When I first met Debbie Larrad, chief consultant at famille, a Cambridge-based purpose-driven communications agency, it was at a networking event in St Neots: we connected immediately.
Debbie loved her work, loved her job, but wanted famille to do more, be more and change the world – and having heard this, I wasn’t scared, I was excited. After running a purpose-driven business myself, and speaking in the same way Debbie was, I knew this was the real deal. When you just say you’re purpose-driven and don’t actually live it, it feels fake, it feels like greenwashing, it feels wrong. My conversation with Debbie was the real deal.
After speaking a few more times, and me pulling out my standard metaphor, I love a metaphor, about the fact that a consultant finds it difficult to work on their own business because it’s like “cutting your own hair.” We decided to work together to grow famille, into something bigger and stronger.
The Day We Stopped Talking About Marketing
When I first started working with famille, the problem wasn’t marketing.
That’s what most people assume. New website. New copy. New photography. Clearer messaging. It looks like marketing work from the outside.
But the real issue was structural.
They were doing brilliant work. Intelligent, thoughtful, deeply values-led work in environmental communications and engagement. But the story didn’t quite match the substance. The positioning was broad. The language was capable but, when you’re talking about yourself, as Debbie and the team had, it’s hard to sound confident without sounding arrogant.
They were good at what they did. The question was: what exactly was that?
So we didn’t start with a website.
We started with identity and a plan.
Who Are You Actually For?
There is a moment in most growing organisations where the fog sets in.
You can do a lot of things well. You can serve a range of clients. You can describe yourself in a dozen ways, all technically true. But truth is not the same as clarity.
With famille, we stripped it back.
- Mission.
- Purpose.
- Positioning.
- Who they are for.
- What problem they exist to solve.
Not in a workshop full of Post-it notes and inspirational music. In honest conversations. What do you actually believe? What frustrates you about your sector? What kind of work gives you energy? What do you not want to be?
That work shifted everything.
Since beginning, famille have never been broad, but the team wanted to become even sharper: a people-driven, place-focused, strategic partner that is listening-led. A structural identity.
Making the Outside Match the Inside
Only once that foundation was clear did we touch the brand. And we only touched it. No change of colours, or logo, or name. Because identity is more than that.
Brand reset sounds cosmetic. It rarely is.
We updated the branding around the edges, refined the tone of voice, rebuilt the website, rewrote the copy, and set a new photography direction. But none of that was decorative.
It was narrative alignment and it was all easier because we had a plan the whole organisation agreed on. The way they look now matches what they actually do. The language feels deliberate. The structure makes sense. The visual identity supports the thinking instead of floating above it.
When someone lands on their website now, they don’t have to work hard to understand them: and that’s the point.
Clarity reduces friction. Internally and externally.
Building the Engine, Not Just the Sign
Once identity was settled, we turned to growth.
This is the part most consultancies start with. I prefer it second, but I always work with clients, and the team agreed.
We defined target sectors. Target individuals. Outreach strategy. Messaging hierarchy. Message flow. Demo process. LinkedIn-led engagement rather than cold email scattergun. You will notice I haven’t used the word sales in this. That’s because none of this work is designed to sell things as its primary concern. It’s about meeting the values of the company, it’s about, as I stated at the top – ‘changing the world.’ Is this a slight-of-hand to make business development more customer-focused and therefore more profitable long-term. You bet. Does anyone care? If customers get an amazing service from a positive, driven consultancy, I don’t think so
Community Listening Was Not the Beginning
People can now associate famille strongly with their values through Community Listening.
What’s important is this: it wasn’t the starting point.
Community Listening emerged after the strategic work.
Once mission, positioning and growth were clear, we defined it properly. Structured it. Packaged it. Clarified its commercial application. Turned it into a scalable methodology rather than a loose description of good practice.
It became a product because the foundations were already there.
Too many organisations try to build the product before they understand themselves. famille did it the other way round.
Not Consultancy at Arm’s Length
Alongside all of this, there has been something less visible but just as important.
- Mentoring team members.
- Supporting decision-making.
- Acting as a sounding board.
- Helping navigate general business questions that don’t fit neatly into “marketing” or “strategy.”
That’s not consultancy at arm’s length. Some call it fractional leadership, I am working on my own name for it but it’s being close enough to understand context, but detached enough to stay clear-headed.
What Actually Changed
famille did not become a different company: they became a more coherent one.
Their mission is clearer. Their positioning is sharper. Their offer is structured. Their growth approach is intentional. Their team understands what good looks like.
And importantly, they now look like the organisation they have quietly been becoming for years.
