True North brands The Marlborough Difference campaign

tnmarlboroughcampaign21

True North has created the brand for Marlborough College’s The Marlborough Difference bursary campaign.

The campaign supports motivated but disadvantaged young people by tripling the number of full bursary places available.

Founded in 1843, Marlborough College is the largest co-educational boarding school in the country. The college has 1,000 pupils aged 13-18, the majority of whom are full boarders. Old Malburians include Catherine Princess of Wales, William Morris and Jack Whitehall.

The college has a stated ambition to be a leading, outward looking and inclusive school, providing motivated and talented young people from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to create a positive impact on themselves and society. True North was asked to help create a campaign and approach to support the college’s goal of increasing the number of full bursary places from 39 to 100 by 2033.

Through a series of 121 interviews and focus groups, True North identified that Marlborough College and its community is “different” from other schools. It became clear that the sense of community and responsibility among pupils and alumni at Marlborough was a defining characteristic. Importantly, they demonstrated this by stating their own responsibility to help create opportunity for the next generation.

The campaign features emotive life stories of current and former bursary recipients who have transformed their lives through the opportunities offered by the college.

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True North makes The Marlborough Difference
True North makes The Marlborough Difference


Steve Royle, Creative Director, True North, said: “The main challenge in crafting the life stories was to create a poetic narrative that offers a glimpse into the person’s life while establishing an emotional bond with potential donors. The use of literary techniques such as alliteration, rhyme, and changes in pace helped to create an engaging rhythm.”

Kate Graham, development communications manager at Marlborough College added: “It’s such a simple idea yet so impactful. The benefit of working with True North was understanding the difference that attending Marlborough College makes and using this to engage our donors and stakeholders. In developing the campaign True North created an identity framework for The Marlborough Difference.”

In April, the Marlborough Difference campaign launched with a special Giving Day, and in just 36 hours over 1,000 parents, Old Malburians, staff, pupils and friends raised an impressive £1,326,119.

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