Building Sourcetoad’s Brand
Sourcetoad is a software development company that specializes in enterprise digital transformation projects. When I joined the company in 2015, it was a handful of developers in a shared office space. Over the next 7 years, we grew it into a 50-employee, $5 million organization with clients around the world. Working on Sourcetoad’s brand was one the most rewarding experiences of my career.
Establishing Brand Consistency
In 2015, Sourcetoad had recently changed its logo. Because the new logo was so strong, I focused on building
the brand identity around it. The first step was creating a style guide that ensured consistent use of the logo. This was then fleshed out into a complete style guide.
Rolling Out Templates
To ensure that there was a consistent look-and-feel for all client-facing documents, I conducted an audit of the presentations, proposals, business cards, and other documents. I created templates for all of these, as well as new versions of frequently used documents.
Revamping the Website
One of the potential strengths of Sourcetoad’s brand was the people. When building out a new website, I focused on showing the team, especially working in the office or with clients. A consistent and vibrant brand where you see real people working became the foundation to build on.
Building the Internal Brand
Branding the company internally played an important role in giving employees an identity, laying the foundation for a culture, and bolstering the external brand. I designed employee apparel, swag, and gifts to be understated, high-quality, and consistent.
The philosophy behind the t-shirts in particular was to offer employees top-quality shirts in a variety of colors. The result was that employees chose to wear their Sourcetoad t-shirts often (and they received compliments when they wore them outside of work). I created different promotional t-shirts for anyone outside of the company who asked for one. Keeping the best t-shirts for employees maintained their exclusivity, which made employees feel special (because they are!).
Creating the Culture
Building a brand like Sourcetoad’s is more than aesthetics. Building the culture itself is critical. This meant creating an office space that reflected the quirkiness of the brand, nurturing a culture where employees feel empowered to be themselves, and creating spaces and events where they could build relationships.
For me, building a fun and engaging culture was motivated by a desire to make the one-third of people’s lives they spend at work better. Sourcetoad’s culture became so strong that it’s now inseparable from the company’s brand.
Building the External Brand
The work of building the culture created a clear social strategy. Showing potential clients and employees that the company is made up of smart, nerdy people who love their jobs is a powerful message.
As Sourcetoad grew, we were able to support the local tech community through sponsorships and win local and national awards. These achievements continued to grow the internal brand and culture, and it gave us ways to grow the external brand.
Remote & Hybrid
Like so many companies, Sourcetoad had to adapt to remote work in March 2020. This created new challenges around maintaining the culture and the brand. The company is now hybrid, which has required new and creative approaches to growing the brand and culture. These include hybrid game and movie nights, virtual challenges, events, Sandwich Days, and Unicorn Drops.
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