DRMTM opens this note with a love letter to our fellow Floridians as they rebuild their lives, communities and cultural resources after the devastation of Hurricane Ian. Our thoughts are constantly with you.

Haunting Brand Problems SOLVED

Recently we sat down with three arts and culture organizations from around our state who were searching for clues to solve their big branding mysteries:

A Case of Stolen Identity

One cultural center’s identity was completely possessed by their events calendar, resulting in a brand whose mission appeared to be ticket sales.

The Invisible Museum

A museum under the brand umbrella of a large arts center was held captive, struggling to be recognized for its own community value.

The Ghosts of Founders Past

A small-town history museum with a long local tradition was haunted by fear of change and the spirit of founding board leaders.

Each of these organizations knew something was spooky about their brand’s lack of connection to the communities they serve. However hard they tried, efforts weren’t materializing in greater capacity for their programs and operations.

Let’s hop in the DRMTM Mystery Machine and solve this stuff.

• Being brave enough to exorcise the events calendar from their homepage freed the cultural center to tell the community what they really wanted to be: an open place where people aren’t afraid to be heard and seen through artistic experiences.
• Leading with their purpose (to share the untold stories of the unique art they possess), not with programs and events, allowed the art museum to elevate their position and recognition within the main brand.
• And research to ask their community what they wanted the history museum to be for them dispelled any lingering ghosts of doubt about which future direction to go in.

Mystery solved! Let’s scare up some time together to solve your own brand mystery. It’s a happy half hour of free advice from experts who can help you cast a spell of success for frighteningly good friend- and fund-raising. Email hello@thedrmtm.comtoday!

No Toil or Trouble at All,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

DRMTM just returned from the Florida Association of Museums (FAM) annual conference held this year in Miami. It was the first gathering like this for many of us since COVID shut down most professional development opportunities the past few years.

The theme, appropriately, was about embracing change.

We were fortunate enough to present our 90-minute Bold Brands for New Times workshop there. As participants followed along the brave brand revolution of our special guest, Jen O’Brien who leads the creative reuse arts center Resource Depot, several organizations landed on the same question:

What is the shelf life of a brand? When do you check it for freshness?

Unfortunately, brands don’t come with a stamped “best used by” or expiration date. But they can lose their flavor. Staying fresh and relevant during changing times is challenging.

The answer? In general, all brands need their shelf life looked at occasionally to make sure they are aligned with your community and your mission.

The time to check on your brand is at the first sign you feel it doesn’t properly connect who you are today with the people inside or outside your organization. You might need to take some time to strengthen your visual or written brand, or it might need an overhaul. Either way, DRMTM’s research and assessment will tell you in no uncertain terms if your brand is performing its best.

After the FAM workshop, three museums met with us at our Help Desk to talk over their brand challenges. We offer this free half-hour consultation to anyone who would like expert advice to instantly improve their brand.

Click here to schedule a FREE Happy Half Hour consultation and we’ll lift up the freshness seal on your brand and let you know if you’re safe for consumption. 

Stay fresh,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl

 Hi there!

The heat of summer is in full effect. And here at DRMTM, we’ve been pondering what it means to be “hot.”

We all want to be hot as in “trending,” “in the spotlight,” or “commanding attention.” Not the way many of us are feeling right now — “a sticky mess.”

Cooler days are just around the corner — and so is the fourth quarter of the year. It’s the perfect time to consider a rebrand or refresh in 2023 that will take your arts and culture organization from “hot” (miserable) to “hot” (awesome).

But how do you know whether a rebrand or a refresh is the right step?

You need a rebrand if:

Your current logo, visuals, and messaging no longer reflect your vision and values, don’t connect with your community, or are cluttered with complexity

You need a refresh if:

You retain trust and recognition in your brand, but it could better reflect your purpose, strengthen bonds and communication with the community, or affirm the value your arts and culture organization offers

DRMTM’s unique and effective process helps you determine the best course of action to ensure you’re “hot” in the best possible way. Our work is rooted in research and assessment and creates brands that stand out and make a lasting, positive impact.

We’re here to help you reimagine your arts and culture brand into one that builds organizational capacity along with believers. Now that’s HOT.

Got questions or want to know more? Click here to sign up now for our free Happy Half Hour consultation to plan your rebrand or refresh in 2023.

Yours in brand building,

DRMTM

Opening night nerves have never run so high. Returning to the arts stage after so much time away (and under an ongoing public pandemic) carries an intense level of expectation for an engaging but safe experience. For both audiences and performers, we are eager, excited and riddled with anxiety all at the same time.

After 588 dark days, UMS (University Musical Society) of Ann Arbor, MI shared news about their recent opening night calling it “unforgettable” and “a night to remember.” They asked attendees: what words best described how the experience of being back at a live event made you feel?

Now, the DRMTM loves us some juicy, flavorful terms and this little cloud is full of word candy. Besides the obvious biggies like happy and excited  — and empathizing with a few uneasy returners — there is true treasure here. Words like humanized, home, overjoyed, reborn, liberated, uplifted and transported describe what the arts really deliver.

In our DRMTM workshop we ask organizations, “what do you do? what do you really do?” The answer: it’s not managing collections, giving tours or offering performances.

It’s sharing your higher purpose —  like creating transcendent experiences, forming community, connecting and healing through art, or carving space for everyone to belong.

The UMS word cloud proves it. We recommend asking your audiences what it feels like to be back, then chow down on that tasty word burger covered in your extra special sauce. There’s nothing like comfort food to ease any remaining anxiety.

WYT/Worth Your Time

American Decay, the new book by photographer Bryan Sansivero, continues his exploration of the art of America’s abandoned houses. Capturing life, death, sadness and beauty, these works of art are unusually spellbinding.

LOOK WHO’S BOLD AF

Historic sites have long counted on events and celebrations to supplement budgets and care for historic museums and properties. Now plantation weddings and celebrations at sites of enslavement are being reconsidered for good reason. The National Trust for Historic Preservation just issued a new six-part series on the subject. “Reconsidering Celebrations at Sites of Enslavement” explores the history of places of enslavement and recent efforts taken by the National Trust to ethically steward and interpret those sites for visitors. Explore the entrenched meaning behind these places and how the historic preservation field continues to address the challenges of presenting the full story.

READY. SET. REIMAGINE.

Does your brand say what you really do? We ask all the right questions to develop your bold, compelling brand. Just email hello@thedrmtm.com. Your next word cloud can be filled with flavorful words, too!

Never settle,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl
Research + Messaging + Design

If you don’t want different, you don’t want DRMTM.

thedrmtm.com

DRMTM is getting ready for The Women’s March this Saturday and deciding what t-shirt to wear and how to design our posters. It’s a good thing we’re okay at writing words and drawing things. Last year in The Silver Lining we highlighted some protest art and were overwhelmed by the outpouring of artistic creativity, both humorous and solemn.

This year, the same goes for vaccination art. Haven’t seen it yet? Do a Google image search. Wow. Most of it is really positive, inspiring and incredibly uplifting. Yet again reinforcing the fact that art heals — physically, emotionally and communally.

WYT/Worth Your Time

The Vaccine Confidence Arts Response Repository

Developed by the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine, this resource is an open-access collection of recent or current projects, organizations and professionals using arts and culture-based approaches to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake.

Amplifier

A nonprofit design lab that builds art and media experiments to amplify the most important movements of our times, has joined in on efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination uptake.

THE VELVET BANDIT

California’s laid-off lunch lady turned street artist: “Soon, she realized that her identity – white, female, approaching middle-age – afforded her ‘the privilege of being invisible… I don’t think anyone’s looking at me like I’m doing anything wrong.’ She bulk-ordered wallpaper paste and headed out in broad daylight.”

LOOK WHO’S BOLD AF

THE CDC. You heard us, the CDC. And not for the usual reasons, like daily avoiding vertigo from the dizzying job of keeping their Tidy-Bowl boat afloat in the toilet of science v. politics.

The Centers for Disease Control recognize the power of art to move communities, hence its amazing effort, How to Engage the Arts to Build COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence. Get every person you know in public health care and communications to download this guide for partnering with local artists and culture-bearers.

Click here for the CDC COVID-19 Guide.

READY. SET. REIMAGINE.

Do you have Brand Confidence? Get your shot. Just email hello@thedrmtm.com. It’s painless and you’re serving humanity by being your best.

Let’s do it,

Surale + Laura + Cheryl
Research + Messaging + Design

If you don’t want different, you don’t want DRMTM.

thedrmtm.com