Tag: Branding

Studio Co-Creative: The Anti-Marketing Manifesto

Creator

Studio Co-creative is a Canadian based ‘anti-marketing marketing agency’. Robyn Hounjet is the Founder and CEO, Mikayla Grace is the Creative Director and COO, and Lexie the Westie is their littlest Co-Creative.

Purpose

“We believe that the best brands are built from the soul up.” That’s the slogan for Studio Co-creative and this sums up the purpose behind their manifesto.

Studio Co-creative

Manifesto

Everywhere you look, you’re seeing the product of marketing. In a world where you’re constantly encouraged to buy more, we believe there is a new way, a way that’s rooted in connection and co-creation.

Entrepreneurs are faced with an interesting challenge in today’s technology-based world. It’s never been easier to create a business, but all of the tools and platforms that we have access to can be overwhelming. There’s always a new trend, a new strategy, a new tip to try.

Heart-centred entrepreneurs have an even harder challenge to overcome. How do we allow our gifts – our light – to translate into the online sphere? How do we balance traditional “marketing strategy” with nontraditional business?

We won’t argue that mainstream marketing strategies work. But even with the most technically perfect strategy, if it doesn’t resonate with the heart and soul of your business – let’s find a different way. Through being more real, less perfect, more relatable and approachable, we find our purpose and impact.

We believe in energy. vibration. resonance. We believe in what we call the lighthouse effect: your tribe will arrive in your harbour, so long as you are authentically shining your light. And ultimately, we believe in co-creation (in case you couldn’t tell). Co-creation means not only collaborating with each other and others to help you shine, but also co-conspiring, if you will, with forces seen and unseen. The earth. The cosmos. The seasons and cycles. The true source of inspiration.

So, what does this mean for you? It means that we want to uncover the best and truest version of your brand. The best and truest version of you. Chisel it away, polish it up, and put it out in the world so that those who need you can find you.

We won’t promise you perfect, but we can promise you beauty. Because beauty is found in truth.  In purpose. In service. And in great Instagram grids.

We are an anti-marketing marketing agency.
We are the ones who do things differently.
We are inspired and we are inspiring.
We are spiritual AND bad-ass.
We are beauty-makers and visionaries.
We are co.creative.

Principles

  • Empowerment
  • The Heart + Head
  • Spirit
  • Unfiltered You
  • Working Smart
  • Co-Creation

Source

https://studiococreative.com/about

https://studiococreative.com/begin-flash-sale

Thanks to Suzanne Mercier for sharing this one

Comment

While this is a good manifesto, my feeling is that it’s merely a starting point for an ongoing deeper exploration of the issues facing marketing today.

It starts with the bold statement of being ‘the anti-marketing marketing agency’. Being the ‘not-this’ in your category is a useful starting point but only until that new alternative emerges. What is the new thing that replaces that old one?

The classic example is the ‘horseless carriage’, which was an early term for the ‘motorcar’ or ‘motor carriage’. It describes the new thing in words that reflect the old thing. Now it is simple ‘a car’ and has nothing in the name to hint of its evolution from horses.

I’d love to know what the new marketing agency is – the one that goes beyond current thinking. An anti-marketing agency simply suggests something has begun but we’re not sure what that new thing is just yet.

There are some strong clues though in the Co-creation manifesto. Their tag line “the best brands are built from the soul up” offers three potential ideas:

  • A soul-marketing agency
  • A soul-branding agency
  • Or simply, a soul agency.

These ideas start to present a new concept – a new something. They are not simply ‘an anti-marketing agency’.

Another option is a ‘Co-creation Agency’. What would that look like if we took it all the way to its likely conclusion? It doesn’t speak marketing but it does say, ‘we work differently’.

I also love the ‘lighthouse effect’ concept – How about ‘a lighthouse agency’. What would that look like?

One of my benchmarks for a good new idea is to be able to say your concept to people and create intrigue and interest.

If we were at a networking event and I told you that I run ‘a lighthouse agency’, your curiosity would almost definitely be piqued and you would simply have to ask ‘what is that?’ Tell me more… thus engagement begins.

A crucial part of all manifestos is the new context you are creating and sometimes this takes courage and boldness to claim it, name it and declare it: this is that new thing.

More

FRESH Speakers

FRESH Speakers Logo

Creator

FRESH Speakers

“Established in 2014, FRESH represents the next generation shaping 21st century thinking – and action – with fresh ideas and groundbreaking work.” (From their website)

“FRESH Speakers, Inc. is a next-generation speakers bureau, uniquely representing women and people of color – two groups historically left off the public stage. Our speakers range from business leaders to artists, scientist to athletes. They have given ground-breaking TED talks and written best-selling books, but, more importantly, their wisdom comes from real world, lived experiences. FRESH speakers routinely grace the world’s biggest thought leadership stages, host nonprofit benefits, and keynote Fortune 100 corporate retreats, university lecture series, leading tech conferences, grassroots organizing convenings, and countless other venues, the world over.” (From their website)

Purpose

The FRESH Speakers manifesto is a core part of their brand positioning. It states: this is why we are different to other speakers’ bureaus.

Manifesto

Thought leadership needs a refresh.

21st century speaking should be about sharing great ideas, and converting those ideas into action. That’s what audiences are hungry for–fresh ideas, action, and impact.

Too many speakers derive authority from fancy titles, overhyped books, and relationships formed within elite institutions and events.

This outdated and homogenous culture not only breeds boredom and myopic thinking, but also reinforces structural inequalities.

Not everyone worthy of being heard has written a best-selling book or been to Davos.

It’s time to uncover and elevate the voices of extraordinary individuals making impact in the world, both locally and globally.

Wisdom also comes from years spent in the classroom, or organizing on the ground.

It derives from profound personal pain as well as transformative collective healing.

It is rooted, not in the number of years one has been on earth, but the creativity and innovation with which one has approached their calling.

It’s about time we honored that kind of wisdom.

It’s time to evolve beyond the antiquated “speaker circuit,” and create an ecosystem of thought leaders who are young, brilliant, diverse, and making a mark in the world.

This isn’t just talk. It’s about fresh ideas and more just world.

Source

Manifesto
FRESHSpeakers.com/about/manifesto

Comment

For me the great strength here is the consistency of message. On this page I’ve collected three ‘manifestos’ from the FRESH Speakers websites that points to this conviction.

  1. The opening description
  2. The formal manifesto
  3. The note below

“FRESH Fact: We dedicate part of our commission to a special fun that supports speakers to visit communities that couldn’t normally afford to bring them. We think all audiences deserve to experience what our speakers have to offer.” (From their website)

Writing your manifesto is often the fun and easy part. The tougher task is to take consistent action in line with your declaration and your intention.

As FRESH Speakers state: “This isn’t just talk.”

Birdsong Gregory Manifesto

Birdsong Gregory Manifesto

Creator: Birdsong Gregory delivers ‘integrated shopper marketing campaigns to help our clients grow’ and are based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Purpose: A statement of beliefs and views as to how to successfully enhance your marketing and branding in the digital age.

Branding Manifesto

  1. We have killed the Golden Age of Advertising with our smart phones, TiVo, pop-up blockers, and a hundred other new disintermediary tools.
  2. Long live the empowered consumer. Farewell to the quaint notion of a linear path to purchase. That path has become a raging river, and from the high ground, we witness the retail landscape taking new forms.
  3. Moving people from indifference to action has never been easier. Moving people from indifference to action has never been harder.
  4. Until now, marketing has been a department, ads an expensive, inefficient interruption, and brands have taken our loyalty and attention for granted. you have only two choices: evolve or become irrelevant.
  5. Birdsong Gregory celebrates a new era of commerce: one where shoppers make decisions based on objective truth and authentic 1:1 engagement – not empty intrusive promises. Brand equity is built one positive online review at a time, and you will earn my purchase – not buy it.
  6. We believe marketing actually needs to be useful, providing relevant information and meaningful inspiration. In the networked economy, consumers trust consumers more than they trust brands.
  7. Thanks to the Digital Revolution, a brand can deliver a singular message to a specific person at precisely the right time. After all, the Web isn’t just one channel or device. It’s a medium that has inspired a thousand other media.
  8. Another word for creativity? Courage.
  9. We want to help you say and do things that matter. What’s the use of giving a skeptical audience more of the same? Let’s start by being honest and authentic. Let’s create memorable experiences and passionate conversations.
  10. We believe in the limitless potential of the new shopper marketing paradigm. It is time to demolish the walls between what people want and what you have to give them. The essential elements of our work will be originality and excitement.

 

Source

Manifesto on BirdsonGregory.com