Matt, how do you position the Dalhousie brand as something people internal and external stakeholders can get behind and feel part of? Why is this important? 

“We’re in unprecedented times when it comes to higher education. There are lots of policy and government changes, especially in the UK and Australia. Canada definitely hasn’t been left out of that mix either.

In higher ed, marketing is a newer function and has only really been prominent for around 20–25 years. I came into this role from the private sector, where I worked in telecommunications and food marketing, where marketing has a much longer track record. Whereas in higher ed, marketing is a much newer function and is still progressing. Sometimes, it can still be looked at in a sceptical way as well. So when we look at brands in this industry, our mission is always around academics, research, and service to the communities in which we reside. But there is this underlying business element to universities that is becoming more and more important, which means that brand is gaining more traction as well.

When it comes to Dalhousie, we certainly put a lot of focus into the creative, visual side of the brand, but the brand is much more than that and is always in a state of evolution. We’ve focused on how to simplify the Dal brand, and how to make it more agile and relevant for  the digital age we’re currently in. We have to think about consistency when we operate in a decentralised environment. Up until a few years ago, we didn’t have that alignment on an institutional level. Part of the challenge of being a university is that we’re made up of many different departments and faculties, which is what makes the sector great, but also challenging from a brand and marketing perspective. But these are all rational aspects of the brand.”

“Now we’re really tapping into the emotional side. How do we make Dal appeal to various audiences? We’re trying to do a lot of work into finding that differentiated, meaningful positioning for Dalhousie. Dal itself is unique given its location in Nova Scotia and having that proximity to the ocean that feeds into our research specialisms. We’re a research intensive university that also focuses on the student experience, specifically at an undergraduate level, which in itself makes us quite unique in the Canadian and US context.”

You’re described as a “people focused team player” who has a profound impact on your internal and external communities – how do you achieve this?

“I’m really pleased with how many people have got on board with our brand positioning and I think part of this was making it flexible for our community. This was the key to success. You’ve got to ensure consistency and alignment, but you’ve also got to consider how each faculty, or department, can make things their own.

We have 13 faculties that all operate fairly independently. In my past lives, we wouldn’t have had as much flexibility built into the brand as we do in a university context, but it was a really important aspect of making the Dalhousie brand a success.”

“We weren’t sure how Dal’s new brand positioning and scaling it throughout different departments and faculties would be received, because we haven’t really had as high a degree of specificity before in our brand guidelines. But we knew that taking a strict approach wouldn’t be as well received either. So we had to find this sweet spot that everyone was happy with, but one in which the overall brand was consistent too. Now, faculties even take the brand further in some spots. We achieved this in two unique ways:

1. Through the creation of the ‘Dalcon’ which is a unique, ownable Dalhousie icon – built from the eagle’s wing and beak in our logo. From this shape, you can then form other shapes or words and that’s how the flexibility side of things comes into our brand.

2. From a marketing positioning perspective we brought in a “where X meets Y” device. When we first started researching the Dal brand, we saw a lot of dualities. For example, as I mentioned, being a research intensive university that’s also focused on the student experience, as typically these two focuses don’t mesh well. That’s where this creative device comes in as we’re really able to bring two things together in lots of different ways. For instance, we have a dynamic tagline right now that’s, “where infinite ambition meets global impact” so we tried to use this “where X meets Y” across the faculties. For example, “where medicine meets the digital age.” Again, different faculties are able to get behind this device and really make it their own, all within the overall Dalhousie brand.

Another aspect we’re thinking about at Dal is yes, we’re a central team, but there is also a larger communications function that exists across faculties. How do we start to work more collaboratively and break down silos? We need to think about the wider talent in communications and marketing across the entire institution when it comes to growth and development and I think this is how we achieve a profound impact on both our internal and external communities.”

You previously held roles in food marketing, telecommunications and healthcare. How did these experiences shape your current leadership role in higher ed? How have you overcome the challenge of working with the many different stakeholders associated with a large university? 

“My varied background really helped my current leadership role in higher education, as when I worked in seniors/assisted living, this was also a type of campus and community. So, sometimes I think I’ve just moved from one campus environment to another. Food marketing is like the north star when it comes to marketing processes and I was fortunate enough to work with marketing people who grew up with P&G, and Kraft Foods, many decades ago. That is the beauty of marketing and brand management – products and services may vary, but the way we approach marketing them from a process perspective can remain consistent.

These experiences outside of higher ed really prepared me for the diversity and complexity of a university. Without these different roles, I probably would’ve been a bit more challenged coming into Dalhousie, because if you stay in one vertical your entire career, and then come into a higher ed institution, it would be a lot.

All the different aspects of a university are complex and so working outside of the industry has enabled me to navigate differentiated environments, but also come up with ways to simplify things. This ties back to a marketing communication viewpoint as well, because we know that today, our environments are noisier and more crowded than ever, so simplification is always in mind when it comes to programmes, initiatives and campaigns.

But of course, there are challenges. We have to communicate with so many varied stakeholders and we’ve got to tap into the emotional side of the brand as well. We’ve got to try and find that singular emotive differentiated positioning for a university that is so many things to so many people. So simplification really is key. Universities are really realising this too, and looking into how we simplify processes – from financial programmes, to student pathways, to marketing messaging. As I mentioned, we’ve done a lot of work on brand positioning and mechanics, but this is still a work in progress.”

What’s one important truth that very few agree with you on?

“Don’t be afraid to take planned risks, and you can always change and evolve. Sometimes in marketing, especially in this sector, we can be a bit cautious. You’ll notice I specified planned risk – don’t take every risk! That’s not what we want to do – part of my role is risk management on the communication side. But I think a major takeaway for me is that we can be more risk taking and try new things. You can always evolve and correct because nothing is carved in stone, especially in this digital age.

Of course, we do need to be aware that brands are typically built over decades, and reputations can be tarnished in an instant, so incremental change can also be great. We don’t always have to be revolutionary – we can be evolutionary as well. But I do think we should be taking more planned risks because if we don’t, all universities will show up the same. We all have unique value propositions but we don’t always market this in the best way to our audiences. Be more innovative and curious.”