Client
Huron Capital
Partner Since
2021
Services
Messaging Development
Visual Brand and Website Development
Branded Collateral
Redefining a Midwestern Powerhouse Investor
Overview
Huron Capital is a Detroit-based private equity firm that seeks to build strong partnerships with entrepreneurs and management teams in a joint pursuit of excellence. Driven by a people-first attitude and focused sector specialization, the firm has raised $1.8B since founding in 1999.
Darien Group established essential messaging pillars early in the engagement, which bolstered the refreshed Huron Capital’s Visual Brand. The end result illustrates a fresh perspective on the firm’s character and sector focus, in line with the firm’s evolution under next generation leadership.
MESSAGING DEVELOPMENT
THE CHALLENGE:
Develop an elegant messaging foundation which simultaneously honors the firm’s value proposition and history while fostering a new public perception of what the firm has to offer.
THE APPROACH:
Work began with a series of Discovery Interviews in Huron Capital’s Detroit headquarters with a significant roster of Huron Capital employees. In doing so, key messaging challenges and opportunities were identified from which Darien Group could evolve the narrative of the firm.
THE RESULT:
The resulting messaging platform blends Huron Capital’s Midwestern heritage and Detroit culture with the sophisticated team, processes, structure, and focus that make it such an outstanding competitor within its target sectors.
VISUAL BRAND & WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
THE CHALLENGE:
Huron Capital’s visual brand and website hold a dual mandate of approachability to match the firm’s personality and heritage and a high level of sophistication to match its investment process.
THE APPROACH:
Darien Group sought to reinvigorate Huron Capital’s visual brand keeping in mind the prior work conducted in the Messaging Development phase rephrase: emphasize the messaging work as the foundation rather than a thing we kept in mind. The chosen creative direction was centered around one word: “Focus.”
Huron Capital’s proven ability to bring opportunities into focus guided a visual narrative which can be observed in the website: messages are clearly framed, images are tight and intentional, and interactive elements grab and hold a visitor’s attention on specific website components. The “Focus” metaphor also resonates with Huron Capital’s specialization within 10 subsectors of the Services industry.
The visual brand phase of the engagement also included logotype development Where the former logo featured a sailboat, the refreshed logo features only a modern depiction of a sail, paying homage to the firm’s past while also representing an upward trajectory, exponential growth, and the forward momentum of the firm.
THE RESULT:
Huron Capital’s cohesive visual brand pays tribute to the firm’s history and modernizes their look and feel across branded collateral and the website. The overall look and feel of the visual brand, from imagery to logotype and more, was combined with website functionality to craft a straightforward but extremely impactful impression from the very first visit to the homepage.
