Building a
Difference Engine®
for Concord
A distinctive brand, a signature website and an authentic tone of voice: how Articulate helped Concord shine.
Articulate Marketing partnered with Concord to deliver a new brand marketing strategy, including logo design, messaging pillars and personas, tone of voice, and a custom-designed signature website.
Today, Concord’s branding reflects its ambitious goals for environmental and business impact and underlines the company’s unique status as an industry pioneer—right at the intersection of environment, engineering and tax law.
About Concord
Concord helps investors and US-based renewable energy firms navigate energy-related incentives that save them money. These include 179D, R&D tax credits, transferable tax credits, and 6417 direct pay. Founded in 2009, Concord is led by Managing Director Dennis Stilger Jr. Since then, Concord has helped its clients win back more than one billion dollars.
“Articulate has taken the time to learn my business, the complex market we operate in and the unique opportunities we are trying to realize. Doing this has required deep analysis, ongoing support and a considerable investment of the Articulate team’s time.”
— Dennis Stilger Jr, Managing Director
Concord
While Concord boasts expertise that very few firms can claim, it isn’t the only US business providing energy incentive support and advice. It is, however, one of very few that specialises in the niche and complex area.
Dennis wanted to find a way to differentiate Concord’s expertise from other professional service providers that offer advice ‘on the side.’ He wanted Concord to stand out and make its mark in an emerging and fast-changing industry. But to do this, he knew the brand required an upgrade.
Diagnosis
Concord’s original website was built in WordPress. It was functional but lacked the depth and visual impact of a modern, dynamic website. Its tone was informative but missing some of the Concord team’s personality. The copy was serviceable but not evocative.
In short, Concord needed that competitive edge we call the Difference Engine®.
Articulate’s brand strategists, writers, and designers worked with Dennis and the Concord team to build their Difference Engine and elevate the brand to a new level.
In Concord’s niche industry, organic traffic isn’t likely to soar. Building a reputation with content will take time.
Concord also needed to develop its reputation beyond its website to help drive backlinks and credibility.
Articulate needed to elevate the brand and establish the new website without weakening its 16-year heritage.
Concord’s busy and fast-paced marketing function needed to see fast progress on the project, working to an established deadline.
“Articulate has been instrumental in assisting me with defining a cohesive brand identity, positioning and messaging for my company. They’ve brought clarity to how we communicate our unique value proposition in ways that I would have never imagined prior to working with their incredible team, and have given me the confidence to develop a tone of voice for the company that is authentic, engaging and relatable.”
— Dennis Stilger Jr, Managing Director
Concord
Concord's goal
Dennis contacted Articulate after being inspired by our own tone of voice and impressed by our work in the environmental technology sector.
We ran a number of workshops with Concord, focusing on its key personas, market position, and aspirations. Concord didn’t want to be like everyone else and emulate its competitors in the professional services industry. The team wanted to be different. To stand out.
We proposed moving Concord’s website from WordPress to HubSpot. As HubSpot partners (and power users ourselves), we’re big fans of its CRM and marketing integration capabilities, intuitive design, and scalability. This website package was a significant upgrade to Concord’s original request but crucial to supporting its growth ambitions.
A series of tailored workshops to develop personas, tone of voice, brand messaging, and more.
A new signature HubSpot website, elevated by updated design and copy, as well as integrations and usability.
Detailed SEO benchmarking, keyword gap research and competitor analysis to understand Concord’s opportunities in the market.
A new, visually engaging, and functional logo to represent Concord’s role in sustainability and its business mission.
“Concord reflects the kind of projects and clients we love at Articulate. The company helps reward businesses and investors that are doing better by the environment, which is exactly what we are most passionate about. Dennis and the team gave us the space to do what we do best and trusted us to understand his business and build a real difference engine to help Concord shine like the diamond it is.”
— Matthew Stibbe, CEO
Articulate Marketing
Elevated visual presence and tone of voice to captivate website visitors and support offline business development activities.
An SEO-focused content strategy to drive more traffic to the new website.
More effortless website scalability thanks to HubSpot.
Tailored messaging for each defined ideal client profile (ICP) and persona.
"Matthew should feel proud that he's set up such an amazing organisation with an incredible group of people that work here. The power of their ideas, and The Difference Engine® they’ve built as an organization cannot be constrained by the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel or any other physical encumbrance. In my experience and for my business, Articulate doesn't move the needle. They are the needle.”
— Dennis Stilger Jr, Managing Director
Concord
A foundation for success
Our in-house HubSpot experts provided Concord with personalised platform training to give them complete autonomy over their website — a barrier many in-house marketers face when using more restricted website providers. Articulate’s designers and copywriters worked with Concord to establish some initial sales collateral and a brand book to guide future sales and marketing content efforts.
A Difference Engine® to be proud of
Communicating your differentiators without a physical product can be difficult. But that’s precisely what the Difference Engine® does — it helps you engineer and define what makes your brand your brand. It’s a framework. It's marketing best practices. But mostly, it’s showcasing your stand-out, star quality to the people you want to know about it.
The development of The Concord Standard gives customers something to get excited about while providing a clear benefit to working with the experts at Concord. It tells website visitors what Concord does, who it helps, and how it helps them. It’s simple. But it works.
A new identity
With a new, memorable logo, nature-inspired colour scheme, and revamped visual assets, Concord no longer looks up at its competitors. Instead, it sits confidently, and in its own right, between professional services and sustainability, boasting legal expertise and environmental zeal.
