Case Study: WashU Olin School of Business

Brado Uses Digital Marketing to Drive Qualified Leads for WashU Olin School of Business

The Challenge

Olin Business School challenged Brado to increase the number of students who move through the enrollment pipeline for their MBA programs.

Over the last five years of our working relationship, we’ve demonstrated our highly successful approach to generating quality leads and opportunities.

To build on that success, we refocused the media strategy on lead movement through the funnel.

The Solution
To meet our objective of boosting Olin Business School’s lead movement, we implemented several continuous optimizations including:

  • Reducing keyword overlap
  • Restructuring accounts
  • Emphasizing the utilization of CRM data
  • Refreshing top-performing geographic locations
  • Experimenting with new ad formats
  • Integrating AI-powered bid strategies
  • Consistently monitoring placement reports
  • Refreshing target audiences
  • Adopting custom bidding algorithms
  • Launching awareness campaigns
  • Valuing conversions

The Results
Olin Business School has seen a significant improvement in their movement rate. It surged from 3 percent in fiscal year 2023 to 12 percent in the 2024 fiscal year. We reached a more qualified audience while reducing waste in our advertising efforts.

Additionally, we saw a lift this fiscal year from introducing awareness tactics, including YouTube, digital out of home (DOOH), streaming audio, journey advertising, and publisher partnerships.

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Blake DeCola

Blake DeCola

Chief Media Officer

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Olin Business School challenged Brado to increase the number of students who move through the enrollment pipeline for their MBA programs.

Additional Case Study Information
To showcase the 40th anniversary of their Executive MBA (EMBA) program, we recommended a media blitz to get in front of prospective students, increase demand, and boost enrollment. The media strategy included digital out-of-home (DOOH) placements in the STL airport, digital kiosks in relevant areas of the city, YouTube, journey advertising, and Spotify ads showcasing alumni testimonials.

Within the first 2 ½ months of the 40th anniversary media blitz launch, Olin Business School saw more interest in EMBA programs year over year. Branded search impressions increased 9 percent. Branded clicks increased 23 percent. 

Over the whole 6-month flight, EMBA qualified leads increased 155 percent compared to the previous year, while lead movement increased 267 percent year over year.

Even though we spent 341 percent more on these upper funnel advertising tactics, we only saw a 20 percent increase in cost/movement, showing an impressive 44 percent increase in efficiency with our opportunity to movement rates year over year. We’re now engaged to activate a similar approach with the launch of WashU Olin’s Flex MBA.

What’s Next?
With all the success we’ve seen this fiscal year, we’re planning partnerships with additional Washington University St. Louis programs.

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