Objective

Beauvoir is a coeducational pre-kindergarten-3 school located on the grounds of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Unlike many independent schools that serve elementary students, Beauvoir has no challenges with admissions. In fact, it runs a waiting list every year. Beauvoir’s administrators and admissions team wanted to update the school’s marketing materials and create an image that emphasizes their focus on young children.

While it maintains a perennial waiting list, Beauvoir faces strong competition from a varied list of sophisticated schools, including pre-K through elementary up to pre-K through twelfth grade. It also wants to attract and retain a strong and diverse applicant pool. One problem was its old logo, which upheld the school’s traditions, but projected a dated image that did not represent the school’s diversity.

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Approach

We met with Beauvoir and learned that their philosophy is to singularly meet the needs of young children.  They wanted their new logo, view book, admissions materials, print ads and website to reflect this specialization.

We ran a series of focus groups and listening sessions with current families and those who were accepted but decided to attend a different school. The research provided confirmation that the school delivered on its promise of meeting the particular needs of early learners.

The Kalix creative team presented multiple directions for a new logo, stimulating a thoughtful discussion about the value of Beauvoir’s long tradition versus updating its image. The final logo retained the original image of two children under a tree but updated it to reflect racial diversity and gender equality.

We also produced a new view book in the form of a pocket board book, exactly the kind of book prospective Beauvoir students read. The text was written as an ABC book, serving the dual purpose of teaching the alphabet to child readers and promoting Beauvoir’s values and curriculum to their parents.

We also reworked the school’s admissions brochure to bring it in line with the new marketing materials.

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Services

• Audited of existing marketing materials, logo, messaging, etc.
• Conducted focus groups with current families around messaging/perception
• Developed several re-branding options for the school logo
• Based on the chosen new logo, created a series of logos for digital and print use by the school
• Revamped the school’s admissions materials to reflect the new logo and look

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Results

The new logo was welcomed by current families as a perfect alignment of the school’s longstanding traditions with its current philosophy and culture. The little ABC view book stands out from its oversized peers, while it projects the idea that Beauvoir is singly devoted to educating young children.

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