---
title: Our Work | Brand Strategy Results | Authentically 23
description: "Real brand and culture work for growing companies: 90% employee retention, 750% more inbound leads and brands rebuilt through acquisitions and change."
---

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Work

# The Work Behind *the Results.*

Every business has a story worth telling. Here's what happened when five of them got clear on theirs.

Client names are withheld out of respect for their confidentiality.

Multi-site healthcare services company

## From Chaos to Cohesion

Brand foundation through 16 acquisitions

90% employee retention

18% more customers who'd recommend them

100% client renewal

**The moment.** The company grew from 5 locations to 21 in less than six years, gaining nearly 800 team members through acquisition. Its identity hadn't kept up. With no shared definition of who they were, employee churn hit 117% and 60% of clients were lost.

**What we heard.** People didn't know what the company stood for, or how their work connected to the care residents received. Most of the team had never chosen this company. It had chosen them.

**The foundation.** Summer defined the brand from the inside out: one mission, four values with clear behaviors, a brand essence and clear differentiators, built to stay consistent everywhere while adapting to each local market.

**How we did it.** Culture was treated like any other part of the integration, with a plan, tools and a timeline, rolled out in three phases. First, the why: a letter from the president and a story of where the company was going. Then, the personal: tools showing how every role touches each prescription, manager Q&A sessions and an anonymous feedback form. Finally, the everyday: values defined for each role and built into performance appraisals.

**What it made possible.** 90% employee retention (industry average: about 70%) · 18% more customers who'd recommend them · 100% client renewal

Services

[Define](https://authentically23.com/services#define) [Culture Alignment](https://authentically23.com/services#culture) [Change Communications](https://authentically23.com/services#change)

[Read how the rollout worked →](https://authentically23.com/blog/acquisitions-fail-in-the-break-room?hsLang=en) [Read how the values came to life →](https://authentically23.com/blog/values-on-the-wall?hsLang=en)

B2B professional services firm

## A Rebrand That Brought the Right Clients In

Full brand foundation and rebrand

750% more inbound leads

60% of new business from inbound

**The moment.** Summer joined as the first marketing hire. The firm had never had a brand strategy and couldn't answer three questions: who are we, why are we the better choice, and how do we say it?

**What we heard.** Competitors could move fast, but their matches were generalized. Clients revealed the real advantage: the team listened closely, then hand-picked a highly researched expert for every project. With the right fit from the start, clients made smarter decisions, faster.

**The foundation.** A "precise-fit" value proposition, brand story, core messages, personas, ideal client profile, values, voice and visual identity.

**How we did it.** We interviewed clients, employees and prospects to learn who the audience was, what they needed and where they spent their time. Those conversations uncovered the advantage the firm had been underselling. With a clear sense of who the firm was, we could speak to the audience in a way that resonated, in the channels they preferred. The team helped shape the brand and heard it first.

**What it made possible.** 750% more inbound leads · 60% of new business from inbound

Services

[Decode](https://authentically23.com/services#decode) [Define](https://authentically23.com/services#define) [Express](https://authentically23.com/services#express)

[Read the full story →](https://authentically23.com/blog/clients-know-what-makes-you-different?hsLang=en)

Wisconsin community bank

## Big-Bank Strength, Small-Town Heart

Brand strategy for a new name

"Take good care of us."

A customer, during focus groups

**The moment.** A bank near Madison was acquiring a bank with more than 120 years of history in small rural towns. The combined bank needed a new name, without it feeling like a big-city takeover.

**What we heard.** We listened to employees, leaders and customers. Customers wanted more than their hometown bank could offer, but they worried about losing it. One said it simply: "Take good care of us." Employees needed to see themselves in the bank's next chapter, too.

**The foundation.** A brand strategy that honored small-town Wisconsin pride and introduced expanded lending, digital banking and financial education as the community finally getting what it had asked for.

**How we did it.** We built the brand on one belief: a neighbor is worth more than a number. The new services became the proof that customers could have both, the handshake they trusted and the modern tools they needed, without having to choose.

**What it made possible.** The bank kept its staff through the transition. Its team has taken ownership of the brand, and it is gaining market share.

Services

[Decode](https://authentically23.com/services#decode) [Define](https://authentically23.com/services#define) [Change Communications](https://authentically23.com/services#change)

[Read the full story →](https://authentically23.com/blog/out-feel-your-competitors?hsLang=en)

B2B safety labeling manufacturer

## A New Name, a New Home, One Clear Story

Brand foundation for a new name

Acquired. Relocated. Renamed.

**The moment.** Newly acquired, relocating from Pennsylvania to Minnesota, and launching under a new name, the company needed to know who it was before going to market.

**What we heard.** We interviewed employees, leaders and customers. Acquired, relocated and renamed all at once, the team needed to see themselves in the company's next chapter. And every sale involved four different buyers, each caring about something different.

**The foundation.** Purpose, vision and mission, team values shaped with the team, an ideal client profile, personas, a value proposition and a brand promise.

**How we did it.** Every sale involved a plant manager, a purchasing manager, an EHS manager and an IT manager. Summer built a persona for each seat at the table, then one value proposition and one brand promise all four could connect to. One story, told four ways.

**What it made possible.** A successful transition to the new name and new home, a team aligned behind one clear story, and a company that continues to grow.

Services

[Decode](https://authentically23.com/services#decode) [Define](https://authentically23.com/services#define) [Culture Alignment](https://authentically23.com/services#culture)

[Read the full story →](https://authentically23.com/blog/one-message-buying-table?hsLang=en)

Custom packaging company

## All In on What Matters Most

Brand foundation and culture for a new growth stage

All in on coffee.

**The moment.** Setting out on a new growth path, the company chose to go all in on coffee, the industry where it got its start, and on the small roasters where it made the greatest impact. Culture mattered deeply to the CEO, but the company's purpose, vision, mission and values were written for an earlier version of the business.

**What we heard.** Summer interviewed leaders and employees. The original values described what the company delivered, not how people worked together, and none came with behaviors. Its customers, small roasters doing nearly everything themselves, needed a partner who understood the hustle.

**The foundation.** A clear focus on the small roaster that shaped the purpose, vision, mission, value proposition and brand promise, plus values grown from the company's own roots: be pioneering, be a dreamer and be a typical Midwesterner, each with behaviors.

**How we did it.** We didn't start over. We kept the heart, sharpened the words and added what the next stage would ask of the team. Then we checked every value against the customer: supportive, resourceful and ready to find a way, just like the roasters they serve.

**What it made possible.** A culture and a customer experience pointing in the same direction, and a brand that now speaks directly to the roasters the company serves best.

Services

[Define](https://authentically23.com/services#define) [Culture Alignment](https://authentically23.com/services#culture)

[Read about the focus →](https://authentically23.com/blog/put-a-stake-in-the-ground?hsLang=en) [Read about the culture →](https://authentically23.com/blog/culture-for-your-next-stage?hsLang=en)

## Facing Something *Similar?*

Tell us where your business is today and where you want it to go. We'll help you find the right place to start.

[Start the Conversation](https://calendly.com/summer-cfkt/30min)

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