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Good bones help brands soar
BONE
Essential + foundational
Supporting movement + growth
Absorbing shock
Protecting vitals
feather
Expressive + uplifting
Attracting attention + admiration
Standing out
Taking flight
Who we are
We're strategists and creatives with more than 35 years of marketing communications experience between us.
We've led beloved brands across industries, and we've built award-winning teams along the way, both at agencies and client-side.
We're partners in and out of the office who make the work, our clients, and each other better.
KEVIN
Kevin got his start in strategic communications and marketing for local and national food brands. After a brief sabbatical teaching high school English, he returned to brand consulting and guided the strategy and experience for Fortune 500 hospitality and financial services companies. Kevin then spent a decade client-side building and leading marcomms teams before returning to the agency world to oversee strategy for clients in industrial manufacturing, heathcare, energy, and education. He sits on the board of directors for Northeast Ohio non-profit Food Strong.
Shannon
Shannon spent the first six years of her career in the PR and ad agency world, managing national Retail and B2B brands and leading PR, account, and creative teams to produce award-winning work. She transitioned to the corporate setting more than a decade ago and has held multiple leadership roles across industries spanning from financial services to consumer-packaged goods, healthcare, and pet health and wellness. She is also a professor of Branding and Integrated Marketing Campaigns at John Carroll University.
Our process
Name an approach or best practice and we've seen it. We've hired agencies with fancy methodologies. We've even created a few ourselves.
But we've also learned that these one-size-fits-all frameworks leave little room for customization or improvisation. No opportunity to tailor.
So Bone + Feather flexes. We shift based on your organization's and brand's needs. Because rigid rules and prescriptive processes create cages.
And our birds fly free.
Expertise
Brand Identity + Positioning
Building the foundation. Who you are.
How you're different. Why you matter.
Strategic Planning + Alignment
Preparing for takeoff. Who you're for.
How you'll help. What success looks like.
Brand Expression + Activation
Taking flight. Turning heads.
Telling your story. Inspiring action.
Brand Basics
Your brand is what your employees and your customers, not your executives, say it is. And if it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's never going to be a swan.
We use consumer and employee insights to build good bones through relevant positioning, powerful naming, an ownable identity and clear audience personas before we fluff your first feather.
That way employees and customers can instantly identify, and feel part of, your flock.
Culture Creation
Great cultures don't happen by accident. Designing employee experience and how they live and express the brand should be as purposeful as product development and customer content.
We make Mission, Vision, and Values visible by codifying culture through everyday actions, memorable moments, and inspiring stories leaders and employees share.
Treating employees not only as a primary audience to engage but a brand channel to activate creates birds of a feather with something to crow about.
Strategic Planning
Getting more from your marketing and communications dollar requires getting your ducks in a row. Productive cross-discipline planning starts with alignment on business objectives and metrics that matter, plus getting top-to-bottom-funnel tactics across earned, owned and paid media to fly in formation.
We help executives translate opportunity into coordinated action and improve creative impact by eliminating the albatross efforts that waste time and resources.
Transitional Leadership
Healthy organizations are regularly evolving their marketing and communications capabilities. Building the business case, finding top talent, and integrating new disciplines takes time. Doing it right requires experience your most tenured managers may not have.
We've built integrated teams from scratch, both client-side and at agencies. We can provide interim leadership to help you audit needs, hire talent, and foster cross-functional collaboration as you build or modernize.
We've also served as external extensions of executive teams by providing direction and marketing continuity when a leader flew the coop or needed short-term support during medical or family leave.
Additional services
Content Strategy + Thought Leadership
We map your audience journey and identify ways to solve their problems and share your expertise at every step. Use paid, earned and owned content to find your brand voice.
Social Issues Identification + Action
We work with your team to find the intersection of your organization's core values and social issues. Uncover topics that are relevant for your brand.
Sales Team Alignment + Activation
We energize and equip your front line so they're ready to sell. Inspire your sales force with multichannel communications and memorable experiences.
Culture Tapping + Territory Development
We prepare you to quickly capitalize on relevant cultural moments. Align decision-makers on territories the brand can own and activate around so that you're ready before lightning strikes.
Executive Communications + Employee Engagement
We translate c-suite vision into organizational clarity and shared purpose. Empower your brand ambassadors and ensure they feel seen, understood, and essential to your success.
Brands we've served:
- Progressive Insurance
- Nestlé
- Teladoc Health
- Amazon Alexa
- Glidden Paint
- Boise Paper
- Home Depot
- DiGiorno
- Perrier
- Starbucks
- Coffee Mate
- Disney Paint
- Martha Stewart Paint
- Stouffer's
- Hot Pockets
- Chameleon Cold Brew
- Panera Bread
- Parker Hannifin
- Nexus Engineering Group
- Energy Harbor
- Cleveland Cliffs
- RSC Bio Solutions
- John Carroll University
- Capio
- Sweet Earth
- Libby's Pumpkin
- Nesquik
- ABB Robotics
- Lean Cuisine
- Carnation
- EYE Lighting
- Tom James Clothiers
Why work with us?
- Rare birds who love to write
- Strategy + creative (minus the preening peacocks)
- Birds-eye industry view leading respected brands across CPG, healthcare, education, financial services, food + beverage, hospitality, home + garden, industrial manufacturing, and energy.
- Birds of a feather who know each other's moves and work seamlessly together to advance your brand.
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