Inspire Impact Campaign Launches

If you’ve been driving east on I-90 over the past couple of weeks, you might have noticed a new Isenberg billboard just outside Worcester that features some familiar faces. These billboards and a host of other media featuring Isenberg students are part of the launch of Isenberg’s new brand campaign: Inspire Impact.  

“Our goal is to transform lives,” says Dean Anne Massey. “I think about inspire in terms of what can we do better—as students, as graduates, as faculty, as staff. How can we inspire each other to do better in each context we’re working in?” 

Massey says that inspiration is about having an impact. “For our faculty, it’s on business theory and practice. For our students, it’s on the organizations and communities they work in. For our staff, it is advancing students’ teaching and learning, getting them great job opportunities, and preparing them.” 

The launch of the new ad campaign follows comprehensive audience research, brand positioning, and the development of brand assets, says Allison Werder, Isenberg’s assistant dean of marketing and communication and chief marketing officer, who led the new brand development and launch. Inspire Impact is rolling out via digital and social media advertising, connected TV and online video, and select print advertising, as well as on billboards on major highways and transit and bike-share displays around Boston.  

Inspiration and impact are all around us at Isenberg, says Massey. “When we look at our students, we have 35-plus clubs and organizations, many of which provide service to our local communities and beyond. Last year alone, Isenberg undergrads provided 20,000 hours of community service in different ways. That’s on top of them doing their full course load, many of them working part-time, searching for jobs. That’s amazing.”  

Why is it important? “A strong brand reflects who we are, what we value, and what we aspire to be,” says Massey. “When we think about Inspire Impact and the Isenberg School of Management, we want to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue when they think of the best business schools.” 

Student Focus 

Featured in the brand launch are Isenberg students who participated in a photo and video shoot on campus in November. The campaign portrays “moments of impact,” highlighting Isenberg students’ connections and the ways that the school’s programs, people, and places create the potential for ideas and endeavors that will resonate into the future. 

Some of the featured students offered reflections on their Isenberg experience and what “Inspire Impact” means to them: