I love helping brand tell their story. But before ‘getting creative’ and picking up a pencil to tell any story or craft that unicorn idea, I insist on rolling up my sleeves and doing the hard graft of unearthing uniquely human emotional nuggets relevant to the project.

Like this one, ‘You don’t realize you’ve settled, until it’s already too late’, for Dos Equis. This unnerving insight about the audience led to the active ‘Get A Dos’ platform. An idea that could flex to any message and was designed to nudge this older drinker out of their sense of settledness. 

During the pandemic the urgent question on everyone’s mind  was when will we get back to normal? The insight we arrived at for The North Face was, ‘Why go back to normal. Normal sucked!’.  This led to the ‘Reset Normal’ platform, a company wide activist initiative that leveraged a defining cultural moment to build a better more equitable future. While underlining the brand’s evergreen ethos to Never Stop Exploring. And sell some jackets along the way.

Looking further out across the advertising landscape I instantly relate to these;  You’re not yourself when you’re hungry. (Snickers), Everyone fears the day you turn into your parents (Progressive). Excellent insights that generate brilliant advertising. And again, are emotional and uniquely human.

These truth won’t be generated by AI. They are uniquely part of our human broad experience and I am curious about almost everything. I am especially fascinated by people. And more than working towards specific trends, channels or technologies I believe that only by excavating a  unique human truth can we craft compelling stories and ideas - for any format or platform that will connect emotionally. 

And it’s hard work, human work, but always worth the sweat and tears. Especially in this oversaturated and algorithmic era of ‘meh’ we seem to be living through. A briliant insight can be the foundation for breakthrough work that keeps on giving, and might just open fresh and unexpected spaces for a brand to authentically play.

We are all measured by our actions, more than our words. And our true character values will be revealed through our actions, particularly  in times of stress. The key then is how we frame and tell all our stories about our actions and values, both to ourselves and to others.

And brands that do this well, make sure that every story they tell, every experience they design, every action they take adds up to one hero brand emotion.  

Volvo don't sell cars, they sell Safety.
Rolex don’t sell watches, they sell Status.
Budweiser don’t sell beer, they sell Pride.
Nike don’t sell sneakers, they sell empowerment.

That’s good storytelling. That’s good advertising. Traveling a lot as a kid, and luckily later throughout my career, has fostered an insatiable curiosity. I love my work, I always stay open to new experiences and I am always on the hunt for fresh ideas. And it all seems to come together under the art of storytelling.