Madder
Brand & Positioning
Finding — and defending — what actually makes you different.
- Brand and differentiation audits
- Verbal and visual identity systems
- Positioning platforms & messaging architecture
- Naming
Boutique brand & marketing consultancy for higher education
Most institutions are wearing a colour they stopped choosing.
TINCT finds the distinct colour underneath the muted brand — then brings in the exact fractional experts to apply it. No idle salaries. No borrowed playbook. Rigour first, opinions last.
Why fractional. Why rigour.
Opinions are a dime a dozen.
Every institution has a committee with a favourite colour and a president with a favourite word. We don't start there. We start with audits, data, and stakeholder interviews — so the strategy we hand you is defensible in a boardroom, not just likeable in a workshop.
You're not funding a headcount. You're funding outcomes.
Traditional agencies staff you with whoever's on the bench that month. Traditional hires cost a full salary whether or not there's a campaign to run. TINCT is built differently: a roster of vetted, senior fractional experts, staffed onto your project only for the work it actually needs.
Not the status quo.
If you want the same enrolment funnel every other institution is running this year, you don't need us. TINCT is for institutions ready to find out what's actually holding back new students, donor affinity, and reputation — and to do something distinct about it.
458%
increase in fundraising and brand-affinity conversion delivered through an integrated national campaign relaunch, led by our founder.
25+
years of higher education and institutional marketing leadership behind every engagement.
0
idle salaries. You staff research, strategy, and production only when the work calls for it.
The palette
Four disciplines, staffed independently or together — each named for the dye it's built to represent.
Ochre
Recruitment Marketing
Getting the right prospective students to say yes.
- Prospective student journey mapping
- Viewbooks, microsites & recruitment campaigns
- Persona & psychographic research
- Paid and organic funnel strategy
Indigo
Research & Insight
The evidence base every recommendation stands on.
- Primary market & perceptual research
- Stakeholder and community engagement
- Competitive & brand tracking studies
- Campaign measurement frameworks
Verdigris
Advancement & Donor Engagement
Turning affinity into gifts, and gifts into relationships.
- Fundraising campaign strategy & case for support
- Donor journey mapping
- Alumni engagement programs
- Stewardship communications
Experts on deck
A senior bench, staffed by project — not by org chart.
Dr. Lindsey Fair
Founder & Lead Strategist — on every engagement
PhD in brand differentiation, MBA in community economic development, and 25+ years leading marketing and advancement at research universities, polytechnics and colleges across multiple provinces. Lindsey leads every TINCT engagement personally, then staffs in the fractional specialists each project actually needs.
Creative & Brand Design Lead
Staffed in for visual identity systems, design language, and campaign creative.
Web & Digital Experience Lead
Staffed in for future-student websites, microsites, and CRM-connected journeys.
Research & Analytics Strategist
Staffed in for primary research design, brand tracking, and measurement frameworks.
Advancement & Fundraising Specialist
Staffed in for case-for-support development and donor journey work.
Content & Editorial Lead
Staffed in for viewbooks, magazines, scripts, and long-form storytelling.
Paid Media & Growth Strategist
Staffed in for recruitment funnels, media planning, and performance campaigns.
Template note: replace bench roles above with your actual roster's names, headshots, and specialties as your network of fractional experts grows.
Selected work
Case studies showing the problem, the approach, and the result.
Madder — Brand
[Institution name]
- Challenge
- [One sentence describing the brand or positioning problem.]
- Approach
- [The research and strategy TINCT led, and the fractional experts staffed in.]
- Result
- [+XX%]
Ochre — Recruitment
[Institution name]
- Challenge
- [One sentence describing the enrolment or funnel problem.]
- Approach
- [The campaign or journey work TINCT delivered.]
- Result
- [+XX%]
Verdigris — Advancement
[Institution name]
- Challenge
- [One sentence describing the donor or alumni engagement problem.]
- Approach
- [The fundraising or stewardship strategy TINCT delivered.]
- Result
- [+XX%]
Template note: swap in your real institutions, metrics and permissions before this goes into an RFP. Most procurement evaluators will want at least one case study matched to the scope you're bidding on.
What clients say
“[Placeholder quote — ask a past client to speak to the research rigour or the results.]”
“[Placeholder quote — ask a past client to speak to working with fractional experts.]”
“[Placeholder quote — ask a past client to speak to the working relationship.]”
[Add founder headshot]
About the founder
Dr. Lindsey Fair has spent 25-plus years inside the marketing and advancement offices of Canadian higher education — leading enterprise-wide brand and recruitment strategy at a research university, a polytechnic and a university faculty, with institutional marketing leadership spanning three provinces (four, counting where she earned her MBA).
Her doctoral research focused on brand differentiation — the question at the centre of TINCT's practice: what makes an institution genuinely distinct, and how do you prove it before you spend a marketing budget defending it. She pairs that research grounding with an MBA in community economic development and a career spent turning strategy into measurable enrolment, fundraising and reputation outcomes, including a national campaign relaunch that lifted fundraising and brand-affinity conversion by 458%.
Lindsey is a recognized leader in student recruitment marketing and a cross-sector collaborator who has led national initiatives across institutions — including service as Vice Chair of the CCAE (Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education) national board and as lead instructor for a national strategic enrolment marketing program. She has taught marketing and strategy at the postsecondary level for two decades, and speaks regularly at national and international conferences on brand differentiation, enrolment marketing and institutional positioning.
She built TINCT for institutions that don't need another agency running the same playbook — they need someone who has sat on their side of the table, knows what a Board will and won't approve, and isn't interested in the status quo.
- PhD, Brand Differentiation
- MBA, Community Economic Development
- CCAE Vice Chair, 2021–2025
- SEMM Academy Lead Instructor
Built for procurement
The standing information higher ed RFPs typically ask for, kept current in one place.
Accessibility
Deliverables are built to meet WCAG 2.1 AA and applicable provincial accessibility legislation (e.g., AODA). This site and all client-facing materials are tested for keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility and colour contrast.
Add your testing process / VPAT if available
Privacy & data handling
Client and research data is handled in accordance with PIPEDA and applicable provincial privacy legislation. Research data collected on your behalf can be stored on Canadian infrastructure where required by institutional policy.
Add your data storage / hosting specifics
Equity, diversity & inclusion
Research methodology, creative development and hiring for the TINCT bench follow an anti-oppressive, inclusive-by-design framework. We can speak directly to how a given project was resourced and reviewed for representation.
Add EDI training, certifications or supplier diversity status
Insurance & liability
TINCT carries commercial general liability and professional liability (errors & omissions) coverage. A certificate of insurance naming your institution as additional insured is available on request.
Add your actual coverage amounts & insurer
Business registration
TINCT is a registered Canadian business in good standing, with HST/GST registration and standard invoicing and procurement documentation available on request.
Add business number / registration details
Confidentiality & conflict of interest
Every engagement, including fractional bench members, is bound by mutual NDA. TINCT discloses any potential conflict of interest — including concurrent work for competing institutions — before an engagement begins.
Data security
Research and campaign data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with access limited to the fractional team staffed on your project. Security documentation is available for procurement review.
Add specifics if you hold SOC 2 / ISO or similar
References & past performance
References from current and past higher education clients are available on request, matched to the scope of work under consideration.
Template note: the items flagged above need your real figures, policies and documentation before this page goes into an active bid — procurement reviewers will ask for backup.
Ready to put out an RFP?
Tell us what you're trying to fix — enrolment, donor affinity, reputation, or a brand that stopped feeling true. We'll tell you honestly whether TINCT is the right fit before you spend a procurement cycle finding out.