Case Study | D2L
Creating Communications Strategies and Executive Platforms for a Leading Education Technology Company
Executive Reputation Management and Thought Leadership | Narrative Development | Issues Management | Content Creation and Editing | Speechwriting | Media Training
Challenge
One hurdle almost all technology companies face is a conversation about sector disruption overpowering the one about net benefits. D2L — a Canadian education technology company offering an online platform for learners and trainees of all ages — is not exempt. D2L’s goal is to transform technology to improve learning. So, D2L came to Curious Public to make sure their goal of supporting and improving education (and Canadians’ access to it) would ring true in their messaging. That would help the company lead larger conversations about skills development in Canada, without getting lost in the weeds of online versus in-person.
Insight
Our role was to find ways to tell compelling stories about D2L that said less about their specific products and more about the company’s support of education transformation and its belief in everyone’s right to the best possible learning opportunities.
We interviewed the company’s employees, executive team, and stakeholders to give us a complete 360° view of the company — its people, mission, challenges, and impact. From these interviews, we developed and delivered an overarching brand narrative and key messages for the company that crystallized its benefit to Canadian students, teachers, the overall education system, and the workforce.
We also used the process to develop and deliver communication platforms for key executives at the company.
These narratives became the basis for Curious Public to create an ongoing series of communications products like speeches, media Q&As, news releases, backgrounders, opinion pieces, blog posts, and more for both the company and its executives. These narratives also became a guide for D2L’s internal teams to manage the consistency of messaging and positioning.
Result
Our communication campaign and products have helped D2L further its reputation as an expert in the dynamic areas of education, continuing education, online learning, and upskilling. Our writing and consultation support has also helped develop impact reports and communications for major stakeholder events.
Our Work
Creating Communications Strategies and Executive Platforms for a Leading Education Technology Company
Executive Reputation Management and Thought Leadership | Narrative Development | Issues Management | Content Creation and Editing | Speechwriting | Media Training
Demonstrating Innovation and Impact for a Prominent Post-secondary Institution
Narrative Development | Content Creation and Editing | Communications Strategy | Digital Communications
Driving Growth With Existing Customers Through Compelling Storytelling
Narrative Development and Communication Strategy | Content Creation and Editing | Executive Reputation Management and Thought Leadership
Developing a New Research and Knowledge Centre With Canada's Leader in Women's Health
Strategic Planning | Narrative Development and Communications Strategy | Content Creation and Editing
Unifying Multi-channel Communications for an International Children's Charity
Marketing and Communications Strategy | Narrative Development | Content Creation and Editing | Communications Training
Supporting a Health Care Tech Company From Startup to Thought Leader
Narrative Development and Communications Strategy | Executive Reputation Management and Thought Leadership | Content Creation and Editing
Rebranding a Region to Promote Diversifying Communities and Economic Growth
Narrative Development and Communication Strategy | Content Creation and Editing | Competitor Analysis | Social Listening | Strategic Planning
Issues Management and DEIB Training Series for One of Canada's Top Independent Schools
Issues Management | Brand Reputation Management | Media, Communications, and DEIB Training
Case Study | International Children's Charity
Unifying Multi-channel Communications for an International Children's Charity
Marketing and Communications Strategy | Narrative Development | Content Creation and Editing | Communications Training
Challenge
Telling your own brand’s story is a universal challenge — amplified by an organization’s size and the number of marketing channels. A leading children’s charity with multi-national arms brought Curious Public into their organization to help with that exact challenge. The charity had recently undergone significant organizational and personnel changes and needed to find a way to empower its newly expanded team to be brand ambassadors with compelling and unified messaging.
Insight
We talked with the organization’s leaders, staff and stakeholders. We also assessed the brand messaging across its many marketing channels and conducted an in-depth competitor analysis. We found that our client’s story and messaging felt fragmented and out of sync across channels. Additionally, audiences were struggling to connect popular campaigns to the organization itself.
Our client needed to unify its story and messaging, create a compelling editorial strategy, and find a way to help staff and departments work together as a centralized team with a single editorial/narrative approach.
We helped our client develop a refreshed brand narrative and a new editorial strategy to better connect the organization with its audience. We also led narrative and storytelling workshops across multiple departments so teams could all align their communication and brand storytelling on internal and external channels.
Result
Our client has executed its new editorial strategy in alignment with the refreshed brand narrative and is reporting positive results. They’ve also noted an uptick in creativity and morale amongst staff in part fostered through the collaborative workshops.
Advisory Board
John Wilkinson (Board Chair)
John Wilkinson is the President and CEO of Wilkinson Insight Incorporated, which provides specialized services for private and public sector clients.
Of note, from 2003 – 2011, Mr. Wilkinson was elected as the Member of Provincial Parliament for Perth-Middlesex and then Perth-Wellington. He was called to Executive Council and served first as Minister of Research and Innovation, then as Minister of Revenue and finally, as the Minister of the Environment.
Mr. Wilkinson currently sits on numerous corporate, not-for-profit and advisory boards, including Greenfield Global, the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy, Life Sciences Ontario, the Ontario Arts Foundation, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance and the Council of the Great Lakes Region.
Virginia Jamieson
Virginia Jamieson is a communications professional with over 20 years of experience. She is currently the Head of External Communications at SambaNova Systems, where she leads the company’s media relations, international communications and social media platforms globally (UK, Japan, Latin America, North America.) Before joining SambaNova, Virginia was Head of Digital Communications at Scotiabank, leading the organization’s global media relations, internal communications, and influencer relations for the bank’s AI, Data and Analytics and Digital Banking teams.
Virginia has spent her career specializing in public relations, perfecting the balancing act of managing issues with a cool head and knowing when to strategically turn up the heat. She has cultivated deep connections and contacts across North America, EMEA and Latin America, with her work taking her from Toronto to Silicon Valley to London and New York.
Virginia brings to the Curious Public Advisory Board a drive for creative storytelling, unparalleled expertise in media relations, and a devotion to working with passionate professionals.
Terri Lohnes
Terri Lohnes is the founder of Tekama Advisory, a consulting practice focused on advancing health sector innovation and success. She is a dynamic executive with over 25 years experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She is known for her creative, energetic leadership in organizations at the intersection of public policy, organization growth, and her deep knowledge and insights into innovation in Canada.
Ms. Lohnes’ interest in innovation started with economic and policy roles at the Council of Ontario Universities and the Toronto Board of Trade, including spearheading the Board’s CEO Forum on Urban Competitiveness.
Ms. Lohnes is a seasoned strategy, operations and growth leader gained from her time as SVP with Optimus SBR and leading strategic research and commercialization initiatives for GE Healthcare, along with her executive responsibility for the set-up, strategic direction and operations of Ontario’s first Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Ms. Lohnes is an inaugural advisory board member of the GE Healthcare Canada Edison Accelerator Program, and is involved with Medtech Canada’s National Digital Health Council, Federal Affairs and Ontario Committees. She is a past board member of the Genetic Aortic Disorders Association (GADA) Canada, the Champions Council for Mental Health in the Workplace, Ontario Chamber of Commerce Health Transformation Council, Sidewalk Labs Advisory Council and IAM Health Advisory Board.
Molly Morgan
Molly Morgan is a UK-based senior communications professional with a passion for international communications strategy and a track record of delivering internal and external communications programmes that add value to businesses. She is a senior level advisor to business executives, an experienced public speaker, public relations strategist, and media spokesperson. Ms. Morgan brings a breadth of knowledge to all of her roles, having worked across multiple business functions like legal, product, and policy to achieve internal and external communication goals.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Ms. Morgan was most recently the Head of Special Projects, EMEA and International, Google Cloud Communications for Google, building on her roles as both Head of Communications for Google Canada and her previous role of leading all communications for Google Cloud in EMEA.
Ms. Morgan brings to the Curious Public Advisory Board her experiences of working with small and large businesses around the globe, informing her understanding of how to build and improve cross-border communications teams.
Dave Pryce
Dave Pryce is a senior global affairs and business executive living in the UK and Canada who has over 30 years of public and private sector experience. He brings a unique approach and global perspective to achieving results and solving problems across his work in driving new business opportunities in emerging markets, navigating through complicated regulatory issues or developing public policy with elected officials.
Mr. Pryce advises clients in a cross section of industries on issues of market access, government relations and business development in his principal role at the Dewhurst Group, a global advisory firm which he founded.
Mr. Pryce has held senior executive positions at a host of global companies, including Canopy Growth Corp., BlackBerry and D2L. He has also served as a senior advisor to politicians across Canada, including the Canadian Minister of Industry, the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Finance of Ontario. Mr. Pryce brings to the Curious Public Advisory Board a wealth of diverse experience having served on multiple boards across the not-for-profit sector.
Hari Srinivas
Hari Srinivas has over two decades of experience in the media industry. He has helped lead the Ethnic Channels Group as President since 2010. Prior to his presidency, Mr. Srinivas oversaw the launch and operations of two Bollywood television channels through B4U US Inc. in New York where he was the North American CEO.
As president of Ethnic Channels Group, Mr. Srinivas builds off of his work with B4U and his earlier work as Head of Sales for IMG-Media in South Asia – a global leader in sports and fashion, operating in more than 25 countries around the world. Hari Srinivas comes to Curious Public’s Advisory Board with a background in law, an MBA in Marketing, and a solid track record of building businesses through exceptional storytelling.