NORTHEAST COLLEGE PREP
Driving Marketing Success with Multicultural Strategies
Northeast College Prep, a K-8 school with a diverse student body, found themselves at a crossroads in their marketing and school profile. Despite their global identity as a tuition-free public charter school where students learn English, Spanish, and Arabic, their marketing wasn’t resonating with the local community. When Northeast College Prep (NECP) brought in CEL, they saw this as an opportunity to revitalize their brand and align their enrollment messaging with cohesive marketing materials. From refreshing existing messaging for word-of-mouth marketing to crafting a warm welcome upon walking into the building, NECP found that CEL’s efforts boosted kindergarten enrollments to the point that an additional section was opened, and the overall enrollment exceeded their original goal.
Revamping Enrollment Marketing Messaging
CEL identified opportunities to enhance Northeast College Prep’s enrollment marketing materials by strategically repositioning NECP for lasting success. To achieve this, CEL first needed to understand the unique dynamics of this multicultural community, where traditional marketing approaches had previously fallen short of hitting their enrollment targets. CEL conducted various focus groups with existing NECP students, their families, and community members to gain insight into the challenges they faced and their perception of the school’s role within the community. While the focus groups revealed that parents and students loved NECP and felt it was a perfect fit for their families, CEL discovered that this positive sentiment and the school’s value were not reflected in their current marketing strategy or aligned with how this ethnically diverse community shared information.
Give Your Champions the Right Marketing Tools
Outside of the more “traditional” methods like mass media, online ads or print marketing, word-of-mouth marketing emerged as the key to sharing NECP’s positive messages. In essence, CEL gave families new resources and created template messages to share their positive experiences with NECP with friends, caregivers, neighbors, and other community members through WhatsApp and other social media platforms. Outside of WhatsApp, trusted local partners were targeted such as community centers, MN Head Start programs, and other organizations where the local community connects with their network. Additionally, CEL created print materials to showcase at local family events and enrollment fairs.
To support the word-of-mouth campaign, CEL rebuilt NECP’s website homepage and newsletters to empower these family members to champion their child(ren)’s NECP experience as ambassadors. Recognizing the need to expand NECP’s visual presence, CEL hosted an on-site photo shoot to authentically capture the school’s diverse classrooms and engaging environments. These vibrant images were prominently featured across various marketing materials, including social media graphics, videos, slide decks, pop-up banners, and more, ensuring a compelling and unified representation of NECP’s community.
"I've heard nothing but positive comments about everything the CEL team has put together. With your help, we are just 6 kids shy of our enrollment goal and we are still 4 weeks out from the start of school. Thank you for everything!"
~ANDREA HALVERSON, NECP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Making In-Person Impressions Reflect Multicultural Identity
While refreshed marketing materials can attract new families, creating a truly welcoming environment and a sense of belonging extends beyond the front door. With minimal signage and a blank slate lobby, prospective students and their families were not experiencing the vibrant, multicultural foundation of an NECP education. To address this, large-format building signs, fence signage, inviting entrance door wraps, and engaging lobby displays were developed to guide visitors seamlessly to the front desk. In addition to enhancing the existing logo with bold colors and playful branding elements like polka dots and globes, a new tagline was introduced to vividly convey NECP’s vision. Families entering NECP’s doors now experience a clear reflection of how the school understands and meets the needs of its diverse community. Furthermore, CEL ensured inclusivity by translating printed rack cards, social media graphics, a family “lookbook,” and lobby graphics into English, Spanish, Arabic, and Somali, ensuring all families felt included and informed in their native languages.
Crafting Community Connections that Last
In the end, a wide range of materials was delivered, from large-format print pieces and web content to social media graphics and enrollment marketing calendars. To ensure a cohesive presentation and clear messaging across all platforms, NECP’s identity and brand were redefined to more accurately reflect their diverse student body and share their stories. NECP already had a strong foundation with supportive families and a clear mission statement. This partnership took these elements and enhanced the enrollment marketing strategy to better target the core demographic and align with effective communication methods. As a result, NECP is now well-positioned to welcome new families and continue growing their enrollment. With the start of the school year, Northeast College Prep has surpassed their enrollment goals and expanded the number of sections per grade level, thanks to the collaborative efforts in crafting effective tools, messaging, and marketing strategies.
