Recently, we began to be more selective with what startups to work with, as we saw that some startups we worked with had less-than-stellar results, while other startups thrived from our guidance and collaboration. We set out to learn why.
A True Believer is a person who has both a personal and professional belief in all of the brand value propositions. The true believer not only works on the brand as a profession but also uses the brand in their home and personal life.
I have lost bids on projects because the business I was courting could sense that I was not a True Believer in their product or service.
When a business requires its creative team to consist only of True Believers it should be regarded as a red flag of troubled logic.
The creative team is there to bring ideas to life and to solve problems. A competent, mature creative team will offer their recommendations throughout the process. Yet, at the end of the process, you need to believe in what has been created. If you don’t believe in it, you will start using something that doesn’t have your full buy-in, and your customers will smell it a mile away.
It’s worth mentioning that timing is one of the top relationship killers between creative teams and those they serve.
Whom we get feedback from is equally important as getting the actual feedback, so it is important to ask the right people for feedback. There is a temptation, however, to ask the nearest trusted warm-body: The spouse, co-worker, best friend, trusted advisor, etc.
“I’ll know it when I see it” is a phrase creatives hear a lot, and it’s a phrase we can usually resonate with quite well. Sometimes we don’t know, specifically, what we are about to create. We just have a hunch, intuition, or shadow of an idea. The end result will show itself along the way. We completely understand the “I’ll know it when I see it” mentality. It is a perfectly normal creative process.
If there’s one thing professional creative teams loathe, it’s being hired for a gig, then being directed, step-by-step, how something should look or function.At best, it sends contradictory messages.
Whether you have hired an agency, or are working with an in-house department, there are ways to get the best work from your creative team.You have expectations of getting ideas brought to life for the betterment and profitability of the product, and your creative team wants to unleash their power on your product to make it worthy of their portfolio and bragging rights. It should be a win-win thing, right?
Today we announce a focused direction for Brand Shepherd, one that specializes in working with the kinds of brands we find ourselves working with most often, resulting in years-long productive relationships: Brands that make, sell, or manage products.
Cincinnati, Ohio ABC News affiliate, WCPO 9 On Your Side, interviewed Brand Shepherd Creative Director, Dan Crask, for a take on a new niche sports apparel brand aimed specifically at tennis enthusiasts.
It was a pleasure to contribute some thoughts on why this new tennis apparel brand could be a big hit with its customers.