Phoenix Union High School District
21 high schools. 7 strategic marketing steps. 1 bold, distinctive recruitment brand that shouts, “This Is Who We Are”
With an influx of charter schools and new legislation that allows students to attend the high school of their choice without regard to residential proximity, Phoenix Union High School District faced an organizational turning point. The district’s visionary new superintendent understood that in order to compete, Phoenix Union needed to make a series of coordinated changes.
After developing a portfolio of schools that better reflected and served the needs of the community, the district selected Stamats to help it craft a new organizational brand and create clearer messaging that focuses on academic quality, diversity, and educational outcomes.
Stamats’ challenge was to develop a unifying brand for all 21 high schools in the district. We not only needed to capture and communicate a new overarching district identity, we needed to preserve each individual school’s brand equity. Further, the new brand needed to engage multiple audiences, including a thriving and diverse Latinx community.
With these objectives in mind, our workplan began with a comprehensive Discovery Visit to better understand the district, its people, and its goals. We then conducted in-depth market research with district staff, administrators, board members, students, and community leaders. Data from surveys and focus groups guided all subsequent phases of our brand development efforts. With this foundational work complete, we:
- Created and tested a new brand promise, brand pillars, ethos statement, and creative concept
- Designed and implemented a new logo
- Developed new brand colors and other visual brand cues
- Developed a new marketing and social media strategy
- Designed new bilingual digital and print marketing materials
- Created an online brand book to help personnel maintain brand consistency
- Presented redesign options for the Phoenix Union organizational website
Our efforts culminated in a new bilingual brand campaign dubbed “This Is Who We Are” — a direct and bold statement that immediately communicates the truth of Phoenix Union. It not only celebrates the tremendous richness and variety of the community, it echoes the brand promise and defines the district as a transformative place that welcomes and inspires all students.
Though it’s too early for measurable results, Phoenix Union’s new brand campaign quickly energized the entire community. With a distinctive and authentic platform for engagement, the district is now telling a more powerful story and is positioned for strategic growth in an ever more competitive marketplace. In the next phase of our work together, we’ll finalize Phoenix Union’s website redesign and prepare it for launch.
Michelle Gayles, Chief Strategy Officer for the Phoenix Union High School District, sums up the success of the collaboration perfectly: “Stamats has been an excellent partner in both creating a brand that truly captures the essence of our district and communicating it in a manner that captivates and makes our stakeholders proud. ‘They nailed it’ is the phrase we heard over and over again as we shared the work of Stamats with our constituents.”
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The Challenge
With an influx of charter schools and new legislation that allows students to attend the high school of their choice without regard to residential proximity, Phoenix Union High School District faced an organizational turning point. The district’s visionary new superintendent understood that in order to compete, Phoenix Union needed to make a series of coordinated changes.
After developing a portfolio of schools that better reflected and served the needs of the community, the district selected Stamats to help it craft a new organizational brand and create clearer messaging that focuses on academic quality, diversity, and educational outcomes.
-
The Project
Stamats’ challenge was to develop a unifying brand for all 21 high schools in the district. We not only needed to capture and communicate a new overarching district identity, we needed to preserve each individual school’s brand equity. Further, the new brand needed to engage multiple audiences, including a thriving and diverse Latinx community.
With these objectives in mind, our workplan began with a comprehensive Discovery Visit to better understand the district, its people, and its goals. We then conducted in-depth market research with district staff, administrators, board members, students, and community leaders. Data from surveys and focus groups guided all subsequent phases of our brand development efforts. With this foundational work complete, we:
- Created and tested a new brand promise, brand pillars, ethos statement, and creative concept
- Designed and implemented a new logo
- Developed new brand colors and other visual brand cues
- Developed a new marketing and social media strategy
- Designed new bilingual digital and print marketing materials
- Created an online brand book to help personnel maintain brand consistency
- Presented redesign options for the Phoenix Union organizational website
Our efforts culminated in a new bilingual brand campaign dubbed “This Is Who We Are” — a direct and bold statement that immediately communicates the truth of Phoenix Union. It not only celebrates the tremendous richness and variety of the community, it echoes the brand promise and defines the district as a transformative place that welcomes and inspires all students.
-
The Results
Though it’s too early for measurable results, Phoenix Union’s new brand campaign quickly energized the entire community. With a distinctive and authentic platform for engagement, the district is now telling a more powerful story and is positioned for strategic growth in an ever more competitive marketplace. In the next phase of our work together, we’ll finalize Phoenix Union’s website redesign and prepare it for launch.
Michelle Gayles, Chief Strategy Officer for the Phoenix Union High School District, sums up the success of the collaboration perfectly: “Stamats has been an excellent partner in both creating a brand that truly captures the essence of our district and communicating it in a manner that captivates and makes our stakeholders proud. ‘They nailed it’ is the phrase we heard over and over again as we shared the work of Stamats with our constituents.”
