Senior Laurel Ferrari plays the trumpet in the marching band.  “Uniquely Challenging.”

Recent graduate Stacey Dorogy raises her hand to ask Mr. Luke Harrington a question.  “Uniquely Supportive.”

Seniors Virginia Ann Lineberger and Amelia Brown work with students in Belize.  “Uniquely Compassionate.”

Hands raise a trophy in victory. “Uniquely proud.”

These are three of 10 banners that went up around the Loop Road this summer.

Designed to illustrate the values that make Stratford distinctive, the “Uniquely Stratford” signs are part of a larger branding campaign that also includes print and video components, according to Director of Institutional Advancement Ms. Kathleen Medlin.

“These signs were inspired by signs at Mercer and made part of our branding campaign, ‘Uniquely Stratford,’ whose purpose is to get out a consistent message about what we stand for. Having ads run in the Macon Telegraph and Macon magazines similar to banners helps enforce our beliefs,” said Head of School Dr. Robert E. Veto.

The adjectives were chosen by parents, students, and alumni, Medlin said.  Each person was asked to list 10 adjectives to describe the Academy, and Medlin chose the 12 words that came up the most frequently.

The banners and signs were made by a local graphic designing company, the Sign Station.

The video component, which will debut on YouTube next week, and will also air on TV.

Medlin said that the video will serve as a replacement for view books which the school used to send out to parents interested in sending their students to Stratford.

“Schools don’t print view books like they used to, so we will use videos instead,” said Medlin, who is heading up the advertising campaign.

In addition to video, Stratford also has been printing advertisements over the last two years in local publications such as “Georgia Family” as part of the print component in the branding campaign.

Several of these print ads can be found by clicking on the Admissions tab on the Stratford website.