James Drury Partners | Solid Digital

James Drury Partners is a professional practice that encompasses a wide array of board advisory services, ranging from the most traditional – director recruitment, board evaluation, governance best practices, and assembling new IPO boards, to the most innovative – governance capacity analysis, diagnostic assessment of potential new directors, and proprietary board selection for America’s top executives.

Living up to the Image

James Drury Partners is an established firm with a track record spanning about 30 years. When clients work with them, they quickly notice that they are getting a premium service. The problem was, that their website and other marketing collateral didn’t resemble or live up to their expectations. It was important to the CEO that potential clients get a sense right away of what it might be like to work with them. He wanted to communicate the premium services, brand, and culture that they should expect.

Approach

Knowing that the goals were to symbolize the internal culture and brand, we needed to fully understand what made them different, how they stood out in the market, and WHY a client would choose them over other competitors.

Brand Research

One of the first exercises Solid Digital performed was conducting interviews with the James Drury team. We learned as much as we could about the experience that was delivered and how they were currently marketing themselves. We then provided feedback on what they were doing well and what we thought could be improved. To their credit, they had a very strong idea of what they wanted and it was easy to work together.

Strategy

With our research in hand, we were able to work with the client to determine the best steps to move forward. We knew that they wanted to communicate the “feeling” of what it’s like to work with them. We also knew that their office space was utterly beautiful and we wanted to capture that essence. In the end, we recommended that in addition to a typical website redesign that we bring in a photographer and videographer to spend time at the firm and create content that captures the emotion and feelings that they were looking for.

Art Direction

The Solid Digital team participated in every step of the way with the art direction for the photographers and videographers, we worked with the client on the script and were present the day of the shoot. We’ve written about the importance of original content and it was great to have a client that shared this goal.

Solution

In addition to brand research and digital strategy sessions, Solid Digital also provided additional services aiding in the planning, direction, coordination, and production of a photoshoot, video shoot, and website redesign.

Photo & Video Shoot

Our Creative Director went onsite and worked through a variety of shots required. He did a walkthrough to build a comprehensive shot list and make sure that all of the imagery that we were looking for was captured. We also were involved with creating the script and facilitating the interview and video direction. With the help of the fantastic photographer Jeff Sciortino, we were able to stage the office and complete the photo and video shoot in one day.

Website Redesign

The client was very open to listening to our ideas, we were able to pitch little details that made this website stand out from the rest. The website design was provided by our Chicago based studio, along with WordPress web development services. The team added enhancements like animations and advanced CSS techniques to make the site really come alive.

Internal Tools

At Solid Digital we don’t like to let good things end. After we completed the initial website redesign we continued to work with the client on a variety of internal tools including an HR wiki for James Drury personal.