doing business washington business
employer: DH founded: 1996 location: Spokane website: www. wearedh. com
DH
Formerly known as Desautel Hege, DH is a public relations, advertising and branding firm that specializes in seamlessly marrying creativity with concise communication.
Bobbi Cussins
by the numbers: DH has 24 employees— including the partner team of Michelle Hege, Sara Johnston, Andrei Mylroie and Christine Varela as well as a host of account directors, copywriters and graphic artists— and is currently in a growth phase.
what they do: DH combines the disciplines of public relations, public affairs, marketing and advertising to create strategic communication programs for their clients, including rebranding, advertising campaigns, advocacy work, behavior change campaigns( think educational opportunities, like the importance of getting a flu vaccine and encouraging action) and issues management.
the culture, creative: One look at the company’ s staff web page and it’ s clear DH is more than a business— it’ s a family. The management structure is flat: It has a partner / owner team, but there are no other layers of management. It’ s a culture DH has purposefully fostered to encourage a group work environment where everyone’ s input and contributions are equal. DH recognizes that every one of their team members is creative in a different way, and the structure allows them to harness the power of that creativity.
the process works: DH understands that not all organizations have experience navigating a crisis communications situation, wholesale rebranding effort or anything in between. At its core, DH is driven by strategy. They’ ve developed a defined process to help clients not only overcome challenges, but meet their goals and stand out in the marketplace.
the experience: DH worked with AWB and its member-driven branding committee on the association’ s first full-scale brand refresh and logo update since 1986, which officially launched May 31. From the beginning of the process in 2014 to the spring 2017 rollout, DH worked alongside AWB, and through a few hiccups and restarts on the journey, to get the association’ s brand strategy and logo to a place where the AWB staff, board and members can be proud of every element of AWB’ s refreshed brand and excited for the future.
need to know:“ We view our relationship with clients as a strategic partnership. We take the journey together and if they’ re struggling with an issue, we’ re right there with them. We create success together.”— Michelle Hege, president and CEO, DH
46 association of washington business