Move people with your vision
Why Bill Shankley made a switch to Liverpool FC’s kit that was so powerful it’s hard to believe it hasn’t always been that way. One of five stories that inspire and define our philosophy as a business.
POV*: How to unearth a position
The importance of position. Whether you want to call it a why, purpose, narrative, vision or big idea, it’s all the same. It’s about finding a simple, powerful expression of everything the brand or organisation is about.
The story about seven universal stories
Have you heard about the idea that there have only ever been seven basic story plots? Whether it’s the founder’s story or the brand’s reason for being, stories remain a cornerstone of strong brands. In a world where brands are becoming increasingly open-ended, the fact that consumers can step into the story, and interact with it, is a powerful thing.
Brand purpose. Love it? Hate it?
So why not just accept that brand purpose can be either a purposeful role or a higher moral purpose? But how the marketing world is getting itself in a spin, and as some brands have come under fire, I would suggest that a little clarity is needed. True, millennials and Generation Z are evaluating advertising communication in a different way than they did in the past. But perhaps much of this can be solved by breaking with tired old execution formats.
What about Robert?
Bob Dylan knew from way back that it was all about image, a word often viewed as superficial. But exchange image for identity, personality or distinctiveness and you get the point. He knew that by casting himself as poet-visionary, he needed a swagger and a name to go with it.
I have a dream
On 28 August 1963, a quarter of a million people gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC. Before them, Martin Luther King declared: “I have a dream.” These were the passionate utterances of a man driven by a belief in his grand fight against racism. His clarity of purpose provided him with the strength and energy required to fuel this fight against the odds.
The Questions We Asked: JW Lees
The Questions We Asked goes behind our work and gives an insight into the issues or opportunities our clients were grappling with prior to briefing us. Sarah Dunning, CEO of The Westmorland Family, takes up the thread.
POV*: Plugging the boardroom into the frontline
It’s easy to think that cracking a bold vision for an organisation or brand will lead to success. The problem is that a vision, as the word suggests, is only a concept for the future. The hard part is turning it into reality. This can be overlooked and is often more challenging than agreeing the vision. For the last ten years, Squad has worked with clients to turn boardroom strategy into frontline creativity. This, our fourth POV piece, seeks to distil some of our learnings.
Solve the right problem
How the Oakland Athletics set a new American League record by understanding the problem they needed to solve. One of five stories that inspire and define our philosophy as a business.
Work in partnership not silos
Discover the collaborative song writing process of Lennon McCartney that not only revolutionised music but popular culture. One of five stories that inspire and define our philosophy as a business.
