Bard College's Graduate Programs in Sustainability (GPS) is consistently ranked the #1 green MBA program by The Princeton Review. Beyond its Green MBA, Bard GPS offers an innovative suite of programs — an MS in Environmental Policy, an MS in Climate Science and Policy, and an MEd in Environmental Education.
Students, alumni, and faculty are dedicated to fostering a just transition to a sustainable world — reshaping environmental policy, transforming business practices, and educating future changemakers. Bard GPS not only sets the standard for sustainability education but influences the global conversation, with a community rooted in diversity, equity, and environmental justice.
The challenge
As a leader in sustainability education, Bard GPS faces increasing competition from globally recognized programs such as NYU Stern and the Columbia Climate School. Despite its pioneering work, Bard GPS must navigate a smaller marketing budget while ensuring its distinct value proposition resonates with prospective students. That called for a marketing approach that was agile, impactful, and fully attuned to reaching audiences effectively in a crowded field.
What we delivered
PPWA partnered with Bard GPS to enhance their marketing capabilities across two core areas:
Enhanced LinkedIn presence
A discovery of existing social practices, then a tailored strategy — a content-strategy handbook, editorial approach, and collaborative workflow that empowered Bard's small but capable team to create meaningful content efficiently.
AI workflow integration
A custom GPT model trained on several hundred pages of Bard GPS's marketing materials — guides, blogs, podcasts — fine-tuned to their brand voice to accelerate consistent, high-quality content.
The results
Through PPWA's interventions, Bard GPS improved both marketing efficiency and outreach effectiveness. The enhanced LinkedIn strategy provided a clear framework to better position Bard, enabling the team to produce engaging content more rapidly and consistently.
Meanwhile, the AI workflow let Bard's marketing team leverage their wealth of existing assets to generate new, compelling content faster and with greater brand alignment. Together, these efforts ensure Bard GPS can continue to find, meet, and exceed prospective students' expectations — amplifying its reputation as the go-to institution for sustainability education.
Making a lean marketing team punch above its weight?
Whether you're curious how AI can enable communications in sustainability, or need support advancing a modern communications program — we'd love to hear from you.
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