Like the vast majority of postsecondary institutions across the country, the San Diego Community College District saw its enrollment decline significantly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly two years after its onset, however, the District struggled to see its enrollment return to pre-pandemic levels.

SDCCD's marketing and advertising had to change to meet the new enrollment landscape. In partnership with the District, 25th Hour Communications stepped in and conducted months' worth of research among target audiences and key stakeholders to learn more about what they wanted and needed out of their regional colleges following the pandemic. After conducting more than 30 hours of interviews and listening sessions and surveying more than 2,800 current, prospective and former students, 25th Hour had data in hand to guide the design of new enrollment marketing campaigns. In a time when postsecondary marketing campaigns look nearly indistinguishable from each other, the creative team confidently leveraged the data to create a custom look for the District's fall enrollment campaign that was fun and unique and led to one of the largest headcount gains ever over a previous semester the District had ever seen. At the start of the fall semester, the District posted a 13% increase in enrollment, vastly exceeding expectations.