“Nobody can eat 50 eggs!”
It was the disbelief and outrage of his fellow inmates that pushed Paul Newman’s character in the movie Cool Hand Luke to prove that he could indeed pull off the unthinkable feat he had just muttered out loud to no one in particular. Rules are set, bets are placed, training ensues, and sure enough, Luke goes on to eat 50 hard-boiled eggs—all the while bringing the group together around a shared experience and making believers of them all.
What does this have to do with
branding?
For us, the idea of eating 50 eggs serves as a metaphor that aptly represents the spirit of our approach and work ethic—plus one more egg. To accomplish the impossible just for the sake of doing it. We constantly push ourselves to make things not merely what they can be, but to make them what they could be. We believe the further you push an idea, the more depth, layers, and meaning you can give it, the more engaging it is for everybody. We also believe that this spirit is contagious, and that it can be infused into everything that we do.
Since our founding in 2009, we've made a lot of different things, but all of them have been rooted in this spirit of collaboration, enthusiasm for ideas, and the thrill of making something out of nothing just for the sake of doing it.
It’s complicated, but it’s simple.
The process is the work.
Dig
We are immersive thinkers, putting ourselves at the root of the work, the space it needs to inhabit, and the world we want to create within it. Our research ranges widely from tangental to abstract, because it’s in the deepest corners of the mind and the world that the most interesting ideas and connections can be found. A thorough excavation yields the most choice nuggets.
Explore
An idea, when first discovered, is like landing on the shore of a new land. It may seem huge and promising but it must be thoroughly explored to truly know if it’s a continent or an island—an open road or a dead end. Only expansive ideas that open up and lead to new territory are worth pursuing.
Push
A good idea can always be better and it takes real work to realize them to their full potential. Refining, critiquing, evaluating, and relentlessly pushing to improve them is what makes an idea stand apart in the end. That work, when done with conviction and focus, makes an idea the most visceral true expression of itself and imbues it with an undeniable integrity.
Make
The manifestation of the idea is the culminating result of all these efforts. To take something that exists only in the mind and making it into a real thing in the real world is like a feat of conjuring. It takes imagination, conviction, hard work, and follow through. This is the cornerstone of what we do.
Repeat
The creative process is circular, not linear. These steps are repeated multiple times throughout the manifestation of a brand, each cycle improves and amplifies the core idea, giving it strength and momentum while refining its execution. Every idea and every project follows this course—experience allows for faster cycles and more compelling and enduring results.
Brands are built on conviction.
Here are some of ours:
Play the long game.
Building a brand that people love doesn’t happen over night. It takes time, and dedication. We all have to believe in the idea, have the courage to stand behind it, and then commit to the investment of making it real.
A brand is a Trojan horse.
A brand is vehicle for ideas. A good brand packages its mission, values, and purpose effortlessly within its presentation and behavior making its strategy for delivering its message to an audience invisible, thereby opening the gates of hearts and minds.
Don’t be boring.
People are smart. They expect the obvious, so give them something more. It’s more interesting to be unique in a category than to do like the others do. Anticipate expectations, flip them on their heads, and leverage them to your advantage—all with the intention of delightfully exceeding them.
Still waters run deep.
An engaging brand has more going on below the surface than what most people see. Within this undercurrent is a depth of meaning that creates an intangible energy making a brand feel alive. Most people won’t see it, but they can feel its pull.
Feed people with breadcrumbs.
People are all searching for meaning, but they may need help to find it. Leave a breadcrumb trail of ideas that leads people to make meaningful connections between them. This engages consumers and activates the brand in their minds.
How we work best:
Big ideas, boutique approach.
Every Brand is different, and so are its needs. We tailor our services to best suit the brand both for where it is in the moment while always looking forward to where it’s headed. Because we believe that everything is a brand opportunity, we wear a lot of hats. The scale of what is possible is only contained by our collective ability to imagine it.
We want to make real things.
We are big believers in taking action and making real things. We like to roll up our sleeves and collaborate with clients who have ambition and the conviction to follow through. It’s hard work to make something out of nothing, but the thrill and satisfaction of it can’t be beat.
Cut to the chase.
We value transparency in our process and directness in our relationships with our clients. Working directly with the key stakeholders within a project offers maximum creative impact by allowing us to fast track thinking and decision-making while keeping the collaboration conversational and productive.
We are purpose driven, not ego driven.
We are led by our belief that the brand guides decision making—not personal preferences or self interests. What’s best for the brand is what takes priority. We strive to create as much clarity around the brand’s goals, strategy, positioning, voice, and execution as possible so that everyone can have a shared understanding of how to best advance the brand as a team.