THATCH
Building a Technology Brand for Its Next Stage of Growth
For more than two decades, Thatch Computer Consulting built a respected technology business in Michigan, evolving from traditional computer support into managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud solutions, compliance, field services and strategic technology consulting. The company had changed. Its brand had not.
HCP Associates helped transform Thatch Computer Consulting into Thatch, a more focused name, identity and positioning designed to reflect the business it had become while creating room for continued regional and national growth.
Thatch
Private Sector
Managed IT Services / Cybersecurity / Cloud Solutions / Field Services
Small & Mid-Sized Businesses • Business Owners • IT Leaders • Healthcare • Financial Services • Manufacturing • Local Government • Professional Services • Multi-Location Organizations
Official IT Business Partner of The Lansing Lugnuts
Executive Summary
For more than two decades, Thatch Computer Consulting built a successful technology company from East Lansing, Michigan, developing longstanding client relationships while steadily expanding its services, expertise and geographic reach. But the company had outgrown its name.
“Computer Consulting” reflected an earlier chapter of the business, while Thatch had evolved into a much broader technology partner providing managed and co-managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud services, compliance, disaster recovery, VoIP, infrastructure services and field support.
The timing mattered.
The company was also entering an important period of organizational and leadership transition. Scott Milnes had been engaged as a management and leadership consultant and, based on his previous experience working with HCP at DENTCO, brought HCP into the broader consulting team to support research, strategic planning, positioning and communications.
That engagement expanded into a comprehensive repositioning of the company and coincided with a leadership transition that resulted in Luc Cole being named CEO and Nick Thatcher advancing into executive leadership. HCP shortened the company name to Thatch, developed a new visual identity and positioning platform, redesigned the website, created a comprehensive corporate identity system, strengthened public relations and established a more integrated marketing infrastructure.
The result went beyond rebranding. It aligned the company’s leadership transition, market position and brand around the business Thatch had become.
Scott Milnes
Management & Leadership Consultant, Thatch
Understanding the Landscape
Thatch wasn’t a startup searching for an identity. It was an established technology company whose capabilities, market presence and ambitions had evolved faster than the brand representing them. That disconnect was increasingly visible. The company had moved far beyond traditional computer support into managed services, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, compliance, disaster recovery, telecommunications and strategic technology consulting, while its legacy name continued to suggest something much narrower.
The business was also entering an important period of organizational change. Scott Milnes had been brought in as a management and leadership consultant to help Thatch evaluate its structure, leadership and future direction. Based on his previous experience working with HCP, Milnes introduced HCP as part of the broader consulting team.
That created an opportunity to examine the company from several perspectives at once: leadership, business strategy, market position, customer perception and brand. The process helped inform both the company’s repositioning and its leadership transition, with Luc Cole ultimately named CEO and Nick Thatcher moving into an expanded executive role. Thatch needed its leadership, business strategy and brand to point in the same direction.
Research
HCP began with strategic planning involving company leadership, supported by market research, competitor analysis and stakeholder input designed to understand how Thatch was perceived and where the managed-services industry was heading.
One idea kept surfacing: Trust.
Customers were not simply hiring technicians or purchasing technology services. They were placing critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, communications and business continuity in Thatch’s hands.
That distinction mattered.
Technology would continue to change.
Trust would remain fundamental.
That insight became the foundation for the company’s positioning, messaging and brand strategy.
Strategy
HCP recommended preserving the strongest equity in the existing identity while removing the language that was holding it back. Thatch Computer Consulting became Thatch. The shorter name retained decades of recognition while creating room for a much broader range of services, industries and markets. The positioning followed naturally.
Where Technology Meets Trust.™
The line brought together the two sides of the company: sophisticated technology capability and the human relationships that had helped build the business. HCP carried that idea throughout the brand. The new visual identity, typography, color system, messaging, mission, vision and brand standards were designed to present Thatch as a contemporary technology company without disconnecting it from the reputation and relationships already behind the name.
The objective was not reinvention. It was alignment.
Marketing
HCP took the new Thatch identity from strategy through implementation and public launch, beginning with a redesigned website that repositioned the company around its broader managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud, compliance and consulting capabilities.
The website became the center of the brand.
Service information, leadership, case studies, industry content, thought leadership, lead-generation pathways and a robust newsroom were brought together within a stronger digital platform designed to support both communications and business development.
The identity then moved across the organization.
HCP developed business cards, stationery, email signatures, presentations, Word and PowerPoint templates, sales materials and other brand applications to create greater consistency across internal and external communications.
Public relations became part of the infrastructure as well.
HCP developed a dedicated newsroom and Digital Media Kit featuring company information, executive biographies, FAQs, service materials, brand assets, testimonials and press resources, giving Thatch a centralized platform for media relations and ongoing corporate communications.
The brand also needed to stay connected to the community where Thatch had built its reputation.
That led to the Lansing Lugnuts.
HCP helped develop and promote a high-profile relationship positioning Thatch as the Official IT Business Partner of the Lansing Lugnuts, connecting two Michigan organizations through technology, community engagement and local visibility.
The partnership extended well beyond a logo.
Activation included national media outreach, in-stadium signage and Jumbotron exposure, branded giveaways, business-night sponsorships, community technology events and a ceremonial first pitch by newly appointed CEO, Luc Cole.
It reinforced something important about the brand. Thatch could expand without losing its roots.
The launch was a beginning. Not an ending.
Impact
Thatch emerged from the process with a name, identity and marketing platform capable of representing a much broader technology organization without abandoning the reputation it had spent decades building. The transformation began with a simple decision.
The new positioning created a common language for marketing, sales and communications. The website created a stronger business-development platform. The newsroom and Digital Media Kit created permanent PR infrastructure. The corporate identity system brought consistency across the organization. And the Lansing Lugnuts partnership translated the brand into something visible, local and tangible within the community.
Thatch now presents itself as a managed technology organization serving clients well beyond its original East Lansing market, supported by more than 60 IT professionals and expanded national field-service capabilities.
Keep Thatch.
Everything else was designed to give that name greater meaning.
The company continued to grow. Its identity could finally grow with it.
The brand changed. The trust behind it did not.
What We Learned
A company can outgrow its name long before it outgrows its reputation. That distinction mattered with Thatch.
The organization already had history, relationships, technical expertise and customer trust. The opportunity was not to replace those things, but to remove the parts of the identity that no longer reflected the scope of the business.
Research identified what mattered most. Strategy determined what should change.
The shorter name created room for growth. The positioning created a promise the organization could own. The new digital and communications infrastructure gave the brand a stronger platform. And partnerships such as the Lansing Lugnuts showed how that brand could live beyond a website or logo.
Thatch didn’t need to become a different company. It needed a brand capable of representing the company it had already become.