Tapping into the soul of an institution
If there’s one thing Lehigh graduates share, it’s the ability to get things done. With the launch of its $1 Billion fundraising campaign—its most ambitious ever—Lehigh needed a unifying message to bring their alumni together and inspire action.
UNITING ALUMNI ACROSS GENERATIONS
As they prepared to launch their most ambitious campaign to date, Lehigh needed a campaign concept to inspire their multi-generational alumni base to take action. But they had some barriers: alumni further out from graduation didn’t want to see Lehigh change, while younger alumni hadn’t grown up in a culture of philanthropy and didn’t see their role in the campaign.
INCITING ACTION WITH A BOLD RALLYING CRY
Go: The Campaign for Lehigh celebrates the university’s legacy of interdisciplinary education and action while appealing to the gritty, straight up, and spirited personality that unites their students and graduates. The campaign emphasizes what has always made Lehigh special—the ability to solve real-world problems by bringing together different disciplines and perspectives. But most importantly, the campaign makes the case for why today, more than ever before, the world needs Lehigh to help tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
CELEBRATING AN INSTITUTION WHERE FRICTION FUELS PROGRESS
Through bold and unexpected messaging and a visual system that leverages contrasting colors with surprising juxtapositions, we elevated Lehigh’s belief that the intersection of opposing perspectives and the convergence of diverse ideas fuels innovation. We also gave new life to Lehigh’s historic seal by isolating the icons within it to imbue them with new meaning and fresh purpose while honoring longstanding elements of the university’s brand.
We brought the campaign to life with a case statement that spotlights stories of convergent perspectives in Lehigh’s community to introduce existing and forthcoming university initiatives. Finally, we empowered the university to create other supporting materials with a campaign style guide to stretch the campaign identity across a variety of touch points, including a giving website, a campaign video, events, gear, and more.
