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At Cucumber, we love attending local events to learn more about what’s going on in our industry. We were lucky enough to get a chance to attend a recent Creative Morning event in Vancouver! The theme was “Invest,” and the speaker was Stanley Hainsworth, a branding expert who has worked with famous brands such as Nike, Lego and Starbucks. He now runs a creative agency called Tether, which is based in Seattle.
During the Creative Morning event, Stanley focused on three ideas related to the theme: investing in yourself, investing in others, and investing in your career.
Invest in Yourself – You Need to Help Yourself First in Order to Help Others
Stanley believes we should be able to take control of our lives. If you are starting a brand, there’s nothing wrong with self-promoting.
Invest in Others – Make people smile and engage with others.
When Stanley started his company, Tether, he wanted to create a place where he would want to work, with good benefits, friendly people and an amazing work culture.
Tether helped rebrand a non-profit organization called WE. WE originally consisted of multiple organizations, which was confusing to some people. Tether was able to provide consistency within the various brands.
Investing in Your Career.
The two previous ideas actually complement one another when it comes to career. You need to bring your passion into your workplace. This is what Stanley did.
Stanley had a creative mind and he loves to think outside the box. When working for Nike, he noticed that they would spend millions on commercials, retail, and events. When launching a new shoe, they would even hire an athlete for promotion. He asked about the other areas where the brand could live, for example, gaming, TV, movies etc. That’s when Nike Entertainment was created, a line of books, games, and television shows all related to the Nike brand.
Stanley’s next project was a Japanese-inspired beauty brand, Tatcha, which he produced in collaboration with a former colleague from Starbucks. The two went to Kyoto, Japan, for inspiration. They wanted the brand to have the feel of ”ancient meets modern,” like a Geisha exiting a taxi cab in New York. Tatcha is based on ancient beauty secrets, and there is a story within each product. Tatcha has partnered with beauty bloggers and celebrity make-up artists. Tatcha has been praised for its beautiful packaging. Stanley and his team wanted their packaging to evoke Japanese packaging, where you unfold many layers.
More recently, Stanley has been involved with the production of the AWAKE chocolate coffee bar. Their main target demographic is college students, and their branding highlights just that⏤they’re a bit silly and fun! They also have a mascot, an owl namedNeville. AWAKE is active on social media to gain attention for the brand, and they also have a bit of an attitude to relate with students. The brand had a bus tour to promote the chocolate coffee bar. Campus ambassadors handed out t-shirts, posters, and samples to students. AWAKE has also hosted contests related to their branding. In one contest, people needed to submit photos of people sleeping! AWAKE planned another interesting campaign for Daylight Savings, where you were able to celebrate the extra hour on their website with lots of content related to their brand and personality.
Stanley stands out from the crowd with his creativity. He is not afraid of what others think, and does what him happy and proud. He has confidence. You can tell how much effort he puts into his work.
Did this article add a fresh perspective to what’s going on in your organization?
Let us know on LinkedIn or Instagram ⏤we would love to hear what you think about this topic! Would you like to speak to one of our Cool Cucumbers about your current marketing? Contact our marketing agency in Vancouver and we would love to set up a discovery meeting to see how we can help you grow!