When XBE reached out to Decoded, the company wasn’t struggling to grow. In fact, the business had been growing consistently for years. The challenge was something else.

Decoded helped XBE bring clarity to its story

After a series of acquisitions, XBE had added new products, new capabilities, and new layers of complexity in a short period of time. Internally, the vision still made sense. But externally, and even across parts of the team, it was becoming harder to explain what the company actually was and where it was going.

The story hadn’t broken, but it had gotten more complicated.

“We had this story to tell… and it just got a little more complicated. We had to communicate it clearly, and we had to do it quickly.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

Most companies respond by doing more marketing. But when the story isn’t clear, that just creates more noise.

XBE didn’t need more activity. They needed clarity… and they needed it quickly.

Decoded helped XBE make a more complex business understandable

The initial goal was simple: relaunch the website so it reflected the business as it actually existed.

But that meant solving a harder problem. XBE needed to pull multiple companies into one story, make a complicated product ecosystem easier to understand, and do it quickly without creating more confusion later.

Decoded didn’t start with copy. They started by understanding how the business actually worked: how the pieces fit together, what had changed, and what needed to hold true for the story to make sense.

That work made the story easier to use.

Decoded earned trust by taking ownership of the outcome

This wasn’t about hiring an agency for messaging or getting more ideas on positioning.

“I needed someone I could trust to get this done… and I could count on it.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

That’s what he was buying. Not just contributing to the work, but owning the outcome. Staying focused on the goal as things got messy, priorities shifted, and new ideas came into play.

That trust wasn’t built through a pitch or a promise. It came from how the work moved forward.

“If it’s totally deferential, what’s the point? And if it’s just asserting their own ideas, that’s not the job either.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

Decoded kept the work focused and made sure it actually got done

From the beginning, the goal was clear: relaunch the website quickly and make the business easier to understand.

That goal didn’t drift, and even as new ideas came up and priorities shifted, the work stayed anchored.

“No matter what happened along the way, that goal stayed the goal.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

The website launched on time.

“We said we were going to relaunch the website… and we did.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

In the middle of acquisitions, internal change, and shifting priorities, that kind of follow-through isn’t a given. It created momentum and gave the team something real to align around.

Decoded stepped in as a partner to help XBE navigate a critical transition

After the initial engagement, XBE went through another transition. The marketing structure was changing, and there wasn’t a clear path from the current state to the next one.

Instead of slowing down, Sean called Decoded back in.

“We didn’t know all the details… but I trusted them to help us get from here to there.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

This wasn’t about a single project. It was about keeping the work moving while the path forward was still taking shape.

Decoded stayed in the work long enough to actually improve it

Most marketing work is designed to be wrapped up neatly. This wasn’t. It meant staying in the work and continuing to push it until it was actually right.

“Kristin is good at the slog… staying in the grind of getting better.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

That’s where the work got better.

Decoded helped XBE move from one-off outputs to a repeatable marketing system

Over time, the work moved beyond messaging into something more foundational.

XBE started building what they describe as a marketing factory. In practice, that meant clear positioning, defined claims, and proof points that could be reused across the website, content, and sales conversations.

“We’re very close to having a version of the marketing factory… the system that makes the marketing.” — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

This shifted marketing from one-off outputs to something the business could rely on as it grew.

“If you have marketing problems and want someone to take them seriously… I would hire Decoded.”  — Sean Devine, Founder & CEO of XBE

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If your business has outgrown its story, we can help you make it clear and keep it that way.