Open up the headliner of a high-end vehicle or take apart a medical device or a mattress, and there’s a good chance you’ll find WT Burnett’s innovation inside. For nearly 150 years, they’ve manufactured precision-engineered foams and nonwovens that enhance products from the world’s leading brands.
Like many B2B companies, their work has always been behind the scenes. Quietly excellent. Trusted by customers, vendors, and employees who know them well—but harder to articulate to the outside world. When WT Burnett came to us, the challenge was clear: How do you modernize your B2B brand without losing the qualities that make you, you?
Rebrand or Refresh?
Before diving into what we did, it’s worth clarifying an important distinction: a rebrand isn’t the same as a refresh.
A full rebrand is a wreck-and-redo. It’s what you need when your business has fundamentally changed, been acquired, or doesn’t resonate with your audience anymore. A refresh, on the other hand, builds on a solid foundation. It’s breathing new life and context into what’s already working.
After touring WT Burnett’s facilities, conducting surveys, and speaking with everyone from leadership to the factory floor, we understood their people, reputation, and approach to innovation had real equity. A refresh, not a rebrand, was the right path forward.
From there, we focused on what to keep, what to evolve, and what to introduce to set the company up for the next century of innovation.
Keep: The Entrepreneurial Spirit
Often, B2B marketing focuses on technical details like capabilities, processes, manufacturing precision. But the most successful brands dig deeper, telling the story of their people, their values, and their impact—essentially, their reason for being.
In our discovery phase, we heard the same things over and over again: WT Burnett shows up for their people. They champion internal entrepreneurship—giving teams the freedom to try new approaches and push ideas further. It’s how they’re able to ideate, innovate, take their best and make it better, because that’s what their customers deserve.
That spirit became the heart of their new brand platform. A manifesto captured WT Burnett’s ethos: committed to building partnerships and solutions that stand the test of time. It gave them something to rally around and a constant reminder of where they came from, who they are, and where they’re going.
Evolve: The Name & Identity
Consistency builds trust. But many B2B companies, especially those with long histories, struggle with internal alignment.
For instance, over the years, different teams came to call WT Burnett different things. They were William T. Burnett on their website, WTB in shorthand, Burnett in between. One stakeholder used the folksy and familiar William T. This lack of clarity made it harder to build recognition and reliability externally.
We aligned everyone around a single, modern identity: WT Burnett. Full stop. This seemingly small change improved name recall, reinforced the company’s reliability, and gave every employee a unified way to talk about the brand.
The visual identity followed suit. WT Burnett’s old logo had a signature-like feel that didn’t reflect the size or technical excellence of the company today. Their new mark features a stylized “e” that nods to a roll of foam, surrounded by sharp, geometric letterforms that convey strength and stability. It’s a design that balances flexibility and durability, just like their products, and tradition and innovation, just like their operations.
The color palette—Ember, Ivory, and Onyx Drift—feels modern and human at the same time, and patterns and graphic elements echo the physical qualities of their foams and nonwovens. Every design choice was intentional, ensuring the brand not only looks contemporary but tells the story of WT Burnett’s innovation and care.
We also carried the visuals into WT Burnett’s physical spaces through environmental graphics. These weren’t designed for clients—they were created for the people who walk the halls every day. They brought pride and cohesion to the workplace, making the brand tangible for employees and reinforcing the sense of shared identity at every turn.
Introduce: A Website Built for Growth
B2B companies like WT Burnett have been building relationships for decades. The customers who come back time after time may never have a reason to go to their website, but if WT Burnett wants to keep growing, they need a functional, clear, and scalable place for new prospects to land.
We actually built their previous site back in the early 2000s. But it longed for the same energy that we’d given the platform and identity.
The new site changed that. With bold visuals, intuitive navigation, and clear information about their offerings, it now mirrors WT Burnett’s capabilities. Just as importantly, it shows the people and processes behind the work. Through a multi-day photo and video shoot, we captured Burnett’s culture in action: the ingenuity of their teams, the precision of their operations, and the quality of their products.
Built on a flexible template and optimized for search, it’s designed to grow alongside the company—making it easier than ever for customers to understand WT Burnett and for the team to update content as they innovate.
Is It Time for Your Refresh?
Longstanding B2B brands often don’t need to start over. They need refinement—a way to show the world who they’ve always been.
WT Burnett’s refresh and website do exactly that. They honor the company’s 150-year legacy of innovation and relationships while positioning them for what’s next: continuous growth, lasting partnerships, and quietly powering the products people rely on every day. It’s a brand built on substance. And, like their materials, it’s built to last.
B2B marketing presents a unique set of challenges—and opportunities. It’s about navigating complex industries, earning trust over time, and telling brand stories with authenticity. If your company is struggling with internal alignment, unclear messaging, or an outdated presence, it might be time for a refresh.
Mission helps businesses turn that complexity into clarity, building brands and digital experiences that strengthen current relationships and open new doors. Let’s talk.