The introduction of a completely new Marlboro College website is the final stage of a comprehensive effort to research the college’s marketing needs and redesign its admission materials and online presence. Since spring 2012, a marketing and communications team led by kor group has worked closely with the admissions office, marketing staff, and other community members across both campuses to learn how to make Marlboro more visible and improve the college’s recruitment efforts.
“The new website is one of the final components to a significant re-visioning of our image to the outside world,” said Matthew Barone, director of marketing & communications. “We are grateful to all of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who participated and provided our team with necessary feedback. The goal was to honestly, and clearly, represent the college’s offerings to visitors—including both the graduate and undergraduate programs.”
After being selected by the community among several other experienced branding firms, kor group engaged the campus community in the spring of 2012 through presentations and breakout groups at several Town Meetings. The most comprehensive of these efforts involved a full week of “creative collection,” in which community members responded to prompts posted on the dining hall wall about why they chose Marlboro and what makes it unique. Kor then designed materials based on this experience and returned with an exhibit that allowed the community at both campuses to react and to vote on preferences.
The new website offers several improvements to users looking to learn more about our academics, student life, faculty, and special events, and creates a much clearer association between undergraduate and graduate programs. With the redesigned website it now offers streamlined pages, larger images of life on campus, and clearer links between important areas of the college making for a more engaging experience. Perhaps most important, the new site also uses responsive design to fit within mobile devices and tablets, used by more and more students.
The website is part of a comprehensive suite of materials, including a viewbook that received two gold awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. These materials, new messaging, and visual identity improvements stand to have an important and long-lasting impact on the visibility of Marlboro College.
