THE CHALLENGE

A premium product, sold like a commodity

USG is one of the most established names in American building, with more than a century of manufacturing behind products like SHEETROCK® brand panels. Its specialty acoustic ceilings, including Ensemble™, are something different: premium products that help control sound in the built environment. They cost significantly more than standard ceilings, and they aren't sold at big box stores. They can only be ordered through licensed regional distributors.

The challenge was how they were being marketed. Like much of the industry, USG's communications focused on technical specifications: CAC and NRC ratings, board thickness, backer panels. That approach speaks to engineers comparing options. It doesn't inspire the architects and designers who decide what goes into a project, or convince anyone that great acoustics are worth planning for from the start.

USG's biggest competitor was spending roughly $2 million a year marketing similar products. Outspending them wasn't the answer. Out-thinking them was.

THE VISION

Acoustics as luxury

Patty, the USG leader hired to grow Ensemble™ and the specialty ceiling line, saw something the spec sheets missed. She believed great acoustics are a luxury, as essential to a beautiful space as natural light or fine materials, and worth the premium.

Her goal was to change when acoustics entered the conversation: not as a late fix that gets value-engineered away, but as a design priority planned and budgeted from the earliest stages of a project. She wanted Ensemble™ to be something high-end architects found interesting and exciting to talk about. And she wanted direct, one-on-one access to the busy decision-makers who shape major projects.

She knew where she wanted to go. She needed a creative partner who could help her get there.

WHY COLOR WHEEL STUDIOS

Honoring a legacy while changing the conversation

Patty knew Color Wheel Studios from our work with luxury Italian furniture and custom yacht brands. Our founder, Becky Yee, built her career in fashion and portraiture, photographing some of the world's most recognized leaders in business, politics, and culture.

That background mattered. USG needed a partner who understood luxury positioning and could honor a century-old corporate legacy while completely changing how its products were seen and discussed.

THE BIG IDEA

Designing with Sound in Mind

Becky developed the line that anchored the campaign: Designing with Sound in Mind.

It shifted the story away from the product and toward the people who shape spaces. It spoke to architects and designers in the language of intention and craft. And it invited them to think about sound at the very beginning of a project, exactly where Patty wanted the conversation to happen.

USG adopted Designing with Sound in Mind as the tagline across its enterprise sales and marketing.

WHAT WE BUILT

Acoustics Matters: a thought leadership series

Rather than advertising the product, we helped USG lead the industry conversation through Acoustics Matters, a live and livestreamed panel series bringing together top experts in acoustics, architecture, and interior design. The series explored three topics:

Rethinking the Workplace Experience
Shaping Sound in Healthcare Environments
Sound in Learning Spaces

We handled every stage, with the same premium standard as the product itself.

Before the event: scripted and produced video invitations and panelist reminder videos, including set design, wardrobe consultation, and hair and makeup. We also brought in our own specialized crew for livestream, lighting, and sound to meet the client's standard.

During the event: managed the livestream, captured full photo and video documentation, and filmed on-the-spot attendee interviews about what they learned and how it applies to their current projects. Images and reels went to USG's social team in real time for live posting.

After the event: delivered a one-to-two-minute sizzle reel for web and social; edited the full panel discussion, which was approved by the AIA for CEU accreditation; cut attendee interviews into short clips to fuel follow-up conversations; and turned unanswered audience questions into web content that drove traffic to USG's acoustics pages.

Every piece was designed to keep the conversation going long after the lights went down, and to give USG's sales team a reason to reach out.

THE RESULTS

The right people, in the room

On January 19, 2023, USG hosted Acoustics Matters: Sound Design in Learning Spaces.

950+ industry members expressed interest in the event content
350 attended live, in person or via livestream
13 of the top 20 education architecture firms by revenue took part
16 of the top 20 architecture firms overall by revenue took part
18 educational institutions, with combined construction capital budgets of more than $108 billion, including Princeton, Yale, CUNY, New York City Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, and the University of Texas
And the result that mattered most

Ensemble™ became the fastest-growing product in USG's lines, with a 300% increase in sales in 18 months.

TESTIMONIAL (optional but powerful)

"[A one or two sentence quote from Patty about working with CWS.]"
— Patty [Last name], [Title], USG

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOUR BRAND

Your product belongs to a bigger conversation

USG didn't win by shouting louder than a competitor with a bigger budget. It won by changing the conversation, and by showing up where decisions are made, with content that looked and felt as premium as the product.

If your product is misunderstood, undervalued, or sold on specs alone, there's a bigger story waiting to be told. We help enterprise brands find it, shape it, and bring it to life.

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Two quick notes on the copy. First, a real quote from Patty would make this page much stronger, even one sentence; it's worth a quick email to her. Second, I wrote "more than a century" instead of a specific age for USG so it's safe either way. The company is part of Knauf now, so double-check the $3 billion and 6,800 employee figures are current before using them anywhere.