People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. If your boss needs an example of why stopping to get clear on why your company/organization exists, who you serve, and how you help, saves time, money, and trouble, here’s a nice case study. In March, the organization that has been known as the Hampshire Council of Governments hired us to conduct a Clarity Brand Study. We talked to stakeholders. We surveyed the market, and we found a rather clear story buried in the muck of assumptions, and “the way things are”. Most importantly, we helped everyone — leadership, staff, board and membership — to clearly see a positioning strategy that everyone can rally behind, and the messaging strategies that will support it.  But that’s just the start of the story. In mid-June we signed a second contract to update the organization’s communications media to reflect the newly articulated brand positioning and messaging, to develop and test communication campaigns, and to train their in-house team to implement these new communications processes independently, without ongoing assistance from us.  The proof is in the pudding. While we’re not done with the whole program yet, last week we launched a completely revamped website and the first batch of updated collateral. The work includes a new name, updated visual identity, clarified messaging, and greatly improved user experience.   Want to refresh your brand, identity, collateral and website in less than four months? Start with clarity, first.