We are an insights, strategy and ideas boutique devoted to creating healthy, sustainable brand relationships.
We help our clients make better sense of their consumer research, establish a deeper empathy for their customers, and develop creative marketing platforms that delight, engage, are authentic, and profitable.
Clients come to us for help with the pressures they feel to…
+ Quickly and effectively translate consumer data into deeper insights about the target and the drivers of their behaviors and perceptions
+ Leverage social, technology and cultural trends to define what a brand means in today’s digital and connected world
+ More effectively address how people shop today — mixing and matching in-store retail with mobile, multiple-screens, showrooming, reviews, etc.
+ Find resonant and relevant lifestyle themes to use as platforms for building better relationships with customers
+ Strategically harness digital and social media to drive consumer decision making and promote trial among their peers
+ Create unique and compelling content and creative to break through hype and challenge media dominant competitors
Our approach, flexibility and experience, coupled with our robust toolkit, uniquely enable us to get at the heart of what drives their brand relationships — precisely the insight they need to engage consumers, delight customers and pull away from their competitors.
We understand that clients need smart partners they can trust, high-quality collaborators invested in providing more than easy answers and packaged solutions. We understand that relationships are everything.
We can help you create the exceptional relationships you deserve.
2. What is Brand Therapy?
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We help our clients make better sense of their consumer
research, establish a deeper empathy for their customers,
and develop creative marketing platforms that delight,
engage, are authentic, and profitable.
We are an insights, strategy and ideas boutique
devoted to creating healthy, sustainable brand
relationships.
3. Clients come to us for help with the pressure they feel to…
3
Quickly and effectively translate consumer data into deeper insights about the
target and the drivers of their behaviors and perceptions
Leverage social, technology and cultural trends to define what a brand means
in today’s digital and connected world
More effectively address how people shop today — mixing and matching in-
store retail with mobile, multiple-screens, showrooming, reviews, etc.
Find resonant and relevant lifestyle themes to use as platforms for building
better relationships with customers
Strategically harness digital and social media to drive consumer decision
making and promote trial among their peers
Create unique and compelling content and creative to break through hype and
challenge media dominant competitors
They come for expertise and a perspective that’s different.
4. We offer three programs that yield considerable progress and success…
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Empathic Insights
For marketers, the word of the day is “big data.” The thing is, big data needs big
context to be truly big useful. We harness empathy to see what the data is really
saying and to help our clients build meaningful connections with all their audiences.
Experience Envisioning
People and brands swim in a sea of experiences, ranging from digital, to retail, to
social, across devices, and more. We identify the dynamics around the relationships
brands want with people and develop experience strategies and creative ideas that
will win those relationships.
Brand Development
Successful brands align and deliver an overall brand experience in a unique and
consistent way. We discover truths that underlie and drive what a brand means to
people, and we identify principles and frameworks that organize brand building.
5. We deploy a unique and proprietary set of tools…
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We identify the deep drivers
of the consumer relationship
and create “requirements” for
the kinds of experiences that
will be meaningful to
people. This disciplined
approach serves as a
decision framework, ensuring
it's not about what's cool, or
what's hot right now; it's
about what's smart and what
works.
Our personas are not like
others because they're
driven by Empathic
Insights. Unlike other
versions that just personify
an observed norm, ours
conjure an empathetic
connection with specific
individuals that we create.
Ours document a connection
and become a living
framework for making
customer data more
actionable.
Most journeys are about the
consumer behaviors that
brands want to see occur.
But today, people don't follow
consistent paths. Empathy
lets us decode this apparent
randomness across retail,
mobile, and digital. Our
journeys reveal opportunities
to deliver experiences that
satisfy consumers' rational,
social and emotional needs.
We create multilayered
platforms that match media,
message and content to
consumers' relationship
needs: is mobile being used
in the best way possible, with
the right messages, to enrich
the relationship? is product
content? are social
properties? This gives media
planning purpose and
direction, ensuring it’s about
engagement, not just a
numbers game.
Experience
RequirementsDesign Personas Consumer Journeys Engagement Platforms
6. We apply deep and varied expertise, enabling us to address the details…
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The mobile consumer and shopper
Social behavior and status; sharing,
posting, liking, reviewing
Fear of missing out (FOMO)
The power of influencers
Loyalty behavior: perks, benefits,
enlistment and advocacy
Sustainability, green culture, social
responsibility, healthy living
The economy and DIY culture
Millennials
Recent grads, young professionals
Moms, dads, and parents
Business professionals: travelers,
decision-makers, executives
Tech consumers: students, IT
professionals, pro-sumers
Members of associations and
interest communities
Caregivers
CPG; consumer products, services
Consumer electronics, computers,
technology; telecom, mobile
Enterprise B2B; small business;
business technology/IT
Pharma, consumer and HCP
Travel and hospitality
Not-for-profits
Loyalty programs; points and miles
Financial services, insurance
Distinct Audiences… Trends and Challenges… Categories and Industries…
…underlying our clients’ complex marketing and branding objectives across the
acquisition, engagement, retention, and loyalty spectrum.
7. We draw upon a rich network of collaborators who think as we do…
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Creative Direction
Creative Concepting
Brand Design
Corporate Identity, Logos
User Experience Design
Interface Design
Proof-of-Concepts and Prototyping
Quantitative Research
Social Conversation Analysis
Front-End Coding
Content Management Platforms
POS Platforms
eCommerce integration
Analytics
Qualitative Research
Internet Strategy
Social Media
Community Management
Digital Media Planning
SEM & SEO
Media Planning and Strategy
Technology… Creative… Marketing…
…all appreciate the importance of a strong strategic foundation and understand the
qualitative difference it makes in addressing clients’ problems.
8. For our clients,
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Our approach, flexibility and experience, coupled
with our robust toolkit, uniquely enable us to get at
the heart of what drives their brand relationships…
…which is precisely the insight they need to
engage consumers, delight customers and
pull away from their competitors.
9. We create insights that power exceptional experiences…
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Redesigned the NAR’s member
site to be more member-friendly.
Personas refined the target for
Realtor.org and centered the site
experience on enabling realtors.
Led strategy, IA and design.
[Empathic Insights & Experience
Envisioning programs]
Clarified CARA’s brand strategy,
reigniting its sense of purpose.
Leveraged themes of advocacy,
wellness, and fairness, to solidify
the brand’s value proposition and
broaden its appeal to audiences.
[Empathic Insights & Brand
Development programs]
Defined the Shortcut$ brand for
AOL’s online grocery service.
Shopper persona insights drove
the “Surprisingly Simple” brand
concept for all creative, including
consumer and retail/CPG sales.
[Empathic Insights & Brand
Development programs]
Created a world-class CYC site
for acquisition and retention.
Tapped into the club’s tradition
and passion as core experience
pillars. Personas drove feature
prioritization. Oversaw site build.
[Empathic Insights & Experience
Envisioning programs]
10. We’ve helped some great companies grow their brands and relationships…
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US Cellular Bayer Chicago Tribune Ritz Crackers Blackberry Hyatt
CIMA Levitra CVS National Association of Realtors Monster.com
AOL Shortcut$ Delta Airlines Merrill Lynch Subway Heineken Ree
bok HumanaOne SIRIUS Satellite Radio Carter’s Tommy Hilfiger
Armani Exchange HarrisDirect Altoids Red Dot Cialis New Balance
Chicago Yacht Club United MileagePlus Chicago Area Runners Assoc.
HP Best Buy Viagra Bahá’í National Center Duracell/P&G Motorola
11. We’re not an arm’s-length partner…
We can help you create
the exceptional relationships you deserve.
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We understand that clients need smart partners they
can trust, high-quality collaborators invested in providing
more than easy answers and packaged solutions.
We understand that relationships are everything.