Our Work
Brand strategy should unify your organization around a core strength and essence to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
BRAND STRATEGY
Nothum
Nothum is a third generation, family-owned manufacturer of specialized and innovative equipment for the food processing industry.
SUMMARY
Part of a good brand strategy is understanding where the “white space” is and planting your flag there. That’s what we did for Nothum. Our team identified and reinforced Nothum’s straight-talking, can-do spirit. Then, we used that gritty, own-able difference to develop distinctive brand assets that stand out in a global field that is unspecialized and uninspired.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Visual identity
Voice and tone
Messaging
Brand support
TEAM
Photography: Starboard and Port
Copy: Sarah Jenkins
Design: Josh Thomassen
Brand strategy
Janover CPAs
Since 1938, Janover, a full-service accounting firm, has provided thousands of clients advice and guidance on how to build and preserve their wealth.
SUMMARY
Janover was seeking to modernize their identity to reflect a firm that had experienced significant growth and change over the past 20 years. Using an incredibly collaborative process, we helped uncover Janover’s core brand idea and build a brand strategy, visual identity, and verbal identity to amplify their positioning.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Visual identity
Voice and tone
Messaging
TEAM
Copy: Sarah Jenkins
Design: Josh Thomassen
brand strategy
ELMNTL
ELMNTL is a full-service marketing and communications agency serving innovative hospitality brands, both global and local.
SUMMARY
ELMNTL was finding that their success was diluting their focus and they were having a hard time positioning and marketing the agency. Our strategy was to help them uncover where they’re most successful use that to focus their future. The results position ELMNTL as amplifiers of their clients’ experience as they help hospitality businesses show they world what they’re missing.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Visual identity
Voice and tone
Brand support
messaging
Burrell Behavioral Health
Burrell Behavioral Health is the second largest behavioral health center in Missouri, working with more than 40,000 clients across 25 counties to provide a wide range of mental health services.
SUMMARY
Burrell wanted to de-emphasize the enterprise elements of their website and focus on the customer pathway from exploration to action. Our strategy was to deeply understand customer challenges and motivations, build trust and understanding through empathy, and nudge them toward the intended action with emotive messaging.
SERVICES
Strategy
Wireframe and flow
Design and layout
Message and copywriting
SUMMARY
Two key touch points in the customer journey were identified as needed significant support to guide the customer forward. Using video, our strategy was to address the customer’s largest objections in an encouraging, yet frank, manner.
SERVICES
Strategy
Message
Creative direction
name and brand strategy
Brightli
Parent company to Burrell Behavioral Health, Preferred Family Healthcare, and others; Brightli is one of the largest behavioral health and addiction treatment providers in the U.S.
SUMMARY
Two merging mental health providers needed a name, organizational structure, and visual identity to support the new enterprise. Our strategy was to over-invest in stakeholder interviews and category research to understand the heart of the leadership team and align their vision toward a new future. This work resulted in more than 250 name options, a brand story, tagline, and visual identity for their new venture: Brightli.
SERVICES
Naming
Brand strategy
Brand architecture
Visual identity
brand strategy
BKD CPAs & Advisors
BKD* was an accounting and advisory firm with approximately 2,900 professionals and clients in all 50 states and internationally.
*In 2022, BKD merged with DHG to become FORVIS, a top-ten accounting firm.
SUMMARY
As BKD entered into a new era of growth, the current brand platform was unable to provide meaningful differentiation in a crowded field. Our strategy was to develop a brand mascot and give the firm a strong voice with distinctive brand assets to boost recognition and positive branded attention effects. This strategy helped the firm win industry awards, receive significant attention in the market, and was attributed to early and ongoing large engagement wins.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Visual identity
Voice and tone
Messaging
Creative direction
Story development
Brand support
TEAM
Team: Meg Wagler, Matt Wagner
Photography: Brandon Vogues and Bruton Stroube
Copy: Eric Friesen
Design: Laura Kemp
“The highest tribute we can pay is that we wish we had done the superb job your agency has done to frame, articulate, and share the strategy behind the new brand positioning and creative expression.”
visual identity
EnSight Solutions
EnSight Solutions engineers creative food and industrial processing solutions to help their clients meet demand, adapt, and grow.
SUMMARY
EnSight Solutions struggled to categorize their solutions in a way their customer could quickly and easily understand. The strategy was to build that categorization into the core of the brand identity so it could be come a tool to show off their customization and integration.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Logo enhancement
Brand story
Visual identity
Brand support
visual identity
CIS Data Services
CIS is a telecommunications contractor that takes a methodical approach to the hardware, security, and cabling that organizations depend on.
SUMMARY
CIS was ready to move into the next era of their business and they wanted a brand identity that recognized their matured state. Our strategy was to acknowledge the complexity of IT integration and the frustration that comes with the sector—and then show their prospects a better, more painless approach.
SERVICES
Brand strategy
Visual identity
Voice and tone
Brand support
