The Work

Every business is a brand… whether it thinks of itself as one or not.

How you look, what you say and how you sound are the obvious parts. There’s also your personality, what you stand for, the relationships you have, how you treat others and whether you deliver on your promises.

The impression you make on the people you want to reach, and how you make them feel, comes from all of these things.

That’s why we always look at the whole picture, whatever the work involves. Understanding how everything fits together helps us focus our efforts where we can have the greatest impact.

Trust comes before visibility.

A lot of what we do is commercially sensitive.

The relationships we have and the things we’re trusted to be part of aren’t ours to turn into marketing.

There are times when celebrating what we’ve achieved together makes sense. But most of what we do needs to stay between us. What matters is knowing the difference.

For now, we’re giving you a glimpse of what we’ve been up to, without naming names.

A telescope on a stack of books, pointing up at a bright star.

What that looks like…

  • Your reputation can only take you so far.

    For ten years, a successful B2B business had grown through word of mouth and referrals, without investing in marketing. Now its founder wanted to win more corporate clients.

  • Too busy doing the work to shout about it.

    For 25 years, a charity has been transforming lives and communities across the North West and Wales. But with so much happening, finding time to tell people about it hasn’t been easy.

  • Sometimes it takes someone else to see it.

    An old school friend was thinking about going it alone after years working in social media. She knew her stuff, but hadn’t quite realised what made her different.

  • One person. More than one purpose.

    Behind a social enterprise, a coaching business and a personal platform is one woman with a lot she wants to achieve.

  • The more you know, the more you see.

    One of us spent several months immersed in a creative production business, playing a key role in securing a major tender. It gave us a deep understanding of the people, the culture, the ambitions and the challenges.

  • There’s more to a good story than getting it out there.

    A fast-growing consumer business approached a trusted PR specialist with a great story to tell. But he recognised that its brand hadn’t quite caught up with its commercial success.

Your reputation can only take you so far.

For ten years, a successful B2B business had grown through word of mouth and referrals, without investing in marketing. Now its founder wanted to win more corporate clients.

One of us knew the business well, having been a client for years. We knew what it was capable of. But its brand, website and sales materials hadn't kept up with the business itself. Before introducing it to new people, we needed to help it tell its own story.

That's where we started. We're now working with the founder on his wider ambitions, including plans to take the business into a new European market.

Too busy doing the work to shout about it.

For 25 years, a charity has been transforming lives and communities across the North West and Wales. But with so much happening, finding time to tell people about it hasn’t been easy.

Behind that work is a small team securing funding, bringing partners together and turning ambitious ideas into reality.

We first got involved through an anniversary celebration. Every conversation revealed more about the incredible work they were doing, and we were blown away by just how much was happening. There was so much worth sharing, so we used the initial brief to start shaping a communications strategy for the whole organisation.

With significant funding at stake, telling that story matters. And our work together is now extending into the brand and new commercial possibilities that could help them do even more.

Sometimes it takes someone else to see it.

An old school friend was thinking about going it alone after years working in social media. She knew her stuff, but hadn’t quite realised what made her different.

We could see something special in the way she combined strategic thinking and an understanding of the wider business with a real instinct for social media, from the latest trends to what actually works. We've been helping her recognise that, find the clients she'd love to work with and develop a brand that feels like her.

And as we've got to know her professionally, we've seen how much she could bring to some of our own projects too.

One person. More than one purpose.

Behind a social enterprise, a coaching business and a personal platform is one woman with a lot she wants to achieve.

One of us has been helping her think things through for years, long before The Coterie existed. It's a relationship based on trust, and one that's since led to an invitation to join the charity's board.

More recently, we've helped give each of her ventures its own identity. But the conversations go much further than how they look. We're still alongside her as she works out what comes next.

The more you know, the more you see.

One of us spent several months immersed in a creative production business, playing a key role in securing a major tender. It gave us a deep understanding of the people, the culture, the ambitions and the challenges.

Things were going well, and the founder had no shortage of ideas about where he wanted to take the business. The more we learned, the more excited we became about what was possible. We knew we could help him realise that potential.

Now we're working alongside him, providing senior-level support to help accelerate growth.

There’s more to a good story than getting it out there.

A fast-growing consumer business approached a trusted PR specialist with a great story to tell. But he recognised that its brand hadn’t quite caught up with its commercial success.

We'd worked with the specialist before, and knowing what we could bring, he invited us to join him in pitching a more ambitious approach.

Working together, we helped the CEO define the personality of each of his brands, how they belonged together and where he wanted to take them next. While our PR partner was securing publicity, we were also bringing PR, brand, marketing and commercial thinking together into a long-term growth strategy, with a 12-month roadmap and ideas for campaigns and a planned new launch.

An unexpected operational challenge meant we couldn't move straight into putting those plans into action. That's business. Things happen and priorities change. But the work we've done together so far has given the CEO a comprehensive strategy to help him decide what comes next.

Collaboration, not competition.

We love working with good people on projects that excite us, where we can add value. And they don’t always have to be ours.

This year, multiple agencies have asked us to be part of what they’re doing for their clients. That’s included brand campaigns around the World Cup, alongside some interesting opportunities across other industries.

We’re not precious about who leads or who gets the credit. What matters is doing work we’re proud of, whoever we’re doing it with.

Two interlocking cogs, one coral and one mint.

Yours could look completely different. That’s the point.

Let’s chat