Building a colleague-first brand
In Part 1, we heard how Geoff Smart, Chairman and Founder of ghSMART, closed the gap between brand and reality. Now, let’s dive into how ghSMART put their people at the heart of their rebrand.
Colleagues at the core
Most rebrands start with clients. ghSMART started with colleagues.
“We’re a colleague-first company. We actually care more about our people than our clients…because great culture is what allows us to serve clients better.”
That inversion shaped every decision. The firm’s most valuable audience wasn’t just potential clients, it was the world’s best talent. “The constraint in our business isn’t clients…it’s amazing people. So our brand had to speak to them first.”
Culture as the differentiator
In professional services, people are the product. “Lots of founders are customer-obsessed. That’s fine. But unless you’re equally or more talent-obsessed, you’ll never live up to your promise.”
The new ghSMART brand and colleague value proposition became a platform for that belief. “We could finally show what makes this place special. Our people can choose their clients, choose their hours, choose their lives. That’s weird and wonderful…and it needed to be in the brand.”
The brand even brought that proposition to life in a way that made client conversations easier to lead. “We saw it right away. Partners walking into meetings more prepared, more unified, more confident in how to tell our story.”
Brand as credibility
The rebrand also elevated credibility for recruits and investors alike. “We hired one of McKinsey’s highest-rated partners. That wouldn’t have happened if our brand still looked amateur. You can’t recruit world-class talent to something that looks second-class.”
When ghSMART launched a capital raise to fuel international growth, the brand played a starring role. “A few investors literally pointed to our website, our brand, one of our client videos and said, ‘That’s what sold us.’ When the CEO of UPS talked about how she couldn’t imagine making a good leadership decision without ghSMART. That’s the kind of credibility you can’t buy.”
The ripple effect
The rebrand’s impact wasn’t theoretical—it was measurable. “Whatever we spent, we got ten to a hundred times back…in clients, in hires, in reputation. It literally turned into dollars and cents.”
The firm’s internal culture followed suit. “The new messaging gave our newer partners a scaffolding for how to talk about our work. Instead of memorizing lines, they could tell authentic stories that fit the larger message. It gave everyone a sense of ownership.”
That ownership multiplied. The new brand became a force multiplier that sped up recruiting cycles, increased colleague confidence and drove new business.
The power of alignment
But the rebrand’s greatest success wasn’t in the aesthetics, it was the real impact on people. “Our external message now matches our internal reality. What clients see, what recruits hear, what we feel, it’s all consistent. And that consistency builds trust.”
Final thought:
The strongest brands don’t chase relevance, they create alignment. ghSMART’s rebrand worked because it reconnected the company’s promise, culture and performance.
When those three things move in unison, a brand stops being an impression and starts being evidence.
Facing a similar challenge? Catch up on Part 1 to learn how Geoff Smart helped drive ghSMART through the journey of closing the delta between a dated brand and market-leading reality.
