Matchstic

I’m the senior vice president for marketing and communications for a human rights nonprofit.

We didn’t have a stable or modern strategy or brand, so we developed a new strategy and then turned to Matchstic to create a brand that reflected that strategy.

They worked from scratch, diving deep into our organization’s 40-year history to learn about who we were. Their resources also interviewed our key stakeholders, both inside and outside of our organization. Finally, they reported back to us with what they found and elaborated on the results with a pictographic board and language-based brand. The ultimate deliverable was a brand package that included everything from a new letterhead and Zoom background to a new way to talk about ourselves. It’s a living document.

We began working with their president and then transitioned to a team leader. This person was excellent, and we also had a lead designer. There’ve been around six people in total.

I beat around in the bushes to find Matchstic, talking to people who’d also used Clutch to find their providers and running my own Google searches.

The total cost is around $150,000–$200,000 at this point.

We’ve been working together since April 2021.

Our work is more narrative- than data-driven, but we have a couple of marketers in-house, and they’ve been blown away by our new brand. I have a marketing background as well, and the work that Matchstic has done is outstanding.

We mostly communicate by email and through repeated meetings. As Matchstic rolled out their process, we had wide-ranging, in-depth conversations that really allowed us to pick out what was important for them to know about our brand — what would help them get to the heart of our organization. After putting their heads together, they came back with materials we would then edit together. The work has been highly collaborative, with Matchstic offering guide rails and frameworks that provide reliable insights.

They’re the nicest people I’ve worked with — collaborative and willing to listen and take an outsider’s ideas.

I was impressed with them at every level, including the recommendations they made about adjacent aspects of our brand. They invest deeply in the work they do and create terrific outputs.

I'm a department director at HCM

HCM is a collaborative design firm working at the intersection of inspiration and impact.

Referral

2-5 Employees

· Research our primary internal and external audiences to determine their perceptions of our brand.

Naming Study

Not only was their project management excellent, but they actually kept US on time, which was an incredible accomplishment

They went above and beyond understanding what makes us unique, and somehow, found a way to perfectly convey that both verbally and visually, without seeming like a typical trite brand strategy.

Not at all

I am the Senior Director of Strategy and Marketing of HCM

Built environment design including architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design and planning.

6-10 Employees

Create a new brand name and identity for Hord Coplan Macht.

Brand discovery with report presented to our internal brand team.

We were assigned a project manager from the outset of the project, Lauren. She did an excellent job of keeping us on schedule and providing continuity of services across the entire project lifespan. This was important because two key members of the Matchstic team left the firm during this time, but the level and quality of service was maintained throughout.

Virtual Meeting

Matchstic took a very deep dive into learning about us, and they took ownership of the project. In presentations, they would refer to themselves as 'we', putting themselves in our place and conveying that they felt part of what we were doing. We felt this was a small, almost imperceptible, yet powerful way of demonstrating empathy and understanding of our goals, concerns and culture.

Matchstic did an amazing job. Our only regret was the entire project was handled virtually. And although the meetings were well-planned and executed, we missed the human connection of in-person meetings. Understanding that in this current business environment, with talent spread all over, this was the most practical approach to the project, we felt it was none-the-less a little bittersweet we couldn't meet everyone in person. We held an owners retreat attended by 110 people and two members of the Matchstic team attended in person to unveil the new brand. This was important and we recommend they consider doing this for other clients.

Overall rating: 5.0Quality: 5.0Cost: 5.0Schedule: 5.0Willing to refer: 5.0 The team was very well organized, talented and flexible. They conveyed their values while conveying ours to our audience.

I’m the VP of marketing for a water treatment products and services manufacturer. We serve many different markets, from industrial to municipal markets, and primarily work on technologies that help clean and purify water. I handle our company's marketing and product management.

We needed help with a comprehensive brand refresh.

Matchstic provided rebranding services for us. We changed everything except for the name of the company, including our visual and verbal identity. We also worked on our value proposition and how we describe the company.

We worked with 4–5 teammates from Matchstic: Brittany was our project lead, Cody was a graphic designer, Clayton was our writer, Ashley did a lot of strategy work, and Lexi was our project manager

We found them through a referral. Our company is owned by a private equity company that had used Matchstic for one of their other portfolio companies.

We spent close to $400,000.

We started talking to them in January 2025, and the project kicked off in February 2025. We finished the project in January 2026.

We only just finished the project, so it’s too early to tell the results. However, we received a lot of positive feedback. We also observed a 50% boost in web traffic and a 100% boost in visits to our LinkedIn page. Due to the type of clients we work with, it's still early to determine the impact of Matchstic's work on that area.

Matchstic met deadlines and stayed on budget. We mainly met over Zoom and had a lot of email exchanges.

Matchstic's attention to detail was very impressive. The team ensured they dug into the concepts and understood them, many of which were very technical on our side. They displayed a desire to understand our needs deeply rather than check the box.

We had a close-out meeting for the project, and we spoke about what worked and what didn’t.

Ensure you set aside enough time to give the project the resource allocation it needs. We’re all very busy and have many things going on, but we need to clear our schedules and dedicate time to the project.

I’m the VP of marketing and communications for TGR Foundation, the education-based nonprofit of Tiger Woods. We were founded in 1996 to empower youth to pursue their passions through education. We do that through TGR Learning Labs, which are educational facilities that serve students from under-resourced communities through educational programs and career readiness programming in the after-school, summer, and in-school day environments.

We hired Matchstic to lead a rebranding effort around our TGR Learning Labs. We wanted to evaluate both the name and the brand identity. We were entering into a season of expansion. After 18 years of having just one learning lab, we opened our second lab last year, and we’ll have five open by 2028. We deemed it was time to ensure our brand was the strongest it could be to accompany that growth and reach and retain students, our end audience.

Matchstic started with a discovery phase. We had several rounds of intake meetings and conversations with myself, members of our executive leadership team, our board, and students. We gathered facts about where we were and what we were trying to accomplish.

We had a core team of 3–4 people. Blake was our main point of contact. Melissa acted as our account director, and 3–4 people were heavily involved in the naming and brand identity phase. We had an additional team of 5 people when we got into the creative phase.

I found Matchstic through Google searches and peer-to-peer recommendations. I looked at some reviews on Clutch. I can’t remember specifically where Matchstic first came across my desk. It might have been Clutch or just a search engine.

We spent between $100,000–$200,000.

We worked with Matchstic from October 2024–August 2025.

Students, staff, and parents were wowed by the visuals when they walked into the buildings with the new branding. Everyone was very positive and really loved the look, feel, and creative aspects. There was a strong reaction when people went into the building for the first time. We got the same strong positive feedback in our other facility. The bright colors and messaging resonated with students. The brand was vibrant and fun.

Matchstic always stayed within budget. If we needed extra elements, everything was always cleared and communicated. They were always on top of deadlines and kept us updated. Some delays were really from our side. We communicated via emails, phone calls, and Zoom meetings.

Matchstic was very creative, flexible, and nimble. They were willing to work with us through numerous changes, adjustments, requests, and requirements. They always took things in stride and were willing to push the creativity further based on our requests.

I can’t think of anything for Matchstic to improve.

We worked together with a team mentality. Matchstic really brought themselves in and invested in the project and our space. We could feel the sense of ownership they had with what we were trying to accomplish. They were committed to making the project the best it could be, rather than just getting it done.

I am the Sr. Director, Internal Communications and Employer Brand of a sports company

We are a sports and entertainment company.

Referral

2-5 Employees

Matchstic delivered the following:

We have not fully rolled out the entire brand, so outcomes are still being evaluated. During the development (which Matchstic was responsible for - not the execution), we measured project success by timelines and alignmnet/buy-in from the core team and executives - all which were successful.

Project management was excellent! Their project manager stayed on top of every single detail and provided clear next steps and timelines. Their approach felt intentional and supportive. Even when we needed to veer slightly from what we agreed upon originally, they kept us on track and worked with what we asked for while providing sound advice.

Matchstic had a great understanding of our organization; however, they still listened intently while in the research phase to learn. I was impressed by their intent (and ultimate deliverable) on creating a brand that was truly relevant and authentic. I was also impressed with the detailed care they took with each word and visual concept so every single thing was purposeful. They were easy to work with and took all feedback into consideration.

There was nothing Matchstic should have done differently.