Fazer

When SentinelOne acquired Scalyr, a boutique software implementation, training and tech solutions service provider, they engaged us to rebuild the brand and calibrate it to synergize with the SentinelOne master brand experience. DataSet fuels optimization and growth for companies by leveraging their data to offer learning insights and answers to drive efficient, intelligent innovation.

We began our brand strategy and storytelling with naming, landing on DataSet which directly and simply aligns with the core value proposition of the company. Our primary objective was to tell the most relevant brand story through naming, messaging and visual design, and give DataSet a distinct presence and purpose in the marketplace.

For visual design, we leveraged our research and strategy to build a system around the concept of what data, when optimized, organized and implemented properly, should feel like to the product adopter. Bright colors fused with technically-precise, shifting geometries create a vibrant representation of DataSet’s potential impact. The DataSet brand is a synergized beacon that represents the business’ claim as the ultimate data experience.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Messaging, Brand Story, Visual ID, Design System, Illustration and Animation, Website Design.

As a Telco, Verizon had been in the delivery service since its inception. Then, after conducting years of market research with one of the biggest business consultancies in the world, Verizon decided it was critical for their future success to create a digital media services company that offered end-to-end solutions for digital content providers. From this, Verizon Media was born.

Our objective was to help Verizon brand this new direction for the company. We embarked on deep-dive research into their market to find opportunity spaces that the future Verizon brand could own. We created brand positioning frameworks that allowed them to clearly communicate their new value and differentiators to multiple audience segments.

Following their new brand launch, Verizon sales teams closed multiple Fortune 500 clients. But most importantly, our brand positioning strategies laid the groundwork for what became the new Verizon masterbrand and has helped them dominate their sector.

What we did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Messaging, Brand Story, Visual ID Systems, Illustration and Animation, Collateral Design, Website Design, and Brand Consulting

Consumers are visiting restaurants less often rather than simply changing where they visit. Restaurants in the casual dining space have started focusing on small plate offerings and/or lower margin offerings plus better branded dining experiences.

We developed a new brand identity and messaging system for Olive Garden to help elevate the brand experience at all touchpoints. We tapped into their Italian “back to basics” roots but in a modern, chef-focused, urban way. This gives them a new lease on life and creates excitement amongst customers and employees.

Olive Garden’s stock surged 4% after the launch, hitting a new all time high. Their new management team at Darden, high on the success, have taken other promotional steps to boost sales.

What we did:

Brand Strategy, Visual ID and System, Messaging, Marketing Design, Environment Design, Website Design, Illustrations, Iconography Design, and Brand Consulting

In business for over 100 years, Nikon strives to keep its brand communications as sophisticated and cutting edge as its technology. Over the years, Nikon has come to us countless times for help winning back smartphone users, converting camera shoppers into proud Nikonians, and defending Nikon’s share of the dwindling camera market against main competitors Canon and Sony.

Nikon came to us with a list of innovative features ranging from extreme durability to long zooms, and we set out to deliver a multitasking big idea that would accomplish two unique aims: to reinforce Nikon’s status as the legacy camera brand beloved by photographers and to strategically de-position competitors by using Nikon’s strengths to draw attention to their weaknesses.

The big idea, “camera focused,” de-positioned Canon and Sony by honoring Nikon’s refusal to dilute their consumer brand with photocopiers and gaming consoles. With a strong brand idea to campaign on, we brought it to life through bold design and relevant messaging. In the smartphone era, we made a strong case for real cameras and caring about the craft, to help Nikon hold its ground as one of the world’s most iconic and desired brands.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Architecture, Visual Identity, Product Strategy, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Website Design and Build, and Brand Consulting

When legendary designer and global lifestyle brand Cynthia Rowley wanted to expand her stylish empire into the eyewear space, she came to us. Cynthia’s brand was built on the philosophy that fashion should be an adventure, and she believed that eyewear should be no different. “Fashion is always changing so there’s no reason why your eyewear should stay the same,” explained Rowley.

As the creative visionary behind the brand, Cynthia challenged us to translate her confident, fashion-forward attitude into brand design and storytelling that would capture customers’ attention. In addition to launching a full range of frames, there would be a standalone e-commerce site, which was expected to add complexity to the brand experience.

Beyond positioning this brand to connect with customers, we also sought to position eyewear as a trend-driven, outfit-making accessory to be collected and curated. We crafted the brand’s name, signature tongue-in-cheek messaging and stylish visual identity to elevate the online experience, which featured a full backend optometry lab integration. Rowley Eyewear enjoyed a successful launch, and we like to think that we played a part in helping people see glasses as accessories, as much as they are vision correction.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Messaging, Visual ID, Design System, Brand Consulting, Brand Naming, Brand Experience, Brand Marketing, Website Design, and Campaign Execution

Questis is a workforce financial empowerment company, providing a complete personal finance solution as an employee benefit. As their business charged forward to seek new investment and sell their solution to enterprise clients, they needed a world-class brand and competitive strategy to help them gain traction in a crowded landscape of financial wellness programs and eaps. They came to us looking for their “north star.”

Our discovery process revealed that Questis’ solution was uniquely equipped to transform people’s relationships with money while their competitors were mostly limited to offering financial education handouts.We developed a de-positioning strategy to determine which themes would best strengthen Questis and weaken competitors. The positioning concept contained a new descriptor, “financial healing,” which made the prevailing term, “financial wellness,” appear glib and superficial by comparison. 

We helped clarify how Questis creates unprecedented value for businesses, by helping them solve the root causes of workplace financial stress. And we further emphasized the positive change questis delivers through a vibrant, upbeat and modern brand identity and messaging.

Transformative big ideas like “financial healing,” “workforce financial empowerment,” and becoming a “life-changing employer” all helped Questis clarify why they matter in the minds of prospective clients. Questis continues to secure new funding to support their growth strategy and is leveling up their enterprise sales program, supported by the brand storytelling that has positioned them as the industry thought leader.

What We Did: 

Naming, Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Visual Identity, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Website Design and Build, and Brand Consulting

Storyful is the world’s first social media intelligence agency. Founded by journalists to help media companies vet, verify and classify publicly-captured videos and media as breaking news stories unfold in real time, Storyful is a fake news antidote, a trusted resource for news outlets committed to broadcasting the truth.

After being acquired by big media, Storyful was in need of a brand transformation. Our initial discovery phase revealed one glaring pain point: Storyful didn’t know how to explain to the world what they did and why people should care. So our primary objective became identifying Storyful’s core purpose and creating a clear positioning foundation and brand story to broadcast to the market their unique business proposition.

We leveraged our strategic positioning platform to design a new visual identity that would represent and resonate with the Storyful core mission. We transformed their logo, evolved the color story, developed a photo filter system and integrated iconography to create the “Storyful Lens,” a visual tool iterated from the orange dot in their logo that embodies their unique way of seeing the world.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Architecture, Visual Identity, Product Strategy, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Website Design and Build, and Brand Consulting

Architect Partners is a M&A and strategic financing advisory focused on emerging technologies, specifically crypto.  Their senior-led team of experienced industry insiders was looking to compete with big firms edging into the crypto space—like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley —while maintaining their independent edge. 

Amidst a tumultuous year for their sector of focus at large, we analyzed Architect’s business, their prospecting approach, and core customers and competitors with the goal of getting to the heart of what makes them stand out as the go-to firm for closing deals between acquires and acquisition targets. It became clear that Architect, through constant communication with industry players and published research, operates at the “front lines” of new technology markets as they develop and evolve.

We worked closely with the team to hone in on their specialized methodology and create messaging that underscored their all-in focus and front line intelligence. Our concept, “The Map and the Territory,” helped them crystallize their competitive advantage, bringing the group together around a strategic brand position. This idea of being the best equipped to map the unknown was carried through our design process to create a visual story around execution. 

Their icon, inspired by the ancient navigation tool, the astrolabe, projects an elemental simplicity and power. Symbolically, it represents their upward execution path through specific lens of focus. Architect Partners is harnessing their brand position, deep storytelling, and visual identity to successfully grow their business. 

What We Did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Messaging, Brand Story, Visual Identity, Design System, 

Illustration and Animation, Website Design, Collateral Development, Thought Leadership

Optis is a source-to-pay consultancy company that competes with big business consultancies, like Accenture, Deloitte and KPMG. Their unique offering is their expertise in source-to-pay advisory and implementation. Our job was to position the business, with its sole focus on supply chain, to communicate the value of their specialized expertise.

Our market research and strategic analysis uncovered an opportunity to differentiate and position the brand around the idea of independent thinking. The positioning is particularly compelling in the context of a competitor landscape that is rife with relationships to technology companies that preclude them from offering independent advice to their clients. This customer pain point discovery became the central point from which Optis could build and own their brand.

With brand positioning in place, we developed a full brand story and refreshed their visual identity to embrace a feeling of world-class modernity. We’ve built out the complete brand experience and continue to work with Optis, as consultants and creators, to help them continue their evolution and compete in a dynamic, accelerating marketplace.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Architecture, Visual Identity, Product Strategy, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Website Design and Build, and Brand Consulting

Early-stage startup, Fitolio, tapped us to tone their lifestyle and fitness app that connects customers with trainers, coaches and wellness content. A platform for wellness creators looking to build a fanbase to monetize their brands, Fitolio crunches the core management and logistics so these creators can focus on delivering premium content and grow their audiences.

After strategically aligning around our key message of “Let’s Get Live,” the Fitolio app needed a memorable icon for the brand to flex into and use for their fitness coins. We created a simple, yet dynamic, symbol that represents a person in motion across a number of exercise postures.

We used a typeface optimized for onscreen viewing, and selected a bright palette with gradients in proactive orange and energizing teal to pump the whole set into mind/body/brand harmony.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Brand Messaging, Visual ID, Design System, Brand Consulting, Website Design, and Campaign Execution

Who knew that french fries were a misnomer? Sure, Belgians speak French…but credit where credit is due. Bel-Fries is a fast-casual food concept designed to bring chef-level, restaurant-quality fries to the people and pay respect to the O.G. in the game of crispy, salty spuds.

Tapped by an investment group who saw a market opportunity to flood the streets with perfect fries and special sauces, we got to mapping out the brand fundamentals of a food concept that could sizzle to national notoriety. After helping to find a chef to perfect the recipe, we named the brand, and built a belgium-centric story to ground the technique and set the narrative straight.

We brought in Creme Design to help craft the restaurant’s interior architecture design, and collaborated to create a complete visual ID with logo, iconography and custom typography that would simply stand out in a crowded field of fast(er) food competitors.

What We Did:

Naming, Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Visual Identity, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Website Design and Build, Environmental Design, and Brand Consulting

With four decades of experience in the construction industry, NEFCO had well established itself as a dependable go-to for inventory and supply across the eastern seaboard. While their service and ethos had stood and succeeded upwardly through the test of time, their branding was out-of-step with the present.

NEFCO came to us with a visual ID created in the 1980s that needed a redesign into something that would resonate in today’s digital world. When we started reconstructing NEFCO’s visual identity, we knew it needed to feel powerful, modern and precise while supporting their motto: United We Build.

Utilizing a bright construction orange, we created the “connected N” icon, a multi-layered design with angular symmetry and visual depth. Buoyed by a strong blue wordmark, the two elements work in tandem to tell a color story that grounds NEFCO in their community-driven, supply-chain expertise.

What We Did: 

Brand Strategy, Visual ID, Messaging, Marketing Collateral, Website Design, Illustration, and Brand Consulting

Monorail is a fintech company that helps people budget and save for the things they want. By connecting your shopping wishlist with a bank account and offering savings solutions, all you have to do is tell Monorail what you want, and they’ll let you know when you have the green light to make the purchase.

We took Monorail into its design phase, building on the work of Want Branding, who led naming and strategy. We wanted to create an icon to communicate a sense of motion, of setting oneself on a path to bring desire into reality. Inspired by the infinity symbol, we tweaked its curvature to express an “M” shape, and give it three dimensions. Our clean and simply modern visual aesthetic was designed to make storytelling easy, and echo the brand’s promise of effortless integration. Providing a bright platform for product introduction and education, we set Monorail on track to share their technology with the world.

What We Did:

Visual ID, App design, UX design.

Azuca is a cannabis technology company that delivers a proprietary formula for minimizing edible latency. This chef-led business takes a molecular gastronomical approach to optimize THC and CBD delivery times, offering a product that takes the countdown to blastoff from 1 hour to less than 5 minutes.

With a game-changing innovation in hand, Azuca needed to create a full brand experience to take their innovative process to the masses. We created a name that had the snap and substance to speak to the high-end culinary world, aligned on a strategic platform of “Edibles Perfected” and coined their proprietary time infusion™ (thermodynamic individual molecular encapsulation) cannabis tech.

Foregoing the sector-expected suite of played-out pot leaves and shades of green for a visual identity that embraced a more sophisticated mode of stonerism, we designed a logo, packaging system, and messaging to level the brand out of the black light-filled basement and into the kitchens of the biggest edible brands in the world.

What we did:
Naming, Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Visual Identity, Product Architecture, Messaging, Brand Marketing, Brand Consulting.

In a field shrouded in secrecy and exclusivity, Katherine Jetter has created something lighter, brighter and infinitely more interesting. Part jeweler, part creative incubator, her successful Nantucket boutique does away with the dark suits, glass cases and hushed atmospheres traditionally associated with fine jewelry sales. In their place, the Vault Nantucket invites us to discover new couture jewelry passions without intimidation.

Known for her inviting personality and exceptional eye, Katherine Jetter made it her mission to help her loyal Nantucket following experience couture jewelry and rare gems intimately. So when she launched the brand’s first e-commerce website, she needed help translating a uniquely tactile and emotional brand experience into an online store that truly felt like the vault.

People love a great founder’s story, so every part of the brand is infused with Katherine’s purpose and passion. We crafted a messaging and content strategy to convey Katherine’s warmth and humor with a hint of vulnerability, to help people connect emotionally with the brand. And we defined consistent messaging about her expertise and vision to inspire trust. We launched the Vault Nantucket’s online store with a fresh new brand identity and website, and built a team of tactical specialists to bring it to life. We continue to contribute strategic guidance and sophisticated creative across all customer touchpoints, including content and search engine marketing, email campaigns and more.

What We Did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Messaging, Visual ID, Design System, Naming Strategy, Brand Consulting, Brand Naming, Brand Experience, Brand Marketing, Website Design, and Campaign Execution

As we all know, when you’re at the top of your game is exactly when you need to keep pushing forward. Power Design, a 30-year leader in the mep contracting industry, was under attack from modern competitors when they approached us to revitalize their stronghold with strategic positioning and a visual refresh.

Digging deep into research and competitive analysis, we noticed that all of the messaging in the old-guard construction industry was tradition-bound and bland. Power Design stood apart with their innovative business and process approach but weren’t leveraging what made them better. We built on a theme of innovation, positioning the company around “designing what’s next” to push forward a narrative of agile excellence.

With two visual paths to pursue – super precision or bold capability – we plumbed our creative depths to deliver bold graphics and colors that would emanate a feeling of sheer power. We built a custom wordmark based on their legacy logo and integrated a horizontal line motif to hammer home this idea of moving through the present to create the road to what’s next.

What We Did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Architecture, Visual Identity, Messaging, Website Design, and Brand Consulting

A multi-generational enterprise, Kiely stands on deep roots and a strong shared purpose. When the business needed strategic branding help to support their bold new growth strategy, they asked us to help bring their vision to life. In construction, a sector that’s typically less focused on brand, our client understood that aligning business and brand would be essential to elevating and accelerating their business.

Working closely with the client’s leadership team to understand their business, we crafted a complete branding solution, from corporate brand architecture to individual purpose statements and brand identities for each division. To leverage the depth of Kiely’s backstory, our client became the Kiely family of companies, and their brand positioning idea became building trust.

With well-defined brand positioning and architecture to align all companies and divisions, we created a brand identity and messaging strategy that we implemented across every last asset. As a result of its leaders’ commitment to brand, the Kiely family of companies was transformed from a local construction business into a competitive construction powerhouse. As a result, Kiely has been acknowledged by NJ Biz as a top 10 “fastest growing company.”

What We Did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Architecture, Visual Identity, Product Strategy, Product Architecture, Product Naming, Messaging, Brand Marketing, and Brand Consulting

We’ve all heard you should watch what you buy, but the team behind dropp brought us a new idea: what if you could buy what you watch? With a product promising to augment video with actionable purchasing power, this early-stage startup approached us to build their brand from scratch.

In creating a new brand, we dove deep into business strategy to identify and align product offerings with target demographics. We discovered a big part of the business model is to partner with media companies to offer brands a way to “drop” new products into their content, hence: dropp, a name that clicks with Gen Z consumer consciousness and succinctly describes the new tech offering.

Our brand work took shape around a creative concept of “shoppable media,” which led to dropp’s key message: see it. want it. get it. We tuned our visual design to have pop culture appeal, fusing elements of the digital current with a street-wise, stylish aesthetic. We created custom icons, wordmark, and energized brand activation touchpoints to make dropp easy for consumers to pick up and hold onto.

What We Did:

Brand Strategy, Brand Positioning, Brand Messaging, Visual ID, Design System, Brand Consulting, Naming, Brand Experience, Brand Marketing, Website Design, and Campaign Execution