Visually and verbally positioning emergent media services
Naming, identity, and a Webflow site for Character, an emerging B2B agency with heavyweight credentials whose entire website was a single page linking out to a pitch deck.
Overview
Company
Character
Industry
Professional services—performance media agency
Role
Creative Director & Studio Lead
Services
Web, Visual & Verbal Strategy, Brand Identity, Concept Development, Motion & Graphic Design Direction, Creative Operations
Team
Project Manager & Strategist: Dani Jacobson, Designer: Irina Spork, Content Strategist & Copywriter: Alexandra Toto, Developer: Adrian Andrade
Outcomes at a glance
Built a brand identity framework for the project and established it as a repeatable service offering, driving 57% of agency fixed-fee project revenue over the following 18 months
Named and positioned the agency, defining a four-part brand framework that became a repeatable Diamond Hook offering
Launched a Webflow site with custom infographics and a segmented lead form, letting prospects self-qualify before they made contact
Extended the identity into a pitch deck, email templates, and a creative-forward case study format with custom video
Context & Brief
An agency with heavyweight credentials and no brand to carry them
Character knew exactly what they did for clients. The work of packaging that for themselves kept landing at the bottom of the list.
Challenge
Character's client results and founder pedigree ran well ahead of anything public-facing. A one-page placeholder linking out to a pitch deck couldn't hold the expertise, the process, or the premium the team was charging for.
What wasn't working
Character knew what they did. Putting it into language a prospect could grasp in a few seconds was the part that hadn't happened yet
Word-of-mouth through a strong DTC network drove the pipeline, and without a brand or clear service communications there was no second channel to grow on
Two rebrand attempts over the previous two years hadn't shipped, so the process itself had to earn confidence before the creative could
Objective
Give Character a name, a brand, and a site that matched the caliber of the work, and run a process the founders could actually move through.
What we set out to do
Build a brand that resonated with the founders and the team, and carried enough credibility to justify their premium
Define the niche across several service areas without watering any of them down
Create a verbal identity distinct from the voice Character adopts inside client work
Design a site that held a large volume of content, visualized complex process, and let prospects self-qualify before making contact
Contraints
The creative problem was the smaller half of this one. Two rebrands had already died in progress, the offering refused to sit in a single category, and one founder needed a way into the conversation before he could steer it.
What we had to design around
Two prior rebrands hadn't shipped, so confidence in the process had to be earned across the engagement, kickoff included
The offering spanned several spheres, and the brand had to read as one thing across all of them
Scott, one of the founders, comes at brand from an operator's perspective. Building shared language with him was part of the work itself
Strategy & Approach
Research the category, then assemble something honest
Four research streams (identity frameworks, naming processes, category analysis, and visual reference) feeding one framework we could use again.
Assess for success, then assemble
Started from a hypothesis I've carried into every brand engagement since: the most effective brand work comes from assessing what already exists, finding what's effective in it, and assembling those pieces into something that resonates
Ran that lens across four streams: brand identity frameworks, naming processes, category analysis, and visual reference collection
Build a framework the studio could use again
Researched brand book references across companies of every size, from large brands with extensive systems to emerging brands with strong strategy and lighter execution
Landed on a four-part structure: Environment (research and context), Essence (ethos and strategy), Expression (verbal and visual), Application (examples in the wild)
Made it tailorable per client without losing rigor, so it could carry forward as a Diamond Hook offering
Spot the offering that wasn't yet on the menu
Segmented and formalized the positioning and messaging work that had been living quietly inside our website projects
Gave it a defined approach and its own line item, which is what opened the repeat business and upsells that followed
Lead a creative process the founders could move through
Built and led naming workshops grounded in research from startup, writing, and brand strategy perspectives
Added categorized moodboard presentations and a dedicated type-tile exploration phase, easier for the client to react to and easier for us to converge on
Adapted how I gave creative direction to Scott specifically, building the rapport that let him voice opinions and make calls with confidence
Solutions & Delivery
A name, a four-part framework, and a site built to qualify
From naming through to a Webflow site that visualized complex process and let prospects self-qualify before reaching out.
TL;DR
What we did
Naming: research, ideation, workshops, and founder-led selection
Brand framework: Environment, Essence, Expression, Application
Visual identity: logo, design system, polished with a daring edge
Verbal identity: bold and knowledgeable, never overwhelming or patronizing
High-fidelity Webflow site with custom infographics, animations, and interactions
Email templates, pitch deck, and business collateral
Standardized creative-forward case study format with custom video assets
How I led
Directed the identity system end-to-end, from name and framework through visual and verbal identity to the site, as one expression
Spotted the positioning work embedded in our website process and built it into a standalone offering, which went on to drive 57% of agency fixed-fee project revenue over the next 18 months
Codified the four-part framework as Diamond Hook IP, documented so the next engagement could start from it
Added categorized moodboards and a type-tile phase to our creative process, and where two prior rebrands had stalled, this one moved
Adapted my creative direction to a founder who comes at brand as an operator, building the rapport that turned him into a confident decision-maker
Recruited and managed talent across naming, design, copy, and Webflow development
Naming: workshops grounded in research
Researched naming approaches from startup, writing, and brand strategy perspectives, then built a repeatable workshop process around them. The name we landed on works across Character's multi-sphere offering without flattening any part of it.
The framework: built once, useful many times
Environment, Essence, Expression, Application. Tailorable per client without losing rigor, and now Diamond Hook IP that later engagements start from.
Website: built to qualify before contact
Bold and knowledgeable, written to stay distinct from the voice Character adopts when working inside a client's brand.
Verbal identity: a voice of their own
A light brand board and verbal identity guide, with patterns the team could repeat on their own.
Beyond the site: a brand that traveled
Email templates, a rebuilt pitch deck, and business collateral, all carrying the new identity and framework.
Outcomes & Impact
An offering that drove 57% of agency revenue, and a founder fluent in his own brand
The name, framework, and site gave Character language to sell with, and gave Diamond Hook an offering it could run again.
The brand identity framework built here became a repeatable service offering, driving 57% of agency fixed-fee project revenue over the following 18 months
Measurable lift in brand awareness and reputation, per the client's own reporting
The four-part brand framework built for Character now runs as a repeatable Diamond Hook offering across later engagements
A founder who'd stalled out on creative work twice before, now giving direction and making calls clearly
Scott Swanson
Director of Creative
From beginning to end, Diamond Hook dug into our core values, then figured out how they could be expressed through our brand.