Tenet Partners

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re about a $2 billion industrial distribution company servicing manufacturing and Fortune 500 customers across the United States. I’m the vice-president of marketing, so I have oversight over all our digital and marketing assets, product strategy, as well as our specialty businesses within the enterprise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tenet Partners?

There was an acquisition about three years ago. We were merging two companies that both had a lot of heritage behind their individual brands. The business challenge we were addressing was pulling together those two organizations into one company, under one banner, with one culture and one value proposition.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I like working with Tenet because of their boutique nature. Working with a smaller firm, you tend to get more interaction with the senior level folks and the ability to adjust and move quickly when needed. I give them a lot of credit around their flexibility and willingness to flex when needed. In bringing together two enterprises, it can become a little disorganized sometimes. Tenet did a great job of helping us manage that dysfunction.

As far as deliverables go, and where they did a wonderful job from our perspective, is really building out the brand platform that we now leverage, all the way down to the service principles. They really helped us drive what we feel is a brand platform that we can iterate on over years to come, but built in such a way that there’s still flexibility where we can tweak as we move forward, which is great. The look and feel of the logo turned out fantastic; the way they used color, and the integrated patterns of the logo have been fantastic as well. The logo itself plays very well in all types of print, video, and digital media. The team did a great job on the logo development.

The last piece I would like to call out specifically is the training that was built and rolled out across our enterprise. We’ve got 3,300 associates, and we developed a cascading training that went out to all the associates. Tenet worked very closely with us in developing that, and it really drove home educating the two companies on what the new, individual company was going to stand for.

I directly worked with James Cerruti, who is the senior partner at Tenet. Nora Swenson was the project/account manager. We also had Carol Friedland who would come in and pinch-hit for James occasionally, and then we had Rebecca Longman and Larry Oakner that we worked with quite a bit. Andrew Bogucki did a lot of the design work, and another Andrew [Douglas] was our creative writer.

How did you come to work with Tenet Partners?

I joined the company only about a year ago, and I came here to lead up this rebranding effort. I selected Tenet within my first couple months on the job. I found them through a referral. The president of our parent company had worked with them in the past. There were a couple other agencies that we had worked with, one of which went out of business, and that left us in kind of a bind. Tenet was referred to us, and they were very willing to pick up the project and dig right in.

How much have you invested with Tenet Partners?

It’s a seven-figure-plus number. We didn’t hire a company like Tenet in an effort to be thrifty.

What is the status of this engagement?

We contracted with them in May of 2016, and the work is ongoing. We’re finishing up right now, so the project should be completed in the next 30 days.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It’s all so fresh and new, we haven’t been able to execute on all the surveys and things we want to do with the market to see how well the brand is seated. I don’t have any clear measurable, with the exception being that we’ve trained 3,300 associates on the new brand platform, and we’ve rolled out the new brand across the entire enterprise.

How did Tenet Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at identifying the milestones and tracking against those. I would say that there have been a couple of occasions when the project got off-track a bit. It’s hard to identify whether that was on us or them. In a lot of cases, it might have been us because we’re large and a little disorganized. If I was going to knock Tenet for anything, there were a few times when the project manager would get a little too overzealous in trying to hit specific dates. There were times when I’d have to tell James that we had a lot going on, and we needed to make sure we’re communicating appropriately to the people here. I think that was all done for the right reasons, and it was done because they’re ultra-focused on deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about Tenet Partners?

The logo design and the training are the two things that really stand out.

Are there any areas Tenet Partners could improve?

They come across as a very small shop, so there are times when a person is out on vacation and a task has to wait. Some of that is just due to their size. The benefit is that you get more of that TLC and direct executive engagement that you don’t get in larger firms.

One of the challenges for Tenet was that we were moving very slow, and then all of a sudden, we wanted to go very fast. They didn’t know our business, so it was a bit of a handicap. They had to learn a very complicated business in a very short period of time. I don’t know if anyone could have done a better job than they did at learning the business at the speed we required.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of brand marketing at a nationally marketed and recognized brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tenet Partners?

Our business challenge was to come up with a battery of names in a very short time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was a naming effort for a product we offer. What appealed to us about Tenet was the co-imagination process. With a short timetable to develop a battery of new names, we felt that blending their expertise with our insider perspective could get us to the finish line in a timely and high-quality manner. We were truncated because of our short turnaround. I believe the total number of rounds of names was four. Some were done internally, which Tenet screened and brought to us, and then the co-imagination process, which we co-created together.

How did you come to work with Tenet Partners?

We knew we had a budget parameter, so trying to find an agency to provide the services for the scope was difficult. Tenet came highly recommended through an organization of which we’re a member, based on the scope as that organization understood it.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from April to May of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Tenet Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

They have outstanding project management. As it’s a name generation project, we didn’t use any project management tools. It’s more just meeting timelines and managing to those timelines.

What did you find most impressive about Tenet Partners?

They’re a very professional and seasoned team.

Are there any areas Tenet Partners could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of global marketing communications and downstream engagement for Eastman. I've been with the company for 10 years, overseeing the leadership of a 50-person team globally for the company. We serve as the inside agency for Eastman, responsible for brand stewardship and brand integration from our large-scale acquisitions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tenet Partners?

We used Tenet Partners and their brand index modeling to understand familiarity and favorability among the investor audience and understand our brand equity evaluation as a portion of our total company value.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tenet Partners first came on my radar about five years ago when they were releasing their annual corporate brand indexes by sector. I noticed that they had a long history—more than 20 years—in tracking the chemical industry, and Eastman is a member of that vertical. Since we were looking for ways we could quantify and qualify investor perception of Eastman over time, I engaged with Brad Puckey, who leads the research practice of Tenet Partners, and they took us through their methodology of how they gain insights through in-person interviews of people within the target demographic.

We spent some time looking deeper into the competitive landscape together and identified four specific target companies that we wanted to track our attribution against. It was a very collaborative, open, and iterative process which now not only results in an annual output deck or playbook for us, but we've also moved to their online portal where we can look at information quarterly and on demand in a very visual way, telling the story of our brand equity and its journey within this specific target audience over time. It's been a great partnership, and I really like that they've added this on-demand visualization tool and portal that allows me to get my fingers dirty anytime I want without necessarily having to wait for the annual review. It's been a win-win.

How did you come to work with Tenet Partners?

I was doing a lot of research on LinkedIn in this space, and we had gone through an RFP [request for proposal] process about five years ago looking at large agencies to help us think about our brand acquisition strategy when it comes to mergers and acquisitions. Core Brand, which was the previous name of Tenet Partners, was on our shortlist, and we worked with them to produce an RFP to help us think through our brand hierarchy strategy.

We ultimately didn't go to Tenet Partners for that work, but through learning about their practice and their specialty in that area, we decided to focus them more narrowly in this space because they had such a long line of equity, relevance, and expertise, and because they had been tracking us since we spun off of Kodak in the 1990s. There was a lot of rearview mirror understanding we could get without having to commission brand new work, so it was the best of both worlds.

We had come to know them through another project. From narrowing our scope there, we discovered that they had this other practice that met a need for us, so we leveraged all of the work together to go into this vein of understanding.

How much have you invested with Tenet Partners?

It’s been under $200,000–$250,000.

What was the month and year you started working with Tenet Partners?

This is our fourth year of working with them for the corporate brand index information. We began working with them in May 2013. Our work is ongoing with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Their work has raised awareness internally with our key decision makers, and certainly with our investor relations group, about the process and approach to evaluating a brand as a part of a portfolio. In the past, that was seen as something that was very hard to do, and maybe it had a little bit of fluffy science around it. The leadership and practice that Brad has at Tenet Partners have really helped translate this into a credible source of data for our internal team. It has set the base foundation for us to now credibly earn the right to grow our investment in our brand, how we talk about our brand and the evolution of our brand at the company as an asset. It has completely shifted the conversation since the time we began working with them; that, to me, has been invaluable.

How did Tenet Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

I have no issues whatsoever. They meet every deadline. The narratives they provided us and the explanation and foundation of all their data and statistics are excellent. They're very accessible. Dealing with Brad is like naturally talking to a colleague that you've been working with for 10 or 20 years or someone that you went to college with. He's just very easy to understand. Even though his head thinks in big data and analytics, he's able to translate that into a marketer's language and I find that very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about Tenet Partners?

Their longevity in this space is what makes them stand out. I serve on the corporate brand council, and Tenet Partners is often looked to as a leader in this space. We've had them come in and speak on numerous occasions about this practice and their methodology in it. They are at the forefront of brand evaluation when it comes from the investor point of view. Their history of being 30 years in it now is impressive. A lot of companies bring their own flavor, methodology, or "secret sauce" that makes them try to be unique in this space, but Tenet Partners has really backed it up with the longevity. You get so much value from working with them because you're not always having to commission new work. You're able to benefit both from a historical and the forward-looking view, and I think that really sets them apart.

Are there any areas Tenet Partners could improve?

They could have come up with the online portal sooner. That is the only thing. The ability to have this on demand sooner versus waiting for the annual cycle would have been more robust. I'm very thankful that we have it now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a medical devices manufacturer and I am responsible for the company's corporate branding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tenet Partners?

We needed to come up with a unifying mechanism for our company. We are a large entity with around 11,000 employees globally, as well as 3 autonomous business units. Our challenge was how to present those 3 entities as a single front to customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tenet Partners was hired to help us strategize and come up with a tactical plan for our unification. We underwent a lot of research, both with internal staff and external customers. It involved our CEO as well as various people in the marketing, regulatory affairs, and other departments. Tenet Partners approached both direct customers, namely healthcare professionals, as well as patients. They figured out how we were being perceived and helped determine how we would like to be perceived. Tenet Partners went through a number of steps in order to identify the pillars of our brand foundation. From this, we led into all-new brand standards, allowing our 3 businesses to still market their products according to specific campaigns, but creating common branding and graphical elements.

Tenet Partners came up with several different options for our look and feel. We don't have a corporate entity able to manage our brand from a strategic perspective. What we have is a brand council that is representative of all of our businesses and internal functions, like investor relations and human resources. Once the foundation was built, Tenet Partners created design elements speaking to it. As a team, we selected one of those and have been incorporating it over the last year. We position ourselves as being transformational, so the primary graphical element is a reflection of this. It's a transition from a small square to a larger one, repeating our message subliminally.

How did you come to work with Tenet Partners?

We started our work with a couple of different agencies, but, though no fault of anyone, we came to an issue of presenting our unified image to the marketplace successfully. We needed to present a cohesive image at conventions, on our website, in journal publications, and so on. Initially, we tried to come up with a new brand that could visually do it. It proved to be a band-aid for a broken arm, so we never got anywhere with the other agencies. We finally realized the need to back up and do things more strategically. This was Tenet Partners' initial involvement. We ended up staying with them for the entire process, given how happy we were with our partnership. 

How much have you invested with Tenet Partners?

The cost of Tenet Partners' work has been in the range of $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Tenet Partners in late 2013 and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Most of our business partners have appreciated the clean and crisp look of our material. It's driving a unified perspective.

How did Tenet Partners perform from a project management standpoint?

I have no complaints about Tenet Partners in this regard. They were spot-on and stayed on top of things. They also kept us engaged and honest with our deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about Tenet Partners?

Tenet Partners was able to get a handle for our businesses and what we were trying to achieve. Their strategist was incredibly bright and intuitive.

Are there any areas Tenet Partners could improve?

None that I can think of. One of the things that we failed to do, through no fault of Tenet Partners, was to come up with a new tagline that could speak to our company as a whole. We went through several rounds of this and also approached another naming agency. It had to do with what was available, what spoke to us, and so on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are a financial services company that provides business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer products, programs, and services.

What is your role at the company?

Marketing leader, brand strategy & design group, which is part of our global marketing organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your initial goal for working with Tenet Partners?

The original project was based on a digital brand center. Our goal was to be able to find a way to distribute our brand artwork and guidelines to employees, customers, marketing partners, and other third parties. We required a central digital resource for that purpose.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Their role has expanded significantly since our first project with them 13 years ago. Since then, we have done a lot of projects together from brand strategy to naming and identity design for new products, programs, or services to assistance with our corporate identity system, marketing communication templates, and training materials. We developed another website for our corporate identity system, and we extended our original public brand center into four different languages. So, we work with Tenet Partners on a daily basis, and I consider them an important part of our branding team.

What was your process for selecting Tenet Partners with which to work?

We looked at various branding agencies to help us and selected Tenet Partners. Tenet Partners had such a wide range of knowledge. We needed a company that was innovative, strategic, and had strong visual and technical design skill and expertise. At that time, about 13 years ago, there were a lot of organizations that were only print-design based, and didn’t necessarily have the strategic knowledge about our brand, including brand architecture and how all of our projects relate to each other and to our organization. We felt that Tenet Partners was very comprehensive in that regard.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How would you describe the results?

They now work with a much larger portion of our entire company because of the projects they've done for us and the success of those projects. We’ve been able to bring them in with our regional marketing teams as well, and some of our consultative services, so that they can help us align the branding work that we’re doing within the company.

How would you describe their performance?

They are extremely thorough, which is one of my favorite things. I’ve worked with a lot of agencies through the years, and with many of them when I get the project back, I’ll have to do extensive proofreading, and I’ll find things that are incomplete or incorrect. I think one of the great assets of Tenet Partners is that they’ve done a lot of that thinking before I even see anything, so I’m getting a very polished first draft anytime we’re working on a project. Additionally, the expertise that they gain on one project for us is trickled down through their organization. So, we don’t have a situation where one designer will do something, and then another designer will do something that conflicts. 

There’s a lot of consistency across the projects. They are very quick to ask questions or bring up points or issues I might not have not seen when I was creating the project. Their ability to take my project parameters and add both insight and innovative ideas is stellar. They really understand our business, and they’re able to apply that on a project-by-project basis very consistently. 

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I feel like it’s truly a partnership and it’s very seamless. I don’t get the issue I do with some other agencies where I feel like they’re trying to upsell me, or consistently talking to me about budget issues, or trying to better their own business. I feel that Tenet Partners is really working on our behalf to better our business, and that makes it very comfortable and enjoyable to work with them.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

Honestly, I don’t think so. They’re really the easiest agency I’ve ever worked with. Like I said, they know our business, and they apply that knowledge to our projects. The projects are done consistently, thoroughly and creatively. They have a great design eye. So, I can’t really think of anything I’d like them to do differently.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization and your role there.

We are the Long Beach airport. I’m the public affairs officer and am in charge of communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Tenet Partners?

We wanted a whole rebranding of the airport because there was a new passenger concourse terminal that was under construction and due to open December 12, 2012.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Their work included an entire rebranding from soup to nuts, including strategy, messaging, and visual identity. It began with stakeholder interviews and research. They conducted market research of various segments that are involved with the airport, from airlines, to tenants, to city managers for the City of Long Beach. There was also a full-on research component conducted with passengers. From there, it then went into identifying the brand attributes, brand promise, brand platform, visual identity, taglines, style guide, and brand guidelines. So, it was all-inclusive as far as branding goes from A to Z.

What was your process for selecting Tenet Partners with which to work?

We put out an RFP [request for proposal] for branding companies, and Tenet Partners was selected as the company to conduct the entire branding process. Because this is government contract work, they had to provide proof of work, financials, samples, references, and a whole proposal. I had a selection committee narrow it down. Their proposal was really the best of all the companies that responded. The panel interviewed some of the final candidates, and out of that process, Tenet Partners came to [us] and made a presentation, along with half a dozen other companies that were the final candidates. From that process, Tenet Partners won the contract, which was a unanimous decision by a panel of about 10 people.

How long did the work take?

The length of the project had nothing to do with Tenet Partners process, it had to do with working with various stakeholders in government. So, overall the process took 18 to 24 months, but if it were up to Tenet Partners process, it would have taken a lot less time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the work?

The results have been excellent. It was an extremely thorough, well-researched, and professional process. They care very much about the working relationship and the results, and they are very ethical and really pay attention to costs. They provided us the highest quality customer service as well as the highest quality product. We’re very pleased with the process and with Tenet Partners entire performance on this contract.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

They are subject matter experts when it comes to branding and identity, and the digital marketplace. They’re extremely conscientious, extremely knowledgeable, and they really care. They provided us with a great product and a great process. I really can’t speak highly enough of the team at Tenet Partners and the process we went through with them.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Found Animals is a privately funded nonprofit that has a mission to find the big ideas that reduce euthanasia in animal shelters.

What is your role and responsibilities?

My role is senior director of marketing and communications. I oversee all external marketing, PR [public relations], graphic design, digital media, and social media for Found Animals and all of our business units.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Tenet Partners?

When we first started with Tenet Partners, the Found Animals brand was fairly well defined, but it wasn’t really tight, and the messaging wasn’t as crisp as we wanted it to be. The logo wasn’t really updated to where we were in our evolution and growth. Two of our business units, one being a B2C [business to consumer] called Adopt and Shop, had a logo that was designed by a local firm. It really wasn’t keeping up with where we wanted the brand to be, and also didn’t align with the Found Animals brand. Then, our B2B [business-to-business] unit was really unbranded and unstructured.

So, we wanted to make sure that all of our brands worked together, both supporting the Found Animal’s master brand and also receiving some of the positive spillover from the equity that had been built in Found Animals. We really wanted someone from the outside to help us go through the research and discovery process, to challenge us and provide that outside perspective that we needed, and to help make some of the tricky decisions that came up along the way.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

The work included strategy, messaging, and visual identity. Some of the deliverables that we received were the brand architecture for Found Animals and all its sub-brands, and key messaging documents for both Found Animals, Found Animals Registry, and Adopt and Shop. Also, for the master brand, our B2B unit and our B2C division, we received new logos for all three business units, as well as visual identity guidelines, really in-depth ones for Adopt and Shop. We did not go as deep intentionally for Found Animals and Found Animals Registry, just because the applications of the visual identity for those two brands weren’t as comprehensive as for our retail outlet. So, we really needed more support and more reference materials for Adopt and Shop.

Why did you select Tenet Partners with which to work?

They came to us highly recommended. Also, from a personality perspective, we really meshed well with them. We really liked the account lead, their creativity team, and just how they interacted with us. We really liked their perspective on Found Animals and what could be done. We thought it was a lot more substantive than some of the other agencies we talked to, they just didn’t go deep enough for me. I really felt like they didn’t look at us as a big enough client, whereas Tenet Partners acted like we were MasterCard. They treated us like we were a Fortune 100 company as if we were the most important client they had. We definitely didn’t get that feeling from some of the other people we interviewed.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

The work falls into the $50,000 to $250,000 range.

How long did the work take?

For Found Animals and Found Animals Registry, I think we started in February and finished in June of 2013, so about six months. Then, for Adopt and Shop, it took from mid-July to mid-September of 2013, so another three. All in all, about nine months in total. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the work?

The reception has been very positive, especially for Adopt and Shop. We used the new logo, the new color scheme, and the new visual identity system immediately. About 48 hours after we approved the visual identity system, I had to deliver it to the architects who were helping us build our flagship retail store. So, we immediately put it into actual use, and the results have been very positive. The customers who walk in immediately know that our store is different. They immediately can tell us apart from our competition.

For the Found Animals and Found Animals Registry side, it was a little more subtle. The results have been that sales are up, and things are turning in a positive direction, but it wasn’t as comprehensive of an overhaul. There wasn’t a complete change from A to B, it was more subtle evolution, whereas Adopt and Shop was definitely a revolution.

How would you describe Tenet Partners' performance?

Excellent, absolutely. They hit all of their deadlines. Anything that was missed was because of us, either a decision that took a little longer than we thought, or something else getting in the way. I am a big fan of Tenet Partners and would absolutely recommend them to others.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

One of the things I like was that they are independent, or were at the time. I know they have since merged with another branding agency, which I think is a great move for them. They weren’t owned by a huge agency conglomerate. They were able to make their own decisions and move quickly when they needed to. That’s definitely a bonus and a definite selling point for me. I think this new partnership and merger is only going to help them down the road.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

I think anything they could have done better would have been minor. We are a very unique organization, and it’s tough to compare us to others, so if there’s anything that I would have hoped for is that they would have had more time to dig into us, and to find out a little bit more about us prior to launching the project. But, again, we are very difficult to benchmark against, so that’s really just nitpicking.