Centerstone Executive Search & Consulting
Services Provided: Strategy, Brand Identity, Web Design, Web Development, Print Design
Visit Website
centerstonesearch.com
Overview
Centerstone Executive Search and Consulting is a boutique recruitment firm that delivers excellence in leadership selection and support services such as training and development, board services and ongoing executive coaching.
Dr. Kim Villeneuvue (CEO) holds a doctorate in Human and Organizational Learning and a Master’s degree in management. Her 18 years of executive recruitment and board building experience serves as the backbone of Centersone’s highly focused team enabling them to directly compete with and even outpace recruitment firms many times their own size.
Scope of Work
Digital Ammo was initially hired to design, develop and deploy a new flagship website. Upon the successful launch of the site (centerstonesearch.com) Dr. Villeneuvue and her team re-approached Digital Ammo to spearhead a comprehensive rebrand which included all public facing media, print collateral, advertising materials, internal client resources and even peripheral assets such as email signatures and industry specific pages for SEO purposes.
Challenges
Recruitment of Human Capital and executive talent is a vast, highly competitive industry with hundreds of major players competing within dozens of industry segments. The first major challenge our team faced was understanding such a vast landscape so to position Centerstone and their services correctly. The due diligence phase for this project spanned a total of 45 days and was broken down into several data points that closely examined industry economics, the (relevant) major players and their core services, the reach and capabilities of these major players and how all of this was conveyed to the general information seeking public and their pool of prospective clients.
Another notable challenge we faced was the public facing brand persona. While the Centerstone team boasts one of the most highly credentialed and capable skill-sets in the entire industry, it became immediately evident that a majority of companies seeking executive recruitment gravitated toward boutique initiatives rather than global firms. The presentiment of building a brand that conveys an intimate, high touch boutique feel yet boasts Fortune 500 level services, capabilities and operating efficiencies was ever present in our minds as the project unfolded.
Approach
Due to the complexity of this, industry data was key. Once we felt that we had a visceral grasp of the competitive dynamic and the competitors themselves our team was then able to use said data points to craft the users digital experience and later, the brand perception. Without such a commitment the discovery process it would have been impossible to yield a deliverable on any front that would accomplish the goals that Dr. Villenevue laid out.
Just like most other projects, our two teams worked together with incredible synergy from project inception to final delivery. The Centerstone team was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and easy to work with. Dr. Villenevue, Nicki Trabue, Emily Anthony and others on their team provided clear direction and prompt feedback, giving our team the creative and technical liberty to achieve the project goal.
Conclusion
As mentioned previously, the underlying goal was to meld two seemingly contradictory qualities in a way that was clean, contemporary and highly visible. As it turns out, our investment into research and data paid off as our team was able to produce design proofs of all major deliverables that were approved by Centerstone and went into production on the very first version.
“When looking to update our firm’s website, we knew we wanted someone who would not only deliver a high-quality end product, but someone who would be a long-term strategic partner in helping to shape our brand and digital strategy. We have certainly found that in Digital Ammo. The rapport and synergy was immediate. Ian, Olivia, and the entire team are thoughtful, creative, and true subject matter experts. They listened to our vision and worked with us to develop a website and re-branding package that exceeded our expectations – it is contemporary, dynamic, and will support our firm’s growth. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Digital Ammo for many years to come.”
Kim Villeneuve
CEO & Founder, Centerstone
