If your school or organization operates on more than one campus a sound strategy is required to ensure you’re seen as a single organization, with a single mission, and a single brand.

It can be tempting to talk about the advantages of each location, its unique offerings, or character. But to do so can leave you vulnerable to confusion about the totality of your program.

We helped Crystal Springs Uplands School address this challenge as it proudly opened its middle school campus, a few miles from its original campus, which previously housed both the high school and middle school. Though the second campus is an exciting addition, and enhances their ability to help their students learn, live and thrive, it’s still one Crystal.

As part of a refreshed admissions campaign we developed a new printed viewbook package with the theme Learn. Live. Thrive! This theme also comes alive in the admissions video produced to reinforce Crystal as a single student body.

Rather than talking about two campuses, the narrative focuses on the 7-year journey as an opportunity to be part of a family, where people know you and champion you, year after year.

If your school or nonprofit organization is considering how to tie multiple programs or facilities into a single brand narrative here are four ways to start:

1. Come to internal agreement that you are one united organization, not a collection of programs, locations or priorities.
2. Set a brand identity for your reputation that allows you to be known for a single, powerful idea. Hint: Don’t base your brand on programmatic specifics. Think bigger than that.
3. Approach communications with discipline to reinforce your singular brand. Look for the obvious and not-so-obvious signals you send that could inadvertently undermine your goal of being seen as one (i.e. different visual identities for different programs or campuses, or “us/them” language when referring to colleagues).
4. Create and repeat a single message about what you believe as an institution that sets you apart from others.

Need more help to unite your organization’s programs or facilities? We’ve got you covered.

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