Win by mattering more. We help ambitious B2Bs level up, by designing market positioning, brand, story, and identity.
All we can feel is difference. If you do something really well, but aren’t getting the love you deserve, it’s typically because you aren’t answering one or both of these questions:
What’s different? If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to position yourself clearly and distinctly in the market.
What’s appealing? If you want people to care, you need to connect with what matters to them.
The proof is in the pudding
Transforming authority into commercial success
During Canada’s cannabis boom, we supported a cannabis research and testing startup by helping them navigate a highly competitive landscape. Our proprietary research identified a meaningful niche in the market. We then developed a distinct, very human positioning and identity, leveraging their existing academic reputation, and transforming it into a genuine value-add for ambitious manufacturers, eventually leading to their acquisition for over $100M.
Bridging mindsets for global impact
A cleantech company has the potential to significantly slow down climate change. But as a business, they were slowed by the massive cultural divide between their two audiences, both of whom were critical for the model to work. Through stakeholder research, we developed a vision and value proposition that mattered to each of them. That led to more than $11M in early funding, prestigious industry awards, media coverage, and strategic partnerships that allowed them to scale their innovation globally.
Maximizing growth potential
A small technology design team had global ambitions. And when they hit the growth ceiling within their parent company, we developed a new brand identity that enabled them to reach more ambitious customers. Only three years after the brand launch, they were acquired by a leading, global design and engineering firm.
Transforming your business starts with getting clear about what’s working and what isn’t about your positioning, brand, story, and identity. What’s helping or getting in the way of what you’re trying to achieve?
From there, we define an approach, conduct research, and define the strategy. And after creating a clear and inspiring vision, we set you up to make it happen.
Diagnostic
Market positioning
Brand strategy
Identity
Roadmap and task force
Clients we’ve learned from on the way
Arndt Klos
Arndt is a brand strategist with over 20 years of experience in brand development, identity design, and strategic communication. Originally from Germany, he’s worked with domestic and global brands, including Nokia, Porsche Design, and Loewe Technology, and has held roles at advertising agencies like Grey Worldwide and Boros. After relocating to Canada, he co-founded brand consultancy Vigilantes in 2012. Arndt brings an in-depth understanding of markets, audiences, and cultural trends, and a natural ability to unite diverse stakeholders around a shared creative vision. Arndt regularly shares his unfiltered insights on LinkedIn, as a teacher, and as a mentor.
Vanessa Richmond
Vanessa Richmond is a brand strategist who helps companies come to life. For 15 years, she’s helped companies understand who they are, and tell their story. As a writer, her work has been published in dozens of publications including the Huffington Post, CBC, Alternet, Globe and Mail, and Tyee, along with radio, TV, and podcast. Before that, she was a high school English teacher in Canada and the UK, with a degree in education from the University of Cambridge. In her teaching, she focused on critical thinking, and co-coached a student who won the World Public Speaking and Debate Championship. She co-founded Vigilantes in 2012 to focus on brand and identity development.