Branding is stage presence.
We make yours intentional.
Sage Nine Creative is a branding and web design agency in Columbus, Ohio, built on decades of experience onstage and behind the scenes. We help small businesses find their voice, connect with their audience, and bring it all together through distinctive branding, custom websites, and systems that keep the show running.
You've outgrown the logo you made yourself and the website a friend built. The business has changed. The brand hasn't caught up.
This isn't a template problem. It's a direction problem, and direction is the work we know best.
Theatre doesn't forgive a vague pitch.
The audience shows up, decides quickly, and tells everyone what it thought. Brands face the same test, just quieter.
We both spent more than two decades at Shadowbox Live in Columbus. Brandon was a Resident Artist and Communication Director who wrote, produced, and marketed a dozen or more original productions a year and helped triple the company's earned income. Noelle built the systems behind the stage and now serves as Vice President of Operations.
Sage Nine brings that discipline to your business: tell the story clearly, build it to hold up night after night, and make sure the people in the seats feel something.
How we work
Three things decide whether a brand holds up. Most struggling businesses have a problem with one of them.
Character
The problem: Your messaging sounds like everyone else’s.
The issue: Nobody ever pinned down what makes you different, so you borrow the language of your industry and end up blending into it.
The fix
A Brand Direction Session. In ninety minutes we find your voice and your story, and you leave with a written script for the brand.
Brand Direction SessionAudience
The problem: The right people scroll past without stopping.
The issue: Your site talks about you instead of the people you want to reach, so they never see themselves in it.
The fix
A Brand Performance Build. We shape your visual identity, rebuild your website, and create the core assets around what your customers actually care about, all directed from one script.
Brand Performance BuildPerformance
The problem: Your systems work against you instead of for you.
The issue: Nobody owns the whole picture. The website, the tools, the follow-up, and the messaging were each built by a different person at a different time, so the brand shows up differently every time and nothing connects.
The fix
A fractional CMO and CTO partnership for a full year. On the marketing side, we become your brand directors with monthly strategy sessions, weekly content, performance tracking, and quarterly team workshops. On the technology side, we set up your systems and integrations, serve as your admin, build staff training tools, provide IT support, advise on hardware and cybersecurity, and develop custom apps when you need them.
Brand Performance ResidencyNot sure where you fall? Start with a Brand Direction Session. It's $750, and it's credited toward whatever you build next.
Brand Direction Session:
Three acts, 90 minutes, and a written Brand Performance Script within 7 days.
$750
1 session
You want clarity before committing to a build.
Brand Performance Build:
Visual identity, a redesigned website, and the core assets, built to perform. Setup and team training included.
$8,500
3 months
You know your offer, but your brand and site don't show it.
Digital Stage Construction:
Front-end and back-end build: website, funnels, custom CRM tools, email automation, and monthly performance reviews.
$14,500
6 months
Your offer is validated, but clunky tech is costing you momentum.
Brand Performance Residency:
A fractional CMO/CTO partnership for 12 months. Marketing: monthly strategy sessions, weekly content creation, advanced analytics with performance tracking, quarterly team workshops. Technology: systems setup and integrations, admin, staff training tools, IT support, hardware and cybersecurity advice, app development.
12 months
You need ongoing leadership and aren't ready to hire a full-time CMO or CTO.
"We've been on a journey together, navigating unforeseen pivots, honing my evolved vision and packaging it all in a way that is clear and marketable. This is a winning team."
— Alli Hale
The show doesn't wait until you feel ready.
Start with a Brand Direction Session. Ninety minutes, a written script, and a clear next step. If you move forward with a Brand Performance Build, your $750 session fee is credited toward it.