The University of Pennsylvania is one of the most respected academic and research institutions in America. Over the last decade, we’ve worked with the Wharton School, Penn Bookstore, Penn Dining, Penn Procurement, Penn Business Services, and the Office of the Senior Executive Vice President to craft tailored content strategies, produce targeted creative, and build communications systems that reach students, faculty, families, alumni, and the West Philadelphia community.
That long-standing relationship reached a high point in 2023: the launch of Penn & Philly.
The Challenge
Penn’s Economic and Social Impact Report is a deeply important document—but not an easy one to digest. Dozens of departments, reams of data, policy-focused language. Our challenge was to turn a static institutional report into a city-facing campaign that felt human, accessible, and unmistakably Philadelphian.
It was about shifting a mindset, uniting voices across departments, and building a campaign that spoke to city officials, community leaders, local residents, students, and neighbors.
Our Approach
We developed Penn & Philly as a storytelling-forward digital campaign—a celebration of the shared success and partnership of the university and its city.
- Narrative Strategy: We moved the focus from metrics to meaning. Through a unifying campaign concept, we aligned 12 schools and departments under one story: that Penn and Philadelphia thrive together.
- Human-Centered Storytelling: We produced the “Your Stories” video series—featuring voices from faculty, staff, community leaders, and students—and built a visually engaging website to bring their stories to life. By anchoring complex data in real experiences, we turned policy into people and made impact feel personal.
- Stakeholder Engagement: We conducted 20+ interviews and 5 focus groups to understand and connect with the “moveable middle”—people who weren’t already bought in or checked out.
- Integrated Communications: We launched a digital ecosystem that included a custom website, paid and organic social media, and a toolkit for Penn staff to carry the message forward.
Web sessions
Social impressions
Video views + climbing
The Results
The campaign repackaged the data and redefined how Penn tells its story.
- 40K+ sessions on the campaign website
- 3.8M+ paid media impressions
- 400K+ views (and climbing) for the “Your Stories” video series
- Dozens of presentations and strategy sessions with schools, community organizations, and city entities
- Buy-in across the Penn ecosystem—from Wharton to West Philly
- Winner of the Pepper Pot Award for Audio/Video Programs from PRSA Philly
Penn & Philly has become a model for how higher ed institutions can show up for their cities.
