Public Rec built a real business — $50M+ in DTC revenue — on the back of smart product and performance marketing. But the playbook that got them there had run its course. Growth had plateaued. CAC was climbing. The brand had no story to tell beyond the product spec.
The assignment: evolve from a product company to a lifestyle brand without losing what made the product great. Build a brand story. Create intuitive product architecture. Reduce dependence on Meta. Do all of it without losing the customer who'd made them successful.
We grounded the brand in its origin. Public Rec was born in Chicago — a city with a specific kind of energy: midwestern, urban, practical with style, completely unbothered by coastal fashion movements. That authenticity was the story.
The platform — Born from Chicago. Never Change. — established a brand voice and visual world that could carry product, culture, and community without feeling like a campaign. It felt like a brand that had always known who it was. Because it had.
We then rebuilt the product architecture around it: intuitive collections that made shopping coherent, and a media model that served both long-term brand growth and short-term DTC transactions.
"We grounded the brand within the connection to its place of origin. Expressing a midwestern urban lifestyle that's got style but could give a shit about the coastal fashionist movement."