Annette Hobbs Magier

Vice President, Marketing & Publicity
Independent Publishers Group

(Formerly Director of Sales & Marketing at Albert Whitman & Company)

As a small company, the prospect of rebranding a beloved 75 year-old classic children's series was overwhelming, and even slightly terrifying. We wanted to get it exactly right, which is why it was such a relief when Nathan helped us to get immediately on track and organize our thinking. His approach led our team through a brainstorming process that helped us to figure out what our brand meant, how to translate that to various account types, and how to apply our messaging to get the results we desired.

For Boxcar, that meant that our sales increased in the year of our anniversary by 25% over the prior year—the biggest jump the brand has had in years. The branding focus exercise also helped our team to develop a reinvigorated approach to our brand, and led to a custom placement in Costco just two years later.

Through our Boxcar branding process, we also worked through what our nearly 100 year old company’s goals and initiatives ought to be moving forward. Using a similar brainstorming approach, this led to a redesign of our logo. I appreciated that Nathan was willing to refine his approach, taking our budget and needs into account, when building the approach to our company's brand redesign.

Nathan was always patient with my myriad questions, and I love that he clearly has a passion for building brand and getting into the deep work of what brand means for each company he works with. He led his team in researching our business to gain a clear understanding of our accounts and our end users to get a sense of how everything tied together.

Nathan’s passion for what he does is contagious. Working with him has led me to a much deeper appreciation of the importance of brand, and how it can help frame a company's decisions and drive them toward greater success with more dedicated followers and consumers. I would and will happily work with Nathan on any brand project as I continue down my own career path.