The Office of Marketing & Communications leads marketing and communications for Drury University, working in close partnership with offices, departments and individuals on campus. Our services include writing, editing, graphic design and project management. M&C is responsible for publishing usage guidelines for and approving any use of the Drury University logo, including licensing.
How to Request Marketing and Communications Support
If you need to edit existing materials, ask a question or have other small requests, please email MC@drury.edu with your request. If you need to initiate a new project or have other larger requests, please complete a creative brief that provides the Marketing & Communications team with the details needed to begin work.
Someone from the team will reach out to you within one business day to confirm receipt of your request. Please note that due to volume, we may not be able to fulfill all requests right away but will work with you to meet your needs whenever possible.
Why You Should Work With M&C
We strive for a consistent and professional appearance, style and underlying themes in all communications from the university. Every communication represents Drury, from department brochures and prospective student postcards to athletic brochures, the Drury website and Drury Magazine. When those representations reinforce each other, they strengthen each other. When they are different, they compete for the recipient’s attention and weaken Drury’s reputation, recognition and prestige.
How We Work With You
Our services are provided at no charge to the Drury community. In general, production costs (photography, printing, mailing, purchase of air time, etc.) are borne by the campus client, not the Office of Marketing & Communications.
At times, high workload or the need for specialized skills (for example, video production) will require us to bring in a freelancer to assist with a project. The cost of those outside services will generally be borne by the campus client.
The best way to ensure a smooth project is to plan ahead. Consult this guide to learn how long writing, editing, design and production take. If you can initiate a project even further in advance, it will help more, especially when our services are in high demand.
If you have questions, please call the Office of Marketing & Communications at 873-7228 or e-mail drury@drury.edu.
M&C staff can help develop scenarios and scripts for broadcast advertising and will partner with you and audio or video production companies to record, shoot or edit radio and TV advertising. Our own production capabilities are limited. You should allow at least 8 weeks for the creation and delivery of a 30-second video.
Some academic departments wish to distribute their own newsletters. In this case, the academic department is responsible for writing copy, procuring art or photography, and the newsletter’s design and layout. When the newsletter is finished, provide a copy to the M&C office for final review.
As the flagship publication of Drury University, Drury Magazine adheres to the highest standards in writing, photography, design and production. Each issue includes class notes, news from departments, athletics and development; and three to four feature articles on university initiatives, interesting alumni, etc. It is published two times a year and reflects the university’s unique character (stressing community and the value of the individual) while keeping alumni and friends informed about its unique qualities.
Magazine planning has a long lead time; each issue’s content is first outlined a year in advance, in order to coordinate with freelance writers and photographers. We generally finalize the table of contents for each issue three months before the date of publication.
Drury Magazine timeline: 34 weeks
Writing (freelance and in-house): 12 weeks
Photography and art collection: 8 weeks (concurrent with writing)
Editing: 3 weeks
Design: 4 weeks
Proofreading and revision: 3 weeks
Printing: 3 weeks
The magazine is sent to alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends on or about:
April / May
October / November
Due to postal regulations, Drury Magazine does not accept advertising for products.
Drury Magazine is also available to view online, which features additional content like web exclusives and interactive features.
The Drury website is perhaps the university’s most visible and most-used form of communication. Drury’s site is complex, totaling more than 2,600 pages of content.
If you need assistance with updating content, creating new content, online forms or other technical questions, please email mc@drury.edu to create a help desk ticket.
Policy
Every publication, promotional item, mailing, etc., which will be seen by more than 50 people must carry either the Drury University logo or the Drury Athletics logo.
Any time the Drury University logo is used on an item, its use must be approved in advance by the Office of Marketing & Communications.
Please review the Drury’s guidelines for logos use.
Licensing
Any time the Drury University or Drury Athletic logo is provided to an outside vendor for use on a promotional item such as apparel, mug, athletic equipment, etc., the logo use must be approved before the item is produced.
The manufacturer or vendor should contact the Office of Marketing & Communications for projects related to the University logo and the Athletic Department for the projects related to the athletic logo. Oftentimes, the vendor or manufacturer will be asked to complete a licensing agreement. When items are ordered for on-campus use only (including sale in the Drury bookstore), no royalty will be charged. When items will be sold off-campus, a royalty will be negotiated. If no money will change hands for the products (for example, a family member who wants to make a gift for a team or alumnus/alumna), a simpler logo use approval form can substitute for the licensing agreement.
Licensing agreements require two signatures before they are considered final:
Logo contact information:
Approval Process
Before printing or producing an item, bring a proof or sample to the M&C office in Burnham Hall 209 or e-mail an image showing the intended sizing, color and location of the logo to Marketing & Communications at drury@drury.edu. We will respond as quickly as possible.
To lay the groundwork for marketing plans and campaigns, M&C conducts research as part of an ongoing cycle. We also rely on research from outside firms, such as Art and Science, to help us craft effective messages and communications. If you are interested in specific questions, please visit with the M&C office. If you are planning a class project or study that evaluates Drury, please let us know so we can share in the results.
Drury receives queries each day from reporters. Most often they seek an expert source on a topic they are covering that day. How we handle those queries is described below, along with some tips on how to work with journalists.
Faculty Experts
We try to introduce a reporter to a useful expert, then step out of the way. Most often, we will field a call, recommend an expert, and provide the expert’s campus phone number and e-mail address (on evenings and weekends we will provide a home number if we have been given permission). We then call the expert to alert him or her to expect the reporter’s call, and what the reporter is working on.
If reporters know who they want, and how to reach him or her, we encourage them to contact the expert directly.
What to do when you are called by news media
If you are contacted by a reporter:
During an interview:
(adapted from Dobisky Associates)
As soon as you plan or recognize an event that warrants news coverage, please alert the M&C office. We prefer to notify news media at least two weeks in advance of an event. Many of our news releases are written by our student employees, with supervision by a staff member, so please respond if a student contacts you for information.
This is the basic information we need for a news release:
For student performances, a list of students with their hometowns and high schools will allow us to send news releases to their hometown newspapers, a very effective way of getting news coverage.
News release timeline
Contact M&C office: at least 4 weeks before event
Writing, revision, final approval by client: 2 weeks
News release sent: 2 weeks before event
For events with higher news value, we will also contact reporters or editors in person.
Drury does not have a staff photographer. Some M&C staff have intermediate level skill and are sometimes available for a simple portrait or event photography. Advance notice is helpful.
Professional photography is recommended for publications. The M&C office maintains a list of local freelance photographers, and we can help schedule and coordinate a photo shoot for you. The cost of the photo shoot is usually borne by the client. If we want to add the photos to our collection, we will share or cover the cost.
We also have an image library available for publications and the Drury website.
M&C staff will help write copy and design advertisements for newspapers, magazines and websites. A last-minute review is not our preference; please contact us when you first consider advertising.
You should be prepared to discuss:
As a university policy, all advertising must carry the Drury logo and must be reviewed by M&C before it is submitted. Our marketing campaigns are based on specific images and messages, which emerge from extensive market research, and our goal is to reinforce those images and messages in all advertising. Our buying power also may help you get more.
Print and online advertising timeline: 3 weeks
Review and edit text for Drury style and clarity: 1 week
Select art: 1 week (concurrent with editing)
Design: 1 week
Revision and packaging for placement: 1 week
If custom photography or more substantial writing is needed, the timeline will lengthen accordingly.
Every publication begins with a meeting, which should include the client, a designer and a writer.
The client should be prepared to discuss:
Publication production is considered in phases:
Brochures
In the course of a year, many brochures are produced on campus. Wherever possible, M&C prefers to be consulted on the text and design of a brochure; in most cases, brochures should carry the Drury logo, and fall under the logo use policy. With enough advance notice, M&C can often design the brochure.
Brochure timeline: 6 weeks
Review and edit text for Drury style and clarity: 1 week
Select art: 1 week (concurrent with editing)
Design: 2 weeks
Revision based on client feedback: 1 week
Printing: 2 weeks
If custom photography or more substantial writing is needed, the timeline will lengthen accordingly.
Booklets
“Booklet” refers to a publication in which pages are bound together but the piece is smaller than a magazine. Because booklets generally have more text, more photography, and more detailed information, they require more time to produce.
Booklet timeline: 8 weeks
Review and edit text for Drury style and clarity: 2 weeks
Select art: 1 week (concurrent with editing)
Design: 2 weeks
Revision based on client feedback: 2 weeks
Printing: 2 weeks
If custom photography or more substantial writing is needed, the timeline will lengthen accordingly.
Posters
A visually striking poster can generate excitement about an upcoming event. Posters generally require less writing and editing time, but more time for revision and feedback.
Poster timeline: 6 weeks
Review and edit text for Drury style and clarity: 1 week
Select art: 1 week (concurrent with editing)
Design: 2 weeks
Revision based on client feedback: 2 weeks
Printing: 1 week
Event and Conference Programs
The bottleneck in producing event and conference programs is most often the text; last-minute changes and additions are common. Artist and speaker photos often arrive late. In some cases, design can proceed with placeholder text and images, with adjustments once final text is received. This process has an impact on the editing, design and revision times.
Event and conference program timeline: 8 weeks
Review and edit text for Drury style and clarity: 2 weeks
Select art: 1 week (concurrent with editing)
Design: 3 weeks
Revision based on client feedback: 2 weeks
Printing: 1 week
Web Communications handles the primary social media on campus, although many other departments create and manage their own social media. For questions regarding Drury-related social media, please contact the Director of Digital Communications.
Marketing & Communications manages the official Drury social media accounts:
The M&C Office prepares surveys from Princeton Review, College Board, Barrons, U.S. News & World Report, etc., with Drury’s statistical information. Filling out these surveys is a crucial part of determining rankings. This statistical information also acknowledges Drury’s academic and other strengths.
