Dear Dreamers and Doers,

Remember that nice little lull in the season calendar? 

Yeah. We don’t either.

It’s been a looooooong time since we’ve heard any arts and culture organization say they had a break in the schedule to do some focused planning, strategizing, or just plain fun creative brainstorming around their brand.

Some of the most surprising reveals from our 2023 Bold Brand workshop testimonials, including organizations of all sizes, budgets, knowledge and needs, went like this:

This time spent was a great energizer to move forward on branding opportunities for our organization.

Great opportunity to unplug from everything else to focus on the power of our branding.

It was a great opportunity to get on the same page with our brand goals as a team.

Carving time from your calendar to focus on your brand story and strategy can seem impossible. But in return, you get at least a year’s worth of benefit in cohesive identity, communications and capacity growth.

So set the date, promise lots of premium coffee and snacks, and demand people show up — no excuses.

It’s what many of us as kids now remember fondly as Forced Fun – like when we didn’t want to leave our friends to go on some lame trip with our lame parents but then had a total blast and wouldn’t have missed it for anything when dad lost his swim trunks on the 300-foot water slide – and, well, you get it.

Season schedules are upon us. Time is critical. Give your brand 2 or 3 hours. We guarantee your team wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Need some tips to get started? Reach out to us at hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn for a free half hour of brand joy and clarity.

Here’s to Forced Fun,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

Dear Dreamers and Doers,

We LOVE this reaction from arts and culture organizations who change the way they think about branding after spending an afternoon training with us:

“DRMTM’s workshop clearly explained how the importance of branding affects the other aspects of your organization. I wasn’t aware that growth and branding were tied so tightly.”

We love blowing some minds.

Even more than that – we love seeing arts and culture organizations of all sizes, knowledge and budgets break through barriers that have been holding them back by learning to lead with a bold brand.

A bold brand is the foundation for strong operations. 100%. Why? That’s where your mission, values and ability to achieve sustainable growth and support live. Your brand’s power to build capacity can blow away your organizational goals.

We learned most small to mid-sized organizations, and even some large ones, don’t know how to utilize their brands to grow and meet goals. DRMTM’s process of research, design, messaging and culture is engineered with capacity growth in mind. By wielding the tools of a bold brand, you align your ability to secure more resources and support for future growth and sustainability.

DRMTM is on a mission to get funders and foundations to award capacity-building grant money so arts and culture organizations can improve brand strategy.

If there’s another thing we keep hearing, it’s “funders don’t award money for marketing projects.” Sad, but true. We think they should. But branding isn’t marketing. To quote our friend Brian Sooy, “marketing is the push; branding is the pull.” The pull is what attracts resources and support to grow our missions.

DRMTM is teaching organizations how bold branding leads growth and working with funders to support them. We see breakthrough, do you?

Let’s talk about how growing a strong brand grows your organization’s capacity.

Schedule a happy-half-hour free consultation to ask us about bold brand training, workshops and funding for capacity-building. Reach out to us at  hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn.

Here’s to breaking through,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

Dear Dreamers and Doers,

Please forgive our recent email silence  — our small but mighty team was on the road building bold brands this summer! Hope you’ve all stayed shaded and hydrated. It’s not quite the Thunderdome, but it’s the Heat Dome. Anyway, we are incredibly glad to reconnect with you here in this late-summer episode of the Silver Lining.

The past months we were privileged to meet more than 100+ arts and culture professionals from the greater Miami, San Francisco and Memphis regions while teaching DRMTM’s Bold Brand methods.

We sat with executives, marketing staff and board members in deep conversation about their challenges, opportunities and how their brand was or wasn’t furthering their goals. What did we hear most often?

Arts organizations don’t want their brand to get lost in promoting programs, exhibits and performances. With a full season of offerings, how do you keep your brand consistent and recognizable on websites, social feeds and collateral?

They want to move their brands forward and make changes but are worried to lose people. How do you grow and maximize opportunities without leaving your community and partners behind?

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“I never even thought about branding this way. My eyes are open to so many new possibilities. I feel empowered.”

ArtsMemphis Participant

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They believe their brand can play a bigger role in strategy but aren’t sure how to execute. How do you approach branding from a capacity-building perspective and convince stakeholders to invest in your brand’s potential?

WELL.  We were more than thrilled to share how even the smallest steps forward with brand research, messaging, design and culture give you greater leverage among all your stakeholders to reach your goals.

Wondering how to move your brand forward? DRMTM can show you how.

We offer free Happy Half Hour sessions to talk over your questions and needs. We will help you strategize, make a plan, or redesign your brand. The sky’s the limit! Come work with the best.

We’re cracking open another ice-cold bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola to stave off the lingering heat while basking in the air-conditioned inspiration of Our Summer of Arts and Culture. Can’t wait to hear from more of you! Reach out to us at  hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn.

Enjoy our summer scrapbook!

Here’s to Chilling With Your Cool Brand,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

Dear Dreamers and Doers,

Our team was asked a great question from an arts organization recently and we just had to share it with you.

“Dear DRMTM – it’s time to renew our strategic plan. Is this a good time to work on our brand, too?”

Actually, YES.

Strategic planning can be a perfect time to review, refresh or rebrand.
Strategic planning affords an incredible opportunity to consider the power and capacity of your brand to support your organizational goals. It energizes the board and staff to embrace your brand at the center of your purpose (fave word 2023), communications and impact.

Branding during planning can also get imperfect results if not done properly.
Branding work during strategic planning also needs to be “planned” ahead of planning so the right amount of time and thought can go into creating an informed, cohesive and meaningful brand. At DRMTM we *heart* strategic planning consultants, but we don’t know any who are branding experts. Neither are boards. Just because the by-laws state branding is a board activity doesn’t mean they should be in charge of designing your logo or writing your mission statement and tagline. But believe it or not, we see this happening all the time.

How to make branding during strategic planning even more successful.
It’s important to hire a branding team who knows how to work closely with your planning consultant to share information, goals and strategies to strengthen your objectives — and one that can design a team of board and staff to lead the creative journey with success. Branding is a deep and distinct process, that woven into plan development enriches every aspect of your mission and operations.

So glad we could explore this great question with you. We’re pouring another round of coffee and are ready for more questions. Keep ‘em coming! Reach out to us  hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn.

Here’s to making a plan,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

So far our team has spent the majority of January hard at work and highly caffeinated. We’re looking forward to a great year ahead and hope you are, too. One of our favorite things to do is deliver our Bold Brand Workshops around the nation (hello ArtsReach San Fran and ArtsMemphis) and teach our process of how to arrive at your most bold, human and captivating brand.

A few weeks ago we claimed our 2023 word to be purpose, even if it is on a lot of other tongues right now. That’s a good thing. We’ve always been about finding your higher purpose and messaging it out loud above everything else you spend your precious communications time on.

So to help you get to that purpose, and revolutionize your message so you will raise more money and grow a more faithful following, simply do this:

Stop using your programs to tell people who you are. Instead, tell people why you exist.

You are more than your programs. This concept is one of DRMTM’s biggest truths. You are not a list of programs. You are a mission, a cause. Programs change. Your purpose in serving your community doesn’t. Talk about your purpose first, not your programs.

It can be hard for organizations to make this shift. It’s a hard habit to break. But when they do, miracles happen. Make this change and you will have an instantly improved brand on your hands.

So, when is the best time to really dig deeper on your organization’s purpose and take on a full new brand or brand refresh project? Our next note takes on strategic planning, boards and a few other things that influence branding decisions and how to approach them at the right time, in the right way.

Until then, we’re sitting by the Nespresso machine and ready to chat. Reach out to us at  hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn and we’ll spend a happy half hour talking about your purpose. It’s time well spent.

Here’s to why we exist,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

Welcome to 2023. Somewhere between hanging twinkle lights and singing Auld Lang Syne the holidays impose the inevitable: deciding what new year’s resolution will positively propel us into the future. Those of us who say “what’s the point” when asked about our resolution usually do so based on our past disappointing level of resolve and promptly omit ourselves from the competition. This year, however, the resolution-averse at DRMTM see a point to a 2023 intention: Purpose. Rediscovering and passionately living your purpose.

Recently our head of research, Surale, brought up the drastic trend we’re seeing among arts and culture organizations searching for answers to their make-or-break problems. With survival at stake and communities to engage, they simply want to know and affirm their purpose.

Defining your purpose sounds daunting, like searching for the Holy Grail. But trust us, it isn’t. In fact, DRMTM has been teaching arts and culture organizations how to connect with their higher purpose since our beginning. Here’s how.

Ask the bigger question.

What do you do? We get all kinds of answers when we survey organizations going through our branding process. “What do you do?” is a favorite question of ours. We get responses such as teach and perform music, dance or theater. Operate a children’s garden. Provide art therapy for youth and veterans. Then we ask the next question.

What do you really do? An organization’s higher purpose is at the pinnacle of programs, mission and vision. It’s where your true impact lies. You don’t just teach and perform – you nurture and promote human expression. You don’t just operate a children’s garden – you open eyes to life, creativity and ecology. You don’t just provide art therapy – you promote healing and well-being. You get it.

Have a community conversation.

Do your research. You won’t really understand your purpose until you know if it is aligned with what your community wants and needs from their arts and culture leaders. Are you making a difference? How? Is your presence meaningful to your community? We guarantee that if you aren’t sure of your purpose, the people outside your doors are. They can tell you your purpose.

For all these great reasons, we are pushing purpose in 2023 and beyond until every arts organization knows theirs. Heaven forbid the word purpose shows up on Big Duck’s list of overused words this year, ‘cause we love it and always will. Look for more purpose-full emails this month and February.

Reach out to us at  hello@thedrmtm.com or LinkedIn and we’ll help you find, know and live out your arts and culture purpose.

Here’s to doing it on purpose,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl