How To Create An Award-Winning Admitted Student Welcome: CEH Design and The Webb School

Chosen because CEH Design won Gold for their client The Webb School for Admitted Student Welcome in the 2020 Brilliance Awards. InspirED talked with Carolyn Eisenman, Creative Director, CEH and Julie Harris, Director of Enrollment Management, The Webb School, about their win.

“This welcome package is in my opinion — PERFECTION! From the distinctive packaging, beautiful branding, interactive components via the fun socks and hashtag, and the brilliant student signature page — this is the gold standard of student welcome packages.”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

Start with a Memorable Mascot

Webb’s school mascot, the Webb Feet, has garnered national attention and shown up on lists of the “wackiest” school mascots. At school events, seniors take turns wearing the mascot costume, a huge, oversized sneaker with toes showing through an open sole. Julie Harris, Director of Enrollment Management at The Webb School says, “We wanted to celebrate this quirky mascot by using fun images and taglines.”

CEH Design encouraged Webb to put the mascot’s notoriety to good use and went with a feet theme throughout from taglines like “Step into Webb,” “Walk with Us,” and “Head Over Heels” to the gift of a pair of customized Webb School socks.

“Sock it to ‘em”

Add Eye-Catching Packaging

CEH went with a unique delivery system that engaged the recipient through a tactile experience. Instead of a tube mailer, the creative team designed a triangular box with the school’s motto and the “Jump in feet first” tagline on the exterior. Admitted students opened the unusual mailer to find their acceptance letter, a brochure/poster, and the complementary socks inside.

“We wanted to provide the student with a personalized experience that would set The Webb School apart from their competitors,” says Carolyn Eiseman of CEH Design. “We requested that Webb provide us with the handwritten first names of current students so we could add them as a design element.”

CEH then placed the admitted student’s name in the center of the poster surrounded by the names of current students and friendly photos. Their goal was to show the admitted students and their families the personal, welcoming community that awaits them at The Webb School.

“We wanted our families to know they would be joining a School with a strong sense of community, a family. Our community is also very welcoming and friendly. I believe this package truly embodies our welcoming community. ”

— Julie Harris, Director of Enrollment Management, The Webb School

Turn It Around Quickly

This piece from concept to delivery took five weeks. That’s a pretty tight schedule for such a complex piece and the team needed to coordinate the poster/brochure, mailing tube, and socks with different vendors to make the delivery date.

A happy newly admitted webb student

To Save: Order More. Order Smart.

CEH encouraged The Webb School to order three years’ worth of the triangle mailing tube and socks.

They print a short run of the personalized poster every year on a large format digital press which costs considerably less than traditional offset printing.

“We are always conscious of our client’s budget to give them the most bang for their buck. We learn the client’s budget and work backward to accommodate it.”

— Carolyn Eiseman, CEH Design

Outsource To Save Time And Meet Deadlines

“The Webb School always tries to outsource big marketing projects,” Julie says. “We feel good knowing we are working with professionals who have the most up-to-date knowledge of marketing trends.” Julie also notes that she appreciates that CEH Design provides full-service (design concept, copywriting, graphic design, printing, and mailing).

“Admissions professionals are very busy, and it’s difficult to find the time needed to devote to a big marketing project,” Julie says. “Outsourcing ensures that a project gets the full attention it needs to be the best possible project and most importantly meets deadlines.”

“This is so creative and different! Swag is huge and this is a great way to start off a students’ career. The accompanying message is as impactful as the giveaway.”

— Brilliance Awards Judge's Comment

Yield The Fruits

The Webb School has been consistent in recent years in reaching its target numbers for enrollment through aggressive marketing and a creative approach to print mailings. Trends in admissions publications have seen schools take an increasingly sophisticated approach to acceptance packages sent to admitted students.

Webb heard from many parents how excited their children were to receive this package. Webb’s admissions team was thrilled with the high yield rate this package helped them achieve.

By mid-March, early enrollments and deposits were up 135% from the previous year.

Learn By Example

the webb school admissions office with armfuls of winners

This award-winning team has advice for private schools.

Their first tip: Start early!

Their second tip: Take advice from your target audience.

They used Webb’s student ambassadors to help with the design concept, to choose the photos, and to sign the poster so that they, the students, could be the ones officially welcoming new students.

Congratulations, CEH and The Webb School! You are brilliant.

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TEAM
Carolyn Eiseman, Creative Director, CEH
Cathi Pisacich, Designer, CEH
Katie Towler, Writer, CEH
Julie Harris, Director of Enrollment Management, The Webb School

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