practiceprofile
Getting the word out
Denver T100 Firm Hein wants to be the worst-kept secret
BY DANIELLE LEE
Photography by Don Cudney/Wonderful Machine
AT A GLANCE
firm:
Hein & Associates
Headquarters:
Denver
year founded:
1977
managing partner:
Brian Mandell-Rice
no. of partners/staff:
32 partners / 201 staff
no. of offices/locations:
Four (Denver, Houston, Dallas,
Irvine, Calif.)
Services:
Audit, tax, advisory
revenue:
$45 million
Refreshing (from l to r): Hein’s Kim Daly,
Brian Mandell-Rice (seated), Dorothy Donnelly and Caitlin Mead
Denver-based Top 100 firm Hein & Associ-
ates didn’t want to be anyone’s secret — even
a good one, as managing partner Brian Mandell-Rice had become accustomed to hearing
from clients.
“It’s not all that appealing to say ‘best-kept
secret,’” he explained. “We had to try to get
our brand out there a little more and think
that, as a firm clearly interested in growth,
we wanted a much more visible brand. We
needed refreshing.”
The refresh became a two-year rebrand-
ing effort headed by the internal team of
national marketing director Dorothy Don-
nelly, national marketing manager Kim Daly
and marketing associate Caitlin Mead. And it
began with research into the firm’s messag-
ing and positioning. To discover Hein’s cur-
rent market buzz, the team polled: Hein’s 32
partners; a cross-section of its 201 employees
from each of the firm’s four offices in Denver,
Houston, Dallas, and Irvine, Calif.; and 20 of
Hein’s audit and assurance, tax, and business
advisory clients across the firm’s five industry
specializations.
moving carefully
Donnelly knew the team had to tread lightly
in suggesting drastic changes, and she did so
See HEIN on
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