MIT Sloan School of Management
What does it mean to be “out of class”?
In an industry defined by comparison and transactional thinking, we helped the MIT Executive MBA assert its defining personality: a relentless ambition to do good at a mighty scale.
MIT Sloan
is nobody’s underdog.
Though Harvard Business School might be just across the river, MIT Sloan is remarkably unconcerned with how they measure up to the competition.
The former Dean of MIT Sloan, David Schmittlein, expressed this in a beautifully succinct way: “We are out of class.” What he means is that MIT Sloan is forging its own path, eyes firmly on the horizon, aiming to be the best version of what a school of management can be. They aren’t concerned with where news outlets rank them relative to a Booth or Wharton.
This is rare.
The mindset MIT Sloan articulates is refreshing in a world too often fixated on relative success. But how does that come to life in a brand voice? Through a brand visual language? Across a marketing strategy?
Our collaboration strategically started off with a crucial deliverable: rewriting a mission statement for the MIT Executive MBA (EMBA).
Mission work always unlocks precious opportunities—in addition to yielding a powerful, pithy end product, it affords the space for all to recenter and more narrowly define purpose.
And like so much within this assignment, the mission work was different. We’d be crafting a mission that needed to complement two other missions: those of MIT and MIT Sloan. This would be the Matryoshka mission statement, nesting within those two others.
How do you measure success when your brand is built on avoiding self comparison?
Our intensive work with leadership and staff at MIT Sloan yielded not only a unifying statement that the program had been lacking, but laid the groundwork for a brand voice that confidently sets the MIT EMBA apart.
This enabled us to hone the focus narrowly for a specialized program that trains already-successful executives for the next evolution in not just their career, but their life.
Redefine unlocked a brand voice that distinctly articulates the MIT way: not simply striving to be the best within an established framework, but having the guts to fall in love with the problem in order to continually reimagine how to improve our future.
Mike Miccoli, Senior Associate Director, Marketing, MIT Executive MBA & Sloan Fellows
"Redefining the MIT Executive MBA Program brand with DISTINC_ has been some of the most rewarding (and fun) work of my career. For the past 18 months, our goal was to better articulate the out-of-class experience global business leaders take part in with the MIT EMBA. We believe the refreshed MIT EMBA brand—complete with updated messaging pillars, visual language, and a new programmatic mission—does just that.”
Services
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An immersive study investigates quantitative data and qualitative evidence from a variety of stakeholder groups. This audit helps identify how far your organization has come as well as understand what may stand in the way of progress.
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Ideation workshops offer a variety of hands-on exercises tailored to your organization’s unique situation. The group experience is strategically designed to test readiness for change and to help envision how quickly your organization can pivot.
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A strategy for change is not always easy to deploy as it often challenges old habits. Brand evolution permeates throughout your entire organization and we work together as a team to cultivate opportunities as well as navigate challenges.
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A strategic brand positioning clearly declares what sets your organization apart vis-à-vis the audiences you target and the competitors you face. Building consensus helps build enthusiasm and trust in the future.
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Your brand identity is much more than the sum of a logo, a set of typefaces, and hex codes pleasing to the eye. It can be a living, breathing, flexible system that is both open enough to communicate across your varied audiences and focused enough to cultivate a united brand experience, full of intent.
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Every organization has a voice. And every brand voice has a purpose: to distill your collective personality and ethos into a coherent expression that is accessible across many audiences.
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Organizations deserve websites that strive to satisfy visitors’ needs and deliver a delightful experience—nailing both aspects yields superlative UX. Guided by accessibility and current best practices, we develop award-winning websites that balance simplicity and depth.
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Compelling brands can only go so far without a proper deployment plan to put them to market. We architect strategic communication roadmaps across social, digital, print, experiential that achieve measurable results.
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Brands are driven by people, and people are driven by principles. We coach individuals within your organization to speak their truths while simultaneously seeing themselves as brand advocates. This training builds up collective values unique to your brand, and empowers everyone to do their part in sustaining them.