Big Ideas,
Real Impact.
Case studies, behind-the-scenes, and the creative process behind our work with brands across Canada.
How to Roll Out a New Brand Across Your Company Without Chaos
A brand rollout plan sequences a rebrand in phases: align staff internally first, change customer-facing assets together, announce externally in waves, then run a transition period. Sequencing the launch this way is what keeps the change reading as growth rather than confusion.
How to Set Marketing Goals Your Leadership Team Will Approve
To set marketing goals your leadership team will approve, tie each goal to revenue or pipeline, attach a measurable target and deadline, separate leading indicators from lagging ones, and cut any vanity metric you cannot connect to a business decision.
What ROI Should You Expect From a Marketing Agency?
Marketing agency ROI has no universal benchmark: paid media can show directional signal in weeks, while SEO, content, and brand work typically take two to three quarters to compound into measurable return. Judge it against your own baseline, not an industry average.
Marketing Agency Red Flags: How to Tell a Good Agency From a Bad One
The clearest marketing agency red flags are guaranteed results promised before any discovery, reporting built on vanity metrics like impressions and reach, refusal to give you ownership of your accounts and data, and no named senior team on your account. Any one of these should slow you down before you sign a retainer.
What Does a Marketing Retainer Include, and What Should You Expect?
A marketing retainer includes three layers for a fixed monthly fee: strategy and planning, production of the agreed work, and ongoing management and reporting. The exact deliverables depend on whether the retainer is scoped by hours or by output.
How to Choose a Marketing Agency for an Ongoing Retainer
To choose a marketing agency for a retainer, evaluate how they operate, not just their portfolio: who staffs your account, whether senior involvement holds after month three, whether reporting ties to real decisions, and how they adapt strategy as your business changes.
The First 90 Days With a Fractional CMO: What Good Looks Like
A strong fractional CMO first 90 days follows a clear sequence: month one diagnoses your positioning and funnel gaps, month two banks two or three quick wins and stands up trustworthy measurement, and month three delivers a funded roadmap with named priorities and owners. By day 90 you should be able to see what marketing contributed to revenue and what happens next.
Rebranding a Professional-Services Firm: What to Know First
Rebranding a professional services firm starts with strategy, not design. Because the brand carries trust and referral relationships built over years, partners should first protect referral sources, align on direction together, choose credibility over flash, and stage the client transition before any visual work begins.
When Should a Founder Stop Doing Their Own Marketing?
A founder should stop doing marketing when execution starts crowding out the strategic work only they can do, such as positioning, pricing, and key relationships. The clearest signal is a full marketing calendar paired with no time to think.
Do You Need a Brand Strategy Before a New Website?
Yes, you need a brand strategy before a website. The site is an output of your positioning, so building before you settle who you serve, what you promise, and how you differ produces a site you rebuild within a year.
How to Rebrand Without Losing Brand Equity or Search Rankings
You can rebrand without losing rankings if you carry your equity forward on purpose: map a complete 301 redirect from every valuable old URL to its closest new match before launch, keep and forward the old domain, and phase the name change with a formerly OldName signal so customers and search engines connect the old and new brand. Rankings drop from careless execution, not from rebranding itself.
How Long Does a Rebrand Take, From Kickoff to Launch?
A rebrand timeline depends on scope: a focused visual refresh typically takes 6 to 10 weeks, while a full strategic rebrand covering positioning, naming, and identity typically runs 3 to 6 months. Decision speed, not design work, is the biggest variable.
The Company Rebranding Process, Step by Step
The rebranding process runs in five sequential phases: discovery and positioning, brand strategy, identity design and system build, rollout, and measurement. Each phase settles a decision the next one depends on, which is why running them in order matters.
Why Corporate Rebrands Fail (and How to De-Risk Yours)
Rebranding fails when a strategic problem is treated as a visual one. The four common causes are weak positioning, no internal alignment, destroyed brand equity, and no defined measure of success, and each one can be settled before any design work begins.
How Much Should a Company Spend on Marketing (as a % of Revenue)?
There is no single correct marketing budget percentage of revenue. Commonly cited ranges fall between roughly 5 and 15 percent, but the right figure depends on your margins, growth stage, and competitive intensity. Build the number from your goal, then use the benchmark only as a sanity check.
Fractional CMO vs. Agency vs. In-House Hire: How to Decide
A fractional CMO buys senior strategy part-time, an agency buys execution on demand, and a full-time hire buys daily ownership. Choose by diagnosing your real gap first, direction, execution, or ownership, then match it to your stage and budget.
What a Fractional CMO Actually Costs vs. a Full-Time CMO
A fractional CMO cost is typically structured as a monthly retainer, a day rate, or a project fee, so you pay for a defined scope rather than a full salary. The fair comparison is against the fully loaded cost of a full-time CMO, including bonus, benefits, ramp, and replacement risk, not the base salary alone.
Are Rebranding Costs Tax-Deductible or Capitalized in Canada?
In Canada, rebranding costs are not treated uniformly for tax. Routine marketing and advertising is usually a deductible current expense, while creating a new brand asset such as a logo, name, or identity system is generally capitalized, often in the Class 14.1 pool written down at 5% per year. Confirm your specific case with your accountant.
What Is a Fractional CMO, and When Do You Need One?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who runs your marketing part-time, usually one or two days a week on a fixed monthly retainer, owning strategy and team leadership without the salary or equity of a full-time chief marketing officer.
5 Signs It's Time to Rebrand (Not Just Refresh)
You should rebrand rather than refresh when the foundation has changed: your audience has shifted, you have outgrown your positioning, you have been through a pivot or merger, your brand attracts the wrong clients, or competitors have leapfrogged you on substance. A refresh only updates the surface, while a rebrand rebuilds the strategy underneath.
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