Branding and Ecosystem Design for a Global FinTech Venture Firm
Values-Driven Finance Needs Trust Infrastructure · Stakeholder Mapping Across Institutions and Individuals · An Ecosystem Strategy That Earns Trust at Every Level
Read our insightsServices
Branding
A Consciously® branding engagement produces: brand strategy and positioning document, visual identity system, verbal identity and messaging guide, brand canon and governance documentation, language ecosystem glossary, product and service taxonomy, and origin story and framework narrative.
Most branding agencies deliver a visual package. We build the full brand infrastructure — the identity system, the language ecosystem, the messaging architecture, and the canon that governs how all of it evolves. The difference is that our work compounds. A brand built on values infrastructure doesn’t fade with trends — it gets stronger as the company grows.
A brand built on the right infrastructure doesn't fade with trends — it gets stronger as the company grows.
Our BRANDING Process Centers Relationships
What Makes a Brand Trustworthy
Your Context is what will provide trust. Through years of experience and research, we’ve developed a system of Brand Trust Pillars to make sure your marketing builds the kind of trust every business covets.
Brand Identity: Visual and Verbal Systems
Your Identity guidelines will be steeped in the principles you most believe in, and connected to the visual trust signals your audience expects. They will serve as the “blueprint” that guides and informs every expression of your brand moving forward — visually, via written word, or voice.
Brand Canon: A Brands Infrastructure
All great stories, myths and narratives have a “canon”. What’s inside the bounds and what’s out of bounds, what’s our vibe and what’s not, what’s part of our ethos and what isn’t. We’ll build out a system that codifies your Brand Canon™ so that everyone on the team knows how to share the story.
How to Build Brand Relationships
Ongoing relationship-building with the ecosystem through sharing our brand values and story repeatedly and consistently, with agreed-upon language — in the same way our logo is used over time to help recall and build brand equity.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Brand Trust Pillars™
- Solution: Values Style Guide™
- Workshop: Find and Define your Purpose
- Solution: Brand Placemaking™
- Solution: Relationship Journey Messaging™
Not everyone is ready for value exchange all the time; however, when they are, we want all the messaging for that journey to present. It is most likely that the only reason they want an exchange journey is because they have seen the possibility of a fruitful relationship via brand — so now we need to share what value is exchanged and how the relationship can deepen.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Exchange Journey Messaging™
- Solution: Audience Placemaking™
- Solution: Value Stream Map
- Solution: Value Portfolio
We build identity systems so that you’ll have a comprehensive library of design resources. This ensures your team and partners have access to the visual elements needed to express what you stand for, and to help build brand equity across your many clients and stakeholders.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Identity System Guide
- Solution: Design System Manager
- Solution: Brand Identity Canon Magazine™
- Solution: Digital Asset Library
It all starts with language — literally, all the things start with language. Video; audio; design — the people producing these assets (we call them actioneers, more on that below) all need the right words to ensure that what’s produced is aligned and resonant for those it’s intended to reach. We build everything with the premise that Language is Design™.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Language Ecosystem Guide™
- Solution: Language Ecosystem Glossary™
- Solution: Language Ecosystem Taxonomy™
- Solution: Content Ecosystem Journeys™
Your products and services language is generally related to the industry and category you’re in, so mapping your brand language to industry synonyms is important. We’ll map your product and services portfolio directly to other offerings in the ecosystem so their uniqueness has context. Taxonomies are better at helping CMS, SEO platforms, and other tools to have context and understand relational value. And they’re essential if you (or we) plan on training AI tools to better understand your brand.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Language Ecosystem Guide™
- Solution: Brand Canon™
Mapping language (definitions and synonyms) is an important step in making sure team members and partners clearly understand our intent and meaning. Staying aligned on why we may use one term and not another is the key to consistency in messaging and communication.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Relationship Ecosystem Glossary™
- Solution: Exchange Ecosystem Glossary™
A collection of myths, actions, stories, artifacts, and tropes informs the narrative your company builds surrounding the brand. Everything the company does contributes to this brand story, but the origin story is a source of stability and connection. Let’s tell your story.
Solutions and Workshops:
- Solution: Brand Trust Pillars™
- Solution: Brand Canon™
- Solution: Connecting Value and Values™
Brand Work
Clients
“Absolutely thrilled to share our new brand identity and video!
Thank you Consciously® for your creativity in bringing our message to life!!!”
— Deborah McGinn, CMO, Radiant Logic
Here’s how we’ will Work
Together
Flat rate
You pay a flat monthly rate — no surprises — and have a highly skilled and flexible marketing team at your disposal. Hourly rates distract businesses with the amount of hours worked instead of the work being done. A flat rate keeps everyone focused on the goal at hand, and producing the best work with the time and resources available.
Pod teams
We put together a marketing team for you that we call a pod. Instead of using the same staff to execute every job, we find experts whose style and execution match closely to the company’s desired voice and aesthetic. In this way, each pod and its output is unique to the client.
Sprints
We reassess your rate quarterly by evaluating the amount of work to be done and the skill sets necessary to accomplish your goals. By constantly evaluating the landscape, we allow the deliverables to evolve naturally and never be outpaced by the market.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a branding agency do?
A branding agency builds the systems that govern how a company shows up — visually, verbally, and strategically. At Consciously®, that means developing the brand identity, the language infrastructure, the messaging architecture, and the canon that keeps everything consistent as the company scales.
What’s the difference between brand identity and brand strategy?
Brand strategy defines why your brand exists, who it serves, and what position it owns in the market. Brand identity is the visual and verbal expression of that strategy — the logo, color system, typography, voice, and messaging. At Consciously®, we build both as one integrated system rather than separate deliverables.
What’s included in branding services?
Our branding engagements typically include brand strategy and positioning, visual identity design, verbal identity and messaging systems, brand canon documentation, product and service language taxonomy, and the internal tools your team needs to keep the brand consistent across every touchpoint.
How is values-based branding different from standard branding?
Standard branding often focuses on differentiation through aesthetics or messaging claims. Values-based branding — the approach we use at Consciously® — builds the brand from the inside out, starting with what the organization genuinely stands for and turning those values into the infrastructure that makes trust demonstrable rather than just claimable.
How long does a branding engagement take?
Scope varies based on what exists and what’s needed. A focused brand identity engagement can run 6–10 weeks. A full brand infrastructure build — strategy, identity, language systems, and canon — is typically delivered across quarterly sprints as part of an ongoing flat-rate engagement.
Our Case Studies
C-Suite’s Guide to Unconscious Bias
"While climate has global effects, the solutions lay within local municipalities across the country." – Rai-mon Nemar Barnes
Brand Strategy + Growth for Energy SaaS
Branding a New Line of Business Without Losing Legacy Clients · Strategy, Execution, and Product Marketing Under One Roof
From Race Concept to Branded Event NYC Business Community
A Race That Needed an Identity Before It Had a Name · Naming, Branding, Sponsorship, Website, and Campaign as One System · Built to Grow Year Over Year
Brand Strategy, Product Design + Campaign for Sustainable Finance Platform
A Fintech Platform That Needed to Educate Before It Could Convert · Brand Strategy + Product Design + #AskSustainable Campaign · A Consistent Voice Across Every Channel and Touchpoint
Branding and Ecosystem Design for a Global FinTech Venture Firm
Values-Driven Finance Needs Trust Infrastructure · Stakeholder Mapping Across Institutions and Individuals · An Ecosystem Strategy That Earns Trust at Every Level
Webby-Nominated Branding and Product Design for the World’s Most Sustainably Certified Seafood Company
A Category Leader Whose Brand Hadn't Caught Up to Its Certifications · Branding, Product Design, and Ecosystem Strategy as One Platform · Webby Award Nominated 2023
Brand Strategy for an AR Experience Company Featured at MoMA and Tied to a Netflix Documentary
An AR Platform Built to Rewrite How We See History · Selected Alongside for MoMA Exhibition · App Launched the Day Trevor Noah Hosted a Town Hall With Will Smith · Branding, Ecosystem Design, Research, and Campaign Strategy
Brand Strategy and Platform Launch for On-Demand Talent Network
A 15-Year-Old Mentorship Organization Needed a Commercial Platform · Brand Identity, Website, and Performance Marketing · NBA Foundation Inaugural Grant: The Work Got Noticed · Brands Including Moët Hennessy, PepsiCo, AT&T, Google, P&G, and Spotify
Brand Strategy + Ecosystem Design for Chicago’s $7.5B Health Innovation District
A $7.5B+ Opportunity in One of Chicago's Most Historically Significant Neighborhoods · Brand Strategy, Stakeholder Research, and Pitch Collateral · 100+ Acres. 20% Affordable Housing. A New Metra Stop. 105% Renewable Energy. · Equitable Placemaking at Scale
Marketing Strategy and Execution for One of the Worlds leading Cultural Institutions
Five-Scholar Curation Council. A Months-Long Festival. A Marketing Brief Like No Other. · Audience Research, Influencer Strategy, and Content Production at Cultural Scale · Transmitting an Undefinable Energy to the Right Audiences
Influencer Strategy + Event Marketing for HBO’s Watchmen Launch
HBO's Own Machine Had a Blind Spot · Partnership With consciously · 400+ at the Atlanta Pre-Screening · Comic Con Activation · Content, Events, and Cross-Community Reach
2 Million Reached: Brand + Campaign for Brooklyn Incubator
One of NYC's Biggest Economic Zones and incubator Needed an · Brand Strategy, Web Platform, and #BuildTheFutureNYC Campaign · 2M+ Reach Across Five Boroughs · A Blueprint Other Cities Are Now Following
Agency of Record Brand Strategy + Content for Identity Security Leader
Unmatched Technology. No Brand Voice to Match It. · Website Rebuild + Brand Strategy + Content System as Agency of Record · From Legacy Web 1.0 to Thought Leadership Platform · A Company Now Trusted by 30+ Fortune 100 Clients
Brand Strategy + Community Health Outreach for National Telehealth + In-Clinic
Funding Cuts. Then a Pandemic. A 100-Year-Old Organization Needed a New Reach Strategy · Audience Research Across BIPOC, Transgender, and Low-Income Communities · Brand Voice, Go-to-Market, Telehealth Activation, and Geofencing · Awareness, Reach, and Foot Traffic All Showed Marked Improvement
AI Company Using Humans for Content — Numerify
Building a Content Machine for an AI Analytics Company
Superbowl Staffing Agency Needs New Thinking — BCforward
Helping an international transformation change agent to define their public expression
Connecticuts’ State Bank Manifests Community — Nutmeg
Connecticuts' State Bank wanted to connect better with it's ecosystem
National Growth Marketing Campaign for Legacy National Non-profit
Place-Based Community at National Scale · Ecosystem Activation Across Diverse Stakeholder Groups · What It Means to Market Belonging
Brand Identity Refresh + Marketing That Delivered 10x Engagement
A Brand Defined by One Name Needed a Voice of Its Own · Identity + Positioning + Campaign Infrastructure · 10x Across Awareness, Reach, and Engagement
Brand Identity + Messaging for a Regulated HealthTech Company
Regulated Spaces Demand Precise Visual and Verbal Systems · Identity Built for Trust Under Scrutiny · Messaging That Works for Both Patients and Providers
Post-Acquisition Brand Unification as Agency of Record
Two Acquisitions. One Year. Millions of Jira Users Watching. · Brand Strategy During a Global Crisis · Agency of Record: Content, Branding, Social, and Brand Anthem · Three Entities. One Cohesive Brand.
Boston Needs Racial Wealth Equity Data — Boston Foundation
Providing resources for grant makers in Boston and the Massachusetts area.
EASI Demographics: Helping One of the Country’s Largest Data Suppliers Look the Part
Three Distinct Buyer Personas. One Coherent Brand. · Rebrand Built for a High-End Client Roster · Ecommerce and Sales Journey Redesign
Strengthening the Identity of an Organization Focused on Diversity and Equity — Coalition On Race
A New Jersey Community focused on equity for more than 50 years
Aligning Five Acquired Companies Under One Inclusive Brand for Digital Transformation Leader
Post-Acquisition Brand Alignment Across Five Companies · Values Built Into Style Guide and Production Process · Equity as Infrastructure, Not Add-On
