Tiffin University Brand Identity & Positioning
In 2017, we were chosen to lead a rebranding effort for Tiffin University. Specifically, we were trusted with updating its visual identity and reframing its 130-year story, sifting up its most valuable and distinctive attributes to reposition the school in a collegiate landscape that suffers from sameness. Our efforts led to a brand identity and story that was uniquely TU, cascading through all communications efforts across campus and beyond for years to come. This redefining work rekindled the university’s commitment to purpose and how it actively seeks to fulfill it. While this rebrand and story is deeply rooted in the university’s history, it also provides a meaningful jumping-off point as TU continues to blaze new paths forward.
This project was a collaboration of Slagle Design and Ratchet Strategy + Communication
“Thad and Jeremy were a pleasure to work with. Their respective talents provide a comprehensive marketing messaging approach and they are adaptable and flexible. They truly immerse themselves in their client’s organizational culture to find the messaging brand that most authentically represents that organization. I highly recommend them!”
– Dr. Lillian Schumacher, President of Tiffin University
Discovery
Our branding approach involved a four-step process: Assess, Ask/Listen, Build, and Create. The first three are essential in articulating the brand, and the first two are specific to Discovery. We looked closely at competitors based on TU admissions and enrollment’s guidance including geography, school size, educational offerings, and athletics to name a few. Then the heavy lifting – meeting with and talking to dozens of students, faculty, staff, administration leaders, and alumni.
While the right questions unlock conversation, it’s in the listening and lingering, and probing deeper, where the most valuable insights exist. A 150-page document of verbatim feedback was developed from which we made logical connections and discovered distinctive ways in which constituents spoke about TU. All of the insights we needed were there – TU just needed a cohesive and consistent way to talk about what makes it distinctive.
This is the proof we work from, the proprietary and confidential work product that delivers on the promise. It is the scaffolding we use to Build a compelling story that follows, and informs and connects the verbal and visual identity that will define the university.
Brand Strategy & Messaging
Our job is to “make the case” for what’s new. From a story perspective it wasn’t actually new, but rather there all along, hiding in plain sight, untold yet waiting to be discovered. The story we developed was not the story we could’ve imagined telling – and that’s a testament to process leading the way – not creativity for creativity’s sake.
It involved learning of its practical, experiential approach, including a no-tenure approach, where TU nurtured professionals who teach, not professional teachers; a motto of Without Risk There Is No Gain that needed more explanation and clear examples of a nimble, forward-looking institution; and a can-do attitude that demanded language around its “scrappiness” and tenaciousness.
It was through process and story development that an all-encompassing theme emerged: Challenge Conventional Wisdom. Indeed, this storytelling itself was a giant leap away from the conventional. But that was TU’s ethos — and it was what TU needed to give it the authentic edge and momentum it desired.
Brand Identity
The selected logo direction was preferred as it represents an evolution of the existing TU (which is frequently misinterpreted as a TJ), aiming to create a dynamic logo that embodies the branding for both athletics and academics. The redesigned logo illustrates a pathway where students and faculty journey together, reflecting their shared experiences at the university as they work to prepare students for the workplace. It conveys a sense of connectedness and a nurturing environment where students receive mentorship, rather than mere classroom instruction.
