Brand Excavation

The right engagement starts
with the right foundation.

Four engagements, one starting point.

Every Sagency engagement begins with discovery. Everything else follows from what is found there.

The Brand Truth Brief is the foundation. Strategy or assets built without it are built on assumption and aesthetics. We do not begin until the founder has confirmed that foundation is right.

Core Engagements


Tier1

Brand Truth. Discovery only.

Three sessions that result in a Brand Truth Brief that reflects what was excavated in discovery. This becomes the foundation everything else is built from. A Competitive Landscape Analysis performed in tandem shows where the brand sits and where the whitespace is.

For founders who want the insight before committing to full strategy, or who want to experience the process before deciding how far to take it.

Tier2

Brand Strategy. Discovery + strategy.

Everything in Tier 1, plus the full strategy phase: Positioning Statement, Messaging Framework, Brand Narrative, and Brand Prosody Guide (includes a practical voice and tone summary for immediate use).

The engagement that gives a founder language for what their brand actually is, and a strategic foundation that holds up in every context they walk into.

Tier3

Brand Full. Discovery + strategy + identity.

Everything in Tier 2, plus visual identity: Stylescape, Logo Direction, Brand Style Guide, Brand Asset Toolkit.

Strategy without identity control risks having the work undone in execution. Tier 3 protects the brand from being frankensteined the moment it leaves the strategy room.

Tier4

Brand Live. The full build + web.

Everything in Tier 3, plus the brand's primary digital presence: website strategy, architecture, and build under Sagency's direction. Copy developed directly from the Brand Truth Brief and Brand Prosody Guide, so the site sounds like the brand it was built to represent.

Add-Ons and Extensions


Optional Add-On: Naming

Available with Tier 3 or Tier 4 engagements for companies in the process of naming or renaming.

Naming built from brand truth produces names that fit the company, not just names that are available. The process runs eight weeks from intake to final recommendation, grounded in the same excavation work that governs everything else. Quoted per engagement scope.


Optional Add-On: Tagline Development

Available alongside naming for companies refining or establishing their primary brand line. Also available for companies with an established name. Built from the same Brand Truth Brief. Quoted per engagement scope.


Signal Stacking

Brand truth without amplification is a tree falling in the forest. Signal Stacking turns your real expertise into a category authority system, so your company becomes easier to understand, trust, reference and choose across search, social, sales conversations, and AI-powered discovery.

Available after brand work is complete, or as a standalone engagement with a focused intake. Two options: Strategy Only and Managed.


Implementation Add-Ons

Collateral, trade show materials, digital assets. Everything produced under Sagency's direction and held to the same Brand Prosody standard that governs the core engagement. Scoped and quoted per project after the brand foundation is established.


Retainer: Brand Health

Ongoing strategic support after an engagement is complete. Messaging refinement, brand decisions, positioning questions as they arise. For founders who want a strategist available as the brand evolves, not just when a project kicks off. Monthly or quarterly.

How Engagements Typically Unfold


Most founders come in through Tier 1 or Tier 2. They experience the Brand Truth Brief. If they started at Tier 1, Tier 2 becomes the natural next step. From there, Tier 3 adds identity and Tier 4 takes the brand live. Signal Stacking follows once the brand foundation is in place. Implementation and retainer support as the company grows. They arrive knowing something is off about their brand; they leave knowing exactly what it is and what to do about it.

The sequence is logical but flexible. Most founders who follow it arrive at the end with a brand that is coherent from the inside out. You don't need a large engagement to start. You need the right one.

The first conversation is free.

"Rachel gave my brand instant credibility. It still turns heads."

Erin McCune

Owner, Forte FinTech. Former Partner, Bain and Glenbrook.

"A trusted creative partner who delivered, every time."

Pamela Mahoney

Independent Writer and Researcher, Public Policy and Health. Former Marketing Director, Mohr Davidow Ventures.

"Perfectly captured my brand, created an identity I love and still use."

Christy White

Founder and Copywriter, Mackerel Sky Media.

"Clarity, results, and a website our team could actually manage."

Bhavin Shah

Senior VP, Sales and Customer Success, Gathr Data Inc. Former VP, Marketing and Business Development, Polaris Wireless.

"Spot-on creative that captured our vision with bold clarity."

Gajraj Singh

Chief Marketing Officer, Blue Hexagon Inc. Former CMO, iPolicy Networks.