The administrations are only partly to blame. It's something of an arms race, and anyone who doesn't participate gets left behind. When one school starts something, it's initially a competitive advantage. After a few years, other schools pick up on it and it becomes less valuable. After that it becomes almost compulsory because what used to be a competitive advantage is now status quo, creating a sort of negative Nash equilibrium.

The identically formatted materials are because there are a dozen or so higher ed marketing companies that serve most of the market, and they are themselves competing with each other in a similar way, converging on a handful of templates they've tested to be the most successful. Once one of them comes up with something more innovative, the very next marketing cycle will see their competitors mirror it.