Brand

Essence

PURPOSE

  • There’s no greater call to meaning than living – or working – in the pursuit of your purpose. We are driven by finding and following The Why – the core purpose. Why brands exist. Why they face challenges. And why they deserve our support and attention. Everything we do and create aligns with that purpose.

  • People are at the center of our universe. From clients and consumers to our own colleagues and community, we’re obsessed with finding ways to meet their needs beyond just business. We work above and beyond the brief to create work and partnerships with heart because creating true connections is our greatest value.

  • We search for opportunities to expand success: from a CEO to an entire company, from a company to a whole community. We push ourselves and our partners to think beyond the immediate ask and focus on the larger impact of creating invaluable connections and trust. When these relationships grow, success follows.

  • We never shy away from a challenge or a chance to pursue our highest potential, and we inspire our partners to do the same. We believe in nurturing our diverse talents (not egos) and pursuing our own personal best so we can fulfill our unique purpose, and be grounded in our unique value.

  • We bring the utmost respect to all of our work and relationships and treat each other exactly how we would wish to be treated. We are committed to transparency, collaboration, and honest communication for the sake of making the work – and each other – the best it can be.

BRAND PRINCIPLES

Live our best, most meaningful lives to create the best work – and community – we’re capable of creating.

Why we exist

VISION

What success looks like

Create paths to inspire and support our clients in reaching their highest potential.

MISSION

Give courage and clarity to brands in the pursuit of transformation.

How to achieve success

1. Be Excellent

Strive for excellence and constantly seek out ways to improve.

2. Be Empathetic

Possess a desire to understand, be aware of, and be sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of others.

3. Be Curious

Have the desire to investigate, continuously learn, and explore new paths to progress.

4. Be Proactive

Take the initiative, anticipate, prepare, and respond to challenges.

5. Be Positive

Have a can-do spirit — a positive mindset — and complain constructively.

6. Be Accountable

Be responsible for your words, your actions, and your results.

EMPLOYEE VALUES

BRAND VOICE

First, what’s the difference between voice and tone? We heard another brand say it this way, and we couldn’t agree more: You have the same voice all the time, but your tone changes. You might use one tone when you’re at the water cooler and a completely different tone when speaking with the president of your company.

Day to day, our voice doesn’t really change, but our tone? That changes all the time.

Confident

Knowledge creates confidence, while ignorance creates insecurity. And while we never use our expertise as a weapon to make others feel small, it is a clear indication we can be trusted and relied on. We want our confidence to encourage others to grow their knowledge too.

Uncomplicated

We idolize clarity and brevity, not bells and whistles. It’s important we act as guides who get straight to the point and ensure no one gets lost. Comprehension always comes first.

Positive

We’re not afraid of emotions or being human. We speak like real people because we are, and we always want our readers and partners to feel comfortable approaching us, about anything.

Authentic

Our words and our actions are one and the same, and our partners often feel we’re genuine before we’ve even proved we’re capable. Our words are just another way we establish connections with those we work closely with.

BRAND ARCHETYPE

Brand Alignment

Archetypes enable better alignment of your market and your culture with your brand. It clarifies purpose and vision and acts as a guide or compass.

Brand Experience

Archetypes close the customer experience gap and increase trust with the audience through understanding human motivation.

Brand Attraction

Archetypes create magnetic demand and grow long-term relationships. They humanize businesses by communicating shared emotions.

The Visionary

Motivation

Stability and control
Provide structure to the world
Order

Core Desire

Create something of enduring value

Financial ruin, uncontrolled chaos

  • Has the wisdom to imagine the promise/potential on behalf of the greater good

  • Thinks in systems; brilliant strategist; can synthesize multiple data points

  • Capable of leading a peaceful revolution fueled by values, ethics, and soul toward a future of equality, meaning, and empowerment

  • Sees with eyes wide shut and hones a deeply intuitive connection with what needs to emerge

  • Feels energies that offer a kind of inner-map

  • Called to harness the infinite power of our collective creativity and imagination to offer a future based on stewardship, compassion, and reason

Everything begins here.

TIPS

  • For starters, write like you would speak. It’s natural that way.

  • For the most part, be anti-exclamation points, unless being ironic. (There are times when they’re necessary!)

  • Can’t say enough good things about contractions. They help give writing that human-speech-feel.

  • Subtle humor is appropriate to express personality, but always avoid sarcasm.

  • Don’t use slash marks to separate or pair words. Use ‘and’ or ‘or’ instead.

  • Avoid faulty parallelisms.

  • Avoid repeating yourself, or saying “nothing” just to fill the space.

  • Don’t use “&” to replace “and.”

  • Read everything you write out loud, then edit.

  • Say no to slang and jargon unless defined in (). We want everyone to understand what we’re talking about.

  • Dates should be spelled out: Friday, October 13 not Fri., Oct. 13.

Style

  • Don’t get caught making one of the five serious grammar mistakes (Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronoun-Antecedent, Comma Splices, Dangling Modifiers, and Apostrophe Catastrophes).

  • Double-check your use of homonyms and homophones!

  • Remember the differences between em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens (and keep them flushed).

    • Em dash for sentences (—)

    • En dash for times (–)

    • Hyphens for words (-)

Grammar

Fear

Helps people

Feel safe