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LINDSEY WILSON UNIVERSITY
The Secret That Refused to Stay Hidden
How Bowstring's StoryCycle
Process Revealed Lindsey Wilson University's True Identity
Lindsey Wilson University had evolved from college to university over 120 years, but this transformation remained Kentucky's best-kept secret in higher education. "We were fond of saying we were the best-kept secret in higher education," recalls Duane Bonifer, Assistant to the President for Communications & Marketing. "But we were ready to stop being a secret."
When Bowstring arrived, they didn't pitch solutions; they asked questions. Their StoryCycle process begins with Discovery, diving deep into institutional DNA through immersive conversations and cultural archaeology. They treated LWU "like the unabridged version of Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln biography. They went deep!"
The Strategy phase revealed the breakthrough: recognition, not reinvention. StoryCycle helped identify that, with 60% graduate enrollment and doctoral programs, LWU's transformation was already complete; it just needed to be translated. "We didn't become a university because we needed attention. It was a natural progression," Bonifer explains.
StoryCycle's Creative Expression phase brought clarity to life through visual identity and storytelling.
Bowstring's new logo, inspired by the iconic Begley Chapel, earned immediate acclaim: "That's a grand slam. People said, 'Yes, that's Lindsey Wilson.'" The anthem video was so authentically LWU that "you couldn't put another school's name in our video."
Initial faculty resistance quickly transformed into reverence through StoryCycle's Implementation phase. "I had a professor say, 'I don't want to screw this up,'" Bonifer notes.
The Amplification phase delivered immediate results: the rebrand launch generated coverage from 27 media outlets and became their most-shared content of the year.
StoryCycle's final Evolution phase ensures lasting transformation. "This isn't like buying a car where you drive it off the lot," Bonifer explains. "This is a long-term partnership" with ongoing support and strategic refinement.
Today, Lindsey Wilson stands transformed not by becoming something different, but by becoming fully itself. "Your brand needs to be the most Lindsey Wilson it can be. That's what Bowstring achieved."
The secret is finally out.