After nearly 200 years of separate operations, the Albany Academy and the Albany Academy for Girls planned to merge. The schools have an excellent academic reputation but lacked a consistent and differentiated brand positioning in the competitive market of independent schools.

The school's identity lacked differentiation. Ads and admissions materials looked substantially like other schools that compete for the same elite students. Worse, there was confusion in the market about the single-gender and coeducational components of the schools' program, as well as a lack of understanding about the age range and program offerings.  

Yet the schools' impressive heritage and strong academic reputation were often noted in research among prospect groups.

We created a campaign that anchored their excellent reputation in visually playful portraits of students--in all age ranges--reading the "great books" that are part of the school's curriculum. The book's titles tell it all. We formalized their new identity and created a visual way to present it with impact on the printed page.