Micah Boswell: ReBranding The Broadlane Group
Brand Strategy | Creative Leadership
After the success of the Prolucent ReBranding effort, I was approached by the CEO and asked to directly lead and execute the organizational effort to do the same. Knowing that such opportunities come once in a lifetime, I jumped on it without hesitation. Here was a brand I knew well, and had been advocating for an overhaul for more than three years. It was a dream come true.
Learn from the Past. Don’t abandon it.
Broadlane’s rise to success was dynamic, fluid and chaotic. Due to a small group of entrepreneurially minded visionaries, the organization had grown to become a Fortune 500 contender in less than a half a decade. But like so many other companies, the same elements that helped Broadlane grow quickly and organically also led to a silo’d culture. Broadlane was full of entrepreneurs who were willing to risk failure. They pursued innovation with uncharacteristic fervor, and the payoff of having a culture like this was highly rewarding. Over time, it became apparent that so many great ideas were getting implemented, but they weren’t getting operationalized. Unsurprisingly, Broadlane was becoming a nine-headed hydra, with all nine heads fighting for the same pool of resources. So, the question on many of our minds was, how do we build on this fantastic entrepreneurial culture without killing it? How do we organizationally operationalize innovation, after it’s been innovated. As well, how do we formalize that innovation into a compelling, acitonable service? Beyond that, how does one competently package disparate services growing in silo’s? Visual consistency had become almost impossible.
You can go for the paint job, or you can overhaul the engine. Or you can do both.
A Venture Capital firm quickly saw the raw value in Broadlane and quickly bought the organization. After an assessment period, they brought in two key resources to further assess things on the ground level – A CEO and a marketing consultant. Both were in complete agreement that this wonder of an organization deserved two things – a new paint job, and it desperately needed an overhaul. I was fortunate enough to have the CEO and marketing consultant delegate the ‘paint work’ to me. I would have never accepted the job of just applying a new coat – that’s a redesign, not a rebrand. But with an obvious operational overhaul, I worked closely with key resources to make sure that the rebranding effort was both consistent and sustainable.
And, wow, yes, that was the Board of Directors clapping.
I wasn’t at the Board of Director’s meeting that morning, but I was on the same floor, and the CEO approached me afterwards introducing me to a key investor that had also been advocating for an operational and brand overhaul. It was a completely unexpected acknowledgement of the good work done not only in brand strategy and design, but also in implementation by the marketing team, bringing the disparate services together on both paper and in reality. It goes without saying that this amazing phenomena called ‘The Broadlane Group’ was special. It was inspiring to be a part of it!
The process was painstakingly detailed, the ReBranding required a level of organizational communication none of us thought possible, and in the end, the effort was so successful that The Broadlane Group was purchased for double the value the capital firm had purchase it for. A major factor in the investment was that the acquirer was finally able to look at Broadlane and truly understand its story, and its offerings. The packaging made a key difference, according to both executives and key VP’s. I was completely astounded. With a small team of 4 marketing people and a local agency (Squires), we were able to pull off a stunningly massive rebranding that left even our board of directors pleased.
I couldn’t have been more proud. As a self-taught creative director with modest beginnings, I’d plied my passion year after year, just being happy with the chance to do good work. I’d been handed a paint bucket and free reign to rebrand, and the final result was … good. That in and of itself was enough, but I’ll be the first to admit – the acknowledgement felt great!
