Brand identity, copywriting, and website design studio for Boundary Pushers.
my role
BRAND STRATEGY
Messaging
CREDITS
Branding & Web Design by Standard Operations
The Challenge
Ashleigh, the founder of Standard Operations, came to me because she felt her studio was stuck in a holding pattern. She is a powerhouse web developer, but her brand felt flat and didn't reflect the high-level technical work she was actually doing. She had been leaning on a "jokester" persona as a bit of a safety net; it made her approachable, but the messaging lacked the professional depth needed to establish her as a technical expert.
Beyond the voice, she struggled with how to communicate to three very distinct target audiences—service-based businesses, white-label agency partners, and aspiring designers—without the brand feeling messy or overwhelming. She already had the "Brand Ecosystem" idea floating around, but she was haphazard about it and wasn't sure if it was the right direction. She had plenty of great ideas, but no way to bring them together into a clear, unified strategy that would help clients trust her process.
The Solution
After multiple brand strategy workshops, analysis, and research, we decided to fully lean into the Brand Ecosystem analogy and messaging. We stripped away the jokester personality and built a new voice called the "Brilliant Friend". This tone stays witty and conversational, but it is anchored in being knowledgeable so that her audience trusts her technical ability and developer expertise. To clear up the confusion, we broke down her three target audiences and created specific messaging points for each one.
For her white-label clients, we positioned her as the technical powerhouse who says, "You focus on creating amazing designs, and I'll execute the code," allowing them to work without platform limitations. For her service-based clients, we re-targeted them as creative entrepreneurs who refuse to be boxed in by the status quo and focused on helping them defy industry norms to create something they hadn't even dreamed up yet. I repositioned her brand with a new core difference:
Standard Operation transforms abstract ideas into powerful brand ecosystems through fearless design and technical excellence—empowering creative entrepreneurs to not just build ambitious, authentic brands that defy industry norms, but to confidently own and champion their unique vision.
Before
After
“Working with Melissa was such a relief - I needed to get out of my own head and see my brand from the outside, and I knew I couldn’t do it intentionally without help. Melissa made me face what my brand was right now, actually put on paper what I wanted my brand to be, then walked me through how I can get there from where I am now.”
— Ashleigh, STandard Operations