In my previous post, I covered the grey areas in branding between personal and corporate. This time around, I’m going a bit deeper. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that jazz, but frankly speaking, it’s just skin deep. Don’t get me wrong- aesthetics do count. We all love a beautiful smile and a hearty laugh, but that’s just surface level. The smile draws you in, but that’s not what makes you put a ring on it. True beauty comes from within- the essence of a being; how a person conducts themselves, their ethical and moral value system, how they engage with their peers and those older and younger. It’s a complex set of characteristics that strike a ‘connection’ in your heart, where you’re then hooked for life. Now we all know how life can randomly throw a lemon or two at you when you least expect it, but it’s this ‘connection’ that helps you navigate the sour situations, yet holding on to what’s important to you. That’s why you need to go deep. Your Identity... Your inner being is crucial to almost everything about you. It’s what defines you; it’s your identity. From what you believe in and what you stand for, it shapes your ‘voice’ that you carry out into the world. In today’s day and age, this identity that we speak of has developed far more layers than what we were familiar with a decade ago. Let me explain… It’s highly probable that you’ve got a LinkedIn page that you update ever so often, because we need it to maintain our social/professional image. You may have noticed since the last year, you now can showcase ‘pronouns’ to display on your profile page. This is to tell visitors how you identify yourself, and in return, how they need to address you. Back in the day, you were either male or female, and that was that. Societal reforms took quite a while to open up to the transgender community because they didn’t conform to either gender, and slowly people realised that we just couldn’t be turning a blind eye towards other humans that were just different from us. In some third world countries till date, these often-misunderstood people are still shunned as outcasts mainly because the prevailing culture is still too archaic. But as humans, we’re an amazing species when we manage to look beyond ourselves and work towards inclusions, and that’s how gender identity has become quite the layered topic. We’re not debating the morality of anything here because we’re not people of the clergy, but the point I’m making here is that there’s a whole lot more acknowledgement now of people who identify themselves differently than the original flavours. Most of the first world countries today recognise multiple gender categories, such as non-binary and a-gender folk. You may argue here, “but some of that is all just a state of mind!”, and you’d be somewhat right in stating that. Yet whether mental or physical, there is some acknowledgement of such divergence under the LGBTQ+ banner. Honestly, I’ve lost track of how many other consonants or symbols are being added onto that, and neither am I one to judge, but it does show how the newer generations are being more open-minded to a lot of previously tricky and complex issues that are now considered as stifling to their identity. Today, we’re having mass protests in Iran over compulsory wearing of the hijab, and women there are just not backing down, even if it means risking their actual lives. Pretty sure the guys in Saudi Arabia are watching nervously from around the corner. People are standing up for themselves; for an ‘updated’ version of their lives, for an ‘updated’ tomorrow. No to hijabs. No to corruption. No to abortion control. No to racism. No to bullsh*t- well sorry, that last one’s just me. People just want to be heard. Understood. Felt. Validated. And you can only do that with empathy. We’re not born with this ability- it’s nurtured over time. It doesn’t happen by itself; you must want to build it as a characteristic of your own value system. Your own identity. So where am I going with this, you ask… patience, my dear reader; you must know about Rome. Now take all this understanding about identity and apply it to the brands of today. The successful ones are those that have a clear-cut identity. You know what they stand for, what they offer, and how they resonate with you personally. It’s why you’re a regular consumer of said brand. It’s because of their on-point messaging and strategy, be it product, price, or whatever metric you’d like to factor in. It just works for you. So, it’s pretty simple right? Not nearly so, because when you suddenly widen the target audience from Gen X to Gen Z, you’ll realise that its quite complicated, given the fact that each generation has their own identities, perceptions, values, and the likes. They have uniquely different aspirations, which when it comes to brand messaging and positioning, can be quite the tedious task to ensure everyone is spoken for. If the creative team doesn’t do their job right, you as a brand will suffer losses because you’ll fall off the radar of your favourite customer base, simply because you’re no longer appealing to them for whatever reason. As they say, you can’t please everyone, so it’s best to focus on what really matters: sustainability, but in every aspect though. If your brand is forward-thinking, you’ll be doubly conscientious in plotting out your strategy. You’ll want to be able to hear your customers. Understand them. Feel them. Connect with them. This is what is referred to as having empathy in branding. The Four Pillars of Brand Empathy If you’re hitting the 4 pillars covering foundation, cognitive, emotional and action when crafting your message, then you’ve created a personable brand that’s bound to connect with a wider range of your customers and build a relationship that resonates and lasts. I could get into further details, but at this point, I’ll pass on the opportunity of turning this into a novel. What I will tell you though, is that it’s absolutely imperative that this gets done for any brand that wants to make it into the next decade, because the generation of your customer base will have changed by then, and you can’t be sitting on the wall sounding like a dinosaur. So look within- deeper. Because at Unmarketing, that’s where we start. It’s one of the first steps of our process when it comes to branding - the UNM Workshops. Amazing things happen during these sessions with our clients. We take a long and deep look into your identity- your past, present and future. We dissect your brand story, your origins, stakeholder vision and sentiments, the ignition factor, the customer journey and what they have to say about you, the brand experience as a whole, and the glue that keeps it all together. But we don’t stop there. Given our breadth of experience with top tier brands across the globe covering most industries, we then challenge your game plan. You see, mulling over the marketing plans for weeks and months, there’s a high chance you’ve probably got tunnel vision already, and that puts you in a zone with a blind spot or two. Unless you’ve got a big team that has done their homework really well, so kudos to you, but in our experience, 8 out of 10 times we’ll end up discovering those blind spots. In some cases, we end up creating something brand spanking new in terms of a future business vertical or then even a realignment of stakeholders’ objectives and company direction. Sounds like a whole lot, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what you’d be paying for. We’re not interested in being ‘yes’ people just looking to bill you with typical mundane crap. That’s not how we do it. We have our own identity that’s built on a strong culture code, definably convergent as we are. Unalike. Unafraid. Unanticipated… That’s us in a nutshell. Question is: what are you willing to challenge about yourself?

Meaningful Stories are at the heart of what our team does. The Unmarketing Agency is a leading branding agency with a passion for creative storytelling and crafting memorable brands and experiences. We work closely with our partners to identify their strengths, and we help them communicate their unique selling points. We do not just market — we help brands connect with their customers. For us solving business problems through meaningful design is a collective motivation for us to keep doing what we do. ​As such, we’re delighted to share that we’ve been recognized by Clutch, a B2B firm that connects businesses with service providers. Clutch’s 2022 research says that we’re currently one of the top branding companies in Singapore! “This is a validation to us that our unique approach in helping clients articulate their branding and messaging, and developing poignant stories that are meaningful to their customers, really does work.” Gladwyn Lewis — CEO, The Unmarketing Agency Clutch.co is committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses collaborate with capable solutions providers. Each year, the B2B platform highlights the top companies by industry and location. To be eligible for a Clutch Leader Award, companies must exhibit an unusually high ability to deliver top-tier work to their clients. Receiving this award is no small feat, and we’re extremely appreciative of this recognition. Let's get started with your project, and see how we can help you craft a signature brand and stories to better connect with your audiences/consumers.

Now obviously when I am talking about Sonic Branding, I don't mean this Sonic. Although it is quite often confused with Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic Branding is the audio component of everything associated with your brand, hence Sonic or Audio Branding. And we have written a couple of pieces on Sonic Branding earlier, that I feel you should read, especially if the linguistics surrounding Sonic Branding is yet a bit vague to you, and not clearly articulated. Are you an ambitious brand? Here's a challenge, the most notable brands that have dabbled in Sonic Branding, and successfully I might add, are Brands that have Ambition in my opinion. Brands that are willing to push the boundaries in their interactions/perspectives with their audiences. It doesn't have to be B2B or B2C, there are notable sonic implementations across both sectors that have done it remarkably well. For example, Mastercard, Shell and Apple have been consistent in retaining top place in the audio brand index. Sonic also has been used very well by Aircall, a company that provides cloud-based phone systems and contact centre solutions. In fact they went a number of steps further, in developing a sonic branding that showcased its technical solutions, as well as energy, creativity and people. To us Sonic Branding is a great team building exercise, getting into music and sound textures that inspire people, and asking the deeper questions like why and how. It's a great insight into having both the client side and the agency side working together, playing around with multiple layers to express your company's identity in the both basic and fundamental of all senses, hearing. But does Sonic Branding help your bottomline? Well Best Audio Brands report debuted in 2019 and it quantifies a brand’s audio performance against criteria including customer trust, recognition, efficiency, and engagement. When it comes to recognition, the report showed industry sectors to score the highest for audio branding are luxury goods, automotive and energy. In contrast, those sectors scoring highest for trust are energy, travel and restaurants. Remarkable, so there is data that fundamentally supports our hypothesis, Sonic Branding is a great tool in a brand's marketing arsenal. The Meteoric Rise of Sonic Branding While Sonic Branding has seen a meteoric rise in the last couple of years, it is yet not ubiquitous, and this presents a challenge to agencies like us, especially in educating prospects and our existing clients on the fundamentals of Sonic Identity and its usage in today's brand landscape. To me, and to a certain extent to us at the Unmarketing Agency, it's all about fleshing out your brand’s DNA, values, history and purpose. What makes you different from it's competitors, and what does your brand truly stand for? Then we take this insights and word cloud, and dig into the outcome. Transposing this research, benchmarks, discussions into a tangible asset, looking for the right sounds that fit into it, and creating a series of sonic templates that communicate the emotions clearly. But why is sound so important? In the race to capture eyeballs, attention has taken a backseat, although, hopefully for not too long. People react to a new sound up to 10 times faster – about 30 milliseconds – than they respond to a visual stimulus. The way our brains process sound is also more linked into subliminal processes than conscious thought. And then there is again research that actually supports this. Man Made Studios showed subconscious reaction to sound is responsible for 86 per cent of our decision to engage (or avoid) an associated experience. Even an Ipsos study into distinctive brand assets, showed that across more than 2000 video advertising pieces of creative, sonic brand cues were 8.53 times more powerful than visual brand assets tested in terms of performance. Audio is already ubiquitous in our lives While audio is not ubiquitous in brands, it is prevalent across our modern lives. Over 60% of US consumers listen to podcasts, and it's usage in our daily lives has doubled in the last couple of years. Top of it over 80% of internet savvy folk, are aware of podcasts today, and in some geographies like Australia, over 91% are aware of podcasts. In the old hey day of the advertising days, we knew that a good music score could significantly elevate an ad. The combination of music and voice was always found to make an ad more memorable and emotional. Let's put it this way, with our collective shorter attention spans, and multiple media platforms clamouring for our attention, any brand that embraces sonic at its very core, will always be in a distinct advantage over the rest of the crowd. Sonic Branding is not about how loud your brand is, but about how consistent your brand is, to its consumers across all its touchpoints. Add as many senses that you can affect in all the touchpoints, you've got yourself a winning formula there. Sonic branding is where you take the characteristics and find something very unique when they’re blended. It’s like a custom pair of shoes – it’s not going to sound like anyone else Understanding a brand's sonic identity is way more complex that just a sonic logo, or a jingle. Its the emotional response and the connection that is made with the consumer because of the added 'hearing' sense layer. One classic example of a brand that did this successfully is Mastercards' Sonic Identity at Checkout. While it sounds so simple, it's execution was an all encompassing, comprehensive, global project. The melody was developed in partnership with musicians, artists and agencies globally, including Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and adapted to harness operatic, cinematic, playful and regional styles. The core 8-bar melody has been extended across a range of assets including musical scores, advertisements, sound logos, ringtones, hold music and point-of-sale sounds. Let's face it Sonic is already centerstage, the challenge is how to leverage it best for your brand. From mobile apps, to mobile devices, diabetic devices, and your home, with your Smart TV, there are elements of Sonic Branding at play all around you. Our open challenge, time to elevate your brand And yet only 20 of the Fortune 500 companies have a sonic logo in place, and probably less than 10 have a serious sonic strategy. Maybe its time to change the tables, and really make sonic identity a bit more mainstream than it actually is. If you consider yourself to be a part of an ambitious brand, and are looking for your own unique Sonic Branding, get in touch with our team, and let's work together.

Brand Strategy is one of those words that’s used and abused to make things sound very important. Guess what, your brand strategy formula is actually really important! For those who don’t really get into brand strategy, it can be complicated at best and intimidating at worst. I don’t think “strategy” can be entirely taught as it relies heavily on empathy, creativity, communication and perspective. Brand Strategy is not a plan. A list of actions/tactics with timelines and set resources is a plan. Your Strategy should be much more than that. Brand Strategy is like a bridge that takes you from where you are to where you want to be. I’ve always wondered if strategies could be developed based on formulae. I don’t know what I don’t know, but I know I am on to something with my random obsession with defining a formula for strategy. The Brand Strategy Formula Let’s break down each variable in the strategy equation: Empathy - The information Empathy is that one thing everyone talks about and it’s critical for you to understand the context, people, places, etc. Empathy has 2 parts to it here: You gather data by being empathetic. You analyse data in an empathetic manner. Creativity - The thought I think Einstein said “creativity is intelligence having fun” because you are creative when your cognitive abilities are fuelled by critical thinking. Creativity requires problem-solving based on insights via divergent thinking and convergent thinking. A positive mindset is essential for creativity. Storytelling - The voice “Stories are a communal currency of humanity”, through stories you can use the power of persuasion to bring people together and back your cause. Your narrative is the key to unleashing your strategy and applying it. Telling stories is human. Perspective - The multiplier Perspective is strength. Perspective helps you with exponential growth. Perspective matters the most. Everything in life is a double-edged sword, and so is perspective. Before you get too excited about gathering random people with varied perspectives, here is a quote that I recently came across: “Your perspective will either become your prison or your passport”. This means that if you get perspective wrong, your perspective multiplier in the formula is <1, meaning, your strategy fails, so do the math! How does it all come together to form a strategy, you ask? It’s an equation so it surely must be measurable - “measure twice, cut once!” Empathy helps you gather and comprehend the dots - perspective teaches you to be empathetic. Creativity is connecting the dots in a meaningful way - perspective helps you find the right dots to connect. Storytelling sets the narrative for the connected dots - perspective helps you craft that narrative. Narratives have the capacity to transcend beyond the typical human life span and take their spot in history and you see what perspective does, right? Now, strategy is the result of all the different perspectives you've gathered all your life and put together to form a plan that will help solve a specific problem. In other words, strategy is what you do when you want to change what you're doing. Strategy is what aligns you with external changes and enables you to adapt and make the most of your situation. I would define strategy as the culmination of all the perspectives you’ve gained to develop an approach that solves a specific problem. In business and life: Vision Mission Strategy Roadmap Plan & Tactics Execution Support If you take a closer look at the above list, Strategy bridges the gap between what you want to do and what you are currently doing. The quality of your strategy is reliant on a few things: Perspective & Empathy Relevant experience A certain level of skill External forces (market trends, stakeholders, capital, etc) Communication The above factors keep changing. Strategy is not something that you develop once and will remain constant. It should be dynamic and adaptive in nature. Since we all know that change is the only true constant, you can plan around it. You need to optimise your strategy to adapt to changes in your ecosystem, and we all know that “change” is the only true constant. So, always strategize but don’t get stuck in that limbo between thinking and doing, keep moving! Strategy without execution is useless—Execution without strategy is aimless.

In colour psychology, grey represents neutrality and balance. It is symbolic of a wide range of characteristics associated with humans. By now, you’ve probably read most of them, if not all that’s out there. I’m referring to the countless “How To” articles on branding- how to create a strong visual identity, how to market your brand, how to entice your customer, how to milk the cow… figuratively, of course. Not in the same bucket. Yeah I know. Despite all these little DIY blog posts, there’s so much left in the greys of branding. And we’re not counting shades. Let’s take a step back for a bit. I’m talking Big Picture here. You wake up on a fine Sunday morning and decide that, since you’re feeling great, that you’re going to treat yourself to the best coffee you can get your hands on, snuggle into a corner armchair, with the latest edition of Stuff or GQ or Cosmopolitan- whatever floats your boat. If Starbucks pops up in your mind, you immediately push it away (no judgements), telling yourself ‘think premium!’. And then it hits you: today feels like a Tim Horton’s kinda day. And you smile. Why? Because in that flash of a second, your mind decided that’s exactly what you want; all the necessary boxes were checked for the decision-making process. ‘It's a no-brainer’, you tell yourself. So what were those boxes? Was it the flavour of their brew? Their particular shade of red? The ambience of their outlets? Or was it the barista with the trademark smile? Probably all of this. Far more actually. You see, effective branding talks to the subconscious. It’s far more than just colours and words strung together. It’s the overall personality that appeals to the senses- something that is far more complex than just the superficial sum of things staring at you through any of the brand’s touch points. This isn’t a 2 plus 2 equals four-type situation. Let’s go deeper… People-first So while the quality of the product does matter, more often than not, it also depends on the people behind the experience. A surly cashier, a snooty receptionist, an impatient customer service agent, one of these experiences are enough to put a dent in the image of your brand in the mind of your customer, and if it’s a repeated thing, then you can be sure your customer is going elsewhere. As a brand owner, you have to be mindful that those representing your brand showcase the same form of enthusiasm, sincerity and personality that your brand pillars are. Which brings me to the next point. Consistent & Humble When you’re consistently offering a quality product and a quality experience, your audience gets accustomed to it. It always makes it easier for them to stay in your loyal corner, because they know time in time out, you’ll deliver to their expectations. And that’s all they’re expecting. And we do know a thing or two about expectations being met. Then there’s humility; the ability to acknowledge where you missed something or dropped the ball. How you handle complaints goes a long way and says a lot about you as a person and/or as a brand. Now add some humility to the mix and what do you get? A brand personality that’s more human-like. Technology is advancing leaps and bounds no doubt, but it can never replicate a human experience, and not by lack or standard of intelligence (pun intended), but simply because, as a consumer, you subconsciously know you’re dealing with a machine that can manage your requirements well, but anything that’s off the typical path, and suddenly you’re stuck. Only a human can (so far!) apply themselves to getting done whatever it is that needs getting done. This subconscious awareness of a man-to-machine experience is what influences us differently; it makes things less personal, and as humans, we need that personal connection. We crave it in both our personal and professional lives. Because frankly, you can’t have a ‘connection’ with a machine, unless of course it’s an M4 or AMG C63s. Or a Jensen Interceptor. That’s a different ball game altogether. Now, having a strong brand personality that’s conscious of its actions is one thing, but is it enough? What about tomorrow? Sustainable Ecologically inclined brands have a far greater engagement with their audiences, because of what they stand for and what they do for the greater good on a regular basis, even though there’s still so much more that can be done. It’s about taking responsibility to set things right, and drive change where it’s needed the most. Sustainability is gaining more traction because more brands are realising today that we have to hold ourselves accountable to the next generation, whether it's in the space of social, human, economic or environmental factors, these being the four main pillars. From ethical sourcing of materials to waste-conscious packaging, you need to have a forward-thinking approach, because consumers today have a different level of respect for brands that actually care. As they say, love and respect go hand in hand. Inspirational You should probably be able to see a defining characteristic by now: emotions. It plays a huge role in how we react to things and/or situations. Renovating your home, taking a family trip, surfing in the Bahamas- all have strong emotional value, which, when you think of it from a different perspective, can be the result of something equally profound: inspiration by something or someone else. Influencers were originally purported to do just this, to inspire people to attain a certain lifestyle or to indulge in a certain brand, though in recent years, that strategy has been questioned a fair bit. Rosa Parks graced us with quite the inspiration herself through a single act of steadfastness over a bus seat, irrespective of consequences. That singular act went on to inspire a whole movement and a whole generation, making history along the way. It doesn’t have to be complicated or overly expensive - just go with your heart, be genuine, stand for a cause, and people will follow. A System of Values All these characteristics are what is summed up as your value system, and it applies to both corporations and humans alike. It's a system that keeps you grounded; values like loyalty, humility, compassion, honesty, kindness, integrity, and selflessness all serve as guidance systems for us. Of course, a business is about making money, and lots of it, but it can be done ethically too, and your audience knows and expects this, because only then do they really want to engage with you in the long run. The Greys of Branding... So there you have it. The grey areas of branding that aren’t so obvious yet make all the difference between a man or a machine handing you your change at the service counter with a smile. As humans aiming for superiority in the different spheres of life, we will always push the boundaries; we will always look to evolve. But that human emotional factor is something that needs to change by way of conscious action; getting rid of old biases, outdated norms, and ancient standards that will only cause a weakening of brand loyalty. Change is essential to really grow, to connect and to add value to your purveyors. Change is the only constant. So what are you changing today?

Marketing is a term not unheard of. It is also synonymously exchanged with Branding, a concept that is slowly gaining momentum. Even though both concepts may seem similar, they are quite different and should not confuse one for the other. Both are crucial for a business and its growth, and both play on the same field, yet each have their own positions and roles to play in the game. Here's a deep dive into the fundamental differences of Branding vs Marketing... In today's market, one of the major blunders you can do is treat branding the same as marketing and make decisions based on that. You cannot paint your house if you do not lay a proper foundation for it. Treat your business like your house where branding is the basic foundation and blueprint, and marketing is the paint and furniture you add to make it more appealing. Let’s break it down further. What is Branding? Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. -Kotler and Keller (2015) When I say brand, you immediately think of the big names. Apple or Tesla or in my case, McDonalds, and it is just not the name, you remember the face, their colors, the style and the emotions they convey. Almost as if the brand is a living being, which makes it a successful brand in our books. Living beings are easier to connect, to love and to resonate with; probably why brand ambassadors took off really well in the early internet phases. What I mean is that branding your business gives a character and a personality, goals. It can be classy and elegant like Mercedes or ambitious and daring like Mitsubishi. Either of the brands do not stray away from their message in their products, services and conversations. People who want to be seen as ambitious opt for Mitsubishi while those who want to be seen as classy take Mercedes. It all boils down to what message you want to convey. Branding is so much more than just colors and logos. It is not just a sticker that you slap everywhere, it is a message that you want to convey to the right people. Branding is a blueprint of your plan; it is a huge umbrella covering the goals and aspirations, the face and voice, the people you want to engage with. Once again, it is the basic foundation upon which you build your business on. When you build and shape your brand, you inadvertently select the type of market you want to target and the mode of communication. What is Marketing? Marketing is the process of getting your product/services out into the market. It is a game plan you make so that the right people get to know you and convince them to make purchases. How you reach out to your target market, via online mails and promotions, or physical hoardings and event promotions is marketing. A key factor in marketing is knowing your consumers and their habits, also known as market research. It is a hands-on process with visible results. Your marketing strategy is outlined by your brand strategy where you have laid out how, why and what you wish to communicate. After you have answered these crucial broad questions, then can you chart out the small details and road map for your business. Marketing has one goal, to promote your business in the most efficient way possible and increase sales. There are various ways to market your business, print, radio and television or digital content like social media and SEO. Endless avenues and possibilities to create awareness. Branding vs Marketing: Differences Marketing brings in the audience, Branding keeps them. Marketing and Branding go hand in hand with each other. You cannot do one exceptionally well and leave the other out. Without proper marketing, even if you have created a solid brand, no one will come to appreciate it. On the other hand, if you market your business but there are no loyal or recurring customers, then you will keep spending big bucks on marketing. Strong brands need an equally strong marketing strategy to do it justice. Through marketing you can grab the attention of the audience, after which the brand can make them stay for longer. The fun and stylish marketing's purpose is to bring the audience to the door, but it is branding that must keep them entertained and satisfied for them to never leave. If branding is about knowing who your company is, marketing is knowing who your customers are. Marketing requires a detailed plan of action. You first start with identifying your target audience and studying them. Learning about the purchasing process, the mind set, where they are located and their habits will provide you with insights as to which way you should market your product. Once that is done, then you decide on the modes of communication, the distribution channels and promotion of the business. This is where you make contact with your customers and bridge the gap. Good marketing requires a strong message, a message that is powerful and aligned to the brand. You might think that when the purchase is done, the transaction is complete. Truth is that the transaction starts once the purchase is done. Feedback is an equally important aspect in marketing which eventually feeds into the market research. It is also necessary in order to make the customers regular purchases and become a part of the brand. Trust and Loyalty above all The world is changing fast with exposure from every corner of the world. Taste and preferences, habits and demography are all influenced by the evolving trends and concerns of the world. One of the main challenges businesses face today is how to adapt to all these changes and continue serving customers in the most optimal way. Irony of the situation is that brands with consistent messaging and services usually end up keeping their customer base intact and even attract new customers. Why? Because consumers trust them and can depend on them even if new competitors arrive in the market. Not that brand messaging and personality does not adapt; it is crucial to tweak a little but the core personality which is the soul of the brand remains the same. Branding does not only cater to the consumer but is also handy when it comes to hiring the best. People want to be associated with not only the best but what they connect to as well. That same theory applies when applying for jobs too, where employer branding plays a huge role. Branding before Marketing I want to re-emphasize how crucial it is to build a brand for your business, so that it sticks and moves your audience. Branding always comes before your marketing, for it sets the tone (quite literally). You always draw the skeleton first and then add the skin. In today's commercial world, one cannot live without the other and to invest in both is the wise choice. Build the story and then let the world know.

Steve Jobs is famously known for saying innovation is "saying no to a 1000 things", before you say yes. And for more than a decade, Apple has used the above painting to drive home this particular lesson. In December 1945, Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (Yes that's his full name), created "Le Taureau" or just simply "The Bull", a series of 11 lithographs (stone prints), or simply called Pablo Picasso's Bull. With each successive print, a bull is simplified and abstracted. While many including the artist use the bull as a metaphor, as it as a representation of the Spanish people; both as a comment of fascism and brutality and positively as a symbol of virility; or to some as a reflection of Picasso's self image. The core concept is the artist's search for the real idea of what a bull is. Starting from the flesh and bones - a depictive image of a bull, then the bull gained weight, and slowly started to turn into an abstract form, similar to what we associated Picasso for. It's finally only towards the end that we see the bull become a couple of lines - a great representation of absolute simplicity. But through this abstraction, employees at Apple are now taught this philosophy. As Picasso said of the overall abstraction process, "Two holes. That's the symbol for the face, enough to evoke it without representing it. But isn't it strange that it can be done through such simple means? Whatever is most abstract may perhaps be the summit of reality." In 2008, Steve Jobs tapped the Dean of the Yale School of Management to create an internal training curriculum for Apple. Like they say, the first rule of Apple University is that you don't talk about Apple University. And this was all the rage, when the New York Times, got a glimpse into the training program with the help of unnamed sources. But here's a few titbits. First off it's very exclusive, the training goes on all year at the company headquarters in Cupertino, and there are full time instructors from Yale, Harvard, Stanford and other top schools. In fact the aforementioned dean, Joel Podolny, designed the entire course at Steve Jobs' request. The program was initially meant to teach employees Apple's culture and design philosophy, in another course your analyze Apple case studies, like the decision to make iTunes and the iPod compatible with Windows, and most importantly it teaches you about how Apple as a brand, crafts its message. Go through multiple iterations until you can simply deliver your message in a concise and impactful way. This is true of the Apple brand, it does take much mental calories to consume or decipher their messages, instead it is more likely to go viral, just due to it's simplicity. Now this can also be translated into the design of apple products. Look at the evolution of their mice over the years. Quite literally, the buttons have been 'abstracted away, until there are practically none. and the same goes for Apple remotes as well. From a very early age, Apple has always focused on significantly fewer buttons, but with no dearth of features in the overall functionality of the Apple TV. This Picasso way of saying 'no' and capturing 'the essence' extends also to their business strategy. When Steve Jobs returned as CEO in 1997, Apple was near bankruptcy and on a streak of failed products including a gaming machine (Pippin) and a digital assistant (Newton) It's product portfolio was way too many, way too crowded and it didn't lead to any beneficial business uplift. Which is why Steve Jobs shouted, "Stop... this is crazy" and got up to draw something very simple on the board. It was a 2x2 matrix layout Apple's entire product line: Desktop/Portable Consumer/Professional This was the start of Apple's legendary resurgence into the market. Upon Steve Job's return, its market cap was <$5B, and it easily reached around $350B by the time he passed in 2011. Now, we've all read Walter Issacson's 656 page biography on Steve Jobs, but an important pertinent question fails to get answered. How did he go from the brilliant, but childish genius at Apple in the eighties to the visionary who simultaneous delivered the iPod, iTunes, iMac, iPhone and the iPad? It's a couple of factors, and Journalist Brent Schlender, who was close friends with Jobs, writes that this entire run of great products can be associated with his time, experience and refinement of his ability to communicate and elucidate effective stories. Basically at Pixar he learnt how to nurture talent, tell a story, negotiate with big companies and focus on building one hit product after another. This can be read further in "The Lost Steve Jobs Tapes". And it was the combination of telling a story, "saying no to a 1000 things', and capturing the essence of the product and the tagline that has made Apple consistent at telling powerful stories, building great and imaginative products, and being a step ahead of the game against the rest of the pack. As Steve Jobs said "You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential." Sounds exactly like Picasso. Speaking of which at the end of Apple's legendary "Think Different" Advertisement, there's Picasso drawing the Bull... And if you want to take a trip down memory lane, here's the full "Think Different" Advertisement, produced by legendary Director Jennifer Golub.

Let us address the trending movement: Great Resignation. Plenty have spoken about why it has taken place. Reasons being better pay opportunities, job satisfaction, job meaning, work culture, so on and so forth. Unfortunately, we are missing the greater picture, i.e., the company that provides these jobs. I mean if you are not aware of the shoe size, you will keep changing your shoes till you find the perfect fit. Likewise if you just apply and apply (thanks to Easy Apply in LinkedIn) without knowing and understanding what your employer stands for, it will be an arduous journey. Let's be honest, hiring new employees and training them takes a huge toll on the entire company, not just the HR. Human capital management is unique to every company and hence the workforce would be unique too. If not done right, it is a huge loss borne by the company. The importance of Employer Branding As Millennials and GenZ step forward into the workforce, a change has taken place in the mindset of employers. Brands and companies are now forced to recognize the new mindsets of the youth for they bring with them creative innovations and thought processes that fits with the mind of the changing consumer scenario. For them financial perks are not enough, the present workforce looks for meaning, satisfaction and flexibility in their careers. Along with that, the global pandemic has shed light to the toxicity of the hustle culture while giving a better understanding of what work/life balance is supposed to be like. It is no longer the age of sticking to one company that just rolls out the pay on time, it is the era of switching to jobs that provide a better experience and learning opportunities. You can’t clap with one hand Employer and employee relationship is a two way street where both parties play a huge role. As an employee, one should be aware of their skills and attributes, have a life goal in mind (yes those 5 years down the line questions do matter) and be open to new avenues of growth. For employers, it is crucial to be clear about your brand personality and values, about what you bring to the table in addition to the job opportunity. In short, to be clear about your employer brand, which stems from your brand vision. A good employer brand can filter out potential candidates, reduce the training expenses and bring in higher traffic (in quantity and quality.) So how do we create an employer brand? Know Yourself, Know your Brand Each brand or company has a unique personality, visions, goals and voice. It is just a matter of introspecting and comprehending the voices that build the organization. When done, what you have is a clear picture of what your brand looks like, how it feels like, what it sounds like. We have mostly seen a brand with a customer focused lens, but it is now time to look at it with an employee focused lens. This is to get the company and the workforce acquainted with each other, to tell their stories and connect. When one knows and understands the other, communication flows easier. Be on the same page An organization means nothing without its employees. So when the brand pictures its growth, and leaves out the growth of its employees, it is a clear red flag. The whole idea of employer branding is to align the growth of the company with the growth of its employees; here lies the win-win, the sweet spot. It does not mean growth only in salaries but growth in terms of skills, valuation and culture. It is a growth as a whole which needs alignment in policies, values and environment. Constructive Criticism is a good sign! After you have built the brand and aligned it, it is time to test it. So far it has only been from the employers perspective, and remember we said it is a two way street. So now, it is crucial to understand from the employees perspective too. Maybe you think you have checked all the boxes but getting honest feedback from the main audience is crucial. It lets you know how your employees actually feel, and it is not just about taking feedback. Acting on it and improving where you lack will give confidence to your employees, gaining their trust. This in turn will create a positive image of the brand, for treating employees poorly has always had a negative backlash among the consumers. Put it on paper When it comes to branding, unique proposition value is always discussed and seen as a stand out point amongst the competitors. The same can be applied here, where brands/companies can document and put forth what they can actually offer to the current employees as well as the potential ones. We call it Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This gives a clearer understanding of what employees are expected to do and what they can expect in return. It's not always like a needle in a haystack Earlier I have mentioned that employees should be aware of their skills and attributes, but most of the time this is not the case, especially when it comes to freshers and younger employees. They are the ones who are still navigating their career choices, and still learning about their skillset (mainly soft skills). Their true capabilities are brought out by the right employers which makes employee management and training crucial to sift the chaff from the wheat. Understand what method and strategy suits the best, and figure out who fits in where and how. You will not hit bullseye in the first go, but it's a work in progress. Showing off is not bad Just like you market your brand and your products & services, it is important to show off your employees too. After all it is the employees that keep the show running, so don’t be shy about them. It adds a personality to your social media too. At the same time, encourage your employees to talk about their work experience. Be it LinkedIn or Facebook, works as a good marketing tool too. The Power of People Employer Branding has taken the world by a storm, with many now realizing the importance of it. Several times corporations have made decisions to either invest in their employees or in other avenues of business, and that has made a significant impact. It is crucial to view employees and human resources as an investment rather than an expenditure. At the end of the day, they are people , they are Resources. Worst case scenario is them being burnt and skeptical. Employers are like leaders, who are empowered by their people. With strong and good leaders employees will support them through tough and good times. For example WeWork, which recently turned profitable in the first quarter of 2022, after their major fallout in 2019.

Quite often than most, conducting effective brand storytelling, is like unravelling a web, or navigating through a confusing maze, to first understand how to make your brand stand out. Questions are quite abundant, should we focus on the brand's tone of voice, the core messaging, the customer experience, or should we perfect our brand's storytelling? Sometimes more often then not, brands choose to engage the safe way, focusing on pushing to their customers how they solve some of their many problems... The fundamentals are simple, every business, brand and/or personality should be keenly aware of the power of great brand storytelling and ideally should have already begun utilizing it. But in the pressure to drive sales, most marketers tend to ignore one of the most powerful tools left in their arsenal. A compellingly, crafted brand story. So let's get started with a few of the key challenges that are present with brand storytelling... Customer Attention & Competition One rather pertinent window of opportunity has been continuously been narrowing down. Today's customer spends around 2.5 seconds on desktop and 1.7 seconds on mobile devices, consuming any piece of content or information. Is it because people are now desensitized with the plethora of information they receive on a day to day basis, or that we have just learnt to filter out 'marketing speak'? This constant need in today's media ecosystem to grow, overflow, and over compete for a customers attention is rampant, and shows no signs of slowing... You have just one shot at making a good first impression. Lack of storytelling leads to customer alienation Ignore your customer at your own peril, but understand the consequences of doing so. When storytelling or branding/positioning is not a priority, your business will eventually fail. And fail hard. Remember being desensitized? When you are focus on push marketing, and trying to shove your product/brand or service down the customer's throat, by being overly salesy, what do you expect would happen? Customer disinterest and alienation is bound to happen, even if you continue bombarding the customer with marketing messages trying to win them back. The spammy approach, just doesn't work. So what goes into poignant brand storytelling? Defining your target audience and core messaging strategy Distilling a perfect fitting brand voice and tone for your customers, is like distilling good whiskey. It takes a lot of time and effort. Identifying your target audience is a step closer to refining your strategy, on how best to connect with your consumers. But getting into the head of your customers and truly understanding what they want to hear, and how best to speak with them, is not an easy task. Luckily for us, we have a tool for just that. Personas. Having this clearly defined will then inform, shape and guide our overall strategy in crafting that one message that hits all the right notes. And this in turn allows us to engage our customers rather than alienating them, and the desired results, be it sales, engagement, conversions just starting working in tandem with your core message. Informing, educating and entertaining your consumers You have to be capable of interrupting, and capturing your consumers' attention effectively. If you really want to stand a chance in this competitive landscape, you need to drive value for your consumers, by either informing, educating or entertaining. Yet this is just an addition to the arsenal, there's a lot more that's required... Authenticity and shared values Narratives are a powerful tool to connect your brand with your customers lives. Yes you solve a problem for the customers, your product empowers and enables some good in your customers lives, but values; that makes you stick out from the rest of the noise. Brand storytelling when connected to core values and communicated through authenticity makes us more than a business. We are a collective, with a vision, empowering our customers and partners who choose to be associated with us. We are change makers, starting a movement on a cause and driving values that better us in the process. Your story shared with authenticity, can do more to sell you than any sales pitch, marketing campaign or advert. Relatability and understanding about what constitutes a genuine connection Once your consumers relate to you as a brand and become a part of that inspiring movement/conversation, a solid relationship built on loyalty and trust is established. And this is a relationship that goes beyond a transaction, beyond your products and services. Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution - more so than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on; our story told us what to hang on to These long lasting emotions are triggered then associated with the brand, and that is an immeasurably powerful connection. It's a fundamental, yet hardest objective to achieve in brand storytelling. Building an emotional bond with our audience that circumvents the test of time and in our world, competition. The universe is made up of stories, not atoms... Today's audience is driven more so by purpose, and meaningful connections that they can establish with brands. This being said, the ecosystem is changing for the better. From statements such as "buy these products now", to "I stand for this, and if you choose to share our values, here might be something you might be interested in." Brands are having to continuously navigate the landscape from drawing customers in, achieving their expectations and understanding that a collection of customers now have the collective power to make or break a brand. It's not an easy ask, while the magic ingredients are outlined here, crafting an effective brand story is a lot difficult than it looks, which is why we urge you to give it a short, to try and unleash the power of storytelling. You can't sell anything, if you can't tell anything

We were supposed to connect with customers through Social Media. This was supposed to be our golden age of branding, but somehow things didn't turn out that way... As Marketers we thought Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok would enable us to bypass traditional media and connect more effectively with customers. Wishing that we could attract huge audiences, brands have spent billions creating their own original creative content, but somehow consumers didn't pay attention. So what happened? Social media seems to have weakened traditional branding techniques. It has united isolated sub-cultures into very influential crowd-cultures. But let's start with understanding what are crowd-cultures. Crowd culture is defined as diverse, widespread groups of people who join together in support of, or even opposition to, a brand. It is a creation of the digital age that produces digital communities and sub-cultures. And these crowd cultures create their own content - often so well that companies can't hope to compete. Individual persons today make videos that top the Youtube charts, kids film toy reviews that garner millions of views, and these are things that large cumbersome companies just cannot do. While this means that the impact of branded content is now called into question, counter cultures or crowd cultures have opened up a new alternative approach, cultural branding. Let's look at examples, Axe revived its brand by becoming an over-the-top cheerleader for the “lad” crowd that arose as a response to politically correct gender politics. Dove championed the other side of the divide, with campaigns that spoke to crowd culture concerns about unhealthy beauty standards for women. Even though billions are spent on creating content, only three brands are in the YouTube Top 500. McDonald’s has 204,000 YouTube subscribers whereas PewDiePie has 41 million subscribers. Even Red Bull, which is considered the biggest in branded content success stories with a $2 billion annual branded content budget, has only 4.9 million subscribers, way behind dozens of crowd culture start-ups with production budgets under $100,000. Dude Perfect, started by five Texas university athletes who make videos of trick shots and goofy athletic feats, has eight million subscribers, three million more than Red Bull. This just proves that consumers have no interest in content that brands spit out. Very few people want it in their feed, rarely consuming it. In fact, many brands are struggling to unlock the apparent value of social media. Virality, buzz, memes, stickiness, and form factor became the default language of branding, but very few of those 'award winning' campaigns have had much long term success. Brands start succeeding when they break through culture, and branding is absolutely a set of techniques that is designed to generate this cultural relevance. Crowd culture changes the rules of branding—which techniques work and which do not. Social media, however, allows the crowd to convert a niche conversation into mainstream beliefs. One example would be in the case of travel, where for generations people associated certain destinations (Florida, London, the Bahamas) as the places to vacation. Then with people sharing pictures and stories of the Maldives, Dubai, Patagonia, Seychelles, et al, the travel industry changed dramatically. Now suddenly, people were not only open but looking for alternatives to traditional destinations. Third, make an idea meaningful to as many people as possible. Historically, cultural innovation flowed from the fringes of society—from isolated groups, social movements, and artistic circles that challenged mainstream norms and conventions. Companies and the mass media acted as intermediaries, diffusing these new ideas into the mass market and hoping to gain traction. But social media has changed everything. Understanding the cultural opportunity enables you to target crowd culture, and perhaps built one of your own. By targeting novel ideologies flowing out of crowd cultures, brands can assert a point of view that stands out in the overstuffed media environment. The key is rather than trying to force a story on a captive audience, you need to build a story and product that is consistent with the desires of the social media crowd. Iconic brands are meant to be cultural innovators: They leapfrog the ideas of their categories to champion new ideologies that are meaningful and impactful to their customers. The first model, mindshare branding, is one that companies have long relied on. It treats a brand as a set of psychological associations (benefits, emotions, personality). The second model, purpose branding, has become popular in the past decade. In it, a brand espouses values or ideals its customers share. A brand can sustain its cultural relevance by playing off particularly intriguing or contentious issues that dominate the media discourse related to an ideology, and this is what makes brands incredibly meaningful to creating culture in today's crowded media landscape.

While it may seem that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is complicated and best left to the pros, little do many know that a little understanding and constant effort is what reaps the benefit. In my first job I landed with a SEO related work with no prior experience or knowledge of this field. Starting with creating backlinks, I expanded my role to social media handling and off-page optimization. It is still a constant learning curve for me, with new updates from google and the ever-increasing demands on the net. SEO is a vast topic with many aspects to look into if you want that top search engine rank. I have neatly divided it into 4 parts, which again link into one another. Those are: Technical SEO On-page SEO Content Off-page SEO A few of these points might ring a bell in your head, and many of you might understand what those mean. This is going to be a mini series where I take you through each point and try to put it down in simple terms. SEO shouldn’t be this hard, not when the internet is accessible to everybody! Today we are going to crack Technical SEO. In basic terms, it means an easy allowance for search engine bots to crawl easily through your website. They crawl to check if everything is in place, secured, fast and have good connectivity so that people of the internet can easily maneuver through your website. Things like the structure of your website, working (or dead) links in your content or even the load time of the page means a lot to Google when it comes to search engine rankings. It is also like killing two birds with one stone since technical SEO also enhances readability for the users as well as search engine. Therefore, I present thee with a few basic pointers to get started with technical SEO Check the locks first The lock icon right beside the site address, that is what we’re looking at. It means that we are keeping the website secure which is an important factor for Google ranking. Just make sure you use SSL or Secure Socket Layer which encrypt the link between your site and the browser. It makes sure that all credentials entered into any site will be kept to the site and browser alone. So give more preference to “https://’ rather than “http://” and install an SSL certificate on your site. Although most good website builders already include SSL certificates by default. Ready for any Screen Google has mentioned that a website is responsive if it adjusts to any device. While websites have been made with a large computer screen in mind, it is important to have a mobile friendly version where information is as easy and quick to navigate. With most searches now being made on the go and the internet being super accessible on the mobile, it is very important that websites cater to this growing group. Need for Speed? Imagine you are browsing google and every time you click open a website, it takes forever to load? Pictures, videos, gif or even links are blank and that refresh button just doesn’t seem to stop? It does get frustrating. Slow traffic, slow replies and slow internet are a few of my pet peeves. In the era of 5G, pages should load in 3 secs otherwise be ready to lose all that traffic that you have worked hard for. To reduce the load time you can use adaptive images which reduce the weight of the image without sacrificing on the quality; caching your website loads your static resources faster, reducing the load time; checking the plugins used on your website which might drag the speed if poor/ heavy or outdated. Give it a Structure Structured Data makes it easier for search engines to understand your products or contents or business of your website, and index them relevantly for effective outcomes. It is a code that you add to your website, usually in a fixed format, that the search engine can understand and piece it together for the bigger picture. It also makes the website more appealing with “rich snippets” like 5 star rates and customer reviews etc that can boost the click-through rate (CTR) and in general get more traffic. These sites are given more preferences and are considered of higher quality, so it is advised to take that extra mile. To map or not to map? Sitemaps works like an index where all the information of your pages, links, videos and files are stored. Google search bots uses this to effectively crawl through your website so that no content, link or effort is unnoticed. It lets them know which pages have valuable content and should not be missed. There are different categories of sitemaps for different contents like videos, images or news. It updates google about when was the page last modified, or the priority content and even how frequently uploaded. Sitemaps are necessary for larger websites with multiple pages and links since there are more chances of things being left out. Smaller or newer sites with less external links which are rich with media links are also advised to install XML sitemaps on their sites. Avoid content confusion I did say technical SEO and that does kind of come under on-page SEO so of course we will be talking about content. Now, if you have duplicate content (the same content on different pages) then search engines will get confused as to which page to rank the highest and eventually give both a lower score. Duplicate content can also be a technical issue as different URLs can show the same content. With the use of canonical link element you can point out which URL is the main site and have search engines rank that page instead of the other. Another point is to remove dead links in your site. No one likes seeing a 404 error page when they click a link. It is like hitting a wall and God knows that is painful. This shows that your site is not updated regularly and your resources are outdated, which of course makes your page and site less credible. While there might be a few deadlinks embedded in your site, keeping the numbers as low as possible will do good. There are tools that can help you find dead links on your site so that you can delete or redirect them to more credible sources. These are just some of the tricks that boost your page ranking, and we have not even scratched the surface of SEO. A little dabbling and learning on the Internet will help you understand technical SEO, making it as simple ABC. Do keep in mind that SEO needs constant supervision and updating, not a one night's job as the saying goes, Rome was not built in a Day. Keep an eye out for the next of the series which will be on On-Page SEO.

Sometimes we are forced to wonder, are agency advertising awards a vanity metric, or is it actually something that showcases quality, creativity and ingenuity? Why are agencies all over so hyped up about them? Are they a legit standard for an agency to showcase that they are a cut above the rest? Or are they just nonsense? So it's the time of the Cannes. The Lions being one of the world's most prestigious awards known to the advertising industry. Back in the day those awards meant something, it meant being recognised by your 'peers' for work that was a cut above the rest. And every creative, loves the little bit of recognition that comes with good work. For talent it is a way to get recognised and quickly get a raise, a much coveted promotion, or a new offer. For an incumbent agency, it is free PR, easy recognition, and the ability to get new and quite possibly lucrative clients. But here is the million dollar question, has that work actually 'benefited' the clients? Has it lead to an increase in sales, revenue, or is it just creative work for the sake of being creative? Many award-winning creative solutions have absolutely no effect on sales, as the haters love to remind us every year during award season. The very worst examples of this are the fake ads made by unscrupulous creatives, usually from the large advertising agencies who just want to win an award to soothe their fragile egos. Most award shows have tried to squash this by making new rules, but the award-addicts will always find ways to get around the rules. This is infuriating, and so unfair on so many levels. Let me explain. Getting your 'award' winning work listed for an award requires fees, both in listing it for the respective awards, as well as doing the sample creatives for the award that convinces the jury that the work is worth a mention. For smaller agencies like ourselves, this is prohibitive, we cannot list all our work for an award, plus we don't have the time nor bandwidth to recruit the right talent who could make the work more jazzy than it actually is. A bigger agency has a team just for these awards, they do everything from drafting the creative, the pitch brief, results, etc, and they definitely hedge their bets by enlisting numerous pieces of work for these awards shows. Some of them even do free work for clients, just so they could win an award, and these clients generally do agree to do so. After all, its good work for free, kind of difficult to say no to that... Awards were meant for recognizing excellence in the field, and to the layman, an award is something you give someone when they’ve done a good job. But the reality is different, an award show is a business, and a business needs revenue to succeed. You have some legendary ones like the Cannes Lion, Rebrand, D&AD, or the Kyoorius awards. Creative awards events are great for building your professional network; everyone who has the potential to win an award is present and they are usually the best-of-the-best in your industry. Wine and alcohol flows freely, adding to the jovial, post-reward mood while creating a great space to press the flesh with genuine talent. It's a wonderful recruiting space too. But it serves a mention that awards are not the goal, their an inspirational tool. Great work should always be the goal. But by hacking our fragile human egos, we trick ourselves into elevating substandard work to a higher place than it deserves. But for the few independent agencies that continue to churn out good work, and win awards, the result is quite surprising. Novel work for them, spurs them into action and enables them to move people to act. This inspiring action is very motivational, which is why for me personally the Cannes Lions holds no value, but the D&AD Pencil has always represented the best in advertising and design. Let's hope these new regional awards that are popping up from the woodworks maintain that same level of creativity, and perhaps Cannes Lion will just have to change their ways... eventually ... Although it’s entertaining to poke fun at the concept of awards, there is a reason they exist in the first place. Their purpose is to recognize the top work in the industry. Unlike the movie industry, this may be the only public way to acknowledge the terrific talent and people behind some of the brilliant work we see in our everyday lives. For smaller, independent agencies with less share of voice in the marketplace, it’s a way to proudly promote their innovative work and get noticed by prospecting brand advertisers. More practically speaking, it’s a way for the industry to spot new talent and for agencies to build a portfolio, get recognized by industry peers, reward teams and individual contributors, and build or accelerate careers—and come together to celebrate noteworthy achievements. But let's remember that, awards are not about vanity or bragging rights. It's about celebrating your people and their achievements. So let's not need an award to continue to celebrate our people ...