Continu Retainer

Although Continu initially reached out about their website, priorities shifted, as they often do. The flexibility of our monthly retainer service means we can jump in where we’re needed most, even if that means a last-minute request from the C-suite.

We worked closely with the Continu team to build a campaign for their Learning Reimagined event coinciding with NY Tech Week. The event introduced the Learning & Development community to Continu’s upcoming AI-driven innovations and required a future-forward feel. Thanks to our month-to-month offering, we were able to pivot from focusing on their website and push their brand further for this special moment. Embracing AI’s potential, we generated visuals of an imagined Continu community of the future, complete with futuristic backpacks and dramatic lighting.

The event venue featured dozens of digital screens, freeing us from the usual limitations of static design. Type could bend and shift. The Continu mark could morph and transform into new shapes. We continued the campaign into supporting collateral – printed cards and presentation slides – for a seamless experience.

The next priority was LinkedIn ads. Visually, we adapted their existing brand system, making subtle shifts to feel more “enterprise” and less “startup,” reflecting Continu’s evolution over the years. The team was happy with the look, even with placeholder copy. But the big question remained: What should the ads actually say?

As we dug in, it became clear the existing Voice & Tone wasn’t aligned with where the brand was headed. The messaging leaned technical and dry, missing the forward-thinking, innovative tone Continu wanted to convey. Luckily, with talented brand writers on our team, we were able to pivot the retainer once again to focus on verbal identity.

Because we were not locked into a set project with a fixed timeline, we were able to shift gears and kick things off with a voice workshop. The Continu team reviewed voice samples from B2B brands across industries, rating each one based on how well it fit their evolving identity. The session sparked thoughtful discussion and uncovered shared preferences.

This input shaped our Voice & Tone guidelines, where we recommended three core voice notes: Direct, Confident, and Friendly — the foundation for how Continu should sound moving forward. We took a look at existing copy and made recommendations for shifts that would allow the brand to better align with these traits. For example, the headline “The only learning management system you need for compliance training” could become “Compliance training that isn’t a chore.”

With a refreshed voice in place, the LinkedIn ads now had direction and a framework to make them clear, compelling, and unmistakably Continu.

Finally, we returned to the website. By then, our work together over the previous months had laid a strong foundation. The AI event had pushed the brand forward; giving us a new sense of the visual identity, and the Voice & Tone workshop set a new benchmark for their messaging. With our guidance, the brand began to evolve naturally and intentionally month after month.

By this point, we’d been collaborating closely with Continu’s in-house designer for several months, so transitioning into web work felt seamless. Integrated into the day-to-day, we truly operated as an extension of their team. We designed modular page components to give them the flexibility they needed now, with room to adapt later.

Our work on the website continued — tweaking, redesigning, and iterating as needed.

Thanks to our flexible retainer model, we were able to support Continu in ways that may not have been possible through a traditional project approach.