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Branding & Identity Design

From Identity to Impact: Branding That Drives Business Growth

Your brand determines how the market perceives your value, how talent views your organization, and how investors assess your potential.

OBATA partners with B2B organizations to deliver branding and identity design services that clarify purpose, sharpen positioning, and support long-term performance, especially during moments of growth, change, or reinvention.

We deliver:

Clarity: Define your brand’s role and positioning across stakeholder groups
Credibility: Signal trust through aligned visuals, messaging, and actions
Competitive Edge: Differentiate where it matters most: markets, talent acquisition, and valuation

Your brand is either an asset or a liability

Branding often becomes a barrier rather than an enabler. Organizations face these challenges at critical inflection points:

Launching without a clear positioning strategy
Operating with a legacy identity that no longer reflects current capabilities
Failing to connect sustainability commitments to brand value
Missing opportunities to activate milestones and anniversaries

These gaps erode stakeholder confidence, complicate communication, and make it harder to attract the right partners, talent, and capital. OBATA helps turn these inflection points into brand-defining opportunities.

Strategy before design. Clarity before creativity.

OBATA’s approach ensures every visual and verbal decision flows from a clear foundation. We don’t start with logos or taglines; we start with your market position, stakeholder expectations, and business objectives.

Our approach is:

Research-Driven: Grounded in competitive analysis, stakeholder insights, and market dynamics
Collaborative: Built through workshops and executive alignment sessions, not boardroom presentations
Scalable: Flexible frameworks that evolve as your organization grows
Governed: Systems and guidelines that ensure consistency across every touchpoint

We guide organizations through branding decisions that become strategic outcomes — whether you’re launching, repositioning, integrating ESG commitments, or marking milestones.


“A brand’s true value lies at the intersection of how it looks, how it’s perceived, and what it stands for. Sustainability must now be part of that foundation. OBATA helps leaders connect strategy, design, and ESG commitments so their brand remains relevant, resilient, and trusted.”

– Paul Gassett, CEO, OBATA

brand value graphic

Branding Across the Brand Lifecycle

We guide organizations through four types of brand initiatives:

New Brand Development

Build a credible identity from launch. For new businesses, products, or corporate spinoffs, we create distinctive brand systems designed for immediate market credibility and stakeholder trust.

Strategic Rebranding

Our rebranding work helps organizations reassess positioning, clarify relevance, and realign identity with today’s business reality and tomorrow’s goals. If your current brand no longer reflects your capabilities or market position, we guide a structured repositioning and identity refresh.

Sustainability Branding

Integrate ESG commitments into your brand narrative. We help organizations articulate sustainability as part of their value proposition — with clarity and credibility that resonate with investors, customers, and employees.

Event & Milestone Branding

Transform anniversaries, campaigns, and flagship events into brand-strengthening moments that honor legacy while communicating future direction.

OUR SERVICES

End-to-End Solutions from Strategy to Activation

Our method ensures cohesion from strategic foundation through implementation. We offer project-based and retainer engagement models.

Brand Strategy & Positioning

Define your market position and competitive advantage

Through executive workshops, stakeholder interviews, and competitive analysis, we help leadership teams create alignment and direction around positioning.

What we deliver:

  • Brand architecture (branded house, house of brands, hybrid models)
  • Core positioning statement and value proposition
  • Brand narrative framework and messaging pillars
  • Strategic roadmap aligned with business objectives

Outcome:
Leadership alignment and a clear foundation for all brand decisions.

Brand Identity Development

Translate clarity into recognizable, trusted expression.

We create visual and verbal identity systems that communicate your essence with clarity and authority.

What we deliver:

  • Name development, tagline, and brand voice
  • Logo and brandmark design
  • Color palette, typography, and graphic language systems
  • Brand photography and illustration guidelines
  • Messaging templates for sales, recruiting, and investor communications

Outcome:
A unified identity system that performs across every medium and touchpoint.

Brand Implementation & Experience

Apply your brand consistently across channels.

We develop comprehensive guidelines and oversee implementation across digital platforms, marketing materials, internal communications, and physical spaces.

What we deliver:

  • Complete brand guidelines and asset libraries
  • Launch planning and internal engagement tools
  • Website and digital interface alignment
  • Sales, investor, and recruiting presentation materials
  • Environmental graphics and signage applications

Outcome:
A brand that builds recognition and trust through consistent presence.

We also align your brand across digital platforms through user-centered web design and interactive reporting. Explore our Website & Digital Experiences services →

Our Process: From Discovery to Activation

Our 7-step process keeps brand initiatives on track, even under accelerated timelines, by providing structure, clarity, and accountability.

01. Discover Market Opportunity

In-depth research and stakeholder workshops uncover your unique value, market position, and objectives.

02. Define Brand Strategy

Establish core brand attributes, positioning, architecture, and messaging pillars, creating a clear roadmap.

03. Develop Brand Identity

Create visual and verbal concepts that bring your brand to life from the ground up.

04. Validate and Refine

Test concepts iteratively to ensure they resonate with audiences and align with strategic goals.

05. Build the Brand System

Create comprehensive guidelines and complete visual identity for consistency across

06. Launch & Activate

Support brand introduction and integration across all platforms, from digital to physical assets.

07. Measure & Evolve

Provide ongoing support to ensure the brand continues to drive business results.


Trusted Partner for Market-Leading Organizations

Our work demonstrates what happens when science meets art — reports that are accurate, authentic, and award-winning.

Impact Highlights:

75+ years in branding and marketing communications

70+ industry awards for reporting and communication design

55+ digital reporting microsites launched

Executive-level engagement from day one

B2B expertise across manufacturing, energy, technology, healthcare, and industrial sectors

Sustainability integration — ESG strategy woven into brand systems

End-to-end execution from positioning to identity to activation


Explore how OBATA helped leaders transform brand challenges into measurable business results

Real-world impact, meaningful results

CNB St. Louis Bank rebranding example

CNB STL
A Strategic Rebranding

See how OBATA helped a 100-year-old community bank modernize its identity and launch a brand built for its next century of growth.
View Case Study

The Audit Group
A Strategic Rebranding

See how OBATA helped The Audit Group evolve its brand to reflect a modern, insight-driven advisory firm with national reach.
View Case Study

fortune brands 10-yr anniversary logo example

Fortune Brands
Milestone Made Memorable

Discover how Fortune Brands turned a 10-year anniversary into a powerful brand moment that energized employees and reinforced corporate purpose.
View Case Study


WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Our brand evolution positions CNB St. Louis Bank to deliver another 100 years of growth and support for the St. Louis community.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Our sustainability efforts took a huge leap forward with the development of our Sustainability Brand Story, including four key pillars that embraced our corporate mission and values.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

“These logo designs look great! Thank you for pulling this together so quickly and providing the social media templates as well. As always, beautifully done.”

Visit the Resource Library

Your Strategic Branding Questions, Answered