The Path:
Curious Discovery That Cultivates Depth
The Journey is a process.
But, the unpredictable must be embraced.
When we start down this path toward authenticity with anyone, we’re never sure what we’ll find. We don’t have any guarantees or absolutes, rather we have an assertive approach built on a curiosity that keeps our eyes open and our attitudes attentive. Experience has shown us that when we bring a listening ear, a bit of discomfort, and the chance to discover something beautiful together, businesses begin to flourish.
What is a Story?
The Story is the deeper meaning and sense of purpose that drives your business.
Story Crafting is the art of bringing that meaning and purpose to life through words, design, digital media, and content.
Brand Shepherding is the ongoing work of making sure the story is being reinforced with the right people consistently.
Be bold, what may seem new and risky to you, is a path we’ve walked with many companies in the past decade. We accompany leaders on the path to find and convey meaning with confidence & freedom.
Snapshot of
the Pivotol Path
Discovery &
Story
Listening is the essential first step in shaping any valuable undertaking. Business development should always start here! In fact, we won’t engage any client without some degree of a listening process at the forefront.
Telling your own story is difficult, simply because, well, it’s yours. We can easily fail to see how compelling it could be because we're so used to it. So, our job as outside guides is to: distill land and articulate your story in a way that everyone can understand and clearly communicate to others. The Story is for everyone, from the founding partner to your newest client. We craft stories with unexpected turns of phrase, compelling words, clear and simple design, images, and color.
Brand
Building
With this beautifully clear story in hand, it’s time to start creating beautiful design. Your Story Document circulates through the creative team, a perfectly tuned “prompt” for them to dig deeper into their own abilities. This in itself is an enormous but often unseen component to the Pivotol path: the ability to bring the best out of the most creative people on a timeline and with unity of direction. Everyone brings something profound to the table. The output is an incredible body of work, from logos to websites, brochures, photos, clothing, signage, systems, and (of course) the written word.
It’s here that the ideas become real, tangible, visible and… “Oh my, here we go!”
Systems &
Launch
Everything’s in place. We have the story being told to the heart and to all five senses. It’s time to get out there and start sharing it with people. We operate on the notion that great brands start at the core of the followers who are already around you.
Everything about a brand is long-term and slow-moving (much like those best friendships we’ve built over the years), but we need to start sharing consistently, and we dedicate anywhere from 90 days to six months to the practice of storytelling. It’s important to get the flywheel spinning, and without early momentum, great stories may easily lapse.
Don’t waste your energy trying to shout at new people when there are probably hundreds of people who already know you and are wondering what’s going on in your world.
Ongoing Support &
Brand Shepherding
The brand is the coherent crystalized presentation of the shape of the heart of your business. It is the sum of all the channels through which people see, feel, touch, and encounter your story, and it is your biggest asset.
Now that we’ve got your authentic story revealed, confidence comes from consistency.
Our role as brand shepherds is to make sure the right people, the ones that will resonate with your story, hear it, embrace it and even pass it on to others, consistently. We do this by creating, ongoing, compelling content and design elements rooted in your story.
Learn more about our Storycrafting and Brand Shepherding toolkit.
Reaching the many to inspire the few.
Not every story resonates with every person. But without that clear, truthful, and self-aware telling of your story, some will begin authoring the narrative themselves, filling in the gaps with what they want you to be. The result is people building unimaginably misguided expectations. This is precisely why we think that Brand Development and Storytelling are more important than mass-marketing.
The best clients,
The ones you are looking for,
Will light up when they see your vision
and hear your story.
You’ve most likely heard the jargon around, “Building a tribe of raging fans.” There are compelling economic reasons for doing this, and fundamentally, that’s the outcome of our path. But we believe in doing it the authentic way, not in manipulative or gimmicky ways. The principle is simple: Find the right people who will join in at the heart level, with whom you'll do the best work. They will feel the best served, and they will appreciate you more than you imagined. The natural result is business growth as a tribe of well-served and emotionally engaged clientele takes it upon themselves to become the voice of your company's story in the marketplace. Your clients become your marketing department.