level
Leveling Up a Woman-led Design Studio with Strategic Content & a FastCo Award
“Nora and Kirsten have been an inspiration to work with.
Clear and efficient, they provide in-depth research paired with real-life expectations to deliver strategic content mapping that is both manageable and powerful for our brand.
Their pointed copywriting brings fresh, current perspectives to dry text. We continually look forward to our next discussion with them.”
— Nichole Rouillac, Founder + Creative Director at level
Services
Strategic Industry Audit
Thought Leadership & Content Strategy
Custom Media List & Opportunities Kit
FastCo Award Submission (with success!)
Industry
Industrial Design
Product Development
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level is a West Coast women-led industrial design shop. They’ve developed products ranging from a medical-grade heart health device to entertainment gaming consoles to the award-winning home workout studio Tempo.
The Challenge
Stand out in the crowded industrial design field
It’s notoriously difficult to get top-tier press for industrial design firms. First, the media prefers products that are available to consumers and photographed (as opposed to renders). But, much of the work ID firms do never makes it to market and is often locked behind NDAs.
Second, when products do get press, these features often only mention the ID firm’s client—the company selling the product. Industrial design firms have to work extra hard to ensure their contribution is captured in addition to the features and benefits of the thing that is for sale.
Our Goal
Leverage a big product launch to enhance level’s national recognition as a top-tier women-led industrial design studio
When level reached out to us, their largest project to date, home workout studio Tempo, was about to go to market. level’s founder, Nichole Rouillac, hoped to seize this moment to promote both Tempo and the studio. But she wanted to do it thoughtfully.
Nicole wanted to dive deep into level’s collaborative method and fabrication-first mindset. Moreover, she was eager to talk about the culture at level and how it informs their process.
level is female-led and six of the eight team members are women. Currently women make up less than 20% of the industrial design workforce. This number gets even smaller for leadership roles.
level has worked to build an office culture that’s supportive, collaborative, and embodies work/life balance, characteristics often absent from cut-throat industrial design firms.
level’s design work for Tempo
Our Solution
Develop a strategy to support Tempo’s launch now as well as future partnerships, initiatives, and thought leadership
Our approach addressed three key areas:
1. Identify opportunities for level to increase brand awareness and thought leadership presence
We conducted an in-depth Strategic Industry Audit of level’s competitors and thought leaders to identify effective storytelling, marketing, and PR tactics.
The final report outlined specific suggestions to help level engage with target clients and the media, including how to restructure existing assets and create new ones.
2. Take the guesswork out of content with an actionable roadmap
Drawing connections between level’s goals and our Strategic Industry Audit, we developed a detailed year-long quarterly content calendar.
This deliverable included website updates, design award opportunities, thought leadership articles, blog content, a quarterly newsletter, and social media syndication.
Each content action item included detailed notes on format, theme, and syndication best practices as well as specific industry examples.
3. Tell the story of level’s design approach
We provided strategy, writing, and editing services for a Fast Company Award submission, in-depth blog posts, and newsletter.
Results
1. level named number THREE in FastCompany's 10 Most Innovative Design Companies
A small industrial design studio, level was recognized alongside industry leaders like Google and Adidas.
2. 12-month content calendar with examples and SOP
3. In-depth content that leverages level’s projects to showcase their design chops and collaborative methodology
4. Milestone newsletters with personal reflections from Nicole, project highlights, and company initiatives
Let’s work together
We’ve helped businesses that work in design and the built world tell stories for growth. Tell us a bit about your company and what you’re looking for.
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