Atomicdust Looks Beyond the Expected to Create Brand for Consulting Firm
Daugherty Business Solutions has been quietly improving the way Fortune 500 companies use technology for more than 25 years. And while their client list includes many household names, they’ve found the competition for business to be quite intense beyond their St. Louis home.
That’s why they came to Atomicdust.
As a company, they had never done much marketing. Almost all growth had been from word-of-mouth, referrals and organic growth within existing clients. So they never really needed to. But with aggressive goals in place, that needed to change.
Growth in this sector is about more than attracting customers, too: it’s about recruiting and retaining top talent.
Here’s what we uncovered:
Our initial interviews with internal stakeholders revealed a company united around a client-centric mission, but unsure about how to turn this consensus into any kind of forward momentum.
As we studied the market, we discovered it’s a large, competitive, growing market. There are three or four big international players, and then dozens of smaller companies in every market.
The most surprising thing? They all use (more or less) the same five words to describe what they do. They deliver business results. They move companies forward. They provide forward-thinking, synergistic opportunities. Yawn.
Amidst this “me too” environment, we discovered something about our client. They really are different. Many consulting firms, even the big ones, present companies with binders full of ideas but don’t really put things into action.
Daugherty takes it one step further. Daugherty actually helps their clients implement these ideas. They provide the insight, talent and technologies companies need to optimize their operations and improve performance.
Even better, employees of Daugherty are not traditional contracted consultants – they’re permanent. And they typically work in the same areas where they live. It’s a more cost-effective way to work, and builds consistency and loyalty in their workforce.
What does that mean? Unlike cut-and-run consultants with no stake in the game, Daugherty’s solutions are realistic and scaleable. Daugherty’s employees are there to stay – and they’re committed to creating solutions that work.
Here’s what we did:
Our first task was to simplify their logo and create key brand positioning. We took out the dated elements of their core identity and created a new tagline to capture the essence of their business – Experience beyond.
It’s a bold invitation to experience more than what’s expected of a consulting company, to experience something better. Something that actually works.
At the same time, it’s a promise that Daugherty has the experience it will take to get the job done – experience far beyond what other companies can offer.
In addition to creating a new messaging platform and visual language, we took photos of real Daugherty employees in their offices to give all of their communications a real, relatable feel.
For the website design, we wanted something scaleable – so as Daugherty grows, the website can grow, too. That’s why we chose the WordPress platform. It gives clients the power to add and change content without touching a line of code.
WordPress also makes it easy to relate new content – blog posts, employee profiles, case studies and more – to individual product lines and other sections of the site. This makes even static product pages appear fresh, both to web visitors and search engines.
The site is bold, clean and clear and makes unconventional promises to bring readers into the site. The company’s story is told through simple narratives (told with as little jargon as possible), always followed up with a clear call to action.
The new site also makes it easy for career-seekers to discover the Daugherty difference, too – and gives them a clear, yet separate, path to action.
Daugherty Business Solutions’ new site gives them a unique and meaningful way to tell their story within new and existing markets, while helping them stand out from their competition.
Update: See our work for the Daugherty Mobile Suite.
