Growth hacking a tech start-up through brand

How can a start-up create distinction and garner attention from day one?

By creating an inspiring purpose that’s authentic, unique, relevant, and breakthrough—and then building everything around that big idea.

Services

Brand strategy

Company naming

Positioning

Messaging

Visual and verbal identity

Brand design

Motion graphics

Website

Opportunity

Our venture-backed, start-up clients were up to something revolutionary. Other enterprise security companies operate from a position of fear. In avoiding threats, their solutions slow things down. But in today’s dynamic marketplace, businesses need to be able to shift gears quickly and pursue their best ideas without restraint.

Our clients were building their beta product in a way that fuels innovation while maximizing protection. They needed a distinctive way to convey this groundbreaking approach.

Solution

As we strategized how to create distinction and resonance across audiences, we asked ourselves:

· Why do cars have brakes? To go faster

· So why do companies have security? To be free

This formulation became the groundswell for a unique strategy anchored on the concept of freedom.

We named the company Oleria, after a genus of butterflies whose unusual flight patterns suggest what freedom from security shackles looks like. We adopted the tagline “Security that sets your business free,” and consistently expressed this idea in other positioning components and messaging.

Throughout all our work, especially the visual identity, we were inspired by the natural world. We wanted to impart a sense of boundlessness without edges, because our client’s security breaks down barriers.

Result

With a brand that feels freeing, organic, and natural—which also builds credibility and trust—Oleria was introduced in a highly successful launch in March 2023.

The clarity of purpose that the Oleria brand embodies has already led to many pronounced outcomes, including faster decision-making, aligned product roadmaps, more customer-centric support, effective hiring choices, and impactful sales conversations.

The benefits of early brand development exceeded my expectations. We now possess a sophisticated understanding of our mission, values, and desired impact on the world, driving us to live those values daily and create meaningful change.

Jim Alkove

Co-Founder and CEO, Oleria

As the name of a genus of clearwing butterflies, Oleria is a perfect metaphor for what the brand helps customers achieve. There are parallels in butterflies’ transformative abilities, the role they play in our ecosystem, and how they adapt and move.

Every aspect of the brand is tightly anchored on the strategic idea of freedom—from the name to the messages to the creative identity. For example, the photography style features humans interacting with nature and images in motion, suggestive of butterflies in flight.

The founders’ bold vision to convert data security into a tool for innovation required a visual identity that was equally daring. Set against a vibrant, iridescent gradient composed of an arresting palette of colors, the identity is anchored by an evocative, butterfly-inspired logotype.