The Meaning of More: A New Website for Thomas Wirig Doll
When CPA firm Thomas Wirig Doll approached Atomicdust for a new web presence, their goals weren’t unusual: they wanted to generate leads and build trust in their brand. It wasn’t long before we realized that the brand needed something more: a new story, and a new way to tell it.
Founded in 1970 as a tax practice for medical and dental businesses, TWD quickly realized that most of their clients needed help beyond tax preparation. Over the next few decades, the firm strategically expanded their services to include accounting, payroll management, retirement planning, practice transition consulting and more. TWD had always been good at adapting to clients’ needs, but by 2015, the changing healthcare landscape was challenging their business model in new ways.
Accounting for independent practices had long been TWD’s bread and butter. But the healthcare industry, once populated by solo medical offices, was (and is) becoming increasingly consolidated. You’re more likely to come across a Kaiser-Permanente-style health management consortium than an independent medical or dental practice. As smaller practices were absorbed by large group practices with in-house accounting departments, TWD needed to examine and redefine its value to clients.
Their solution? Adapt again. TWD shifted its focus beyond management-style accounting to total wealth management. Addressing each piece of the financial picture separately isn’t just time-consuming, it’s less effective. TWD’s advisors guide physicians and dentists throughout their careers as they make personal and professional financial decisions from every perspective, and at every scale.
As we interviewed TWD’s principals and became more familiar with their situation, we knew that this shift had yet to be clearly communicated through their marketing. Their new site would need to declare who they are, what they believe, and why it should matter to their audience.
Before we began any designs, we crafted a story about the idea of “more”: Thomas Wirig Doll offers more so that its clients can get more out of life. Their complete menu of services allows them to essentially run everything for a practice’s back office. This enables owners and their staff to spend more time on the tasks they want, like patient care, and less time crunching numbers. Our approach also focused on more than the mechanics of managing finances, but on the ultimate benefit: financial freedom, and a happier life.
The old TWD site separated professional financial services and personal financial services. As we restructured the site, we purposely blurred the line between the two, making the point that it all has to work together for practice owners: a healthy business is essential to a healthy personal financial life.
Admittedly, our initial designs may have skewed too far toward the personal side of that equation. The look was light, airy, and minimal, with lifestyle photography throughout. As it evolved, we shifted toward a more structured, professional look that would appeal to established, mid-career physicians and dentists.
The composition became more gridded, with built-in surprises like custom SVG animations. In the About Us section, icons animate to show TWD’s expertise across services, and how this expertise – and the menu of services – accumulated over time. And because content creation is essential for professional service firms, we used a rotating blog feed on every page to highlight insights from TWD principals. Wherever we used movement or surprise throughout the site, we ensured it was purposeful, helping to reinforce the firm’s knowledge, longevity and commitment to “more.”
The site now represents the evolved, modern Thomas Wirig Doll brand, and serves as a tribute to their history of adapting to the healthcare landscape. We enjoyed working with the TWD team, and, as always, the opportunity to dive deeper into the nuances of healthcare. Visit the new Thomas Wirig Doll site now to see our work in action.
