The pitch sounded like everyone else's
Sax had been leading with “purpose-driven” and “culturally fluent”, phrases nearly every agency now claims. Strong intent, weak differentiation.
Project Walkthrough · Updated June 2026
The thinking behind the new SITE.
A short walkthrough of the work underneath the build: what the team audit surfaced, the research that followed and the USP that was unearthed, and how that one decision shaped every page. The companion to this is the full brand system.
01 · The Starting Point
We started by asking the team, honestly.
Before a word of copy or a line of design, we ran an audit-style questionnaire with the Sax team, a structured read on where the brand felt strong, where it felt generic, and which claims weren't yet proven. Five areas:
01
Overall review
What feels strongest about the brand right now, and what feels least developed or inconsistent?
02
Strategic foundation
Do the materials clearly say what Sax does, who it's for, and where it's headed?
03
Positioning & differentiation
What makes Sax different, and which parts feel generic, overused, or not yet proven?
04
Messaging & verbal identity
Is the voice clear and consistent? Which claims should we stop using, refine, or better support?
05
Visual identity
Does it all read as one brand: logo, color, type, layout, imagery?
02 · What It Surfaced
The strongest thing Sax could say wasn't being said.
The audit and the market research pointed to the same gap. Big multicultural shops compete for corporate-brand budgets; almost none are trusted to be the prime agency on large public campaigns. That's the open lane, and Sax already lived in it.
The headline label had become a risk
“Black-woman-owned / DEI” as the lead promise is volatile right now as companies publicly pull back from DEI labels, even though the work (reaching diverse communities) keeps growing.
The real moat wasn't being sold
Sax has been the prime agency of record on a ~$16M statewide government campaign, something almost no competitor can claim. That proof was buried, not led with.
03 · The USP We Established
One idea, ranked above all the others.
The core idea
“We move communities of color at scale, and we prove it.”
Stop leading with what every agency says. Lead with the one thing only Sax can prove. The one rule that follows from it: sell the growth and the results (durable), not the label (volatile right now)., View the raw research →
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Strongest: lead with this
Sax is the rare agency major institutions trust to reach communities of color at scale, and prove the results.
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Certified WBE / MBE / SBE
Opens government and corporate contracts others can't bid on.
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Results, not impressions
Every project tied to a real number, not a reach estimate.
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Neo-corporate
Consultancy-grade strategy fused with bold, culturally fluent creative.
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Cultural fluency built in
Polycultural by design: research and listening before creative.
Kept, but moved out of the headline: Black-woman-owned (credibility, not the promise) and purpose-driven (shown through the work).
04 · How It Shaped the Site
Every page is the USP, made concrete.
The positioning isn't a slide that sits in a deck. Here's where each decision shows up in the site you can click through.
The spine
Sell the growth + the results (durable), not the label (volatile). Every page leads with proof, not adjectives.
Site-wide
Pillar 1 · Proven at scale
The “Proof of Impact” stats ($16M, 58/58 counties, 10+ languages, a coalition of 5 agencies) from the California voter-education campaign, run as prime agency of record.
Home → Proof of Impact
Pillar 2 · Outcomes, not optics
“Measured in movements, not media impressions.” Case studies tie work to documented results rather than reach.
Work / case studies
Pillar 3 · Neo-corporate
Four services framed as consultancy-grade strategy plus culturally fluent creative, research before creative.
Services
The audiences, not a label
Four sectors (Public Sector & Civic, Nonprofit & Foundations, Sports / Entertainment / Culture, Brands & Corporate) name who Sax is built for.
Sectors
Credibility, kept off the headline
Certified WBE / MBE / SBE shown as a proof band; Black-woman-owned lives on About as credibility: the evidence, not the brand promise.
About + certification bands
05 · Open Items
What we deliberately left honest.
A few claims are powerful but not yet independently documented. Rather than publish them as fact, they're flagged here, to confirm or source before external use. Nothing on the live site overstates the record.
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Confirm
LA Opera “+30%” ticket-sales figure
Originates from Sax's own materials. Document independently before external use.
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Confirm
The “<2% of agencies” claim
Replaced with sourced figures: Black women own under 1% of U.S. employer businesses (0.91%, U.S. Census ABS via Brookings); ~90% of agency leadership identified as white by 2022 (4A's via Adweek/Ad Age).
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Confirm
Cultural-impact stat on the home stats grid
Pending a confirmed number; currently shows the documented “5 agencies directed” coalition figure instead of an unverified percentage.
The strategy has a matching system.
Everything above, the voice, the color, the type, the components, the usage rules, is documented in the Sax brand system.