Q&A with Advantage Solutions’ chief storyteller Kelli Hammersmith on what’s behind the company’s rebrand

When Kelli Hammersmith was first approached about coming to work for Advantage Solutions, she wasn't clear on what exactly the company did. Googling didn't help much.

At the time, Advantage appeared to be "a federation of disparate agencies" lacking any sort of cohesive narrative, said Hammersmith, who was hired in March 2023 as the company's first chief communications officer.

Hammersmith saw an opportunity.

"As a communicator, I was like a kid in a candy store," she said. "We had this amazing story to tell that we just weren't telling effectively and consistently. And we also had a right to win in a space that we command but hadn't really taken command of that space."

In the short time since her hire, Hammersmith has helped to usher in a new era at the company, in close partnership with CEO Dave Peacock and other members of the executive leadership team. Most recently, she led the 37-year-old company through a rebrand to modernize its visual identity, humanize its messaging and position the company to compete and grow.

Put simply, Hammersmith's job has been to tell the company's story in a way it hadn't done before - engaging candidates, employees, brands, retailers, investors and communities alike.

Advantage's rebrand is part of the company's ongoing evolution as a unified solutions provider for brands and retailers. After nearly a dozen non-core business divestitures, Advantage is leaner, nimbler and better poised for sustainable growth, she said.

With more than 70,000 teammates in the U.S. and Canada, it's important to foster a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, she said. As one of Advantage's first Black woman executives, Hammersmith has been determined to shape the company's story with humanity and authenticity.

A former bilingual television reporter, she previously held leadership roles at Molson Coors, Kohl's and Northern Trust. She lives in the Milwaukee suburbs with her husband and two children.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Why is Advantage Solutions rebranding? And why now?

A. Over the past year, we defined a shared mission, purpose and values that we all rally behind. They're fundamentally a re-articulation of principles that folks already believed in, or what they wanted to see in their organization. It wasn't about words on a wall, but instead sharing ownership and accountability for our desired culture. That's why those values are part of year-end evaluations. We wanted to show our teammates that we care about how people feel just as much as how they perform.

These aren't easy changes. Last year was about recruiting and re-recruiting our teammates as players on the same team. Once we believe in ourselves and know our story, it becomes that much easier for others to believe in us and embrace that story. So we spent the past year largely on culture building and unifying around those shared values - put people first, serve with heart, lead with insights, execute relentlessly and win together.

Hammersmith confers with CEO Dave Peacock.

From a commercial standpoint, we're determined to go to market as a unified company providing a suite of interconnected solutions for brands and retailers. By focusing on those core capabilities, we can deliver more value for our clients and customers. That's already happening, as we speak.

And so the time for the rebrand is now because we're picking up the speed on our growth acceleration journey. We've largely completed divestitures of non-core business, and we see a clear path forward. It's important for us to signal to the world who we are and what we do in a simplified, unified way.

Q. Recently, we've conducted some blog and video interviews of our frontline workers, and they clearly take joy and pride in the work. Do you see the rebrand as an opportunity to amplify that kind of excitement?

A. I mean, 100%. You'd be hard pressed to go home and open your fridge or your pantry or medicine cabinet and not find something we touched, right? There's so much pride in that, to make that shopping experience reliable, enjoyable, delightful and accessible. And all of our frontline teammates know that they play a role in that.

For our part as an executive leadership team, we are acutely aware that every decision we make directly affects our frontline teammates. Therefore, we need them to know and see that they are part of this larger whole, and that the impact they create touches so many lives. That's not lost on any of us - it's important for us to continue to evolve and grow to make their experience even more meaningful.

Our business really, truly comes down to people - and how we can serve with our collective hearts and minds. We've got to appreciate and celebrate that. I always like to say that we can be unified without being uniform. So when we talk about winning together, which is one of our core values, it's as simple as that.

Hammersmith with the executive leadership team of Advantage Solutions in October 2023.

Q. What's new about the visual identity of the brand? How would you describe it?

A. We wanted to demonstrate that it's a new day at Advantage, that we are a modern organization, that we're human, that we're agile, and that we're very, very much connected. The creative shows that there's a thread that connects everything we do and everyone we touch.

The green is just to bring some freshness and organic colors to the mix. I think about that feeling when you walk into the produce section of a store. There's something that feels so refreshing about it. So, you'll notice an organic vibe and movement in the brand. We also wanted to do something unexpected. That's why you'll see purple and other bright, complementary colors that bring that sunrise feeling to life. The loops demonstrate that connectivity and our reach, which is also a point of differentiation for us - our relationships are national and local.

Overall, we brought a more human feel to our brand, and my hope is that everyone sees themselves in it, like they're guiding the way and leading the path forward, and there's just kind of upward motion to it. This was our way of bringing people together and signaling a new day.

Q. Why did Advantage decide to keep its name?

A. We explored all kinds of options - some were viable, others were a hard pass. I think it was easier for me to pick baby names for my kids. We already had great insights from our brand equity study, so we took a pause to reflect on our name.

While we're Advantage Solutions, people know us as Advantage and there's something very powerful in that, because you know what you get when you work with us. There is an advantage for our clients and customers, and that advantage comes through our solutions.

We also want our teammates, current and potential, to know that this is a place where you can shape your advantage - where you can become your own advantage.

Q. What has surprised you most about working at Advantage?

A. When you come into an organization that's been around for as long as we've been around, and you know that you have a change mandate, you're like, 'How are people going to react?' Transformations are challenging and that means growing pains are a reality. So I don't want to be pollyannaish and say that the road is smooth. But when you know the obstacles in front of you are movable, you can make more progress.

The overall response has been a pleasant surprise. I've heard people say things like, 'It feels different here.' That has been phenomenal.

Q. What does it mean to you personally to lead this company's rebrand?

A. It has just been the ultimate challenge and the ultimate joy of my career. Humanizing a story and centering it on people is something that I'm incredibly passionate about. It's been great to see the movement in the organization and folks being receptive to that. This isn't about me. It takes a hardworking and talented communications team, as well as some incredible partners, to make this kind of thing happen.

To me, this is really the first step of telling a far better, more unified story. I'm hoping folks see it as a gift they can take forward and lead the way.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.