CASE STUDY • Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business

How Encora Accelerated Georgetown McDonough's Application Growth and Reduced Costs

Industry

HiTech

Our Contributions

Strategy & Design

The Challenge

Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business is a globally recognized institution rooted in Jesuit values and committed to developing principled leaders. With a portfolio that spans undergraduate, graduate, and executive education, McDonough blends academic excellence with a mission to shape business for the greater good. Georgetown McDonough needed to reconnect with prospective graduate students, understand their shifting motivations better, and refine its brand to meet new expectations. At the same time, growing competition from traditional and online business schools made it critical to boost national awareness and drive deeper program consideration.

How We Did It

Through in-depth research and collaboration with stakeholders, we uncovered a crucial insight. Apart from impressive credentials, students are driven by the desire to align their careers with a more profound sense of purpose. This became the foundation of a new brand strategy-positioning Georgetown McDonough as a place where values translate into meaningful, real-world impact.

Creative Platform Development

The "Build Your Legacy" platform emerged from this insight, reflecting Jesuit heritage while inspiring lasting change through education. We executed a comprehensive multi-channel strategy to raise awareness, deepen engagement, and drive enrollment.

Tailored Campaign Execution

Each program received tailored campaigns with messaging calibrated to distinct audiences. We developed a cohesive visual identity ensuring consistency across geo-fenced OOH, paid social, streaming audio, display, and podcasts.

Performance Optimization

Throughout the campaign lifecycle, performance was monitored via real-time analytics dashboards. Data insights informed ongoing optimizations to creative, messaging, and media mix, enhancing lead quality and maximizing ROI.

The Result: Dramatic Growth in Applications and Engagement

By mid-year FY25, the campaign delivered exceptional performance across all key metrics, demonstrating how purpose-driven positioning and strategic optimization can drive measurable enrollment growth.

243%

increase in applications year-over-year

37%

decrease in cost per acquisition YoY

75%

conversion rate increase YoY

57%

growth in overall goal completions

The remarkable increase in applications year-over-year signaled a substantial rise in consideration and intent among prospective students.
Engaged sessions on the website increased by 51%, indicating higher-quality traffic and deeper user interaction.

The Bottom Line

The results proved that purpose-driven positioning, supported by strategic media execution and continual optimization, could deliver both visibility and measurable growth. Georgetown McDonough now operates with a brand strategy that attracts mission-aligned students and positions them for continued enrollment success.