Frequently asked
Fair questions, honest answers.
Whether we are a fit, why hire an agency, how we work with schools, and what to expect.
Is Roar right for us?
Do you only work with schools?
Schools are where we started. It is where our founder stepped into his career. Many of the team (The Mane Gang) have educational roots. We also partner with education nonprofits, consultants, and the occasional growing company at a real turning point. If you are in or near education, we are probably a fit.
Can I afford you?
Yes. And you need to know that we do not treat our schools like a gig. We work with a handful of clients because we are in it for the long haul, building relationships over years, not a single project. Good, cheap, and fast are the three levers, and quality that lasts the investment is what schools actually need. We are not Fiverr cheap. We believe our work is worth the price. Tell us your budget and we will tell you what we can do with it.
Are we too small, or too big, to work with you?
Probably not either. We have worked with small schools and large ones. What matters more than size is whether you are at a real moment, a rebrand, a campaign, a new program, a leadership change, and whether someone on your side is ready to champion the work.
What if we have been burned by an agency before?
You are in good company, and it usually comes down to the same things: no strategy underneath the pretty work, junior people you never met, a "we're done, see you later" attitude, and no clear milestones. We start with strategy, our founder is in the room the whole way, and you know where your project is, every day. Tell us what went wrong last time and we will show you how this is different.
Why hire an agency at all?
Why do I need an agency if I have a marketing person?
The day-to-day doing of school marketing, communications, and development belongs in-house, and your person is irreplaceable at it. But the cyclical, campaign-sized projects are where the biggest strategic lift lives, and most schools do not have the bandwidth or the specialists on staff to jump into them. That is where we come in, alongside your team, not over them.
Why not just build an in-house team?
Because a full team is slow and expensive to build, and you rarely need all of it at once. Working with us gives you senior strategy and a range of specialists exactly when you need them, without the salaries, the hiring, or the management.
Isn't this just a new logo?
No. A logo represents your brand, it is not your brand. Your brand is what families, faculty, and alumni already say about you when you are not in the room. We work on that first. The logo is the easy part, and it only works when the thinking underneath it is clear.
How we work
Where do you start?
Strategy, always. Who you are, who you are for, and why the right families should choose you. Every blurry brand we have met skipped this step and then guessed at everything after. We do not guess.
How long does it take?
Strategy is usually a matter of weeks. A full identity or campaign build takes longer. You will get a real timeline before you sign anything, and we will tell you honestly if your calendar and your hopes do not line up.
Who actually does the work?
Trey leads strategy and creative direction on every project. A small team of specialists builds alongside him, and half of them have worked in education full time. No junior handoff, no bait and switch.
Do you build the website too?
We design it. The build happens with our development partner, so you get one team, one process, and a site that actually reflects the strategy instead of fighting it.
What about AI?
We design and deploy practical AI tools for the people on your MarComm and Admissions team, the two groups usually doing the work of departments twice their size. Not hype, and not a robot pretending to be your school. Tools that sound like you and actually get used.
What if we don't like the first direction?
Then we go back to the strategy, not just push the pixels around. When a concept misses, it is almost always because something upstream was not clear enough. We fix it there. Honest feedback makes the work better, and we welcome it.
Working with schools
Do you really get school?
Half our team has worked in education full time. We are creative professionals and education practitioners. Ask us about the last time we sent out a lice letter. Yeah, we have done that.
A rebrand feels risky with our community. Will it upset people?
It is a real risk, and we take it seriously. A school rebrand is about school spirit, not just a logo, so we do not blow up what people love. We clarify it, protect what matters, and bring your community along instead of surprising them. Done right, people feel more like themselves, not less.
Our decisions run through a board or committee. Can you handle that?
Yes, we are used to it. We help you build internal buy-in and give your champion the language and materials to carry the work through the board. The one thing we do need is a clear champion on your side. Brand by committee, with no one steering, is where good work goes to die.
What to expect
What will we walk away with?
Clarity you can act on. A clear position, a message your whole team can repeat, and an identity system that looks and sounds like you. Not a document that sits in a drawer, but a foundation that makes the next hundred decisions easier.
How do you measure success?
Clarity first, then the fruit. Your team telling one story instead of five. Admissions conversations that start with a family already leaning in. Enrollment and giving that follow because the brand is finally doing its job. Brand is the root. Those results are the fruit.
What happens after the project?
Most schools stay with us. A Creative Subscription flexes from a simple queued scope of work to a fractional marketing team, so you have a steady hand between the big projects. Our longest relationships run for years, and that is on purpose.
Who are you not a fit for?
Anyone shopping for the cheapest logo, price-shopping three agencies on the same brief, or looking for a vendor to take orders with no interest in strategy. If that is the need, we are not your people, and we will happily point you toward someone who is.