When it was founded, USA TODAY was a true innovator in the news industry. But after 25 years, it had plateaued. So they came to us to help refresh their brand vision.

Our research showed that readers considered USA TODAY as more than a news source. They saw it as a unifier. An open discussion of the common threads of the nation. They regarded USA TODAY as a "catalyst for conversation." Our task was to introduce that new strategic positioning to the organization (2000+ employees) at an internal 25th anniversary celebration.

Rather than introduce "catalyst for conversation" as a new and potentially jarring concept, the 25th anniversary gave us the chance to show employees USA TODAY had delivered on this all along.

We created a book of photographs of top stories from each of the past 25 years. Accompanying the images were snippets of conversations such stories elicited. The beginning and end of each dovetailed with the adjoining stories, creating one 25-year-long American narrative.The book concluded with the founder's mission statement and a tipped-in pocket-sized treatise on the brand truth that employees could pull out and carry with them.

What started as a single piece to energize USA TODAY employees about the brand vision became a core part of the anniversary celebration itself.

Converted into an audiovisual presentation, USA TODAY publisher Craig Moon read the treatise page-by-page to the crowd. Afterwards, employees waited in line to have their own copies of the book personally signed by Al Neuharth, USA TODAY's iconic founder.

Today the book is a touchstone, residing on employee's desks, bookshelves and coffee tables. It also laid the groundwork for USA TODAY's first major trade and consumer marketing effort in years.