As the Terry College expands its brand, consistency in our writing style and brand messaging remains key. This page will help provide a starting point for written materials.
Remember, every communication is a reflection of the Terry College brand. This becomes increasingly important when creating communications for mass audiences. If you have any questions, please email the Office of Marketing and Communications.
Our Brand Message
Our brand concepts drive the direction of our message. These are meant as starting points to frame your content, not verbatim use. Do not force this verbiage into your writing, as it will feel contrived.
When it comes to “how” you say something, keep it simple: focus on being helpful, confident and positive.
When it comes to “what” you want to say, keeping Terry’s key brand concepts in mind will help you shape your message.
Core Concepts
Speaks to the caliber of incoming students, interns and graduates entering the job market and the investment from Terry faculty, staff and alumni in preparing students for career success.
Example Headlines
- Ready from day one.
- Business driven. Career ready.
- Your direction is our business.
We emphasize taking part in established tradition while showing a willingness to leave our comfort zone for growth through wide-ranging learning and involvement opportunities.
Example Headlines
- Leaders thrive here.
- Where ambition meets opportunity.
- Inspiring innovators, entrepreneurs and the best in business.
Our well-connected, generous alumni proudly support Terry, its students and strategic initiatives. We foster a proud, engaged, and collaborative community that shares a commitment to the betterment of business and fellow members of the Terry family. Strong college loyalty with a pay-it-forward mentality.
Example Headlines
- Connect To Success.
- Our Network, Your Success.
- Together In Business.
Elevator Pitch
Succinct summary of the Terry College’s value proposition and who we serve. Not intended for memorization or verbatim use but to provide uniform talking points for Terry communications.
The Terry College of Business believes success is a destination you set, and we’re prepared to take you there. Our ambitious students engage with award-winning faculty, industry experts, and loyal alumni to thrive as a community dedicated to the betterment of business. Terry readies you to lead in the ever-changing business world. And with the support of over 75,000 alumni across 80 countries, you’ll find good company is never far away. That’s the Terry College difference — your direction is our business.
Writing Tips
Writing content on behalf of the college and unsure where to begin? These tips can help you get your keyboard humming.
Leverage AP style
The Terry College follows AP style for commonly used language and punctuation, but separate styles are used solely by the Terry College. Review the full style guide and bookmark it to keep it handy for questions that arise while writing.
Keep your audience in mind
Before putting pen to paper, it’s important to answer a few questions first:
- Who are you talking to?
- What do you want them to know?
- What action do you want them to take?
- Why should they care?
Use your answers and the brand messaging concepts to frame your message and kick-start your creative process.
Consider your medium
Websites
If writing for the web, content should be clear and concise, minimizing unnecessary words. Web visitors scan; they don’t read word for word. They search for specific terms, so think through what terms matter to them and use them in your content.
Emails
When writing emails, consider a professional, but attention-grabbing subject line to improve your open rate. As for content, your email should be readable in 30 seconds or less with a singular objective (inform, drive an action, etc.).
With print, brevity remains important. However, you have more flexibility as print readers are normally more engaged than digital readers. Print communication typically carries the most formal tone of all mediums.