Strategic communication: positioning and identity
Lycée Aristide Maillol
The Lycée Aristide Maillol, in Perpignan, is a public high school in the Pyrénées-Orientales with nearly 2,000 students, most from working-class backgrounds. It is known for its international outlook with Erasmus+, its cultural and sports projects, and rare programmes such as the BTS in Communication or the vocational fashion baccalaureate. An active, committed school at the heart of its region’s educational challenges.
The brief
The school faces negative perceptions, largely tied to its social environment, which hold back its appeal to families and prospective students.
Goals
- Showcase the school’s real strengths: academic excellence, innovative tracks, partnerships with Sciences Po Paris, Erasmus+ and the European sections.
- Improve the visibility and clarity of its educational positioning for students, parents and partners.
- Build a positive image that reflects the school’s real momentum, without denying its roots in a working-class neighbourhood.
Strengths
- Rich programmes
- Events every week
Weaknesses
- The image of a disadvantaged school
- Unoptimised communication
Missions
- Carry out an in-depth strategic analysis: SWOT, competitive benchmark, audit of the existing communication.
- Define a strong evocation concept to guide the strategy and inspire the partner design agency, EMALUC in Perpignan.
- Establish a clear positioning, promise, values and central theme, able to attract, reassure and inspire future students and their families.
- Write a precise creative brief, tone, visual elements, vocabulary, for the agency in charge of the graphic design.
Deliverables
Communication recommendation
Reworked logo
Recommendation
- Evocation concept: the rocket
- Seen from above, the school evokes this shape, first read as a plane because of the nearby airport. After interviews with students and teachers, the rocket won out: an educational and social springboard, like the working-class students who make it to Sciences Po Paris.
- Tagline: “Per aspera ad astra”
- Through hardship to the stars. The motto illustrates the students’ determination and the school’s support so that everyone can reach their stars despite social or economic obstacles.
- Colours: blue and orange
- Blue #68C0FF conveys trust, serenity and imagination. Orange #FF8A1E brings the energy and optimism needed to bring ambitions to life. Together, a dynamic, modern and positive image.
- Creative brief
- A warm, accessible and inclusive tone, simple but ambitious vocabulary to speak to working-class families, while showcasing excellence and innovative projects: fablab, European sections, Erasmus+.
- Method
- Field interviews, strategic brainstorming and co-creation sessions with the client. Every decision was validated collectively to stay aligned with the school’s reality.
- Expected results
- Elevate the school’s image, clarify its positioning and strengthen its appeal to students, families and educational and institutional partners.