It has been just two years since Aimee Rose, chief strategy officer and vice president of integrated communications, first entered the field of higher education, after representing global brands at some of the top marketing agencies in the world. And what a two years it has been for MBU.
As soon as she arrived on campus in late summer 2017, Rose set to work re-envisioning how to tell the Mary Baldwin story to prospective students and their families. She refined and polished the MBU brand into a cohesive offering and then brought that brand authentically to life on campus.
The results? A staggering 217% increase in residential undergraduate enrollment from the lowest-ever incoming class in 2017 to the highest in university history in 2018. Growth continued in 2019, with another 5% increase, bringing in the largest class of new MBU students for the second year running.
“In my 16 years as president of Mary Baldwin, I have navigated many evolutions to both our university and the higher ed landscape, but Aimee created something entirely unprecedented at Mary Baldwin when she joined us,” said President Pamela R. Fox. “She not only changed our work — inspiring her colleagues to push the envelope creatively and operationally — but she also changed the way we work together. The effects of that collaborative drive across campus cannot be understated.”
In recognition of the impact she has had on MBU and the industry, Rose received the national Higher Ed Marketer of the Year award from the American Marketing Association (AMA), presented on November 12 at the 2019 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in Las Vegas.
Aimee Rose gives her acceptance speech for the Higher Ed Marketer of the Year award (left); with Minesh Parikh, chief executive officer of marketing and communications agency Lipman Hearne, which co-sponsors the award with the AMA Foundation (right).
“Sharing information, collaborating with teams from different areas with different perspectives, and gaining consensus through inspired leadership has always served me well,” said Rose in her acceptance speech. “I was undaunted by claims of ‘well we’ve never done that before,’ and simply advised the teams to keep climbing — strategically, swift and nimble, delivering on our promise.”
It was that brand promise — a student-centered education leading to a life of purpose and professional success — that inspired the Mary Baldwin community to achieve more than they thought was possible in such a short timeframe.
And throughout the journey, Rose deployed her unflagging energy and focused vision to rally everyone together and elevate their collective efforts on behalf of the university. Mary Baldwin is now applying the methods that she has honed to the areas of online and graduate recruitment, and continues to track positive trends.
The AMA Marketer of the Year award honors extraordinary leadership and achievement in the field of higher education marketing and is given annually by the AMA Foundation and its founding sponsor, Chicago-based marketing and communications agency Lipman Hearne.
“Sharing information, collaborating with teams from different areas with different perspectives, and gaining consensus through inspired leadership has always served me well.”
Aimee Rose, who was named the Higher Ed Marketer of the Year for 2019