Your edge isn’t a product on a shelf. It’s the expertise of your people, the clarity of your thinking and the reputation you’ve earned. When what you offer is service-led, brand becomes the lens through which clients understand, believe in and choose you. The most respected firms don’t leave this to chance. They build brands with purpose and confidence. Brands that signal not only who they are, but where they’re going.

At RichardsDee, we’ve partnered with over a dozen professional services to refine and strengthen their brands. From these collaborations, six key principles stand out.

Distinctiveness

A brand that stands out by being true to itself

In a sector where many brands look and sound alike, distinctiveness can feel risky. But the strongest brands express what makes them unique, without chasing trends or gimmicks. When your brand is easy to recognise, recall and reach for – you’re onto something worth keeping. With RDJ, distinctiveness was already in their DNA. From open-plan offices to becoming Ireland’s first B Corp law firm, they’ve built a culture that challenges convention. Our task was to sharpen this difference through a clear strategy, confident visuals and a voice true to their character. One that would build real loyalty, trust and preference over time. Now, even as a smaller Irish firm, they’ve earned the recognition and respect of a much bigger force.

Simplicity

A brand that communicates clearly and effortlessly

Today’s clients face endless information and choice overload, forced to be editors and curators of everything. Clarity is not only a sign of careful consideration, but an act of respect. With decision simplicity among the top drivers of stickiness in B2B purchases, clarity is key to cutting through complexity to make experiences effortless for clients. At McCann FitzGerald, with hundreds of years of legal heritage behind them, we faced the challenge of distilling a rich and complex legacy without losing its gravitas. Simplicity became one of our guiding principles. In a sector known for layered processes and language, we created a brand that felt confident, elegant and accessible. Every detail was deliberate, proving true sophistication isn’t always what you say, but how you say it.

Purpose

A brand that sets direction and builds trust

In professional services, where your reputation is your product, purpose isn’t just a nice-to-have, but the reason clients believe in you. Yet, it often stays buried in strategy documents instead of shaping culture and behaviour. Brand is the key that unlocks that – making purpose visible, credible and actionable. Organisations anchored in a purpose often outperform peers on growth, loyalty and employee morale. At House of HR, brand became the amplifier of an already strong purpose: to connect people to work in more meaningful, human ways. Through a bold, expressive identity, we captured their entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to progress, embedding the purpose across the brand to show stakeholders what they really stood for.

Involvement

A brand built around people and community

Who you serve, and how you make them feel, is as important as what you deliver. Involvement means knowing your audience and building relationships beyond transactions. Brand helps identify core groups and shapes experiences that feel personal and relevant. Tone of voice, especially, is how you signal you’re in conversation with people, not talking at them. For IoD Ireland, we created a member-focused brand that balanced expertise with approachability, combining a polished visual identity with a witty, energising tone. By flipping tired business jargon, the language became a tool to disarm, engage and educate. Whether addressing seasoned execs or first-time founders, the voice was designed to feel human, uplifting and razor-sharp.

Relevance

A brand that meets real customer needs and the unspoken fears behind them

You might offer a wide variety of services, but how you present and prioritise them through your customer’s perspective is what counts.  Connecting your offer directly to client needs, and fears, is a powerful growth driver. At Uniquely, relevance wasn’t about efficiency or scale but about people. Clients weren’t just outsourcing customer care, they were handing over the most personal part of their business – their customer relationships. They needed a partner who’d treat their customers as if they were their own. Our task was to build a brand that made that promise feel real, putting care, connection and people at the heart of everything. From warm language and a new name to on-site photography, we built a brand around the faces, voices and values that defined them. The real breakthrough was uncovering a deeper truth – that behind every outsourcing decision is a fear of losing connection.

Forward Thinking

A brand that keeps clients ahead of the curve

Clients want partners who don’t just follow the market but anticipate what’s next.

Creating a forward thinking brand requires a certain edge and a clear sense of momentum, even down to the terminology of innovation and progress. Branding, through strong visual identities and confident language, are key to communicating ambition and rallying stakeholders behind what’s next. Furthr, Ireland’s leading startup hub, needed a brand that projected vision and possibility. The name itself, Furthr, became a statement of intent and a promise to move entrepreneurs forward, while the design system was built to inspire action and dynamism, energising founders, partners, and investors alike. In professional services, brand isn’t a short-term campaign or seasonal tactic. It’s the long-term reinforcement of the value you bring and the service you stand for. It’s what builds reputation, strengthens relationships and drives long-term growth and trust. We might be biased, but a strong brand… that’s your edge.