A Retrospective on 2021 (So Far)

At least once a year I give a talk to our team entitled, Bold Vision. The objective is to clearly articulate what vision is, why it’s mission-critical to the organizations we partner with, and the recipe for making vision a reality. A book I reread annually is From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation: The Strategic Process of Growing and Strengthening Brands by Dr. Leslie De Chernatony. He articulates that brand vision sits at the intersection of purpose, values, and the future environment in which an industry operates.

On the topic of brand vision I reflect on these words often:

“Without a well-defined vision a brand could be in danger of drifting and when faced with an unforeseen threat a short-term solution may result which could shift the brand’s direction. A good brand vision spurs managers, staff and consumers toward greater things.”

‍In March 2020, amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic many of our peers and colleagues were overwhelmed with difficult decisions to make.

Do we shut down the office? What will remote work look like? How will we land new opportunities without travel? How will we succeed at working and homeschooling at the same time? Is my team safe? What will the future look like? 

In 2021, many of us are still trying to reconcile answers to these questions. A key theme of our work (so far) this year has been working alongside clients with earnest intent to inspire their people "toward greater things."

The world has changed, but hope prevails.

Over the past six-months our team has worked alongside dozens of resilient leaders who bear the burden and hope of their missions in our new normal.

We’re inspired by their vision and continue to work everyday to empower them to meaningfully lead their brands.
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Here’s some (not all) of the work we’ve made so far this year:

Praxis Labs

A creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship, supporting founders, funders, and innovators motivated by their faith to love their neighbors and renew culture. Earlier this year we launched their new digital home. praxislabs.org

Passion City Church

We launched an immersive digital experience serving the Passion City Church communities based in Atlanta, Washington D.C., and the world. passioncitychurch.com

Fern

Fern is an animation and design studio proudly based in Atlanta. Their bread and butter is animation, illustration, and storytelling. It was pure joy bringing this one to life. fern.team

CO.STARTERS

CO.STARTERS' program equips your city’s small businesses with everything they need to start, grow and succeed. They believe (and so do we) small business is the backbone of communities, and there are good ideas that need to be brought to market. costarters.co

WinShape Foundation

WinShape's ministries work together to build relationships through experiences. Earlier this year we launched an immersive web experiences that connects all five of their ministries together. winshape.org

Climate Neutral

Climate Neutral is helping businesses and consumers take real action today. We've partnered with Climate Neutral helping them enhance their web presence and supporting their marketing initiatives. We're also in the process of becoming a Climate Neutral brand. climateneutral.org

Chick-fil-A Impact Accelerator

Chick-fil-A Impact Accelerator helps nonprofit organizations take their support of children, families, and neighborhoods to the next level. We work alongside our friends at Plywood People to make this website a reality. chickfilaimpactaccelerator.com

Butler Tech

Butler Tech is a collective of determined students, parents, educators, policy makers and business owners who are disrupting the assembly-line model of the public education system. To create a model with equity, access, inclusion, and diversity through student voice and student motivation. To equip young people to live authentic and fruitful lives. butlertech.org

Creative Discovery Museum

Whether within the walls in Chattanooga or across the nation through its outreach programs, Creative Discovery Museum (CDM) is a leader in engaging the senses, inspiring exploration and igniting children’s passion for learning through play. cdmfun.org

Steam Logistics

Steam was born originally from another successful, industry-leading 3PL – Access America Transport. Access America was founded in 2002 and scaled to $500 million in total sales before merging with Coyote Logistics in 2014 (who subsequently sold to UPS a year later for $1.8 billion). Today, Steam is one of the fastest growing 3PLs in the U.S., delivering integrated logistics solutions across International, Drayage, and Domestic transportation modes. Our team created Steam's new brand and launched their digital home. steamlogistics.com

GAIA Global Health‍

A long-time strategic partner of the Malawi Ministry of Health, GAIA is a nonprofit working to increase access to essential healthcare at the far end of the road in rural Southern Africa, and to build the capacity of local healthcare systems. gaiaglobalhealth.org

Pandowealth

Pandowealth helps Chick-fil-A Operators and Support Center Staff grow wealth to empower purposeful living and giving. We helped find the name, designed the brand, and created the website for Pandowealth. pandowealth.com

+More Perfect Union

+More Perfect Union (MPU) is a citizen-led movement working to heal the divide in our nation and make our government work for the people. Our friends at OX Creative tapped our team to help with MPU's digital presence. mpu.us

Skuid

Skuid helps create Salesforce apps faster and with less custom code. Our team helped reimagine their digital home and  continues to partner with Skuid on various marketing initiatives. skuid.com

Black Talent

Black Talent is a niche job board and professional community bringing together organizations and diverse job seekers. They are dedicated to educating, informing, empowering, and connecting our members, while elevating the lives of individuals and organizations through intentional change. blacktalent.is

Renewal

Renewal (formerly Reliance Human Capital Management) makes administration effective and easy—employee benefits, payroll, timekeeping and HR. Our team helped find the name, designed the brand, and created the website for Renewal. renewal.is

Tahmina Tea

Tahmina is a WOC-owned brand with a mission to build ethical markets for conflict-affected communities. They believe that economic development is one of the sustainable agents of change to war-torn societies, and that the call to bravery will overcome the history of fear in these nations. Tahmina's maiden project begins in Afghanistan with one of its best luxury items: saffron and saffron-infused teas. Our team had the opportunity to reimagine their packaging design and created their new website. tahminatea.com

Virtuosi VR

The world’s only comprehensive VR based educational platform serving the Pharma, Biotech and Advanced Therapies sectors. It's been pure joy bringing this digital presence to life. virtuosivr.com

Epic Church

Epic Church is a San Francisco-based community of faith. Our team helped Epic reimagine their brand and created their digital home. epicsf.com

High Point Climbing Gym

High Point Climbing And Fitness is one of the nation’s most unique climbing facilities with 30,000 square feet of climbing inside and outside. highpointclimbing.com

Team Work (Book)

Russ Sarratt and Rusty Chadwick have collectively spent over 30 years developing stronger, better-connected teams and leaders. Along the way, they’ve pinpointed what makes for a healthy culture and happy people. Their programs have helped tens of thousands of people find purpose and clarity in their work. Buy the book: teamworkbook.co

Trilith

Last year, Pinewood Atlanta Studios, production home for Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” rebranded itself as Trilith Studios as part of a 935-acre master development. Our team worked alongside our friends at Matchstic to develop Trilith's digital home: trilith.com

Faith and Liberty Discovery Center

The Faith and Liberty Discovery Center (FLDC) explores the relationship between faith and liberty in America from its founding to today, by illuminating the influence of the Bible on individuals in key historical and personal moments. Our team has worked with FLDC for the past four years as they've prepared to open in Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The experience is officially open! faithandliberty.org

Garrett Gravesen

As of April 2019 there was a reported 199 people who have traveled to every country in the world. Author, speaker, world traveler, and friend, Garrett Gravesen is 8 countries away from reaching this milestone. But he’s certainly the first human to do it in a tuxedo. He's full of amazing stories and leadership content. Our team had the opportunity to give life to his personal brand and create his website. garrettgravesen.com

JLIN Marketing

JLIN Marketing is a company established by professional basketball player Jeremy Lin that stewards his platform to transform lives. They focus on impacting culture through multimedia content creation, brand development and philanthropy. They have an active reach of upwards of 10 million people across the United States and Asia. Our team had the opportunity of working with the JLIN Marketing team on their social strategy.

Justice Defenders

The global justice gap is costly – with ripple effects on communities and societies. But the cost is greatest for those of us with the least. Justice Defenders trains paralegals and lawyers within defenseless communities to provide legal services for themselves and others. Because everyone deserves a fair hearing. We've continued to partner with Justice Defenders to support their incredible work. justice-defenders.org

Maze Creative

Maze Creative helps brands make connections that guide audiences to action. From startups to scaling mid-size to behemoth Fortune 500 companies, the Maze team has worked at every business size before founding our own agency. We were honored to create their digital home. mazecreative.com

Stratifyd

The future needs more than AI. It needs a whole new level of data-driven intelligence powered by human creativity, ingenuity and curiosity. We’ll cut to the chase – that’s Stratifyd. Our team has become a strategic partner for the Stratifyd team helping with various strategic marketing initiatives.

Guideposts

Guideposts reaches millions of people, inspiring them to believe that anything is possible with hope, faith and prayer. Our team continues to support Guideposts various marketing efforts including landing pages, email marketing, and more.

TTT

Founded in 2018 in Silver Spring, Maryland, TTT is the destination for Mexican inspired street food, their mission is to redefine the Mexican eating experience by delivering food prepared to order and doing it quickly. We had a blast reimagining this brand and how it's positioned online. The menu is guaranteed to make you hungry. tttrestaurant.com

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In Conclusion

Our work continues to live at the intersection of digital branding, digital platforms, digital activation, and digital transformation. If you need help navigating the digital landscape amid our new normal, please don't hesitate to reach out.

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