Background
Antler is shaking up traditional early-stage venture capital through its global, people-first approach to investing in founders from day zero. They believe progress won't happen automatically—driven people innovating are paramount to moving the world forward. With 25 offices spanning six continents, Antler backs determined founders from diverse backgrounds. Their community of 6,000 founders, network of 300 world-class operators, and top-tier corporate partners enable founders to solve complex and meaningful problems faster.
To further their mission, Antler hired Kimberley Tait as VP, Global Head of Content + Editorial, uniting their purpose with her expertise.
Tait, an Ivy League graduate with three passports and a passion for global work, has held key roles in editorial, brand marketing, and content strategy for prestigious financial firms like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and the Federal Reserve. Throughout her career, she navigated major crises such as the September 11th attacks, the financial crisis of 2008, and the pandemic.
Since her high school days, Tait has been encouraged by others who recognized her talent for writing and saw the potential impact of her words. This fueled her desire to use her skills for positive change.
Following the September 11th attacks, Tait felt a strong calling to contribute to the relief efforts. She relocated to New York and joined a small nonprofit organization focused on assisting front-line charities in managing the aftermath of the attacks. She played a pivotal role in drafting a response blueprint to enhance the city's preparedness for future disasters. This transformative experience reaffirmed her belief that her work must have a meaningful purpose.
Antler's new mission statement
When Tait met Charles Hayley Bell, a member of Antler’s Capital team, and learned about Antler's mission to level the playing field for entrepreneurs worldwide, she was inspired. Conversations with Antler's team and exposure to their vision, including U.S. partner Tyler Norwood's article, "The World Needs More Founders," further fueled her enthusiasm. With her diverse marketing and communications background in finance, she recognized the immense potential to share Antler's compelling story on a global scale.
Tait understood that a solid foundation was crucial to effectively convey Antler's narrative. Just as any founder knows, without the right foundation, it's impossible to construct the envisioned skyscraper.
Kimberley Tait’s building blocks of a great brand (westendwords.com)
CHALLENGE
A Race Against Time to Rebrand
"Brand is about emotion. Its power is in the emotion it evokes. And that power comes from laying the right building blocks—the visuals and the words, constantly reinforcing each other."
Walking into a global meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, on her first day at the firm, Tait was excited to see a messaging session on the agenda. But instead of discussing how the brand communicates its purpose and value to its key audiences, the session centered on Antler’s unique selling proposition, the things that it wants to distinguish it from its peers—a slight but essential distinction.
Tait was in the eye of the perfect storm. A company that moves fast, a website serving as a major recruitment and conversion tool that needed upgrading, and no appetite to delay its relaunch because of messaging and branding needs. Speed can throw a train off the rails, especially at critical junctures. So, when Tait was asked to review and sign off on an update of the brand guidelines, she paused. Despite the positive energy and the excitement of the moment, Tait understood that achieving greatness requires a brand and messaging that captures a firm’s essence, a reliable map to guide the way, and everyone pulling in the same direction.
The timeline for the rebrand was under four months. Fortunately, Tait saw the pressure as an opportunity to create exceptional work. She rang the proverbial alarm bell and said, “We need to revisit this entire visual identity, backed by updated messaging.”
That included defining a standalone vision statement. "As a vision-driven company, it was essential for us to articulate that," Tait said. "Across the firm, there was a lot of excitement about refining all of our messaging to capture the essence of who we are. People call us things like an accelerator and incubator because we hadn’t driven a clear enough stake into the ground."
"We work with cutting-edge companies that are disrupting industries—we need a brand that reflects that energy. We also didn’t have any brand elements that would lend themselves to animation to stand out on digital platforms. And we needed to infuse it with freshness and humanity so people can feel the tremendous life force behind Antler."
Because of its exceptional founders and atypically passionate team members, Tait saw Antler’s unique opportunity to tell a powerful and cohesive story—visually and verbally. With the countdown on to the launch of their new website, they needed a solution, fast.
With 70 partners, each with their own perspective that needed to inform the discussion, it wouldn’t be a straightforward task.
SOLUTION
A Flexible Creative Solution and a Dedicated Team
Branding is a challenging task, a different level of design requiring a specialized skill set. Antler had key elements underway—new messaging-in-progress and wireframes for a new website—that would inform the new brand, as well as the need for speed to get the entire global company on board.
This is where a wealth of experience is imperative to success and Kae Neskovic, Superside’s head of branding, armed with a team of project managers and designers, stepped in.
"They say good design is only as good as the brief, and in this case, working with Antler and Kimberley was a dream. With a fantastic positioning platform already in place, we had the opportunity to assist them in aligning Antler’s brand new messaging with a strong visual identity. The result was truly impactful, allowing them to showcase their progress and disruptive spirit, and making their future progress inevitable."
"Neskovic presented a first deck in a remarkably short period of time, and it was spot on," Tait said. "When someone understands the essence of what you're trying to do and who you are, you know you're in good hands."
Tait and her Superside team worked in lockstep to move at the required pace. With Superside, Tait could develop concepts and design direction and then confidently ask for opinions from the c-suite, board, and global partners, ensuring they, too, were shaping the Antler brand.
To further expedite the pace, Tait invited Superside to Antler’s marketing calls—attended by dedicated location marketers around the firm’s global footprint—so they could contribute to the brand’s progress.
RESULTS
Evoking Emotion Through Rigor and Vision
In three-and-a-half months, Antler rolled out its complete brand refresh.
"In a short time, we've managed to create a beautiful and refreshing visual identity. The process was challenging, like a race against time, but our Superside team embraced it and enjoyed every moment. The most gratifying part was seeing Kimberley and the entire Antler team fall in love with their new look."
Today, in the age of AI, where channels continue to proliferate, and the volume of the noise is hitting peak decibels, you need to be visually arresting and stop the scroll to have a shot at making a signal.
In discussing the importance of messaging and brand identity, Kimberley Tait remarked, "The messaging creates the underpinning and determines what we’re focusing on. Thematically, what should this content strategy be about? The brand identity is how we package it, and I think the packaging isn’t superficial. I think it is absolutely vital."
The feedback that Tait has received about the new brand has been unanimously positive, from founders and investors to employees and board members. This is a testament to its ability to excite and inspire as they pull together as one unified brand.
Tait has worked with creative teams her entire career—from a single designer to a lean in-house team to a full-blown in-house studio with multiple designers and producers. As a consultant, she’s partnered with agencies, too. For Antler, Superside is solving their problems without an in-house creative team and helping them scale.
"We were working at an incredibly ambitious pace, and it did really feel throughout the rebrand that Superside was in-house with me. Everything was happening in real time. They were part of these larger sessions, so there was integration. It’s what contributed to it feeling like an extension of our team."
Before the brand rolled out, Tait and Superside filled in gaps with fast turnarounds of social media templates, Zoom backgrounds, and slide decks for a high-profile investor event and a large sector report.
Thanks to Tait’s rigor in her vision, Antler is scaling its rebrand across multiple touchpoints, including email design, landing pages, social media assets, videos, flagship reports, and eBooks, perfectly displaying the growth possibilities of the Creative-as-a-Service model.
"Our work with Antler was a true testament to the power of collaboration. By aligning their messaging and visual identity, we were able to showcase their progress and entrepreneurial spirit. It was a pleasure to work with Kimberley and the Antler team, and our partnership continues to strengthen our commitment to fostering a strong customer relationship."
Kimberley Tait may have entered Antler as their Global Head of Content and Editorial but is proud to have had it changed to Global Head of Content and Brand (with Superside by her side).
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