Our Work is Going to the Dogs

If a person is ever

going to do anything

worthwhile, there will

be times when he must

risk everything

by his leap . . .

Oswald Chambers

I love working with clients who are a little adventuresome – who are willing to step out on the ledge a bit and look at themselves from a different perspective. Not shrinking back from a challenge, but vigorously embracing it as an opportunity can take us places we wouldn’t have otherwise gone.

That’s the case with a new client we began working with early this year. As we plowed through our Discovery session and discussed initial branding, it became obvious (to one of us at least) that we needed a more compelling company name – and an evocative tagline – if we were going to create strong, competitive differentiation from their competition (more on the importance of a strong name in the next post).

In all honesty, they were reluctant. The two principals, Marc Fairchild and Joel Doyle, had planned all along to just use their last names as the company name and weren’t convinced about their return on investment in the naming process. We had some great conversations and they finally decided to take the plunge – and we got to work.

Marc and Joel are in the staffing business, primarily for the insurance industry. What makes them unique is their extensive network, and how they work it. They find potential candidates who are hiding out in successful jobs and aren’t looking for a change. The new name and tagline needed to directly address this unique point of differentiation. We came back with three potential names, type treatments and sample copy to illustrate how a compelling name drives the language you use to tell your story. All three were very well received, and the clients started to see how a new name would position them in a way that simply using their names never could.

They settled on one of the names and, with a good deal of excitement and expectation, we were off to the races on logo design. Without further ado, allow me introduce one of our newest clients . . .

While designing logos is one of my favorite things, let me say that I was much more excited to work on concepts for Bloodhound than I would have been for Doyle & Fairchild. And not just because I like drawing dogs (which of course I do), but because of the challenge that was embraced and the resulting potential for creating a stronger, more appealing and memorable brand.

Marc and Joel have been great fun to work with throughout the process. They’re already seeing the return on their investment, as Marc points out in this wonderfully glowing testimonial:

The thoroughness demonstrated by Todd and his team throughout the creative process was impressive. They took the time to understand our business, the target audiences, and what we were trying to accomplish with our branding campaign. In doing so, the team captured the personality of our company and created a brand and logo that visually conveyed who we are and what we do. Any hesitation evaporated when presented with the first set of ideas.

Our firm is a new partnership and it was incredible to be asked on several occasions at a recent trade show, “so, how long have you been at Bloodhound?”. Todd and his team created a brand that conveyed market presence and provided immediate credibility. Our brand has and continues to create interest and excitement – it interests people and allows us to tell our story. The quality of the business collateral has been phenomenal. The attention to every detail is observed in the final work product. We are now moving forward with our web and marketing materials. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Truly exciting!

I’ll close with a heartfelt thank you to Marc and Joel for trusting us in this undertaking – and with a little sniff of their business card design for everyone else.

WOOF!

Comments

[Janette Greene]

Fantastic Todd! Love the blog!

[Clem]

Great design for Bloodhound. The distinction between that and just another card with names is clear. I'm not a designer but the colors work great too.

[Todd Adkins]

Thanks Jan & Clem!
One thing I've learned since starting the block is the crack-like addiction to comments. Love 'em! So thanks for feeding my "jones"!