Strategic Messaging, Brand Refinement, & Website Redesign

Tortoise Capital had a lot going on when they reached out to us.

Seeking to capitalize on company and industry momentum and product line enhancements, Tortoise Capital wanted to refresh its brand messaging and identity to better reflect who they are. At the same time, they were launching a new exchange-traded fund (ETF). Time was of the essence as both the new site and ETF needed to launch in less than three months.

Strategic Recommendations Set the Right Plan Forward

Strategic Discovery for Brand Refresh & Website Redesign

We started our engagement with a strategic discovery session and a review of select communications, design inspiration, and website analytics. This process allowed us to dive in and frame up the Tortoise Capital advantages and differentiators in messaging, while also centering the vision and brand refresh efforts that would be tackled in the website rebuild.

Stakeholder Conversations Shaping Brand & Website Strategy

We spoke with key internal stakeholders in sales, investment, and product and held external discussions with financial advisors across all channels. This step helped us outline what was working well, where the gaps were, and any perceptions or issues we needed to overcome, leading to our final recommendations for branding, messaging, and website development.

Story Elements & Style Tiles Framed the Brand Positioning Foundation

Crafting the Core Narrative

With the discovery phase complete, the team developed key story elements to refine Tortoise Capital’s messaging and brand positioning.

Defining the Messaging Approach

A cohesive messaging theme and strategy were established, ensuring alignment with the brand’s vision and audience needs.

Visual Identity Refinement

Style tiles were created, showcasing primary and secondary color palettes, visual explorations, and infographic elements, which were presented and refined.

Application & Implementation

Once approved, refined messaging and visuals were integrated across key brand applications, including website pages, collateral spreads, and presentation slides.

Website Redesign and Updated SEO Copywriting Enhanced the User Experience

Reimagining sitemap and user flow

Together with the Tortoise team, we quickly developed the core sitemap and prioritized the main site delivery. At the same time, we activated a plan for the data-dependent investment solution subpages that would be designed and integrated in phase two. After receiving approved design direction, our UX team wireframed select pages and key components before moving into web development using WordPress as a CMS.

Parallel work moves project forward

To attack the project timeline, new story messaging for the Home and About Us pages was created in parallel to the development process. The staging site came together for review ahead of time with easy feedback mechanisms and tracking. This allowed our two teams to provide a short feedback loop between Tortoise’s marketing, product, and compliance teams to hit their launch target date.

Integrated Approach Sparked ETF Launch Success

Working alongside the brand and site refresh was the work on a new ETF launch. The fund page integrated story direction and visual elements, along with the fact sheet and a presentation deck. This work helped establish the baseline for the second phase of the website project and the rest of the product family components (those data-dependent investment solution subpages).

Deep Experience and Collaboration Made Brand Refresh & Website Redesign Possible

The regular dialogue, technology-facilitated collaboration loops, and deep experience made all the work in the tight timeframe possible. Tortoise received a brand refresh that enhances their story, improves user experience, and provides a smart framework for all customer touchpoints.

“Blue Flame Thinking was the right partner for us. It’s all about execution—and their team worked tirelessly to get the site launched on time. The end result is a site that not only looks terrific but also supports our growth moving forward.”
– Eva Lipner

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