Our three areas of focus at D. White & Co. are simple: Message, voice and tone. Message is what you say, voice is what you use to say it and tone is how you say it.
All tagged Training
Campus feedback is good for everybody
Committees full of leadership, professors, staff, students and alumni are too busy picking brand work apart based on minute in-the-moment details in a way that ensures any collaborative brand efforts will explode on the launchpad.
Why good higher ed brands are RARE
So, what is brand message and how do you know if you have one? Look at your school’s marketing communications. Your brand message is what makes your school important to the reader’s life.
Learn how to conduct a listening session
The most valuable higher ed marketing training I ever received was as a journalist in a small Texas town. I interviewed city leaders and people that didn’t have two nickels to rub together. I learned how to (mostly) listen.
Smart brands listen for what matters most
Stop telling stories and promoting. Start understanding what makes your organization important. That’s especially true during a global pandemic.
Six surefire tips to doom your brand rollout
This year another set of newly-vested University Presidents will roll out strategic plans for their institutions. Most will include some form of branding or “re-branding” (whatever that means). Many, if not most, will fail.
Five testing myths higher ed buys into (and how to fix them)
Want to get your design the respect it deserves? This article decodes the myths that higher ed continues to buy into.
What makes a professional a professional?
Professionalism is important if you’re an executive vice president or a new, entry-level hire. It is often the difference between people who receive more opportunity and those who do not. So, what is a professional?
I was recently asked to compile a list of essential business books. I considered focusing on my area of expertise, marketing, or even gearing it toward enrollment management, but I instead decided to focus on a broad, conceptual idea of how the modern working world works. My thinking is that so many business books quickly become dated. These are, as they say, classics, that have stood the test of time because they have quality instruction.
Once you’re out there training and advocating for your university's branding efforts, you’ll start to hear a few of the same branding objections over and over again. Here are some tips on how to identify them and how to answer them.
Six tips to build better communications funnels
The key to great communication flows is focus. Each piece of communication should do one specific, measurable thing: Ask a student to apply, explore majors or estimate their cost with a net price calculator. Take time to define your conversions ahead of time. If a piece doesn't have a purpose, lose it.
The difference between brand message, voice and tone
The concepts of brand message, voice and tone were essential when I worked as a university digital content writer, and they are equally important for anyone who writes for a university brand, or anyone who relies on the brand to deliver results.