About Us

About Doug Tietz

Doug Tietz helps organizations explain their work clearly, earn trust, and move good ideas into action.

For more than 20 years, Doug has worked across government, business, nonprofit, association, and civic life. He has advised elected officials, business leaders, associations, community organizations, and teams that had real work in front of them and needed a better way to explain it.

Doug founded Great Dane Marketing & Communications because most organizations don’t need more noise. They need someone to help them sort through the noise, find the useful idea, and put it into words people can understand.

The work usually starts with a plain question: What are we trying to accomplish?

From there, Doug helps clients sharpen their message, organize their outreach, prepare for public conversations, and create materials that fit the moment. Great Dane works with government, nonprofits, private companies, entrepreneurs, and civic leaders who want honest counsel and usable work.

Experience and Background

Doug has served in senior roles in the public, private, association, and nonprofit sectors. His background includes public affairs, marketing, communications, policy, community engagement, and organizational strategy.

He has served as a senior adviser to a United States Congressman, participated in White House discussions on intergovernmental communication, and led communication efforts recognized across Michigan. He has also served in local elected office, where he learned how public decisions get made, how residents process information, and how quickly trust can grow or collapse based on the quality of communication.

That experience matters. Doug understands the pressure leaders face when an issue becomes public, a project becomes complicated, or an organization needs to speak with more confidence. He knows how to frame hard questions without making them harder. He knows how to write for real people. He knows how to help a group move from scattered thoughts to practical next steps.

What It’s Like to Work With Doug

Doug brings energy to the work because he enjoys the work.

He likes helping people think. He likes finding the sentence that makes the whole project clearer. He likes taking a messy idea, pulling it apart, and putting it back together in a way that gives people confidence.

Clients usually come to Doug when they need help with a project, campaign, public issue, event, website, survey, presentation, or growth opportunity. Sometimes the work calls for a full communications plan. Sometimes a tough conference call. Either way, the standard stays the same: make it clear, make it useful, and make it effective.

Great Dane does not do boilerplate. Every organization has its own audience, pressure points, strengths, and limits. The work should reflect that.

The goal is not to make things sound impressive. The goal is to make them clear enough to act on. The work should help people understand what matters, why it matters, and what should happen next.

Why Great Dane

Great Dane Marketing & Communications exists for organizations that need thoughtful, direct, useful help.

We work best with people who care about the work, want honest feedback, and want to communicate better. We bring order to messy projects. We help leaders say what they mean. We create materials that sound human, not manufactured.

The work is serious, but it should not feel heavy. Good communication gives people confidence. It helps teams move. It gives an idea a better chance to succeed.

If you have a project, challenge, or opportunity before you, we’d be glad to help you think it through.