How indie agency Siberia’s work with James Beard Foundation offers a glimpse into its operating ethos

Chris Mele, Siberia’s managing partner and founder, operates on a simple principle: don’t lead with tech — it should underpin what an agency does for a client, but not be the core or rallying point. And with JBF, that thinking came very much in handy. 

“It dates back to the pandemic and some of the larger societal changes that the restaurant industry was going through,” he told Digiday. “JBF recognized that things are really getting turned on their head, and there’s a need for leadership — and they’re very uniquely positioned to serve that leadership role.”

“We’ve been evolving our mission over the years, and refining and tweaking it in terms of our articulation and the mantra of ‘Good food for good,’ which has had currency for many years now,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation. “But if you looked at our digital face to the world, it was just out of sync. So this was the opportunity to say, ‘OK, how do we ensure how we show up is both state of the art, but also is a far clearer articulation and demonstration of what we represent and all the work we do.’”

Tamar Simpson, JBF’s vp of marketing and communications, explained that Siberia won the RFP based on its ability to understand the deeper mission beyond technological updates. “They really thought about what our needs were, how we were going to come to fruition with this digital offering and transformation,” said Simpson. “That was really important, because we know that they had the technology and the design piece of it covered — but did they really understand what JBF was trying to do? That really came through in very early on in the RFP process.”

The deep collaboration between client and agency emboldened Mele and head of design Dave Snyder to suggest something as daring as eliminating the word “food” from JBF’s tagline “American food culture.” “When we just landed on ‘American culture’ as part of the vision, it really changed the whole tenor of the project and what we were trying to do with the brand.”

“Food is so firmly in the mission” of what JBF does, said Reichenbach. “It’s integral to all of American culture, not just food culture per se. It touches every expression of it. So that was the ‘aha!’ moment.”

The resulting website, which replaces a decade-old site, was constructed to distinguish the awards part of what JBF does — you’ve certainly heard of “James Beard-award winning chef” if you’ve ever watched The Food Network — from three other verticals the foundation is focusing on: research and insights, the James Beard Institute’s training materials, and a take-action network. Separately, the site also features enhanced looks at its brick-and-mortar events. And a Chef and Restaurant Finder that enables discovery will launch in the next few weeks. 

“The idea here is that we need to have a two-way conversation” with JBF’s varied audiences, said Simpson. “Previously, it was very informational where this one is really built on engagement.”

Dave Snyder, Siberia’s head of design, said taking a non-linear approach helped to unlock insights. “A lot of times when an organization goes through a sizable rebrand, they start with the research that leads to positioning and logos and colors — and only then you get to what the website looks like, which is almost an afterthought,” he said. “I like working that way as you solve the problems that need to be solved when they need to be solved, as opposed to a very prescribed waterfall type approach.”

”Our website may be in a post-web world, but it’s still really an important platform,” said Reichenbach. 

Simpson said that beyond the rebrand and web redesign, tweaks will be made to email and social engagement, while a brand campaign will roll out later this year, also handled by Siberia.

Bottom line, summed up Mele: “A core principle for us is that the best way for brands to communicate with audiences is to actually serve them through utility, and not just talk at them or talk to them.”