Why are people fascinated by space? Could it be that we become enthralled by the mystery and wonder of space when we are just children, dreaming of becoming astronauts and stargazing on the back lawn?
It was clear to us that the engineers behind LeoLabs were not simply ordinary people. They were doers and dreamers. This tech startup built a fully integrated space operations stack that has transformed the way satellite operators, commercial enterprises, and federal agencies launch and track missions in low Earth orbit.
LeoLab’s staff didn’t become astrophysicists or engineers simply for the money. They were inspired by possibility, innovation, and working to serve progress. Like many humans, they were motivated by significance — they wanted to become a part of something greater than themselves.
After building an unbelievable product, it was time to build a brand and go-to-market ecosystem to drive revenue growth.
The first step to creating LeoLabs’s comprehensive marketing ecosystem was to build a brand that stood out from the deep blue atmosphere of space start-ups. We needed to help them stand apart.
A mission statement is a company’s “why.” It’s the reason employees dedicate their time, lives, energy, and passion to your business. For LeoLabs, we wanted to connect their mission statement with essential human needs, driving the sense that the company is propelling an industry forward, and making space operations sustainable.
For the LeoLabs brand, we let our connection to the human need for contribution — the idea that we all have the power to change the world for the better — be our guide.
We created the LeoLabs brand voice, and all the content that followed, around the following themes:
Knowledge-based
LeoLabs has decades of experience in the space industry, so we drew on that well of knowledge when forming points of view, making content that was clear, simple and well-researched.
Endlessly curious
LeoLab’s scientists love sharing and learning. We broke down and simplified new concepts so that their audience could easily understand LeoLab’s material from their viewpoint.
Transparent
The company is constantly growing, evolving, and openly sharing its story with the world. We prioritized transparency about LeoLab’s capabilities, to earn trust through honesty.
Inclusive
LeoLabs wants to bring everyone along on its mission — regardless of background or pedigree. We embraced this ideal by thinking globally and innovating with other cultures, systems, and missions in mind.
As we created our demand generation ecosystem with inspiring, value-add content, we used LeoLab’s curiosity-first brand voice to connect with potential customers, partners, and investors.
The LeoLabs founding team loved their old logo and wanted to stay true to their legacy, so instead of a full redesign we simply gave it a bit of a refresh.
We built our palette around “Tractor Beam Green,” with a little “Orbital Blue,” “Solar Yellow,” and “Freshly Minted Satellite” to generate a feeling of sustainability and hope, inspired by this human need for contribution.
Space science is nuanced, but even the most complicated concepts can be broken down into fundamentals through a strategic set of visual indicators. To build LeoLabs’s library of elements, we simplified the concepts the company needed to illustrate — both mentally and visually.
To build this library we started with the hardest concept. We named and explained the layers of LeoLab’s tech stack, and created iconography to help break them down and simplify them.
From its radar network to its astrodynamics engine and data delivery products, each element was illustrated to be easily recognizable. As a bonus, we threw a little “retro space poster” flare into our illustration style.
When naming the product suite for LeoLabs, we created a familiar cadence. First, we started each product name with the brand’s shorthand “Leo,” and followed it up with a one-syllable word that would easily describe the product’s function. Repeating LeoLabs’s brand name reinforced brand recognition while making it proprietary to the brand.
Adhering to the rule of “one-syllable-at-the-end” also ensured that LeoLabs product names would stick in our users’ minds easily and quickly roll off the tongue. They wanted customers to talk about LeoLabs products regularly, and that would be difficult if customers couldn’t easily recall and repeat those names in the first place.
Allowing each LeoLabs product name’s “form” to easily follow its “function” helps enable recall for customers. The fact that “LeoClear” intuitively means “all clear to launch” and “LeoSafe” means satellites are “safe in orbit” makes it easy to remember which products solve which specific problems. Because of this simplicity, the LeoLabs product suite easily inspires certainty and stays top-of-mind with potential customers.
To pull those potential customers closer to purchase, we built a comprehensive product education section on LeoLab’s website, showcasing its new, branded product suite.
LeoLabs wanted to appeal to potential customers across several verticals — including allied and domestic federal agencies, aerospace start-ups, and defense primes. To appeal to this diverse set of buyers, we created a website that allowed users to find a plethora of organized, easy-to-digest product material, as well as browse by their particular area or need.
We attracted potential buyers and investors to the LeoLabs site through a multi-media thought leadership approach. By leveraging proprietary insights, we created a monthly “deep dive” piece targeted at our highly technical audience.
To appeal to all types of learners, we reused and repurposed each thought leadership article into multiple formats — from “mini audiobooks” on Spotify to downloadable infographics to related workshops and swag. The compounding effect of this multimedia approach made a massive splash. The LeoLabs thought leadership program quickly reached high-value target buyers and quickly became the talk of the industry.
Building on our deeply-resonate, monthly thought-through leadership series, we launched an associated newsletter that broke each article down into conversational language. Each newsletter included extra details –, such as personal notes, which created a more intimate experience for our “VIP” target recipients.
To maximize the value of this effort and increase our likelihood of conversation, we tracked newsletter engagement closely for high-value target buyers. In the days after each send and release, we closely coordinated with our sales staff to relay insights on click-throughs, downloads, and more. In turn, our sales staff was equipped with the information needed to follow up with programmatic materials, resources, and follow-up to land high-value contracts.
As LeoLabs was in its Series B phase during our engagement, the company was quickly scaling capabilities and testing its limits. As such, new products were constantly being piloted, tested, and customized for clients.
The suite of sales tools we built for LeoLabs capitalized on a deep look into the psychology and needs of its customers, enabling the company to continue growing. We told the LeoLabs story to customers framed with their perspectives, allowing our offering to resonate on their terms. We equipped the sales team with basic tools like presentations and one-pagers, intricate tools like webinars and workshops, and pivotal tools like insights and feedback — to fuel the LeoLabs sales machine.
