Brand Positioning

• Who We Are
• Platform
• Attributes
• Differentiators
• Stories
• Tone of Voice
• Power Statements
• Frequently Used Words

Who We Are

Michigan Technological University is a world-class university full of brilliant minds that invent, design, code, create, hypothesize, and test—this much we know.

We also know that our people are real. The experiences we deliver are real and the opportunities we offer are real. Behind all of that is our honest approach to life. We tell it like it is, the good and the bad, because we know that honesty is always the best policy.

Honesty is universal. It's expected, but not always delivered. Honesty breaks down barriers and forms strong and authentic bonds that last a lifetime. How? Honesty allows us, and those around us, to be our true selves, our real selves. When we are true and real, we make a difference in our work, our community, and our world. When we are honest, we are unique.

Michigan Tech is not just a university where faculty teach, students learn, and staff work. We are unlike any other university. We are a place where people can be their best selves, doing work they care about in a location they love while leading a life they want to live. There is nothing more real than that.

Brand Platform

Michigan Tech's brand platform inspires external messaging that is uniquely ours: real.

More than a logo or tagline, our brand platform establishes the brand and is the foundation from which all marketing decisions are made. If a message falls outside our brand promises—real people, opportunities, and experiences—we argue it's a story probably not worth telling.

Real People

faculty, current and prospective students, alumni, staff, friends, you

Real Opportunities

facilities, location, traditions, research, events, classes, weather

Real Experiences

in class, in the field, during internships and co-ops, while studying abroad

Brand Attributes

Our brand attributes are characteristics that speak to the personality of the Michigan Technological University brand.

Brand Differentiators

Differentiators are a set of enduring features separating Michigan Technological University from competitors.

We celebrate tough:

Traditions

Locations

Research

Water

Snow

Events

People

Brand Stories

It's easy to rely on data to tell our brand story (salaries, placement, expenditures). We want to focus on the journey—not just outcomes. Demonstrate what life is like for a first-year engineering major. Showcase a day-in-the-life of a researcher. Or talk about what it's like to be president of a student organization.

We want STEM to not only be seen as necessary and important for our world, but also as just plain cool.

Our external messaging doesn't center on features and benefits, but rather real, emotive brand stories. Narratives about students, alumni, and research get to the heart of why our audiences care about Michigan Tech, and what they'll come to believe about our brand through storytelling.

Share stories that are:

Tone of Voice

At Michigan Tech, we aren't pretentious. We don't put on airs. We come at topics with a mixture of down-to-earth sensibility and spirited enthusiasm, whether we're discussing moon rovers that win NASA-sponsored engineering competitions or cardboard boats that sink to the bottom of the canal. So why would we allow our communications to be imprecise or impersonal?

When in doubt, drill down for specific details. Ask what, why, how? Our department helps students succeed. Why? Because we care about their success in life and in work. How? By giving them opportunities to learn leadership skills. If we help a student land a leadership role on a research team, tell the story of that student and that research team, and our audience will be engaged.

Real people in real places doing real work—that's our jam. If we share the story of a student who's inoculating invasive buckthorn trees with a mycelium culture he devised in the lab, we don't need to tell readers that we offer innovative student research—we've already shown it.

Eliminate adjectives and adverbs where possible. Avoid euphemisms and academic jargon. Michigan Tech undergraduates aren't exposed to educational outcomes that lead to enhanced career opportunities—our students get great jobs.

Use simple sentence construction. Never use a long word when a shorter one will do. Use, not utilize; help, not facilitate.

Above all else, be honest. Say what you mean, put people first, and all else will follow.

Power Statements

Memorable phrases that can be infused in messaging as headlines, subject lines, cutlines, social media, body copy, and more.

Frequently Used Words

Simple, active words and verbs that create a sense of liveliness and urgency.

• Adventure
• Agile
• Analyze
• Build
• Calculate
• Code
• Collaborate
• Create
• Curiosity
• Design
• Discover
• Do
• Engineer
• Explore
• Focus
• Innovate
• Integrate
• Lead
• Measure
• Prepare
• Ready
• Research
• Solutions
• Work