SC&H Group Rebrand & Web Design

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The Evolution of a Financial Consultancy’s Corporate Brand

Our client, SC&H Group is a Baltimore based financial and business consultancy. The company’s leadership wanted to grow but to win larger clients, they’d have to compete with some of the biggest consulting firms in the business.

The first thing they did was recruit the company’s new chief marketing officer, Mack McGee. And, Mack called Bob Gillespie, Propr Design, to reinvent the company’s outdated corporate identity.

Building on the Existing Brand

SC&H’s existing marketing materials were a hodgepodge of design treatments that had a stiff, corporate look. Over time, their website had become increasingly disorganized and difficult to navigate. While most design firms would probably want to create a fresh, new corporate identity from scratch, Propr Design took a different approach.

“We didn’t want to just blow things up,” said Bob Gillespie, Propr Design. “Incremental change would give SC&H a faster return on investment. So, we drew a line in the sand and began to move the brand from old and stuffy to modern and approachable one project at a time.”

The Strategic Plan Behind the Changes

Mack’s new marketing strategy put the website at the center of all SC&H’s activities. Everything from digital ads to social media was designed to drive traffic to the site, so getting a new website online fast was a top priority.

A Phased Approach to Website Design

To create the minimum viable website for launch, Propr developed a new page strategy, navigational improvements and a high-level design overhaul. In addition, they added lead capture and conversion points to most pages.

After the site went live, the designers began to focus their attention on each line of business. Starting with the company’s most profitable business units, Investment Banking & Advisory, they began the intricate task of polishing the layout, designing icons and selecting imagery.

Creating Cornerstone Collateral

In parallel with the website design, Bob’s team developed the foundational marketing assets needed to pivot the brand. They designed close to 200 projects including digital ads, social media graphics, presentations, brochures, whitepapers, case studies and much more. “We’re in a market where aesthetics leads the way of brand experience,” said Mack McGee, Chief Marketing Officer, SC&H.

Creating an Impact with Typography

SC&H’s existing type standards included Times Roman, that classic typeface of the newsprint world. Replacing it with more modern fonts furnished the new vibe the company wanted. The new fonts include Universe Condensed for print and Roboto Condensed for digital applications.

Changing the Mood with Color

The company already had an extensive color palette. The design team took the existing color scheme, simplified it by applying one anchor color to each line of business. Then they made all the colors brighter and more vibrant. Even the black was lightened. The new shade is 90 percent black is really a very dark gray.

Attracting the Eye with Icons

Icons grab attention, bring graphical interest to digital and print pages alike, and give everything a sophisticated and polished appearance. Propr created hundreds of unique icons for SC&H’s website, presentations, whitepapers and other collateral.

Collaborating on a Common Vision

As Mack grew his in-house marketing group, Bob’s brief evolved to include helping the newly hired marketing managers build out the online and print collateral they needed to drive the company’s vision.

“Bob is a fantastic collaborator,” said Mack. “But he pushes you to think outside your preexisting notions.”

Results

It took Propr Design 18 months and almost 200 projects to transform the SC&H brand identity and online presence. During that time the client landed some of its dream clients and increased revenue by more than $10 million.

While this success is not the result of these projects and improvements alone, the incremental improvement strategy allowed the client to reposition its brand quickly and gain the confidence and competitive edge it needed to win in a market dominated by a handful of big consulting firms.

Evolve Your Brand with Propr Design

Propr Design is a Baltimore based brand & marketing firm that specializes in brand evolution through the strategic development of brand identities and impactful marketing materials.