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STEP BACKGROUND
Law school studies have shown that during economic downturn, the number of applicants
to the schools actually increases. Georgetown Law wanted to leverage this increase
by producing a piece that could be used to “sell” the school to
admitted students so they would choose Georgetown over the other schools that
had admitted them. Georgetown is one of the top 13 law schools in the United
States with a solid history, esteemed alumni, prestigious adjunct faculty, and
impressive campus (which includes among its assets the third largest law library
in the U.S.). However, the law campus is not part of the main Georgetown campus
and is located in an area that many believe to be somewhat secluded in a less
popular part of the city. In addition, Washington itself has some image problems.
Prior to contacting KINETIK, the school asked an on-campus group of first-year
students, the Student Ambassadors, to share their experiences since arriving
at Georgetown. They decided the best way to capture this information was through
a series of individually authored essays on things ranging from academics and
faculty to university resources and careers, published in a small booklet and
then sent to admitted students. The client had, in effect, pre-determined not
only the content, but the format for the project early on in the process. STEP OUTCOME
To recast the problem, we went back to the place that
Georgetown had started. We assumed only one constraint:
that the majority of the text would be provided by the
Student Ambassadors.
We began by examining not only Georgetown’s viewbook
but also those of the other top 13 schools. The viewbooks,
while excellent tools for reflecting Georgetown’s philosophies,
structure, requirements and commitment to solid
education, did little to convey the energy and vibrancy of
the students, campus and community. Moreover, all the
schools viewbooks shared a sameness in size and structure.
We agreed that the final solution, in whatever form, had to
accomplish the following:
• capture the energy and diversity of the student body,
• establish the campus location as an asset for a law school,
• and showcase Washington not only as the seat of government, law, and order but also as a living, vibrant city.
For the final solution to accomplish these goals, we felt it
needed to:
• reflect the typical student perspective of their life at
Georgetown and in Washington,
• be larger and a different format than what the students
originally received when applying to the schools,
• effectively (and respectfully) present the essays but also
call out or repeat select components of them to provide
people with multiple entry points and different opportunities
to explore the information,
• and provide admitted students (if they chose to accept)
with tools they could use throughout the school year.
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