Ave Maria University
Private, Liberal Arts University in Southwest Florida
The Challenge: Partner with a strong internal team to build a digital platform showcasing faculty expertise and produce admissions content that reshapes how families see the university.
Ave Maria University is a Catholic liberal arts university in Southwest Florida founded by Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza. A growing institution with a strong internal marketing team, Ave Maria did not need a replacement. They needed an external growth partner who understood both donor development and student admissions and could execute at a level their team did not have in-house.
The first major initiative was Pursuit of Wisdom, a digital learning platform built to showcase the university’s professors and intellectual life to alumni, parents, and grandparents. MXD directed the entire project from concept to launch: brand, website, platform development, all video production and editing, course creation guides, and faculty coaching. Over 25 days of on-campus filming with professors produced a library of short-form digital courses, each two hours or less. The platform now has over 12,000 active users and has generated significant press and philanthropic engagement for the university.
MXD has also produced three admissions commercial campaigns, each targeting specific demographics and designed to shift perception of Ave Maria from a primarily theological school to a broader liberal arts institution with strong business and pre-professional programs. From strategy and audience targeting to scripting, production, and post-production, we handled every phase and worked directly with the admissions counseling team to ensure the content aligned with their on-the-ground recruitment efforts.
This is a partnership built on complementing a strong internal team with senior-level external execution across video, digital strategy, and audience development.
What We Did
Pursuit of Wisdom Digital Platform (Brand, Website, Video, Course Creation)
25+ Days of On-Campus Video Production
3 Admissions Commercial Campaigns
Audience Strategy & Demographic Targeting
Admissions Perception Repositioning
Faculty Coaching & Content Direction
Admissions Counselor Collaboration
Enrollment Results
12,000+ Users
on the Pursuit of Wisdom platform are engaging with content, building affinity for the university and faculty, as well as top-of-the-funnel donor pipelines.
Doubled Undergrad Applications
through a coordinated effort of promotional materials, strategy, and web optimizations.
Dozens of Media Placements
for Ave Maria University faculty and professors through Pursuit of Wisdom course outreach.
