In June we started rolling out our "new look" - new logo, refreshed website, new brochures, business cards and color scheme. I've spent most of my career in marketing, so I'm pretty accustomed to the waves of rebranding that are required to keep a company's image fresh. But I found this process to be much more meaningful this time around. It gave our team an opportunity to delve into who we are at our core and how we can sustain, nurture, and convey that into the future.
A lot of strategic thinking goes into a rebranding process, because it's not just about refreshing your image, it should be about making sure that the image a company projects matches its values and practices. In Northstar's case, we embarked on a rebranding at a very important inflection point for our company, at the point when one founder (Dave) and one advisor (Jim) were stepping back and two new advisors (Mark and Charlotte) had joined the team. It gave us all a chance to honor the foundational values that Dave and Jim established and plan for how we would continue to practice the same way into the future.
We worked with Kesha Lien at Brickhouse Creative Resources, and she interviewed the advisors and several of our clients to make sure we understood how they see us and what they value about Northstar. Kesha distilled what she learned from her research into an "archetype profile" - something that would distill our story. She identified three archetypes that are strong among our team and how we work.
Everyone on our team embodies these archetypes to different extents, which gives us each a different approach to advising clients. But we all value those contributions and fiercely embrace our company values - and that creates a diverse team that is focused on the same north star.
Our Values
Do the right thing
Give practical, unbiased advice
Support our community
Treat each client with dignity
Promote financial independence
With those core elements in place, Kesha helped us redesign our logo, website, and brochures to communicate who we are, what we do, and our brand promise:
We're by your side; no matter what.
We like to think that our new logo communicates that a little better than the old one. The sextant is a navigational instrument and symbolizes how we aspire to help our clients navigate the journey to financial independence with practical, unbiased advice.
Our redesigned website has a Learn section where we plan to share perspectives about investing, financial planning, and holistic financial wellness with our clients and community. We plan to use the website, client portal and app, and other key digital tools to maintain full transparency with our clients and educate our community about financial wellness.
I would love to hear from our clients and community how well our new logo, website, and other elements of our brand communicate who we are and what we do. If I've learned anything from over a decade working in marketing it's that a company (and every human, really) can always communicate better, and the best way to do that is to listen more than you talk. So I hope you'll continue to tell us what you want Northstar Financial Management to be for you.