Our client approached us with a defined business model and a goal. Our challenge was to dive deep into their business structure, understanding all the components, both forward-facing and operationally.
With many unknowns and no defined path to the goal, the brand would have to be able to extend into the future, knowing that it may change at a moment’s notice.
We discovered a strong leadership team that was willing to make decisions quickly in an effort to move forward. A strategic business plan would be imperative to help them focus on specific steps to ensure their plans and ideas were realized. Proper planning supported the creation of a series of actionable short-term and long-term steps to achieve overall objectives.
With multiple business units being communicated to their small business owners membership community, there was confusion amongst the user base. A need for simplicity would be paramount moving forward.
The brand idea was all about the members. By establishing a brand that is centered around small business owners, we were able to create visual and verbal systems that could stay consistent, regardless of the direction the company could take in the future.
Bringing together the business units would eliminate visual confusion and create a brand architecture that could grow with the service offer.
Focusing on the members to relieve pressure on the brand
By turning the focus to the user, we were able to establish a verbal system that could remain evergreen, as the client began offering new and adjacent services that same familiar voice would be there to support them.
Being decisive early about the visual representation of the brand allowed us to carry through key components as services, software and business operations grew and changed.
Establish trust to allow for quick pivots
By integrating with our client, we were able to establish trust early on. With growth as the guiding objective, our team was empowered to stay true to the vision, act fast and make smart decisions on behalf of the brand.
Unify existing and new business services
Aligning the existing business components under one master brand provided the model by which we would onboard new services in the future. The brand system we created allowed partnership services to be added in a consistent manner, allowing our client to leverage their growing membership base in a number of new ways.
Founder and CEO of Guild
Focus on the members and strategic visual and verbal systems allowed this startup to extend its offer multiple times in less than a year — extensible and consistent.
With the brand system in place our client was able to bring their business beyond their initial offer. Leveraging the fundamentals and member-centric model we were able to surpass goals, create a custom platform and continue to add service offerings, in support of the small businesses that need them most.
Brand, evolved.
