Material Insight

Brand identity & website

Capturing and showcasing the deep knowledge and fierce determination in a female-led tech marketing agency.

Challenge

Material Insight is a marketing agency that has been working in the tech sector since the early 2000s. They are a small team and have a unique approach. Material Insight is like an in-house marketing team that embeds within an organization to get them through difficult growth stages. They only work with 6 clients at a time.

Agencies need to constantly focus on caring for their clients, and finding new ones. Updating your brand can be a distraction, and pull attention away from immediate tasks. But the Material Insight brand had not been significantly updated for over a decade, and its age was showing.

Typically, tech startups have gaps in marketing experience and don’t really know where to turn. Hiring an agency to help is an act of faith. A new brand identity would have to communicate the value behind what Material Insight does, and showcase their deep experience. It also has to help them stand out in a field where everyone claims to have the answers.

From a visual standpoint, Material insight was producing effective, impactful and visually striking marketing design for their clients, but their own brand was falling out of step.

Result

Atom Studio has been working with Material Insight since almost the beginning. So we had a firm understanding of the huge positive difference they can make in their clients’ success. We started by creating an audit of Material Insight’s past materials, and competitors and peers across the continent.

Atom Studio then helped strategize what brand personality attributes would create the most differentiation between MI and their peers. We arrived at a direct, human, hands-on feel that acknowledges the difficult, person-powered work that makes tech companies succeed. We combined this with a gritty and fierce aesthetic that ties into MI’s commitment to giving everything 110% and never giving up.

This led to a brand identity that is bold, unapologetic, and no-nonsense, while still relating the human aspects of Material Insights that instill trust. A strong and tightly limited colour palette is distinctive and yes, fierce. It challenges ideas on what a female-led agency looks like.

We also spent a lot of time helping MI craft a tight, understandable website that focuses on letting their clients do the convincing, through testimonials and case studies. The response since launch has been overwhelmingly positive, and the ease at which the site can be updated means it can always stay current.

Website

Material Insight needed a website that clearly communicates the difference in their offering, and puts case studies up front. We helped create a site that speaks directly to tech companies, and articulates the massive value they get from working with specialists like Material Insight.

Photography

Atom Studio provided guidance and art direction for a style of photography that is human, gritty and real. The black and white palette and added grain supports this. Photographer Neil Zeller took the vision, spent a morning with the MI team, and made it happen. Appropriate, treated stock photography is mixed in as needed.

Branded collateral

A focus on a limited palette, bold typography, and clean yet distinctive design creates a cohesive brand that stands out in any setting. Creating distinctive new materials with the systems in place is straightforward and quick.

We knew we needed to modernize our identity and website. It can be hard to find a design partner that cares as much about our business as we do, but the Atom team really does. They didn’t just help us look better, they challenged and inspired our bravery so we came away with a more proud, authentic brand. Atom Studio delivers excellence that can be a difference maker in helping their clients to grow.
Claudia Moore
Partner, Material Insight

Team

Art direction: James Jensen
Design lead: Matthew Jacula
Photography: Neil Zeller
Development: Jennifer Leigh