1. Northeast Kingdom Learning Services
Communication Strategies – Development & Deployment

2. Meeting Agenda
I. Inroductions 5 Min
II. Review Objectives & Success Factors 10 Min
III. Communications/Branding/Marketing 30 Min
IV. Audience Identification With Report Out 45 Min
V. Information Capture 20 Min
VI. Break 10 Min
VII. Tool Inventory 15 Min
VIII. Internal Communications 20 Min
IX. SWOT With Report Out 45 Min
X. Questions/Comments/Next Steps 10 Min
XI. Adjourn

3. Project Objectives
Objective – Partner with the NEKLS team to develop a
communications strategy to serve as a guide for the team with
regard to future communications. This document will be
developed based on team insights and assist the organization in
obtaining desired objectives regarding communication approach
and impact.
Objective – Identify communication deployment tactics based on
team insights.

4. Critical Factors for Success
The NEKLS team embraces the value of communication and
engages in the development and deployment of marketing
campaigns and communications strategies that fuel the NEKLS
brand and help the organization to obtain objectives.
The NEKLS team develops an enthusiastic hunger to always
examine and modify processes, skills and approach.
Universal buy-in – process must be exciting and engaging and
non-threatening. Understand that this as an investment in
the team in an effort to support each persons role in guiding
the organization toward objectives.
Follow through and follow up.

5. Meeting Considerations
Contribute to the conversation
Recognize that this is about NEKLS tools – the conversation is not
personal
Be positive – do not get stuck in the negative
Be forward thinking – explore the possibilities
Try to view this from a organizational and community perspective
Be respectful even if someone has a different point of view
Recognize that the objective is to make your organization stronger
and your job easier and more dynamic

6. What is a Brand?
BMW Volkswagen Beetle
Nike
McDonalds
Starbucks

7. What is a Brand?
The totality of thoughts, feelings, and
expectations that form a distinctive and
compelling promise and allows people to
more easily choose one product or service
over another.

8. What is a Marketing?
The activity, set of institutions and process for
creating, communicating, delivering and
exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners and society at
large.

9. What is a Marketing?

10. Branding vs. Marketing
Branding is long-term and strategic.
Branding impacts are realized in a long-term
capacity.
Marketing is strategic and shorter-term.
Marketing efforts should deliver short-term
results.

11. Branding vs. Marketing
Marketing is always tactical – you plan,
develop and deploy marketing material.
Brands involve reputation and can happen
“accidentally” if a reputation is not managed.
Brand equity is accumulated over time.

12. Branding vs. Marketing
Marketing is almost always measured by the
business or organization engaged in the
process.
An organizations brand image often goes
unrecognized, unappreciated and unmanaged.
It is rarely measured and hardly ever appears
as a responsibility on a job description.

13. Branding vs. Marketing
Marketing is generally deployed by a select
group or individual staff.
An organizational brand generally involves
the board of directors, executive director,
management and staff (Many more then
would be the case with marketing.)

14. When to Examine Your Brand
Communications
• When a reputation and identity has been
unmanaged for a period of time.
• If/when a organization in not leading with
its most distinctive and competitive strengths.
• If there is a need to overcome a dated or
inaccurate image.

15. When to Examine Your Brand
Communications
• The messages from the organization and its
representatives lack focus, consistency or
market relevance.
• Resources are being applied in an inefficient
or uncoordinated manner.
• You are not realizing the full potential
impacts of marketing and promotions.

16. Making the Connection
External communication is the most critical
marketing tactic to develop and fuel a brand
The brand determines:
• How you are perceived
• What category of people engage with you
• Why they engage with you
• How they engage with you

17. Making the Connection
With regard to communications that support
your brand the motto is always:
Plan
Develop
Deploy
Evaluate
Refine
Repeat

18. Things to Consider
• What is the identity for the organization and are people
responding the way we would like?
• Is NEKLS fostering an accurate and positive image?
• Is NEKLS providing a unifying and strategically focused
collection of communications = following a framework to
guide how the organization presents itself?
• Is NEKLS seeing improved results from communication,
investment and recruitment – what is the current return on
investment?
• Are you fully leveraging communication to meet objectives
and fulfill your purpose?

19. Audience Analysis – Things to
Consider
What motivates you? Most people want content
personalized the them and their needs and it has to be to
break through the overload of communications.
According to a recent survey:
• Consumers estimate that content is, on average, 50% too long.
• Less than half of digital content is found useful or relevant to the
consumer.
• 22% of the buying or selection process is wasted with ineffective
content.
• Businesses/organizations who make these mistakes are 40% less
likely to get a commitment.
Digital Communication is important because:
• It represents over 50% of what contributes to a commitment
• When done right, adds to a business or organizations chances of
getting a commitment by up to 25%

20. Your Perspective
Internal communication is a subset of effective
business communication, which is built around
this simple foundation: communication is a
dialogue, not a monologue.
In fact, communication is a dual listening
process.

21. Audience Analysis
Who is the NEKLS Audience?
Create a list of the different audiences that NEKLS
would like to reach.

22. Audience Analysis
For each audience segment identify the following:
What NEKLS related goals might this audience
have?
What challenges might they face in obtaining their
goals?
How does this audience currently perceive
NEKLS?
What can NEKLS do and/or provide that would
help them with their goals and challenges.

23. Information Capture
What information does NEKLS currently capture
from audience areas?
How is that information employed?
What information would be helpful that is not
currently available?

24. BREAK

25. Communication Tool Inventory
What communication tools does NEKLS currenlty
employ?
What (if any) response has there been to current
tools?
What communications tools might be helpful that
are not currently employed?

26. Internal Communications
What activities and tactics are traditionally used for internal
communication?
• One-on-one meetings
• Staff/team meetings
• Emails
• Voice mails
• Video broadcasts
• Intranets
• Staff-to-staff newsletters
• Corporate newsletters
• Annual Reports
• Quarterly Reports
What do you feel would be effective?

27. SWOT Analysis
In your group take a moment to identify the following:
Strengths - What do we do best? How do we want our target audiences to
view us? What distinguishes us from others? What do we have going for us?
Weaknesses - In what ways do we have trouble clearly explaining to people
outside our field what we do? In what ways to we struggle to get things
done? What skills do we need?
Opportunities - Can we identify new or expand current markets for our
services? What is the current economic landscape of our community? What
do we control that we could change to improve impact?
Threats - Are there external factors that would prohibit our organization
from moving forward? Are their misperceptions?

28. Next Steps/Questions/Comments

29. Gloria Bruce
Training Development & Deployment
Hospitality & Communications
802-895-2647