Client Success Case Studies
Some client details are anonymised for privacy reasons
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In just 14 days, Devon van der Merwe’s LinkedIn profile transformed from static to strategic. With a sharper digital presence and purposeful content, his impressions surged by over 1,000%, meaningful engagement replaced passive likes and he began drawing the attention of decision-makers in South African sport.
The full story
Devon’s career bridges two demanding arenas: high-performance sport and executive strategy. Yet on LinkedIn, that depth and duality weren’t translating into influence. His profile read more like a CV than a platform of thought leadership. The challenge was clear: to shift his presence from background observer to visible, credible voice in both sport and business.
The context
LinkedIn is crowded with professionals competing for attention, and most profiles look the same: lists of roles, buzzwords, and generic posts. For someone like Devon, whose work lives at the intersection of sport, leadership and strategy, a cut-and-paste approach would not capture his edge. He needed to:
Clarify his narrative.
Translate on-the-ground credibility into digital authority.
Build consistent visibility that attracted the right audience: leaders, educators, consultants and decision-makers.
The process
The work began with a LinkedIn Profile Audit: tightening his positioning, reframing his achievements and making his expertise discoverable in searches. Once the foundation was set, we activated his presence through thought leadership content. The posting strategy was simple but intentional: share authentic reflections that bridge sport and leadership.
After two weeks, the results spoke for themselves:
New Followers: His first two posts gained him 21 new followers.
Impressions: Content impressions climbed by 1,077% to 5772, reaching 1892 members and drew commentary from sports leaders and educators.
Engagement Quality: “Likes” evolved into meaningful dialogue, with coaches and consultants engaging in real conversations.
The outcome
Devon’s visibility skyrocketed:
161 new profile views.
20 search appearances in the same window, showing he was surfacing in the right contexts.
Recognition not just for his titles, but for his ideas and voice.
The transformation
The shift wasn’t only about numbers. It was about perception. Devon is no longer hidden in the background of his industry. His LinkedIn now reflects the leader he is, someone shaping conversations in sport and strategy rather than just participating in them. The transformation positioned him as:
A trusted voice among peers.
A discoverable professional to decision-makers locally and abroad.
A thought leader whose reflections spark dialogue rather than disappear in the scroll.
In just two weeks, Devon went from being “present” on LinkedIn to being seen, heard and respected. He has now committed himself to weekly posts on thought leadership in his field.
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Natalie Hirt is the driving force behind Passage Reisen, a thriving second-generation family business offering immersive travel and tour experiences. Despite her passion for the business, her online presence was minimal, especially on LinkedIn, where her personal profile was created years ago simply because “everyone had one,” yet remained unused, devoid of content and distant from her brand’s vibrancy.
The Full Story
Natalie had always felt she should have a LinkedIn presence, but she never posted, and neither she nor her team had any social media experience. She didn’t envision LinkedIn as a meaningful platform for her niche in travel. The profile, and even the company page, offered no vivid storytelling or visual enticement, merely a digital placeholder.
Recognizing the missed opportunity, we undertook a comprehensive profile audit and rebranding plan. We refreshed her identity, crafted a twelve-month posting strategy complete with content series and calendar, and created her first full post for August 2025. We transformed key visual elements, including her banner image, and revamped her company page to align with her brand’s promise: inspiring unforgettable journeys.
The Context
Her Background: As a second-generation business owner, Natalie carries both legacy and innovation in shaping Passage Reisen’s narrative.
Her LinkedIn Situation: Her personal LinkedIn profile was basic and dormant: no posts, no engagement. The company page mirrored that inertia with only the bare minimum of details.
Her Constraints: Time and expertise; Natalie was deeply engrossed in running day-to-day operations, and her team lacked social media confidence.
The challenge: Turn a silent, uninspiring presence into a compelling, community-building platform, without overwhelming Natalie’s capacity.
The Process
Profile Audit & Strategy Design
We analysed her profile elements and saw the need for cohesive branding. A posting plan was designed, stretching twelve months ahead, with monthly themes, content pillars (e.g., behind-the-scenes travel storytelling, client testimonials, travel tips) and posting frequency.
Banner Rebrand
Her old banner featured an abstract desert landscape, beautiful but too artistic to communicate travel excitement. We replaced it with a vibrant wildlife scene featuring tourists immersed in nature, immediately inviting viewers to picture themselves on such journeys.
Profile Refresh
We enriched her profile with fuller descriptions, engaging imagery and a restructured “About” section to highlight the unique value of a second-generation travel family business.
First August 2025 Post Creation
We crafted and published Natalie’s first full post: a heartfelt introduction tying her personal journey, family legacy and brand vision. It offered insight, authenticity and storytelling that set the tone for deeper future engagement.
Reposting Strategy for Increased Reach
To boost visibility, we urged her to repost that first article via the company page, leveraging both personal and business networks to widen engagement.
The Outcome
The transformation was immediate and visible:
Engagement Metrics
25 new profile visits
6 reposts (extending reach across networks)
Over 2600 impressions reaching more than 1150 members
Community Responses
The comments underscored the value of her personal and family-driven approach:“Bleiben Sie Ihrer Linie treu… Für eine gute Beratung ist mir der Weg … nicht zu weit.”
“Wunderbar beschrieben, ich bin stolz, ein Teil der Passage Familie zu sein 🤗.”
“Die persönliche Atmosphäre und das grosse Engagement … machen den Unterschied.”
“In der heutigen Zeit ist es besonders schön, noch ein solch traditionelles Familienunternehmen … zu haben.”
“Familienunternehmen ticken einfach anders – man spürt die Nähe, das Herzblut und den direkten Draht.”
The feedback validated not only Natalie’s post, but her business identity: a trusted family brand where heart, expertise and personal service shine.
The Transformation
From Silent to Visible: Natalie evolved from a virtually invisible LinkedIn presence to an active, authentic voice in the travel space.
From Generic to Relatable: The visual shift from an abstract banner to an immersive wildlife scene made the brand instantly more engaging and emotionally resonant.
From Inertia to Interaction: The audit-based strategy empowered her to start meaningful conversations online with clients, partners and fans of travel storytelling.
From Bare-Minimum to Brand-Building: With a refreshed profile and company page aligned with her webpage, Natalie now has an integrated digital gateway for branding, recruitment and lead generation.
The first post was proof: the community responded with warmth, recognition and trust. What was once dormant is now alive: a channel where Natalie’s business values, family legacy and customer promise can thrive.
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A family-run agribusiness needed to formalise its long-standing sustainability practices in line with ESG reporting standards. We helped translate their values into a structured ESG statement, align their reporting with baseline disclosure guidelines, and set realistic improvement targets, without losing the authenticity of their voice.
The Full Story
A second-generation agribusiness, known in its province for ethical farming and employment practices, found itself facing new pressures. Regulatory expectations around ESG reporting were growing and a recent audit had flagged their lack of public disclosures as a risk.
The family didn’t want to look like they were “jumping on the sustainability bandwagon.” They had been living these values for years. But they needed help communicating it, especially with overseas distributors now asking for formal ESG statements.
They approached C-Suite Studio on a referral from a friend who had noticed us on LinkedIn.
The Context
This was not a faceless commercial enterprise. It was a family-run operation with deep community ties and a strong reputation built over time. Most of their sustainability and social impact efforts, from fair employment to responsible water use, were woven into daily life, not found in formal documents.
But without any formal ESG documentation, they risked being overlooked or misunderstood in a shifting regulatory landscape. Buyers wanted clarity. So did potential funders.
They were especially unfamiliar with global ESG reporting frameworks, and unsure about standards like GRI, SASB or King IV guidelines. They needed to start from the ground up, no greenwashing, no jargon, just honest and structured reporting.
The Process
We conducted a Reputation & Risk Communication Audit, identifying where gaps existed between what the business was doing and what it was communicating, particularly around labour practices, water use and land regeneration.
Then we worked with them to develop:
A plain-language ESG Statement grounded in their day-to-day reality (rainwater harvesting, small-scale solar, composting, and on-farm skills development).
A foundational reporting framework aligned with baseline ESG disclosure standards, focusing on material topics relevant to their size and sector.
A short list of achievable, measurable ESG targets, including phased data tracking on energy use and staff training, to help show steady year-on-year improvement.
A family-authored introduction for their annual update, which we helped lightly refine, keeping the tone warm, humble and jargon-free.
Everything was documented in a single annual-style PDF that could grow in depth over time. We also developed a visual version in two languages for community distribution.
The Outcome
Their new ESG statement was well received by both suppliers and local stakeholders.
It was suggested they be nominated for a provincial sustainability recognition award.
Internally, they began formally tracking basic sustainability metrics for the first time, making it easier to update reports and prepare for future audits.
The Transformation
Before, their contribution was solid but was kept behind the scenes. Afterwards, they had the words, visuals and confidence to share their impact with credibility and heart.
The focus was on building baseline ESG record-keeping and committing to clear, achievable targets over time, not spinning a story.
“We’re not good at fancy writing, we just know how to do our work. This helped us put it into words we’re proud of.”
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She had 20+ years in financial leadership, scaled a company from R80M to R300M, but no online visibility. Within 90 days, her presence positioned her for a board seat.
The Full Story:
She had the experience, the track record and the trust of executive teams.
What she didn’t have? A digital presence that reflected her readiness for the boardroom.
The Context
This Johannesburg-based CFO had helped scale her company from R80 million to R300 million over four years, navigating market volatility, cost restructuring and a merger.
But on LinkedIn, she was invisible.
Headline: “Chief Financial Officer”
About section: Generic, no mention of governance or transformation
Activity: <150 profile views in 6 months, zero recruiter approaches
To peers and recruiters online, she looked like just another CV.
The Process
Over a structured repositioning, we worked with her to:
Shift her headline to value: “CFO | Board Advisor | Governance & Transformation Leader”
Reframe career milestones into measurable outcomes
Rewrite her About section to show voice, values and vision
Optimise her profile with keywords, recommendations and algorithm signals
Guide her to share thought leadership posts that reflected on trust, transformation and financial storytelling
Her profile stopped sounding like a job description. It started sounding like leadership.
The Outcome
The shift was visible in the numbers:
Profile views grew 620% (25 → 180 per month)
Network grew by +210 followers in 90 days
Engagement rate climbed from under 1% to 4.8%
She was approached by 2 executive recruiters
Within 12 weeks, she was invited into a formal board search
Her career hadn’t changed. Her visibility had.
The Transformation
She no longer sees LinkedIn as an online CV. She sees it as a strategic platform: one that reflects her leadership and opens board-level opportunities.
“This is the first time my public voice feels like it matches the weight of what I do.”
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A Durban-based founder posted once and converted the attention into a R650,000 project.
The Full Story:
He ran a lean consultancy, did brilliant work, but hated the idea of “marketing.”
The Context:
This Durban-based design-thinking consultant had built a profitable practice through referrals. His work had saved clients millions in process waste and service delivery failures, but his digital presence didn’t reflect any of it.
“I hate this idea of having to continually find something to post every second day, just to be visible.”
Still, he agreed to a 1-month light-touch storytelling experiment with us.
The Process:
We guided him through:
One low-key profile update focused on real value, not fluff
One single, story-led post about helping a logistics client save nearly R2 million by applying design thinking to a supply chain issue
A comment strategy to engage with peers and potential clients after posting
The Outcome:
The post reached 1,400 views - modest, but meaningful in his niche
A senior exec at a national logistics company saw the post via a connection’s comment
It led to a virtual coffee, which led to a 3-month scoped project worth R650,000
The Transformation:
This founder still posts only once a month, but he now sees each post as a conversation starter, not a broadcast.
“I see now it isn’t about quantity; it’s about posting an interesting story and being seen by the right person at the right time.”
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From AI-generated noise to authentic traction, this tech founder rewrote her story and landed a podcast spotlight.
The Full Story
A tech founder came to us with consistent LinkedIn activity but no results to show for it. Her posts were regular, AI-polished and technically sound. But no shares, no comments, no direct messages, just polite likes from her inner circle.
The writing wasn't the problem. It was the resonance; she needed a story that stuck.
The Context:
This founder was building a fast-growing platform and knew visibility mattered, especially as she started fundraising. She had already committed to posting weekly, often using generative tools to craft informative updates about product features, growth strategies and startup life.
But despite her effort and discipline, nothing was landing.
Her content sounded just like every other well-behaved founder in her space: professional, technically correct but emotionally sterile. There was no spark, no vulnerability and no texture that made her memorable.
The Process:
We stepped in and started from the inside out.
Clarified her voice: Stripped the buzzwords and softened the robotic tone that AI had introduced
Reframed her founder origin story: From a functional "I built this because I saw a gap" to a grounded, human story about why solving this problem mattered to her
Co-wrote key posts: Including one that paired a personal lesson with a relatable industry pain point
Added narrative tension: Each post now hinted at stakes, decisions and lived experience
Set a tone guide she could continue using with or without AI tools
The Outcome
Three weeks in, the right post landed.
It didn’t go viral; it didn’t need to because it drew in real engagement from the right people in her industry.
The post recorded her highest view count to date, comments came from new voices, not just familiar faces
A podcast host in her space reached out for a guest interview, citing that post specifically
The Transformation
Her content no longer sounds like it was written by AI trained on sterile content.
It sounds like her, a founder with something to say.
She still uses AI to assist her workflow, but now it’s shaped by a real voice and a richer story. One that sticks.
“I didn’t realise how much of my content sounded just so-so, but now I see how boring it was.”