You know, it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but let’s face it: videos just don’t hold the same weight they used to. In the dawn of the 2010s, video content was the crown jewel of digital marketing. Each clip was a precious artifact amid a sea of static imagery, a golden ticket to audience engagement. Fast forward to today, and the digital landscape is flooded with videos, diluting their impact. The democratization of video production has led to an oversaturation, making it increasingly difficult for individual videos to stand out.

Just as direct mail contributed to the decline of the print industry, the overabundance of motion content on social media and streaming platforms has diminished its value. It’s a simple matter of supply and demand. The ubiquitous presence of video content has desensitized audiences, making them more selective and less impressed.

And let’s not forget about the rise of AI. With AI getting smarter by the day, there’s a real risk of people losing trust in any story told through video. Who knows what’s real and what’s not anymore?

Yet, there’s a silver lining. This moment presents an opportunity for innovation, a chance to redefine and elevate the medium of video. And OX will be leading the way.

The Challenge of Quality in an Oversaturated Market

In today’s digital landscape, quality means something different than it used to. Paradoxically, some of the most successful videos are those with lower production values. The polished sheen of a professional ad often triggers immediate dismissal from viewers. Why is this true? On social media, everyone’s on a scroll-a-thon, thinking, ‘Is this an ad?’ If a video looks too slick or professional, they instantly go, ‘Yep, that’s definitely an ad,’ and swipe it away without a second thought.

This phenomenon has compelled marketers to rethink their strategies, prioritizing raw, unpolished videos that blend organically into social media feeds.

This shift away from traditional excellence towards a more ephemeral, disposable approach has significant implications. It challenges long-held notions of value and success, pushing the industry to adapt to the flexible preferences of contemporary audiences. It’s a paradox, to be sure.

The Changing Attitudes of Younger Audiences

Generational dynamics further complicate the landscape. Millennials, once the primary target of social media marketing, are being eclipsed by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, who interact with social media in distinct ways compared to older generations. These younger cohorts view our current social media consumption with the same side-eye millennials reserve for boomers who smoke. It’s unhealthy.

For many non-profits, this presents a dilemma. Their heavy reliance on short-form social content is becoming increasingly unsustainable. As Gen Z and Gen Alpha engage with media differently, these organizations must recalibrate their strategies to remain relevant and effective. But how?

The Necessity for a Diversified Approach

While many non-profit organizations profess to have an omni-channel marketing strategy, in reality, they often operate with a Social-First mindset. Because charities disproportionately emphasize social marketing over other forms, if a video concept doesn’t fit their social media model, its potential success in any other channel is disregarded. As a result, impact film content that could thrive in other venues is often neglected, and its potential never realized.

A Social-Last mindset still includes social media in the funnel, but it’s not the first priority. Instead, it prioritizes other channels, such as community events, public exhibitions, OTT streaming platforms, email marketing, press releases with embedded video, company website, and live streams — ensuring that the content is optimized for these platforms first, before then adapting it for social media. This approach allows for a more balanced and comprehensive marketing strategy, ensuring that impactful content reaches a wider audience through diverse channels.

We find ourselves with a remarkable blank canvas ripe for innovation. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to reposition the use of film and video, embrace emerging technologies, and chart a dynamic course forward.

A Small Yet Significant Shift

Consider this: what if we ceased producing disposable content and instead focused on creating lasting, meaningful narratives? Here’s what I mean.

Film and video, though both visual storytelling mediums differ significantly in impact and perception. Film is characterized by its depth, production quality, cultural significance, and longevity. It is crafted with sophisticated storytelling, aiming to evoke deep emotional responses and leave a lasting cultural imprint. Films often have a significant cultural impact, inspiring discussions, and even shaping society (Top Gun was the best recruiting tool the US Navy ever had. An Inconvenient Truth triggered a global conversation on climate-change. Blood Diamond caused us to empathize with those living in war-torn countries we have never been to. Schindler’s List reminded us of the importance of standing against injustice.)

In contrast, video is ephemeral in nature. Often seen as a functional commodity, produced quickly and consumed just as fast. They are part of a rapid stream of content that is constantly updated and refreshed. This makes them inherently disposable, with a lower probability of lasting impact. While some videos can go viral and shape audiences decisions today, they rarely achieve the lasting significance of films.

Both mediums have their place. We are not advocating for a complete abandonment of video. The point we are emphasizing is that their roles and impacts are distinctly different. It is important that we recognize the difference and implement them both in our strategies.

Embracing Long-Form Content and Emerging Technologies

The cultural shift towards longer-form content is unmistakable. While short-form dominated from 2010s, audiences are increasingly drawn to more substantial, in-depth storytelling. This transition is driven by the association of short content with advertisements, leading to a growing preference for content that offers more meaning and substance.

In addition to duration, the future landscape of video will be fueled by the maturation of immersive and spatial computing, and the integration of AI and machine learning with generative video and film post-production.

In the future, the challenge for video marketers will not be production quality but authenticity. As AI and machine learning continue to advance, the line between real and digitally altered content will blur, making it harder for audiences to trust what they see.

Conclusion: Three Shifts Your Organization Can Make

Given the oversaturation of content and shifting audience preferences, it’s clear that relying solely on short-form social content is unsustainable. For non-profits and marketers, a diversified strategy that embraces both long-form content and new technologies is essential for future success. Here are three strategic shifts to consider:

1. Create Enduring Content. Recognize the importance of telling stories that last, mirroring the lasting impact your organization seeks to create for humanity. Shift away from producing exclusively single-use content and focus on developing evergreen narratives that resonate deeply and endure over time.
2. Invest in In-Depth Film Projects. Prioritize in-depth storytelling and visually stunning narratives. Dedicate a portion of your marketing budget to filmmaking that captures your organization’s history and impact, creating longer content with lasting value and cultural significance. Collaborate with experienced filmmakers and creative teams, like OX, to craft narratives that align with your mission and values.
3. Adopt a “Social-Last” strategy. For high-net-worth donors and Gen Z audiences, host exclusive, high-quality in-person events showcasing your film content. This approach fosters deeper connection, community-building, and appreciation for your organization’s work. Promote these events through personalized invites and follow up with digital content afterwards, including additional stories and behind-the-scenes footage to keep the conversation going and engage a broader audience. IRL first, digital last.

The evolving landscape of video content presents both challenges and opportunities. By investing in high-impact film content, adopting a digital-last strategy for specific audiences, and tailoring content for different segments, your organization can forge more meaningful and lasting connections with your audience. Embrace these strategies to stand out in a crowded market and multiply good.

Lights, Camera, Meh: Redefining the Role of Video was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

You may be familiar with the story of Chicken Little.

Known in various cultures as Henny Penny, Foxy Loxy, or (my personal favorite) Ducky Daddles, the fable recounts the plight of an anxious young chicken whose head is struck by a single acorn, famously leading it to conclude that… “the sky is falling.”

Panic ensues. In many versions, the story ends with poor Chicken Little being eaten by a fox.

It’s easy to judge our young protagonist as reactionary and irrational, but look around at our world today, and suddenly Chicken Little’s conclusion seems more prophetic than panicked.

Our natural environment in disarray. A growing hunger crisis.

A world more online yet more disconnected. Chronic loneliness. A country divided.

Global violence taking the lives of innocent children.

Technology that prays on our vulnerabilities — and prays most on the most vulnerable. Inequity that persists across social factors all over the world.

On the darkest days, the sky’s position propped above our collective heads seems alarmingly uncertain.

The moral of the Chicken Little story is often reduced to a simple warning: “Don’t overreact; things probably aren’t as bad as they seem.”

But the point isn’t whether the sky is actually falling or not.

The point is what we do with our fear, our dread, and our overwhelm. Will the crises that flood our feeds lead us to catastrophize — or will they catalyze us into action? Will we, as leaders, incite a panic or rally progress?

At OX, our mission is to multiply good for humanity.

Since 2010, we’ve focused on helping organizations tackling issues like the ones listed above to make a bigger impact through creative strategy and storytelling. In those 13 years, there have been days for each of us (and maybe for you, too), when the scale of the problems we’re collectively facing feels like more than any of us can effectively meet.

We’re not immune to the overwhelm, but lately, we’ve been talking a lot about that central action word in our mission: multiply. It’s our answer to “what to do when the sky seems to be falling.”

Now, obviously, the alternative to multiplication is addition. Why not just add more good?

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with addition. Every action, every dollar, every selfless choice counts. It’s worth doing. It matters. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time, in the right direction… is progress.

But looking around at the world today, it’s clear: impact by addition isn’t going to cut it.

Fear-mongering is irresponsible and short-sighted, but settling for incremental progress denies the realities we face. We need something more… we need to multiply good.

It’s common sense that growth by multiplication happens faster than growth by addition — before they’ve even read Chicken Little, most kids have a grasp on that.

But multiplication differs from addition in some surprising ways...

Since this is a math metaphor, let’s start with the math…

WARNING: The following illustration includes actual math and may not be suitable for all readers. 🧮

Check out the graphic below; at first, the difference is non-existent. 2+2 and 2x2 both lead to 4. In the short term, it can be hard for any of us to tell whether we’re working from the addition mindset or the multiplication mindset.

Quickly, though, the difference is unmissable. In just 10 repetitions of that simple pattern, growth by multiplication leaves addition in its dust. You can think of each line of that equation representing one day or one week, one campaign or one donor event. However you think of it, in the same 10 repetitions, multiplication leads to nearly 100x return compared to addition.

To take that a step further, OX aims to one day be in the rare category of organizations that have existed for over a century, so we asked ourselves, “What happens when we carry this pattern forward not 10 times, but 100 times?”

Growing by addition, that nets out at… 220.

The same repetitions by multiplication?

That gets you (drumroll please):
1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376

That’s a number so big I had to look up how to say it. In case you’re like me, that’s 1 nonillion, 267 octillion, 650 septillion, 600 sextillion, 228 quintillion, 229 quadrillion, 401 trillion, 496 billion, 703 million, 205 thousand, 376.

Now imagine each of those thousands and millions and even billions representing lives changed. Glasses of clean water. Hours in a safe after-school program. Laws passed that support equity and opportunity.

All of this begs the question, “What would it mean for each of us to look for ways to truly multiply good at every opportunity — and how could we do it?”

At its core, addition is growth by accumulation; the total is quite literally the sum of its parts. Addition is what happens when what I bring and what you bring are allowed to pull in the same direction.

But multiplication is different. Multiplication is growth by collaboration. The product is far greater than any of the individual parts, because those parts interact. Your efforts multiply mine, my efforts multiply yours, and together, we start a chain reaction of good.

The “x” at the center of your favorite brand collab? (See: Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama or Nike x Tiffany.) We don’t think that “x” is there by accident. We think that’s the multiplication mindset in action.

Addition can happen as long as we’re willing to co-operate. Addition happens between “vendors and clients.” It happens between “agencies and contractors.”

But multiplication is only possible when we “get” each other. It requires curiosity, trust, and a willingness to risk. It happens between collaborators, partners, and (dare we say it?) friends.

Addition is a business agreement. Multiplication is missional interdependence.

And it doesn’t stop there…

Addition is risk-avoidant. Multiplication is opportunity-seeking.

Addition asks “What boxes need to be checked?” Multiplication asks “What potential haven’t we considered?”

Where addition assumes more impact requires more effort, more resources, and more time, multiplication maximizes what we already have.

Addition thinks only about today’s return. Multiplication goes further, to also consider tomorrow’s legacy.

At OX, we’re not content with adding value to the world. We’re committed to multiplying good for humanity.

We’re surrounded by people like you who share our passion to make a multiplied impact, clients, partners, and collaborators who are hungry to make things better. We’re inspired by and accountable to that collective hunger.

When we look in the mirror today, we see ways that we’re still stuck in the addition mindset. But when we look forward to the years ahead, we aim to multiply good in everything we do.

So, we’re challenging ourselves to think more aggressively about the solutions we offer our clients, asking not “Does this move the needle?” but rather, “Does this multiply impact?”

We’re considering how emerging technologies like AI and Web3 can support talented, heartfelt people to make big visions achievable.

We’re pursuing new ways to build soulful storytelling on rock-solid research.

And as a team, we’re evaluating the way we spend every hour of every day, asking, “How can we make this hour count for more?”

To borrow from Jana Stanfield, we know that none of us can do all the good the world needs. But we want to make every day, every dollar, every meeting, and every moment multiply good — because the world needs all the good we can do.

Falling sky or not, there’s no question that times like these call for courage.

Courageous leadership. Courageous inclusion. Courageous surrender. Courageous creative.

Times like these call for the courage to multiply good. Let’s multiply it together.

Onward.

Multiply Good was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Today — longevity seems like an anomaly.

Fast changes and new ideas have shaken up industries so many times that most companies and nonprofits are focused on year-to-year survival. This has made it harder for leaders of purposeful businesses and charities to focus on the old idea of long-term impact. Ironically, this is precisely the reason they fail early.

The average lifespan of companies has dwindled over the years, and an alarming short-term mindset prevails among the founders and leaders of many organizations, causing them to perish prematurely.

A recent study conducted by McKinsey & Company highlighted a surprising trend: the average lifespan of US companies stood at a robust 90 years in 1935, but by 2010, it had dwindled to less than 14 years. It’s a stark reminder of how short-sightedness can prematurely end the journey of many organizations.

I firmly believe that a company thriving for 90 years or more should be the norm, not the exception. It should be an anticipated, mature lifespan. Yet, an alarming short-term mindset prevails among the founders and leaders of many companies and charitable organizations, causing them to die prematurely.

But at OX, we dare to dream differently. Our vision is to build a 100-year brand that endures, evolves, and continues to positively impact the world. Why shouldn’t a company thrive for a century or more? We are not merely chasing short-term success; we are intentionally crafting a legacy that will endure.

Let’s explore what it takes to become a 100-year brand and why it’s crucial for us.

The Vision of OX

We believe that a company’s lifespan should extend far beyond the norm. We recognize that the landscape of creativity is ever-changing, with trends like social media, film, and in-person events evolving rapidly — but the lifespan of an organization should be longer than the existence of a trend.

In a world where longevity and innovative thinking are in high demand, we aspire to be the pioneers who bridge that gap. We are intentionally crafting our company to stand the test of time, aiming for a remarkable 100-year lifespan.

Thinking Long-Term

Back in 2010, as OX was taking its first steps, I jotted down a simple but profound quote that has proven true time and time again: “The faster you grow, the faster you die.” Over the years, we’ve learned that the definition of “fast” can vary in different contexts. There were moments when our growth outpaced healthy development, leading to setbacks. Learning from these experiences, we’ve embraced the importance of long-term thinking.

To achieve this monumental goal, we recognize the need for a long-term mindset. (Hint: 14 years is far from long-term)

The Secrets of 100-Year Brands

In our quest to understand 100-year brands, we’ve uncovered two vital truths:

1. The Family Tradition: Most enduring brands tend to be family-owned or led by individuals who intentionally pass down a tradition from one generation to the next. Consider the Kalenjin tribe. This tribe in Kenya’s Rift Valley has produced more of the world’s great marathon runners than any other community on earth for decade after decade. All because of a tradition, an initiation rite, that teaches you how to persevere during pain: the essential character trait of all great marathoners. The essence of a healthy family tradition contributes to a brand’s longevity. At OX, we recognize that maintaining such generational continuity is crucial to our success.
2. Adaptability is Key: 100-year brands are masters of adaptability. “Rigidity breeds instability. The more rigid things become, and the longer things are stable, the more unstable they will be when the crisis hits.” For any company to survive, it must balance stability with flexibility, especially in turbulent times. They evolve and diversify their product offerings to remain relevant in a dynamic marketplace. A case in point is Nokia, which transformed from a paper mill in 1868 to a cellphone giant in the 2000s. However, their reluctance to embrace new ideas led to their downfall.

Why aim for 100 Years? We are on a mission to fill a significant gap in the creative industry. No creative agency or company currently offers 100 years of experience serving cause-driven organizations. Startups abound, and many companies rise and fall with their founders. We aim to be the first, bringing creativity, innovation, and long-term perspective to organizations dedicated to making the world better.

At OX, our mission remains unwavering: providing world-class creativity to organizations dedicated to doing good. However, our methods are flexible. The world evolves, and market conditions change, making it imperative for us to adapt. Social media might evolve, video could transform, and in-person events may face uncertainties, but our commitment to our mission remains steadfast. Our mission is fixed; our methods are fluid.

The 100-year brand is not a myth or a distant dream; it’s a goal worth pursuing, and often things that are cheaper or easier in the short term are more costly in the long run.

🤔 Reflection: Are the threats that keep you up at night ones that will even matter in 10 years?

Are the decisions you make simply for the next 3–5 years or are you building with a long-term vision?

What would it take for your organization to endure?

Here for Good | The 100-Year Vision. was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The world of art has constantly adapted to new technologies. The earliest cave paintings. Renaissance sculpture. The invention of photography. The advent of radio, television, and the internet. For the 1,000th time, artists and creators once again find themselves on the brink: poised to unlock the promising potential of an emerging technological shift — Web3.

For the newcomer, Web3 encompasses words you may have heard, like cryptocurrency, NFTs, the blockchain, and the Metaverse. The internet as we know it can be divided into 3 periods…

Web1 in the ’90s was the AOLs and Netscapes. Files and programs lived on floppy disks because data was only in one place at one time. Remember the band The Postal Service? They mailed music files back and forth to produce an album because DropBox didn’t exist… yet.

Web2 began in the mid-2000s and included social media, apps, Big Tech, and “the cloud.” Data lives on large servers owned by corporations and can be hacked in large pools simultaneously.

Web3 is a world where data, photos, and files are ownable and stored in a decentralized way rather than by one corporation in a data center. Web3 is changing the way we think about digital communities, digital banking, and how our personal data is owned and stored. (This is a gross simplification but gives you a basic idea of the core concepts.)

As I lead the team at OX Creative, my mandate as CEO is to ensure our agency is cutting-edge. This requires discerning which trends and innovations we should develop expertise in and which we should not, as we support organizations doing GOOD in the world. This becomes complex when my experience is that trends typically do more harm than good.

The thing is, many innovations begin with self-serving intent rather than “good” in mind.

Take the California Gold Rush, for example. In the late 1840s, gold was struck in the American West at Sutters Mill. This attracted thousands of young, single, adventurous men seeking their fortune in a lawless, dangerous environment with the promise of fabulous riches. The upside was wealth. But the potential for wealth came at a staggering cost.

The American West of the 1840s was a place of promise but also deeply problematic. Winners won big; losers lost it all — and fairness and justice had little to do with the outcome. The same spirit still exists in the West. Even today, it remains the frontier for those seeking their fortunes in the cut-throat technology and entertainment industries. It’s no accident that Web3 is described as a new “Gold Rush.”

For me, though Web3 has seemed creatively exciting, it wasn’t necessarily something I felt good about joining. Chiefly, when Facebook changed its name to Meta, I felt this rebrand wasn’t fully merited and distracted from some deeper ethical issues that remained unrepaired. Secondly, crypto-culture appears to be motivated by greed rather than altruism. To me, crypto-bros spending millions on NFT cartoons celebrating party culture is something our world needs less of, not more. Despite the blockchain’s claim to distribute power, we have seen the consolidation of control and resources into the hands of fiscally suspect leaders. The failure of FTX. The decision of some NFT marketplaces to stop paying artist royalties. These are just two case points for how society placed too much trust in the hands of too few. This is what drove people to leave Web2 and embrace Web3 in the first place.

In the last decade, beginning with the housing market collapse in 2008, we have witnessed a series of events where consolidated power led to collapse: the banking industry, Big Tech, Twitter, and Facebook, each showing us how dangerous the consolidated power of Web2 is. Watching this occur in Web3 has reminded us afresh that technology itself is neither the problem nor the solution. But instead, how we choose to use it will make the difference.

How can Web3 make a difference for GOOD in the real world? These are a few important opportunities I see.

Web3 can transform the refugee crisis, human trafficking, and the healthcare industry by eliminating the issues caused by loss of passports and identity. The future is soul-bound digital “paperwork” held in the blockchain that cannot be lost, destroyed, stolen, or ransomed. If it were built on Web3, a trafficker could not confiscate an enslaved person’s identification in a foreign country, leaving them powerless to escape for fear of imprisonment. If records were built on Web3, a hospital could not lose your medical history because the patient will own them and take to and from every appointment.

I see the potential for Web3 to transform the way event ticketing works. If Taylor Swift had sold tickets to her Era tour using NFTs-as-tickets instead of Ticketmaster, she would have controlled the ticketing process and protected her audience from price hikes on the secondary market.

NFTs will transform the way philanthropy works. When generous individuals donate at a charitable auction, they receive a digital collectible artwork that will appreciate and can be resold. And when it does, the charity will continue to receive a percentage of every re-sale. In this scenario, one gala/auction/gift could fund an organization in perpetuity.

The metaverse will transform the way events work. It will eliminate the barrier of the location to collaboration. Political boundaries. Quarantines. They will no longer separate people from forming communities and ideas from being shared.

Web3 can allow undiscovered and marginalized artists to get their work not only seen but protect their ability to retain the profits from their work. It creates a new decentralized marketplace for creators who would not have gotten past the “gatekeepers” of the current media and entertainment structures. Talent will retain ownership of their work and not have to sign away rights in exchange for distribution in exploitative agreements.

It has been said, “We know that an innovation has become mainstream when the technology disappears.” When we stop saying metaverse, when we stop saying NFTs, when we stop saying Web3, we will know it has become mainstream, and the future is “here.” Because it has become invisible to us.

OX believes that it is possible to change the culture of Web3 by joining it rather than observing it and hoping for the best. We have a role in shaping a better future and ensuring this space becomes what it should be: a FORCE for GOOD!

Together, we can navigate this unique moment in history when things rapidly change to be a positive force for good in this new space. To transform how causes build community. To influence how charitable funds are raised and distributed. To push the boundaries of what experiences are like. To make art that is truly amazing and inspiring.

Let’s rise above toxic culture and create a blue sky of creative possibilities focused on GOOD.

Follow OX’s foray into creating good in the Web3 space as we partner in launching @LARKHAUS. LARKHAUS is an art innovation company of leading world-class artists to bridge their work and audience from traditional mediums into Web3.
OX x LARKHAUS. Let’s build the future.

An Emerging Technological Shift was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s early June on a beach in Oregon, 45 degrees outside and pouring rain. A massive wave crashes on the shore and drenches the entire cast and crew up to our knees. That’s when it hit me: This is the most miserable shoot I have ever been on.

It was also, somehow, the most fun. Weird how that works.

This was my first time to the Pacific Northwest, and it was exactly the way I pictured: cold, wet, and beautiful,with low-hanging clouds rolling over evergreen-covered mountains. But it didn’t start out that way.

When our plane landed in Portland, it was a perfect June day: sunny, warm — not a cloud in the sky. The story we were telling required four main scenes: a beach wedding; a cliff; a tattoo shop; and dirt bike trails. We scouted out all of the locations and turned in for the night feeling really good about the next two days of filming.

By the time I woke up, the temperature had dropped to the 40s and it was raining sideways. Literally sideways.

OK. No problem. We’ll just shift some things around and film the beach wedding and cliff scenes in the afternoon, when it was supposed to be nicer out.

When the afternoon rolled around, it was still pouring rain. We had filmed all of the interior scenes that we could in the morning, and now it was decision time. Do we drive two hours back to Portland to film the tattoo and dirt bike scenes tonight, and then drive two hours back to the coast in the morning? Do we extend the shoot an extra day (and eat the extra costs involved)? Or do we start cutting significant scenes?

Our original plan had gone out the window, but we rolled with the punches. Luckily, our producer booked our hotel right across the street from our location, so we were able to quickly assess the situation and roll within minutes if needed.

After changing out of our soaked clothes (our ponchos were no match for the sideways rain) and much deliberation, we came to the tough decision to cut the dirt bike scene and add time at the coast. Knowing the purpose of each scene was crucial to being able to make this decision. We knew we could cover the significance of the bike scene in other ways.

The next morning, I woke up and looked out the window. It was still raining, but at least it was vertical! We waited as long as we could, and the rain finally let up.

I looked out the window one more time before heading down to the beach. Horror fell on my face as I witnessed six school buses pulling up right in front of our location.

Six. School. Buses.

There were probably 300 kids that poured out of them and swarmed straight to the cove we were planning on filming in.

We were out of time. We had to film, rain or shine — kids or no kids. So we headed down towards the cove.

There were students everywhere. It was a nightmare. But luckily (?) it had started raining again! The crowd thinned out and we were able to get to work. We filmed in the miserable conditions until our camera literally shut down due to the rain.

It turned out beautifully. The conditions were perfect for the mood we were going for. Ultimately, the shoot was a great success. But it didn’t succeed because of the execution, it succeed because of the planning. The plan gave us the confidence to pivot.

Sideways Rain and Six School Buses was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to the marketing space at all for the last five years, you’ll have noticed a subtle shift that has had big impacts in the way we think about our favorite brands. A shift that started as a millennial-focused marketing trend has ushered in a new wave of mainstream messaging. This shift has a name: the brand anthem.

Put simply, a brand anthem is a declaration of who your brand is by showing why it is here. Through substantially different means than the “Who We Are Video” that tells of who “they are,” a brand anthem reminds you of who you want to be.

Inspire

Whether new or old, a brand anthem should serve as the rally cry that unites and inspires employees around a singular purpose.

Connect

A brand anthem should be emotionally driven to connect positively with customers, encouraging them to take part in your brand’s larger purpose. Where previously a brand would focus on communicating its features and benefits, a brand anthem creates a lifestyle and sense of emotion for others to connect.

Tell Stories

Lastly, the brand anthem should provide a platform for telling stories — and not just testimonials. Diverse, creative, imaginative, and emotional stories. This creates the ability to scale the story across other videos, events, or campaigns.

Accomplishing a successful brand anthem is no small feat — it takes authenticity. It will take company-wide soul-searching. The brand anthem’s lofty goals and messaging will fall flat if the brand doesn’t stand behind and live by the mission — which maybe this world could use a little more of.

“Who We Are” Videos Got a Big Update was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Imagine me as an 11-year-old, a shellacked swoop of spiky hair sticking out above my beady eyes, my whisker-less upper lip curled purposefully to hide a set of bulky metal braces.

It’s 1997, and for the first time I am standing, awestruck, in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch.

As I step through the open doorway, I’m greeted by a pair of teenagers in ripped jeans and polo shirts who wordlessly nod in my direction. Anonymous techno music thumps out from speakers hidden somewhere behind an endless wall of graphic T-shirts and moose-emblazoned boxer shorts.

Every detail is considered. Shirts and jackets alike are inscribed with labels promising “superior quality” and touting an illustrious heritage that dates all the way back to 1892. There’s a canoe on that wall!

Photos in clean white frames feature smiling, attractive people hanging out in some Upstate New York lodge. They are confident and athletic and American. I feel like I’m hanging out there with them, like I could be one of them, braces and all.

For most of my life, shopping for clothes had meant an afternoon errand to JCPenney or Kohl’s. Those were stores; this was a portal into another world.

I’ll never forget the first time I walked into an Abercrombie & Fitch, because, for the first time, I was captivated by a brand. I saw how powerful “brand” could be — I was hooked.

When most people hear the word “brand,” their first thought is “logo.”

Imagine the logos of some of the most oft-referenced and revered brands of the modern era. A swoosh. A set of arches. A piece of fruit (with an iconic bite taken from its side). For many, these symbols have grown into the stuff of legend.

But why?

If the curves of that Nike swoosh or the bite in Apple’s apple had been slightly different in shape, would our ubiquitous awareness of them be lessened? I’d argue that the answer is a resounding “no.”

At OX, we recognize that, although a beautiful logo is a start, it’s only a start.

Brands that win with their audiences win on three fronts: the words they say, the visuals they show, and the experiences people have with them over time.

As my teen years wore on, my collection of “superior quality goods” from Abercrombie started to fall apart at their literal seams. Their promise of quality didn’t match my experience. My enchantment faded.

Ultimately, we believe in creating brands that are more than talk and stylish artwork — brands that ask good questions and listen to you more than they talk about themselves.

We call these “human brands,” brands that act and talk and function like real people do, unafraid to make mistakes and unashamed to own them when they do.

When brands show up as nameless, faceless organizations (what we call “corporate brands”), at best, their audience will choose to use their services and products. At best, their relationship is transactional. These brands are so focused on the perception of perfection that they miss the real gold available to them all the time: the opportunity for connection.

The people you’re trying to connect with are just that: people. As a result, whether they mean to or not, they build rapport most naturally with other people.

We believe that human brands have five distinctive characteristics:

1. Human brands believe in the power of great questions. They don’t assume they know the answer, and they aren’t afraid to look stupid. They’re interested in getting to know the real you, and ask questions to help them do it.

2. Human brands understand the power of authenticity. They aren’t trying to be someone that they’re not, and they humbly accept that every person (and every organization) makes mistakes sometimes. They own it when they do.

3. Human brands understand the power of heritage. They know that where they’ve come from is as important as where they’re going; they know that their story matters and points the way forward.

4. Human brands rely on the power of community. Because they know their strengths and weaknesses, they aren’t trying to go it alone, and more than that, their goals are bigger than themselves. They often ask, “How can what we’re doing benefit what everyone else is doing?”

5. Finally, human brands know the power of empathy. They show genuine interest in your experience, what it feels like for you to be you. They think about the challenges you face and the fears you might have. In many ways, the way you see it is more important than the way they see it.

These five characteristics don’t just mark great brands, they mark great people. In a way, it starts to become difficult to distinguish between the two, and that’s exactly the point.

When brands behave humanly, their logo and name simply become the handles for all of the intangible understanding that people have of them, the fixed anchors on which all of the meaningful value hangs. You have a name that people call you, but who you are is obviously so much more.

Further, you can tarnish a great name, but a great name can’t make you — only your real human interactions can do that. Your brand is just the same.

So now, imagine you, the you that you really are, expressed with words and visuals and experiences of true connection that you build over time.

What are you like? What do you hope people would say about you? What legacy will you leave?

As your brand becomes more human, caring more for others than yourself, you yourself will naturally do the same, and so will the people whose lives you touch. Little by little, our brands will build true good for real people.

The logos and the names will be nothing more than mementos of all the good done along the way.

Stop Revising Your Logo, Start Rebuilding Your Brand was originally published in lately. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.