we are grio.
empathy-led branding.
A Charlotte-based brand consultancy for non-profits and for-profits on a mission to improve the human condition. You can call us an agency, but we're empaths, storytellers and creative problem solvers.


some of our partners
data + empathy the grio way.
Everything you say and do as a company is a cumulative expression of your brand. Instead of seeing your business as disparate pieces, we take the holistic approach. We see an intricate system with people at its heart.
brand
development
A brand is a story. Like every great story, great brands have a big idea, a central theme, the throughline that stitches together everything you say and do as a company. Our job is to help you uncover and bring YOUR big idea to life.

brand
strategy
Without relevant differences, customers always choose the cheapest option. And for companies in any industry, it leads to a race to the bottom. To survive and thrive, companies have to create differentiated value in the minds of consumers.

brand
experience
People don’t have direct access to the essence of your brand. Instead, they stitch together partial information from every interaction to create a coherent story about your company. Our job is to help you craft experiences at various touchpoints to help shape people's perception.

clientwords
At Unblended our process with GRIO has been both insightful and inspiring. Before our workshops we had a general idea of what we wanted to do but with the conversations and the exercises we discovered our essence. And having a clear understanding of our mission has helped us be more focused and more creative
CUADROS
lucas
If you’re looking for not just surface level advice but someone who is invested in helping you succeed, seek out Grio. They will help analyze your business from an outside perspective, not in an objective or automated way, but by engaging with you and exploring your business’s specific needs. They will join you on an internal expedition that results in a deeper understanding of your business, a synthesis of your newly curated brand, and a plan to help you and your business to flourish.
CAMP
Noa
Working with Grio was one of the most valuable partnerships we’ve had since inception. It’s one thing to create a plan of action, but it’s another thing to explain and implement it in a way that truly resonates with the entire team. Our team had full confidence in the system and after implementing the principles prescribed, we have experienced incredible growth. And a big part of that growth can be attributed to Grio’s expertise. I truly can’t recommend working with them enough.
Machuca
Zack
As a small business owner, the struggle to identify who you are as a company can get lost in the day to day operations. Working with Grio, we have been able to not only identify who we are, but also develop a robust marketing platform used across any and all mediums to our customers. The process in which Grio helps us create our purpose is awesome. They took the time to find out who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. I would highly recommend them to any business looking to identify their culture and how they can communicate it to the world!
Tanis
Tom
Working with Grio has been nothing but a blessing. Their wisdom and expertise regarding my company's brand positioning has been monumental to understanding my customers needs and wants, while building a solid foundation for my business to grow. Grio helped me understand my business’ value proposition and showed me the true potential of my brand moving forward. I couldn’t recommend the Grio Agency highly enough!
Miller
Jack
The Grio Agency conducted a brand audit on my company and I couldn’t be more impressed with the findings and all the insights I was provided in order to enhance our ability to not only identify our ideal client but implement the best marketing strategies and market positioning for our brand. We are now engaged to refreshen my company’s web presence and put in place a marketing and content strategy as well as a lead capture platform. We are very excited about our relationship with the Grio Agency and highly recommend their services.
Almeida
Rodney
At Unblended our process with GRIO has been both insightful and inspiring. Before our workshops we had a general idea of what we wanted to do but with the conversations and the exercises we discovered our essence. And having a clear understanding of our mission has helped us be more focused and more creative
CUADROS
lucas
If you’re looking for not just surface level advice but someone who is invested in helping you succeed, seek out Grio. They will help analyze your business from an outside perspective, not in an objective or automated way, but by engaging with you and exploring your business’s specific needs. They will join you on an internal expedition that results in a deeper understanding of your business, a synthesis of your newly curated brand, and a plan to help you and your business to flourish.
CAMP
Noa
Working with Grio was one of the most valuable partnerships we’ve had since inception. It’s one thing to create a plan of action, but it’s another thing to explain and implement it in a way that truly resonates with the entire team. Our team had full confidence in the system and after implementing the principles prescribed, we have experienced incredible growth. And a big part of that growth can be attributed to Grio’s expertise. I truly can’t recommend working with them enough.
Machuca
Zack
As a small business owner, the struggle to identify who you are as a company can get lost in the day to day operations. Working with Grio, we have been able to not only identify who we are, but also develop a robust marketing platform used across any and all mediums to our customers. The process in which Grio helps us create our purpose is awesome. They took the time to find out who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. I would highly recommend them to any business looking to identify their culture and how they can communicate it to the world!
Tanis
Tom
Working with Grio has been nothing but a blessing. Their wisdom and expertise regarding my company's brand positioning has been monumental to understanding my customers needs and wants, while building a solid foundation for my business to grow. Grio helped me understand my business’ value proposition and showed me the true potential of my brand moving forward. I couldn’t recommend the Grio Agency highly enough!
Miller
Jack
The Grio Agency conducted a brand audit on my company and I couldn’t be more impressed with the findings and all the insights I was provided in order to enhance our ability to not only identify our ideal client but implement the best marketing strategies and market positioning for our brand. We are now engaged to refreshen my company’s web presence and put in place a marketing and content strategy as well as a lead capture platform. We are very excited about our relationship with the Grio Agency and highly recommend their services.
Almeida
Rodney
At Unblended our process with GRIO has been both insightful and inspiring. Before our workshops we had a general idea of what we wanted to do but with the conversations and the exercises we discovered our essence. And having a clear understanding of our mission has helped us be more focused and more creative
CUADROS
lucas
If you’re looking for not just surface level advice but someone who is invested in helping you succeed, seek out Grio. They will help analyze your business from an outside perspective, not in an objective or automated way, but by engaging with you and exploring your business’s specific needs. They will join you on an internal expedition that results in a deeper understanding of your business, a synthesis of your newly curated brand, and a plan to help you and your business to flourish.
CAMP
Noa
Working with Grio was one of the most valuable partnerships we’ve had since inception. It’s one thing to create a plan of action, but it’s another thing to explain and implement it in a way that truly resonates with the entire team. Our team had full confidence in the system and after implementing the principles prescribed, we have experienced incredible growth. And a big part of that growth can be attributed to Grio’s expertise. I truly can’t recommend working with them enough.
Machuca
Zack
As a small business owner, the struggle to identify who you are as a company can get lost in the day to day operations. Working with Grio, we have been able to not only identify who we are, but also develop a robust marketing platform used across any and all mediums to our customers. The process in which Grio helps us create our purpose is awesome. They took the time to find out who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. I would highly recommend them to any business looking to identify their culture and how they can communicate it to the world!
Tanis
Tom
Working with Grio has been nothing but a blessing. Their wisdom and expertise regarding my company's brand positioning has been monumental to understanding my customers needs and wants, while building a solid foundation for my business to grow. Grio helped me understand my business’ value proposition and showed me the true potential of my brand moving forward. I couldn’t recommend the Grio Agency highly enough!
Miller
Jack
The Grio Agency conducted a brand audit on my company and I couldn’t be more impressed with the findings and all the insights I was provided in order to enhance our ability to not only identify our ideal client but implement the best marketing strategies and market positioning for our brand. We are now engaged to refreshen my company’s web presence and put in place a marketing and content strategy as well as a lead capture platform. We are very excited about our relationship with the Grio Agency and highly recommend their services.
Almeida
Rodney
how we think
about branding
the cost of uncertainty
With empathy for customers, we realize that their biggest cost isn't money but uncertainty
empathy-led value creation
Maximizing business value doesn't always add value for the customer. The reverse is true.
At grio, we are creating an empathy-led framework to help clients escape their egocentric
Not spending money on promotion doesn't mean you're not spending money on marketing.