Pardee RAND Graduate School

Building Affinity With a Niche Audience to Exceed Enrollment Goals

The Pardee RAND Graduate School is the graduate school affiliate of RAND, a recognized and respected think tank within the policy and defense space. The school was preparing to launch a new Master’s of National Security (MNSP) program in Washington D.C., a new market where they had never had a campus before. Given the highly specific nature of the MNSP program, Pardee RAND needed a marketing partner who could help them promote their program to a niche audience.

The Solution

Leverage RAND’s Reputation and Meet Prospects Where They Are

Our discovery process provided insights into the target audience for the MNSP degree, and also revealed the immense value of the program’s affiliation with RAND. From there, we developed focused campaign messaging that emphasized the MNSP program’s connection to the RAND brand. 

To connect with qualified prospects everywhere and anywhere they might be, we developed a media plan that included both traditional and digital media tactics. We concentrated our traditional advertising efforts in the Washington Metro lines that national security professionals were likely to frequent, as well as in relevant trade publications and radio. In the digital space, we created a series of targeted ads across paid search, display, native and social.

Metro Ads Kept the Program Top of Mind During Prospects’ Daily Commute

The Washington Metro Ads

Industry-Specific Ads Elevated Our Reach in the Security Sector

Print Ad in Defense News

Paid Media Met Prospects Mid-Search

Google Paid Search

Native Ads Drove Intuitive Engagement

Google Native Ads

LinkedIn Ads Targeted Pros with Tailored Precision

Boosted LinkedIn posts targeted specific industries and job roles.

Social Ad Placements Sparked Curiosity Among Prospective Students

Meta Social Ads

Digital Display Ads on Leading Industry Platforms Boosted Program Credibility

Display Ads

The Results

“We had an extremely aggressive goal, and we exceeded it. Given the incredibly tight time frame that we had to do this, the campaign that we did with Echo Delta exceeded everybody’s expectations.”

Erin Dick

Director of Strategy, Operations, and Communications,
Pardee RAND Graduate School

Exceeded first-year enrollment goals by
78%

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