Company rebrand: workshop, website, and brand guidelines

Situation

Like many small business owners in 2020, a client of mine was hit hard by the pandemic. After being in business for more than 15 years, she needed to completely rebrand her company and overhaul her business model. As an executive recruiter in the oil and gas industry, she (and her clients) needed to pivot their focus to the renewable energy industry to remain relevant and focus on more sustainable solutions. Initially, she asked for a new website and brand; however, in talking with her, she first needed help articulating the company’s new focus and getting clarity on the business model and identity.

Approach

With my knowledge of how to define a content strategy for a business, I recommended we first hold a workshop to define her strategy, which would help her get clarity on her business model and identity and ultimately articulate the company’s new focus. Then, we could shift to developing a new website and documenting brand guidelines. She agreed, and I got to work.

First, my partner and I designed and developed a two-day vILT workshop for the business owner and her team of four, using PowerPoint and Miro, and delivered the workshop with Zoom and Miro. The PowerPoint slides included lots of negative space, mixed media, and colors that reduced eye fatigue. All activities were in Miro and contained space for the participants to diverge individually and converge as a team throughout, giving them the chance to get it out on “paper” and discuss and make decisions as a team. The activities were tailored to the company’s actual situation, rather than theoretical, and participants walked away with a draft strategy they could further discuss and refine outside the workshop.

Then, we designed and developed a new website and interactive brand guidelines in parallel using Squarespace, Photoshop, XD, Getty Images, and InDesign. We hired a freelance graphic designer to create the logo and found lots of reference photos to draw the purple squirrels and icons. The website content was lean to appeal to her prospective clients, and the brand guidelines were very specific to appeal to any freelance designers she hired to perform marketing and communications work.

All work needed to be completed in less than two months, so I used Asana to create and track the project plan, and Discord and Zoom to communicate with the business owner and freelance designer.

Outcome

In the end, the business owner had an updated business model, brand, website, and brand guidelines, and made it through the pandemic. Even better, she was equipped with a set of proven frameworks to use anytime she needed to evolve her business.

Tools used: PowerPoint, Miro, Adobe Photoshop, XD, InDesign, Zoom, Asana, Discord, Squarespace, Getty Images

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