Dear Reader,
When we last left each other,
we mused on how brands romance their audience. Now let’s look in the mirror and reflect on what gets us there in the first place: our own brand-building processes.
Is the honeymoon over? If your approach to projects and partnerships loses its spark and is predictable, you can hardly expect the results to be electrifying. Before you know it, you’re coming to work to find a bunch of empty hangers where your good ideas used to be and a Dear John email from a client who’s run off because the thrill is gone.
So, in the spirit of avoiding the rut of routine, here are some tips that we at Moxie use before the flame starts to flicker.
Do it in weird places
Things feeling a little…stale in the boardroom?
We prefer to have our project kickoffs (both strategic and creative) in less conventional settings. The screens will always be there to ensnare us, so we tackle this critical foundational stage in an analog fashion. We’ve wandered Pearl Street Mall’s boutique clothing and décor stores to define a vodka brand, roamed around a dairy farm with watercolors in hand, visited an apothecary to make custom tea elixirs, and worked up a sweat by hitting the gym.
If you really need the creative juices to flow, consider introducing food into your brand-making.
It stimulates more senses than staring glassy-eyed at a brief, even if it is a little messier. We do this often, from sandwich-making contests (I demand a recount) to tableside teppanyaki at Benihana (talk about lighting a fire).
Explore your voyeuristic side
Moxie Sozo values formal research, focus groups, and data collection (
to a point). But to supplement this work, we also go full peeping tom to gather our own, harder-to-test insights and anecdotes that reappear at surprising points later on. We stalk shoppers in the aisles, pretending to scroll on our phones while really peering sideways to observe the bizarre mating rituals between consumer and product (we’ve seen…
things). Sometimes we approach our subjects to get to the why. We also make it a group affair with client shop-alongs. Lurking in the aisles for hours at a time, it’s a careful dance to remain discreet. We haven’t resorted to disguises. Yet.
Try a little roleplaying
Roleplaying is standard (or it should be!) throughout the branding process, from account relations to creative problem-solving, to best serve a brand, client, or consumer, rather than your own preferences. But it’s also critical before the work has even begun.
When we are courting a new partner, we of course carefully consider what’s outlined in the RFP. But we also put ourselves in the mindset of the brand's target or other stakeholders, pressure-testing and accounting for multiple viewpoints to determine alternative priorities. The result is a personalized proposal, the likes of which have even elicited a happy tear or two from a prospective partner who appreciated us reading between the lines and getting to the core of their business problem. This also has a positive impact on project agreements, for all parties—planning a more realistic scope from the jump mitigates friction down the line. That's not the kind of heat anyone is after!
Schedule a date night
Long-distance relationships are now the norm, and irl magic is dwindling (hope you were sitting down for that revelation). That’s why we consciously revive that magic with can-you-actually-believe-we’re-in-the-same-room visits. Be it a new collaborative workshop, a first-round presentation (gone are the spray mount glory days), or just some quality time with an established partner, in-person interaction is invaluable, and the energy it brings is undeniable. It guarantees great relationships and even greater work.
But that’s not always practical. When meeting in person has proven tricky, we’ve scheduled virtual happy hours. We deliver a bottle of vino to the client and play catch-up in a casual context.
This goes for the office, too. Yes, it’s true: we actually like each other here at Moxie Sozo and enjoy each other’s company. Among other events, we regularly host a book club (more wine here, too) and a cinema club (films range from artistic to absurd). Forced fun is cringe, but these completely-optional events still draw an enthusiastic crowd. Or maybe it’s the popcorn.
For a good time, call!
Emails get buried. Texts get forgotten. So pick up the phone and call. Calling may require more energy, but it accomplishes so much that an AI-generated message summary can’t. Spontaneous conversation — not preplanned group conference calls — can open little windows into what recent successes or concerns are on top of a partner's mind, and it lets them know you’re on top of theirs.
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Did your heart skip a beat, dear reader? Feel the blood pumping, the flame rekindling? Learn any new moves you want to try out? Better yet, do you have any of your own to share?
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