CASE STUDY / Hult International Business School
A scrappy Global business school quit playing by the old rules and built a brand around the opportunity only it could offer.
When I joined Hult International Business School, the institution was trying to play by traditional business school rules. Hult was never going to out-prestige Harvard or Wharton. It was a young school, rebranded just over a decade earlier, still finding its footing. The real opportunity was hiding in plain sight: a genuinely global student body, drawn from over 150 countries. The work wasn’t to make Hult more like other schools. It was to make Hult fully itself.
THE APPROACH
Finding the real story
I built our strategy on a simple belief: do the right thing for students, believe we could achieve our goals, and wake up every morning to do it again. That meant starting with deep research. Using the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, a research method that uses images to surface what people struggle to articulate in words alone, I conducted over 150 one-on-one and small group conversations across four campuses over five months.
Through word analysis and mind mapping, one theme emerged as the most powerful benefit of the Hult experience: opportunity. Not prestige. Not pedigree. The chance to transform what was possible for your life and career by studying alongside people from everywhere, with a curriculum built for where business was actually heading.
108%
Increase in undergraduate inquiries YOY
104%
Increase in undergraduate applications YOY
48%
Increase in the undergraduate student body YOY
THE PROCESS
Real voices, real stories
I insisted on involving students in everything we built. They became the faces of our marketing, the voices in our content, and active participants in shaping how we told our story. We stopped using stock photography and started using real students. We grew our student ambassador program so prospective students could hear directly from insiders.
I wrote our brand mantra late one night in London, not long after the Brexit vote, channeling the uncertainty of that moment into something clear: “The world is changing, but most business schools are not. Global change is transforming everything around us. And it calls for something new. A different type of school, a different type of career.” That language became an anchor for the school, running as a CNN ad in markets worldwide and uniting students and staff around a shared identity.
THE WORK
Finally, unapologetically Hult
The creative work that came out of this was brighter, quirkier, and more joyful—a direct reflection of the students themselves. We overhauled brochures, the website, email campaigns, digital marketing, social media, and content programs. We built brand architecture that could scale across the school’s programs while staying true to the central insight about opportunity. The student ambassador program doubled engagement on organic social campaigns. Every piece of marketing featured real student successes, real projects, and real stories. We took a stand about who Hult was for. The work made clear: if you wanted to be challenged alongside people who saw the world differently, this was your school.
The world is changing,
but most business schools are not.
Global change is transforming
everything around us.
And it calls for something new.
A different type of school,
a different type of career.
You’ll need the instinct of an entrepreneur.
You’ll need to learn through real experience.
You’ll need more than the status quo.
Because your time is irreplaceable.
And your ideas can change everything.
This is why we exist.
This is why we are different.
Hult.
A new kind of business school for the global generation.
THE SHIFT
Belonging drives growth
Undergraduate applications increased by 104% in one year. The undergraduate student body grew by 48% between 2016 and 2017. The numbers only tell part of the story. Staff and students felt the change. Students were proud to see themselves reflected in how the school presented itself to the world. They were proud to have helped build the brand, not just watch it happen.
The work culminated in Hult becoming the first US business school to achieve triple crown accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA, a distinction held by fewer than 1% of business schools globally. The school won by finally becoming itself.
108%
Increase in undergraduate inquiries YOY
104%
Increase in undergraduate applications YOY
48%
Increase in the undergraduate student body YOY