London School of Economics – Department of Management advertising campaign image

LSE – Department of Management advertising campaign

20 Mar 2015

2 min read

Project Client: London School of Economics – Department of Management

The Department of Management within the London School of Economics (LSE) is committed to advancing the study of management through social science based research and teaching. While the LSE is a globally recognised institution, the Department of Management has a tendency to fall beneath the radar.

999's role was to deliver an advertising campaign that would both raise awareness of the department and their Executive Global Master’s in Management (EGMiM), a cutting‐edge alternative to a traditional MBA programme.

The approach

We felt that the widespread perception of the LSE as a school for business education had to be strongly challenged. As the department had never run a large advertising campaign before, there was low awareness of the benefits of taking the EGMiM route as an alternative to the MBA.

In order to engage the department’s target audiences we developed quirky messaging designed to provoke a reaction from ambitious, intellectual individuals who like to challenge conventions.

Design-wise, we developed a distinctive, contemporary feel for the campaign. Key to creating a visual impact were strong blocks of red alongside a graphic, typographical style that would stand out amongst the competition.

The output

We delivered a suite of rich-media display adverts around a series of thought‐provoking messages. We kept the visual style simple, bringing the LSE 'red box' to life to support the idea of 'alternative business thinking'.

Working closely with the client and media agency, Media Minds, we rolled out the advertising campaign across three key phases from general brand awareness to EGMiM programme specific.

Laura Delfitto, Marketing and Communications Manager, LSE said: The core of our brief was to raise the profile of the Department and demonstrate the unique nature of some of our programmes. What 999 has also provided us with is the foundations of a brand. We operate in a saturated market, often abound with business cliches. By challenging these conventions 999 has created an intelligent campaign that creates perfect affinity with the audiences we wish to engage.

Lisa Grace, 999 Design Director said: We’re immensely proud to work with such an iconic institution as LSE and this brief has presented an interesting challenge.

We understood that the key to success was attracting the right calibre of students, so we played on this by placing messaging that would appeal to intellectually curious minds at the heart of the campaign. Early results have been very promising and show that taking a brave approach can really pay off for some clients.

#visualcommunications #brandmessaging #advertisingcampaigns #brandawareness

Written by

Lisa Grace, Design Director - 999 Design, London

Lisa Grace

Design Director - London