Overview
From the package that arrived on your porch this morning to the recycled box you used to make last year’s Halloween costume—corrugated material is everywhere. Schwarz Partners represents a $4 billion portfolio of companies responsible for producing 6% of the industry’s corrugated goods.
The Challenge
While it appears as though Schwarz Partners is in the business of paper, in reality, they’re in the business of people. The company has always considered employees to be the most important piece of the puzzle, and Jack Schwarz had a knack for finding the talent in his people and putting them in the right position. “Anyone can buy equipment,” he would say. “It’s what we do with it that makes it special.”
And for that, you need the right people. As Schwarz Partners grew, they continued to invest in people. Today, Schwarz Partners operates more than 40 facilities across 20 states with more than 6,800 employees.
With a new state-of-the-art headquarters, Schwarz Partners needed a website to match their innovative, people-centered approach to business. Both teams, however, quickly realized that there was more work to be done—if Schwarz Partners truly wanted to elevate their presence, they also needed to consider their brand identity.
The professionalism and organization of the Smallbox team inspired us to follow suit. It made us want to match their level of passion to assure a stellar launch.
– MIKE TSCHOHL, DIRECTOR, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
The Solution
With a new goal to refine a longstanding family brand and website, the teams quickly got to work. SmallBox started with a series of surveys and interviews with staff to look at the core essence of Schwarz Partners. What was revealed was a culture of respect, honesty, valuing and investing in people, sustainability, integrity, and thoughtfulness.
These elements are as critical to the Schwarz Partners brand as their commitment to quality products and customer service, and it was time to apply them to the visual design.
In addition to illustrating the company’s narrative through design, SmallBox also worked on the organization’s brand story, encapsulating a complex ecosystem into an easy to understand point of inspiration—paving the way for both the content and design to serve as a tool for the Schwarz Partners team.
The Results
Although the company is in a traditional industry, their entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to work ensures that employees and partners can trust in the management team, while still having fun at work. Now, this is accurately depicted in the website, logo, brand, everything. With an average tenure of 8 years for employees, they company can now confidently approach recruits knowing the caliber of their website matches their commitment to people and excellence.
We had a simple goal. Create a website and brand image that told our story for varying types of people including customers, business partners, investors, and both current and potential employees. SmallBox delivered perfectly on this goal.
– MIKE TSCHOHL, DIRECTOR, DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
