PLAYBOOK FOR GRAYHILL PLAYBOOK FOR PLANT APOTHECARY PLAYBOOK WITH FORCEPOINT PLAYBOOK | MECHANICA FOR EASTERN AIRLINES PLAYBOOK | &VEST FOR GLOSSLAB PLAYBOOK FOR INTEND HEALTH PLAYBOOK | CASE FOR HAUS LAB PLAYBOOK | CASE FOR LAFAYETTE 148 PLAYBOOK FOR PAVELKA

SHARP STRATEGIES.
BEAUTIFULLY EXECUTED.

WE ARE A GROUP OF THINKERS, PLANNERS, DESIGNERS, AND MAKERS. UNITED BY THE POWER OF EXPLORATION, INTERROGATION, COLLABORATION, AND INSPIRATION TO ARRIVE AT THE INSIGHTS, STRATEGIES, AND ACTIONS REQUIRED TO ALLOW COMPANIES AND BRANDS TO BECOME THEIR BEST SELVES. FROM OUR EXPERIENCE, THERE’S NOT ENOUGH DATA-DRIVEN CLARITY AND CRAFT WHEN IT COMES TO CREATING WINNING STRATEGIES AND EXECUTIONAL ACTION PLANS. WE BELIEVE THE BEST STRATEGIES PROVIDE THE MOST INSPIRING AND EFFECTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTION. WE TURN STRATEGIES INTO TIGHT EXECUTIONAL ACTION PLANS, OR “PLAYBOOKS” IN WHICH ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND INTENDED IMPACT ARE CLEARLY SPELLED OUT TO INSPIRE, INFORM, AND DIRECT. THESE PLAYBOOKS AND DIGITALLY READY FILES CAN BE EXECUTED WITH PLAYBOOK PARTNER TEAMS — SPANNING MARKETING PROGRAMS, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT, CONTENT INITIATIVES, ETC. — OR BROUGHT IN-HOUSE FOR CLIENTS TO USE INTERNALLY FOR MAXIMUM VALUE AND EFFICIENCY. WE WORK ON PROJECTS AND OFFER RETAINED SERVICES, TYPICALLY WE DO A COMBO OF BOTH WHERE WE HELP TO EXECUTE SOME OF THE PLAYS WE’VE DESIGNED TOGETHER.

CLIENTS

We’ve Worked With

BEAUTY BIO
DSTLD
GILDED HORN
HAUS LABS
HOLY WATER BY ALTA GRACIA
INTEND HEALTH
NEW RELIC
PAVELKA
PLANT APOTHECARY
PURPLE
OUAI
SHANI DARDEN
SPINNAKER SUPPORT
STATESIDE
YOUNG LIVING

CLIENTS

We’ve Worked With

BEAUTY BIO
DSTLD
GILDED HORN
HAUS LABS
NEW RELIC
HOLY WATER BY ALTA GRACIA
INTEND HEALTH
OUAI
PAVELKA
PLANT APOTHECARY
PURPLE
SHANI DARDEN
SPINNAKER SUPPORT
STATESIDE
YOUNG LIVING

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for a company like Grayhill with a long, storied history to be able to apply brand strategy from start to finish and have it realized through all expressions of the brand. Playbook Studio is the expert at strategy with stellar executional partners that brought it to life beyond what we thought was even possible.”

Karen Entriken
Director of Marketing

“Playbook Studio and their partners did an exceptional job creating a brave new brand identity that breaks out of the conventional branding of most airlines today. The new identity connects us to the local cultures of our crews and where we will be flying with a connection to both our past and our future.”

STEVE HARFST, CEO

“I brought Playbook Studio in to do foundational brand narrative work with our core leadership and marketing team. We were over complicating our story and weren’t clear on what we stood for and how we were relevant amidst a new landscape of competitors. Playbook Studio guided us swiftly and smoothly though their framework and got us the clarity and alignment we needed to refresh our brand across all our touchpoints. After our work together, briefing external creative partners and internal teams was a million times easier and more efficient. I highly recommend Playbook Studio.”

Jonathan Dampier,
SVP, Global Marketing

“Playbook Studio did a beautiful job helping us refine and expand our brand. Their team had the intellect, artistry and sophistication needed to bring together our architecture practice with our Life | Style | Design offerings to formalize The DOOR by AEB Process. That process created in partnership with Playbook Studio now serves as our foundational offering and is the core business driver for the DOOR by AEB brand.”

Ann Ernish-Backen,
Founder & Chief Strategist

"Playbook Studio guided our executive team, selling partners, and customers on a transformative branding project that helped us significantly increase the business and brand value of Grayhill. Graceann and her team came into an 80-year-old brand with a design system that had not been updated in many years. We developed a new icon, wordmark and brand identity system which everyone loves!"

Dave Beaulieu
Chief Commercial Officer

“Working with Playbook Studio was a happy revelation to us of just how much useful work could be done, and explained simply and invitingly to others, by an open, honest, and willing group of gifted graphic artists and writers assembled and guided by the inimitably clever and courageous Graceann Bennett.”

Joel Rogers, Chair & Secretary

“Graceann is a creative force of nature. Playbook Studio did a wonderful job capturing the essence of what we’re all about and translating this into how we show up visually and in words. The workshops they led were both energizing and focusing and the work product was excellent.”

Andy Ellner, Founder & CEO

“I recommend every company take the time to ensure their brand is relevant and strategically sharp before spending time and resources on execution. Our up front work with Playbook Studio was well worth it and paid huge dividends after they set us up with a foundational playbook and refreshed brand identity.”

Suzy Meriwether, Senior Director,
Product & Customer Marketing

“Playbook Studio did important deep work on our brand that gave us clarity and understanding we needed to drive compelling and coherent messaging, marketing, brand experiences and thought leadership. Graceann’s big win was getting our entire leadership team aligned around a focused brand narrative. Playbook Studio continues to ve a valued partner as we apply and integrate their foundational work to our continued growth efforts.”

Matt Prescgern, CMO

“We had an incredible experience working with Playbook Studio and case on our rebranding. They were true collaborators, both strategically and creatively, with a strong grasp of who our current customer is and who she could be. They were a pleasure to work with, and we couldn't be happier with the result.”

Deirdre Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO

"The Playbook Studio team was able to expertly distill and craft our narrative and help us present our story in a clear and compelling way across multiple touchpoints including our website, Powerpoint decks, and brand book. I am really proud of the work we did together and would highly recommend Playbook Studio to any company looking for a brand overhaul or refresh."

Dave Beaulieu
Chief Commercial Officer

"Working with Graceann and Playbook Studio was a thrilling experience of discovery. They helped us to get to the root of who we are, what we do, and why we do. Together we uncovered the spirit and meaning behind our mission and, in turn, shaped it into the words, language, and narrative that felt true to who we were and resonated with our partners and clients as it never had before"

Brian Souza
CEO

“Playbook Studio helped us sharpen our positioning and informed all our go-to-market activities, leading to +283% YOY sales growth from 2020 to 2021 and +115% from 2021 to 2022 and helped us secure $15MM Series B funding in Spring of 2022.”

Eric Freedman, VP of Marketing
Pause

CAPABILITIES

Research & Insights

Everything starts with data and insights. Whether we do the research, or extract the insights from existing information, our focus is on helping teams collect what is required to arrive at sharp, actionable strategies.

Playbooks

Mapping out who needs to be involved where and when for strategy to be turned into game ready action plans. This comes after the workshop, and is arrived at through working with delivery teams in mapping actions to key strategic priorities. Groups then reconvene in follow-up studio sessions to tune and integrate playbooks prior to action.

Brand Identity & Design

Once we craft your brand narrative and foundational playbook we often work with clients on translating this into a new or refreshed visual and verbal identity that can be applied across all touchpoints — website, case studies, presentation templates, physical spaces, thought leadership, content and more. We can take care of the execution for you or brief internal teams and/or outside executional partners to bring your brand into alignment.

Brand Platforms & Creative Development

We work with world-class creatives to bring brands to life with campaign concepts that can be translated across all channels. We also have experienced production partners that can handle bringing these concepts to reality.

Storytelling & Pitches

We are experienced in the art & science of winning. We can help you win a new piece of business, your next round of funding, sell internal teams on a new initiative, or anything that requires persuasive storytelling. We ground your story strategically and creatively bring it to life in a way where the only answer is “yes.”

Product Development

Playbook Studio is built on a proven model for unlocking the best ideas and then locking down a tight narrative and strategies for action. Just like we’ve productized our approach and offerings, we can do the same for you and your organization.

CAPABILITIES

Research & Insights

Everything starts with data and insights. Whether we do the research, or extract the insights from existing information, our focus is on helping teams collect what is required to arrive at sharp, actionable strategies.

Playbooks

Mapping out who needs to be involved where and when for strategy to be turned into game ready action plans. This comes after the workshop, and is arrived at through working with delivery teams in mapping actions to key strategic priorities. Groups then reconvene in follow-up studio sessions to tune and integrate playbooks prior to action.

Brand Identity & Design

Once we craft your brand narrative and foundational playbook we often work with clients on translating this into a new or refreshed visual and verbal identity that can be applied across all touchpoints — website, case studies, presentation templates, physical spaces, thought leadership, content and more. We can take care of the execution for you or brief internal teams and/or outside executional partners to bring your brand into alignment.

Brand Platforms & Creative Development

We work with world-class creatives to bring brands to life with campaign concepts that can be translated across all channels. We also have experienced production partners that can handle bringing these concepts to reality.

Storytelling & Pitches

We are experienced in the art & science of winning. We can help you win a new piece of business, your next round of funding, sell internal teams on a new initiative, or anything that requires persuasive storytelling. We ground your story strategically and creatively bring it to life in a way where the only answer is “yes.”

Product Development

Playbook Studio is built on a proven model for unlocking the best ideas and then locking down a tight narrative and strategies for action. Just like we’ve productized our approach and offerings, we can do the same for you and your organization.

FOUNDER

Graceann’s career has placed her on the forefront of brand building, product development and organizational transformation. She brings a strong track record of partnering with CEOs and CMOs to drive significant increases in shareholder value for numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as helping younger brands and startups crystalize their brand positioning to accelerate growth.

Graceann Bennett was most recently the Chief Solutions Officer for Dow Jones. There she was responsible for harnessing the influence, intelligence and perspective from across the company to solve problems in innovative ways and unlock new value for clients. Before Dow Jones, she was a founder of Omnicom Group’s We Are Unlimited, the first of its kind, collaborative agency model that has inspired an industry-wide shift in agency structuring. In that role, she pioneered a new approach to brand strategy based on real-time, data-driven insights shaped by experts across digital, social, retail, and human behavior.

Dedication to her craft as well as the culture, talent and diversity of her teams is core to Graceann’s success. With decades of experience she has remained relevant and tapped into trends and is well connected to a vibrant network of the best resources needed for businesses to succeed today.

Graceann is a revered speaker and thought leader who has presented her work at SXSW, Sustainable Brands, NYU Stern School of Business, Cannes Advertising Festival, GreenBiz Forum, TEDxHarvard and the United Nations Foundation for Social Change. Her thought leadership studies span many subjects, from “Is Technology a Force For Good or Evil” to “How to Mainstream Sustainable Behaviors.” She has been a featured expert for media outlets including Fortune, The New York Times, Ad Age, CNN and NPR. Graceann has also served on the advisory board of Attivio, a global business intelligence company and as Global Ambassador for The SmartWoman Project — a venture using mobile technology to empower women with education and social connectivity.

FOUNDER

Graceann’s career has placed her on the forefront of brand building, product development and organizational transformation. She brings a strong track record of partnering with CEOs and CMOs to drive significant increases in shareholder value for numerous Fortune 500 companies as well as helping younger brands and startups crystalize their brand positioning to accelerate growth.

Graceann Bennett was most recently the Chief Solutions Officer for Dow Jones. There she was responsible for harnessing the influence, intelligence and perspective from across the company to solve problems in innovative ways and unlock new value for clients. Before Dow Jones, she was a founder of Omnicom Group’s We Are Unlimited, the first of its kind, collaborative agency model that has inspired an industry-wide shift in agency structuring. In that role, she pioneered a new approach to brand strategy based on real-time, data-driven insights shaped by experts across digital, social, retail, and human behavior.

Dedication to her craft as well as the culture, talent and diversity of her teams is core to Graceann’s success. With decades of experience she has remained relevant and tapped into trends and is well connected to a vibrant network of the best resources needed for businesses to succeed today.

Graceann is a revered speaker and thought leader who has presented her work at SXSW, Sustainable Brands, NYU Stern School of Business, Cannes Advertising Festival, GreenBiz Forum, TEDxHarvard and the United Nations Foundation for Social Change. Her thought leadership studies span many subjects, from “Is Technology a Force For Good or Evil” to “How to Mainstream Sustainable Behaviors.” She has been a featured expert for media outlets including Fortune, The New York Times, Ad Age, CNN and NPR. Graceann has also served on the advisory board of Attivio, a global business intelligence company and as Global Ambassador for The SmartWoman Project — a venture using mobile technology to empower women with education and social connectivity.

PARTNER AGENCIES

Playbook Studio is designed to be efficient and flexible giving you high caliber brand strategy with the ability to execute with a range of experienced creative partners and individuals.  This model is designed for maximum impact shaving time, money and bureaucracy out of the process.

COLLABORATORS

Bill Heater
Writing, Creative Direction

Caneel Eddy
Strategy & Content

Carolyn Rhee
Design & Art Direction

Freya Williams
Sustainability Strategy

James Waldron
Web Design

Jeffrey Williamson
Brand Identity

Kimberly Rose
Naming

Marc Klien
Art Direction

Meghan Tetwiler Winetroub
Strategy

Richard Hart
Brand Identity & Design

Sage Bennett
Photography & Film

Susan MacPhee
Web Design

Suzy Meriwether
Product Marketing & Go-To Market Strategy

Sydney Simone Forbes
PR & Marketing

PARTNER AGENCIES

Playbook Studio is designed to be efficient and flexible giving you high caliber brand strategy with the ability to execute with a range of experienced creative partners and individuals.  This model is designed for maximum impact shaving time, money and bureaucracy out of the process.

COLLABORATORS

Bill Heater
Writing, Creative Direction

Caneel Eddy
Research & Strategy

Carolyn Rhee
Design

Devin Larsen
Strategy & Content

James Waldron
Web Design

Jeffrey Williamson
Brand Identity

Kimberly Rose
Naming

Marc Klien
Art Direction

Richard Hart
Brand Identity & Design

Sage Bennett
Photography & Film

Susan MacPhee
Web Design

Suzy Meriwether
Product Marketing & Go-To Market Strategy

Sydney Simone Forbes
Content & Marketing

PLAY BY PLAY

This is a behind-the-scenes play area for our ideas and case studies, so you can get to know us in a more casual way, kind of like a cocktail party conversation.

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Brands Are Value-Generating Assets, Marketing Is Just Tactics.

As the Founder and CEO of a branding agency, it might seem like I’m a...

Le Labo Next Door: The Power of Physical Spaces

These days, I can order my groceries, do a yoga class, buy a new pair...

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Most of us have something inside of us that needs expressing. This could be through...

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Do you have the curse of competence? What it is, and how to get out...

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