Christ the King Catholic Collegiate
St John Fisher Catholic College & Sixth Form
St John Fisher Catholic College & Sixth Form educates and inspires children aged 11-18 years. Cultivating ‘the fisher way’, the college is known for being a safe, loving and comfortable space for pupils to learn. As the only high school in Newcastle-under-Lyme with a sixth form, it should stand out amongst its competitors. However, external perceptions of the brand didn’t align with the true John Fisher experience.
Our Approach
Research, Workshops, Brand Identity, Brand Narrative, Content Strategy, Website, Animation, Copywriting, Print Design, Digital Advertising, Social Media, Event Graphics
To elevate brand awareness and transform external perceptions of St John Fisher Catholic College and Sixth Form, we had to get to the core of the brand. We conducted stakeholder workshops, student focus groups and student surveys to develop a full and robust picture of the challenges, insights and opportunities. We then crafted a brand strategy, developing positioning and key messaging that clearly communicates the mission of St John Fisher.
To align the visuals with the new narrative, we developed key brand elements including the logo and colour palette. Extracting the fish shapes and scales from the logo, we created branded illustrative assets for use in marketing materials.
It was important that the visual identity of the sixth form aligned with the college, but predominantly appealed to Y11 students and their parents. This was pivotal in achieving the sixth form’s objective of optimising student recruitment. By using a varied colour palette and making considered photographic decisions, we have been able to differentiate between the college and sixth form – without losing the core brand identity.
To accelerate the recruitment of sixth form pupils for September 2024 entry, we launched an awareness campaign to all students and their families alongside a targeted recruitment campaign. With carefully crafted copy and engaging design, we created social ads to target the audience at key stages of the application process. And of course, we needed somewhere to direct our audience. So, we designed and built a unique landing page that aligned with the brand’s positioning and supported a key goal of prospectus downloads to encourage student applications. This activity, along with supporting print materials, led to a 45% increase in applications for Year 12 for September 2024.
“We had great success working with Starbots Creative and achieved a significant ROI with increased brand awareness and pupil admissions. St John Fisher’s 6th form College has benefitted from a 45% increase in applications for Y12 and a 40% increase in taster day sign-ups. The team at Starbots have also helped strengthen parental engagement through social media platforms and are helping our schools thrive”.
Cathy Booth - Chief Financial Officer
