Reimagining & Defining a Brand for a Fast-Growing Private Equity Firm

STATE OF PLAY

A fast-growing, mid-market investment brought on Narrative Strategies to conduct a year-long engagement to establish the firm’s brand. Narrative’s strategic brand development and external communications initiatives generated improved understanding, increased awareness, and tangible positioning of the brand among internal and external audiences.

This private equity firm operates in a crowded—and highly competitive—investment environment. With thousands of other private equity firms in the United States, our client sought to establish and cement a distinctive brand to set the firm apart. Creating a unique identity was crucial to attracting investors, convincing entrepreneurs, and business owners to partner with the firm, and recruiting top talent.

Narrative conducted a year-long engagement assessing the firm’s current brand, repositioning its messaging, and creating a distinct identity. The client’s rapid growth and potential for future success demanded a flexible and enduring identity, posing a fundamental challenge: how do we build a brand that reflects what this private equity firm is and what it would become?

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Attract additional investors (limited partners). 

Better position the firm with future portfolio companies.

Attract talent as the firm continues to grow.

ACTION

Research & Analysis. Narrative led an audit of existing communications channels, evaluated peer firm practices, and began dialogues with internal and external stakeholders to understand better how the firm was viewed. This included an extensive brand perception survey for select client team members, advisors, and investors. It also included an in-depth evaluation of eight peer firms to determine how to differentiate our client from its competitors. 

Defining Value Proposition, Key Messages, and Visual Brand. Using findings from its research and analysis, Narrative defined the firm’s value proposition and used it to develop a messaging pyramid, tagline, boilerplate firm language, and top-line messaging. Narrative also produced a style guide with an updated brand color palette, typography, logo files, collateral templates, email signatures, and specific logos for events and forums hosted by the client. 

Transitioning to a New Brand. Narrative guided our client through its transition to new messaging, style, and branding by creating an internal rollout process and communicating the importance of brand discipline. This process also included a series of best practices guidelines to help our client implement its new branding on all internal and external communication products and a diagnostic framework for partner companies to solidify the brand across the firm’s investment portfolio.

Positioning with External Audiences. With the brand rollout complete, Narrative focused efforts on brand repositioning with external audiences by creating a content calendar, formalizing an industry award application process, producing a steady stream of thought leadership content, and increasing the firm’s external media engagement.

IMPACT

Using the new brand framework, Narrative has generated notable wins promoting our client to external audiences using the new brand framework. This client has since won multiple industry awards, including recognition as a Diversity Champion by InvestmentNews, a PE Innovator in ESG by Mergers & Acquisitions two years running, a Top 50 PE Firm in the Middle Market by GCI Publishing, and an Inc. Founder Friendly Investor.

Narrative has also generated news stories, podcast interviews, and earned media pieces promoting the firm’s deal announcements, business partnerships, and talent acquisition. Our team helped generate more than three hundred media mentions during the first year of our collaboration, compared to only four the previous year. The new, cohesive brand identity has contributed to their success in adding new team members and closing several new partnerships with businesses in diverse industries.