college (and the students) stand out. G/L went on to develop an aggressive, integrated media plan to support the new launch with goals of increasing brand awareness and enrollment.

The Saint Louis Science Center tasked Geile/Leon with strategic branding and marketing for the new GROW agricultural exhibit: a one-of-a-kind, 50,000 square-foot, permanent indoor/outdoor exhibit dedicated to the journey of our food supply from farm to table.

GROW was the biggest permanent addition to the Saint Louis Science Center in nearly 30 years, and so the marketing support needed to make a splash. Through intense audience segmentation research and strategic planning, Geile/Leon created the “Dig Deeper” campaign. Through a colorful and vibrant GROW brand/logo, we illustrated the fascinating science behind our food. Geile/Leon also provided public relations support, created in-depth brand guidelines and multiple campaign elements including: TV and radio spots, website, outdoor billboards, print advertisements, informational brochures and more.

The Saint Louis Science Center’s “Dig Deeper” pre-launch campaign for the GROW exhibit resulted in millions of impressions across multiple regions and an abundance of coverage in numerous major publications. The GROW exhibit opened on June 18 to very strong attendance numbers.

Upper Iowa University (UIU) is a private, not-for-profit university located in Fayette, IA. UIU has multiple learning modalities — including a traditional day school campus, online degree options, adult education centers and international centers — which created a struggle with branding. Because of a lack of message consistency and a true identity, G/L was challenged to develop an integrated marketing approach, with the goal of achieving one brand and one set of messages.

Through a comprehensive brand discovery session with UIU leadership and the development of a detailed brand architecture platform — G/L developed the “Education Built for Life” brand identity and a consistent messaging and creative approach that could be rolled out through all UIU learning modalities. To ensure continued consistency, G/L developed a thorough set of brand guidelines that would provide structure and guidance around their new brand identity.

After the April 2017 launch of the “Education Built for Life” campaign, the client said, “I want to take a minute on this busy day to thank all of you for remembering us on this brand launch day. It is great to finally unveil the logo, tagline, and brand to the world. I am thrilled with the new brand and very much appreciate the opportunity to have worked with each of you toward this day. Please share with your entire team my thanks for their efforts in making visions into reality.
– KARL EASTTORP Executive Director, Communications and Marketing — Upper Iowa University