Rebranding a residential college

We partnered with Dunmore Lang College in Sydney, engaging with staff, students, alumni and parents to develop the college brand and produce new marketing material. As is often the case when rebranding a residential college, the focus of the project was to develop a brand that allows the college to compete with newly built university owned accommodation, in addition to other existing purpose-built offerings surrounding the campus.

Dunmore Lang College has exceptionally high student satisfaction rates. Our goal was to understand what is behind this level of satisfaction, and what students most value about their college experience.

Discovering what type of students choose the college over the newer options and why, would allow us to develop a brand targeting students who would fit and enhance the unique DLC community.

Stakeholder engagement

As is the case whenever we undertake in Rebranding a residential college, our discovery process included sessions with diverse current student groups of various ages, staff of all levels and role type, as well as alumni and parent groups, giving us an incredible knowledge base to work with.

We were able to gain an understanding of the college community, and what students and their families valued about it the most.

Importantly, we were able to identify what students, parents and alumni saw as being unique to the college, and therefore most important to communicate to prospective applicants.

Deliverables

A strategy was developed as a roadmap for future college marketing material. The strategy was built from competitor analysis, brand strategy, strategic recommendations, student insights, touchpoint mapping and photographic imagery guide, culminating in visual executions of the brand.

A modernised crest was designed within the constraints of the original crest’s specifications.
Branded marketing material was developed based on the strategy, highlighting community and connection as well as diversity and individual empowerment — aspects of college life most valued by its students.

The blazen: a limitation when rebranding a residential college

The redesign of the crest had a limitation in that the original was designed to a ‘blazen’ — a historical document verbally describing the crest (in language that our team had to decipher), so any future developments must also fit the same description.

Our creative team were able to design a new crest that was modern, yet also gave a appearance befitting a traditional college as well as being within the restrictions of the blazen.

Client experience

From the initial scoping work and market research, Paper Monkey brought a keenly honed focus on understanding who we are, what we do and why. Taking a student-centred approach to their research and analysis Ben and his team have delivered advice and solutions that are creative, focussed, and relevant.

The redesign of our College crest delivered a strong link to our history whilst also positioning us for the next generation. The flow-on from this to our printed materials, marketing collateral has created a new sense of vibrancy as evidenced by the excellent feedback from parents and students.

The Paper Monkey team are an integral part of our marketing and overall brand management.

Alasdair Murrie-West
College Principal
Dunmore Lang College

Results

The marketing materials we meticulously developed for the college rebrand played a key role in effectively engaging potential students and their families. One year after the launch, the college reported a more than twofold increase in both applicants with paid deposits and students actively in the application process compared to the the same time the previous year.

Recognition

The crest that was redeveloped as part of the Dunmore Lang College rebrand was awarded an Award of Excellence in the 2023 WOLDA Awards, judged by jury members from five continents: North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. This award is Paper Monkey’s 9th international award. The WOLDA Award focus on the redesign of logos as part of a branding process.

Need to discuss rebranding a residential college?

Contact us to find out how our internationally awarded creative team can work with your college to refine your brand and attract the right students.

See more on Dunmore Lang College at www.dunmorelangcollege.nsw.edu.au