Riley Hayes, a 27-year-old agency in Minneapolis is moving in a bold new direction to get ahead of shifting markets and client demands. While some of Riley Hayes’ changes, such as its rebrand and new website, are apparent on the surface, the firm has also made strategic changes to their organizational chart and internal processes.
Notable changes have included the recent acquisition of a branding agency, along with the onboard of its owner, Jason Langer, formerly of Target Corp., the addition of a team of developers to bolster in-house digital capabilities, and a revamp of internal processes that favors ideation and iteration.
Following the strategic changes, Riley Hayes felt it was time to express their new business model through a rebrand and redesign. That included their “business card,” the Riley Hayes website.
“We needed to prove our new processes worked and, instead of sitting in a meeting room debating it, we applied it to our own brand. In about a month we rebranded, repositioned, and launched the new website,” said Tony Ticknor, VP Software Engineering. He added, ”We embraced agility and eschewed standard processes that are so frequently detrimental to those that are ambitious.”
Evolution to Riley Hayes also means collaboration as the entire agency pitched in to meet the ambitious rebranding and website build timelines.
Jason Langer, Riley Hayes’ VP Executive Creative Director said, “Consumers’ needs are rapidly changing. So our clients need a ‘co-conspirator’ who is focused, experienced, understands the consumer to the minute and brings fresh ideas and strategy to the table. You have to have the entire team working with you like we have at Riley Hayes. That gives our clients an advantage of speed to market.”