A Unified Brand Story Showcases Global Engineering Impact

Through research-driven brand strategy and creative storytelling, Carnegie helped the Grainger College of Engineering amplify its reputation and bring its bold story to life across digital, video, and print communications.

2023 Award of Excellence from The Communicator Awards

2023 Gold Award from The Telly Awards

A Bold Brand Story Brings Grainger’s Impact Into Focus

The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign had a powerful story to tell, but its brand was not fully capturing the scale of its influence or the ingenuity of its students and faculty. Leadership recognized an opportunity to unify the College’s brand expression and present a clearer, more compelling narrative to audiences across channels.

Through research, brand alignment, and creative storytelling, Carnegie helped Grainger articulate a bold identity designed to elevate awareness and showcase the College’s impact across digital, video, and print communications.

The Challenge

As a leading engineering program, the Grainger College of Engineering operates in an increasingly competitive landscape for top students, faculty, and research partnerships. While they lacked the name-brand recognition of competitor institutions like MIT and Stanford, student accomplishments and outcomes were on par. The challenge was building a brand reputation and presence that would elevate Grainger to that same global stage and differentiate it among peer institutions.

However, Grainger’s communications and marketing materials lacked a unified framework for expressing the College’s personality and impact. Without a cohesive brand strategy guiding messaging and creative expression, the institution risked missing opportunities to influence perception, elevate awareness, and fully showcase the achievements of its students and faculty.

Our Approach

At the heart of this engagement was the goal of helping the Grainger College of Engineering express its identity with greater clarity and confidence. The strategy focused on defining a distinct brand personality and translating that identity into compelling storytelling across multiple communications channels.

The work began with a series of internal workshops with Grainger stakeholders to explore how the College’s personality, achievements, and ambitions should be expressed publicly. Carnegie also analyzed competitor messaging and broader market perception to identify opportunities for Grainger to stand apart among leading engineering institutions. These insights informed a campaign concept designed to reflect the College’s industrious and influential character.

From there, Carnegie’s creative and multimedia teams developed a range of assets designed to bring Grainger’s bold story to life across platforms and audiences.

What Worked

Brand discovery and alignment workshops to define Grainger’s distinctive personality and messaging framework
Market and competitor analysis to identify opportunities for differentiation among peer engineering institutions
Campaign concept development centered on a bold, industrious expression of Grainger’s identity
Development of a unique institutional voice that emphasized not just innovation but purpose, community, and impact
Print and digital advertisements that highlighted Grainger’s unique offerings, accomplished students, and hands-on learning opportunities
Multimedia storytelling, including a flagship brand video and social media clips showcasing students in action
Creative asset development for landing pages and admissions materials designed to highlight student achievements and institutional impact

Open magazine spread with images of people working on hands-on technical projects and the text "Driven to Make It Work.

The Results

With a bold brand strategy and a comprehensive suite of creative assets, the Grainger College of Engineering now has the tools to express its story with greater clarity and confidence. The campaign brought together research, brand alignment, and multimedia storytelling to highlight the ingenuity and impact of Grainger’s students and faculty. As the College continues to build its reputation among peer institutions, corporate partners, and prospective students, it is equipped with a cohesive brand platform designed to amplify its influence and showcase the achievements that define the Grainger community.

Award of Excellence

2023 Communicator Awards

Gold Award

2023 Telly Awards

Unified brand expression

A clear framework for communicating Grainger’s personality and impact

Multichannel storytelling

Creative assets spanning video, digital, and print communications

Three posters show farming robots and crops with bold text about AI and engineering helping agriculture.

Having a strong partnership yields great creative outcomes, which is something we have found with Carnegie. Being a large college, we needed a robust team who could move on multiple different fronts simultaneously.

Libby Kacich Assistant Dean for Marketing and Communications Grainger College of Engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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