Celebrating One Year of the “New” Slice!
By: Tony Sadowski
You don’t often get a second chance to make a first impression, but a company merger paired with a complete organizational restructure and rebrand certainly comes close!
Slice Communications was founded in 2008 with a simple promise we still offer clients today: getting people to pay attention.
Attention is currency, and Slice’s team of social media, public relations, and email marketing experts have moved clients’ target audiences from awareness to advocacy through our proprietary 5 Types of Attention model.
We’re still driven to help our clients strategically grow and achieve their business goals.
Some things never change! Others change quite a bit.
Coming off a prolific 2022, during which she (along with Chief Strategy Officer Dana Schmidt) published two marketing strategy books, our fearless CEO Cass Bailey kicked off the latest evolution of Slice with the acquisition of public relations agency GillespieHall in 2023.
The combination of talent doubled our capacity and bandwidth, which was a huge benefit to our team and our clients. We met as the “new” Slice for an all-company retreat in January and began the difficult work of not just merging two company cultures, but creating a new identity…
…and identifying new core values together.
While a good deal of planning had already happened among our leadership team, we still had to tinker with our organizational structure, our project workflows, our swimlanes, and more as everyone got to work and uncovered unintended inefficiencies and obstacles.
This is a process that has to involve everyone’s input and an open mind. You can’t pull off a huge organizational shift without a full understanding of the concerns and recommendations of all involved. Buy-in and investment in the success of the endeavor depend on that cooperation!
Soon, the values were finalized:
- Yes, And… Energy – This is all about creating a collaborative, positive working relationship with our clients. It means that we’re willing to do anything in our power to find creative solutions to their marketing challenges, and to go that extra mile to get results.
- Goal-Oriented Focus – It means we are those people who are always setting and achieving goals driven by a clear understanding of our clients’ business objectives. We maintain a laser-like focus on what matters most to our clients and use that focus to guide our decision-making and prioritize our activities.
- Co-Pilot Attitude – We work at an agency because we are dedicated to helping people get where they’re going. Being the co-pilot means leading and guiding them, being proactive and predictive, and sometimes challenging their expectations and perceptions.
- Always Learning – We believe the best way to stay ahead of the curve is to always be seeking out new knowledge, skills, and insights. And sharing our expertise by writing our own marketing books, starting a conference that turned into its own nonprofit organization (Social Media Day PHL), and launching Slice University, a program that provides team members with education, training, insights, and professional development opportunities.
Enter another challenge: creating a new logo and visual brand that fit the reborn Slice! The creative process was thoughtful and exciting. In the end, it led to a sleek and stylish new look enhanced by bold colors and fonts. Our Creative Director created the “ampersand” swoosh “S” by hand to give it an organic energy and meticulous precision in both personifying “Yes, And…” and blending the “S” and “C” in Slice Communications together seamlessly!
The updated logo was revealed on the morning of Social Media Day PHL in June.
Speaking of Social Media Day, the Slice Squad attended for the first time as members rather than organizers, with founder and long-time chairwoman Cass Bailey handing over the reins to new chairwoman Tiffany Wilson! This was a very exciting and powerful moment for Cass, because it marks the start of an exciting new chapter for the organization she started, as well!
The SMDayPHL board took over organizing and executing an incredible day of learning, networking, and inspiration at the stunning Ralph J. Roberts Forum in the Comcast Technology Center.
Our team grew and changed shape throughout the year, as we continued to put key people in place and refine our new processes.
Anything that complicated our important work of delivering great results for our clients had to go! In the end, it was an approach honed through careful consideration of team feedback and a whole lot of trust that we were heading in the right direction.
Along the way, we all got together for client events, service opportunities, retreats and just to have a little fun!
In December, the team that gathered to celebrate included new Slice Squad members who have added so much talent and energy that it’s easy to feel the “new” Slice continuing to evolve and grow into something truly special!
Did we account for every single twist and turn that happened this year? Of course not! No one has a crystal ball. But we had clear goals in mind and worked as a team to get here.
When you’re focused, flexible, and have trust in your team, you can get past any obstacle!
Did we mention we never stopped working hard to help our clients reach their goals all along the way? The high degree of difficulty of multiple major company changes at the same time and the evolution of the Slice Squad taught us a lot of valuable lessons.
Late in 2023, we pulled off a complete strategic, messaging, and visual rebrand for two merging organizations. We took what we’d learned to ensure a smoother process for our clients, because we knew they had enough change to manage already – Slice is here to be the “easy button” for your strategic and creative needs!
We’ll help you get wherever you want to go.
Last year, Slice was named a Best Place to Work by The Philadelphia Business Journal, recertified as a Women Owned Business, had Social Media Is About People published as a resource on Harvard Business Publishing, and won a PRSA Pepperpot Award for our work with Philly House!
We’re firing on all cylinders, united and excited to keep up the momentum in the year ahead. A relationship built on trusted communication means there are no limits to what can be achieved together!
Cass thinks big and inspires everyone at Slice to do the same.
What are your big goals?
