Edition 18: The Nomads Guide to Impactful branding by Adrian Barrow, Strategic Partner, Group Of Humans
Can a nomadic approach to life and work brings fresh perspectives and a humanistic ethos that help brands play a more impactful role in people’s lives?
Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be a brand strategist and creative leader…
I was originally trained as a market researcher in Australia, where I grew up and went to university. Back then, graduates received rigorous vocational training, and mine was in how to design market research studies, analyze data, and tease out useful insights that could be applied to the development of marketing communications and new products.
I left Australia for London in my late 20s, where I was lucky enough to snag a job at WWAV Rapp Collins, which was a merger of two very large UK direct marketing agencies. This was my first foray into direct marketing, or relationship marketing, as it was called back then, and it was a foundational learning experience about marketing that I’ve carried with me ever since.
When you work in above-the-line agencies, as I have for the majority of my career, it is easy to become arrogant about marketing communications. Insidiously, you begin talking down to people by shaping strategy and creative work around an aspiration for how we, as creative professionals, believe people should use our clients’ brands to improve their lives. But when you’re trained in direct marketing, the entire approach to connecting with real people is very grounded.
Clients can use direct marketing to talk to people one-on-one and use one or two nuggets of information to change their perception of a brand and increase their likelihood of transacting with it. This quickly teaches you the importance of being very specific about those one or two messages. It can be quite humbling to discover what people’s true priorities are rather than framing the messaging around clients’ products or your own creative sensibilities.
My journey as a brand strategist, and more recently as a brand innovator, has been a series of unplanned but invaluable professional experiences in a variety of agencies, clients, and industries. It’s taken me from Australia to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and, as of 2007, the United States.
Along the way, I’ve found that there’s definitely some truth to the notion that the world is shrinking and that people are becoming more similar, especially in big Western cities. I was in Amsterdam recently for a Group Of Humans client. And wandering through some of the city’s narrow streets felt so eerily similar to the West Village in New York or Sydney’s Surry Hills. But I’ve always tried to remind myself in those moments that there are many significant cultural differences that influence how people relate to brands in different parts of the world.
So, on the one hand, having a global perspective has significantly influenced my approach to brand strategy. On the other hand, I remain fascinated by the nuances of culture, language, and behavior and how they influence people’s interactions with brands. These nuances are critical for any strategist to understand. In fact, in an increasingly homogenized and globalized world, it’s more important than ever to remember that we still live in a world full of people with diverse cultural backgrounds, perspectives, and worldviews.
Tipping may be a trivial but insightful example. As many people are no doubt aware, there’s a pervasive tipping culture in America that’s now been systematized into digital point of sale interfaces. Walk into any store or restaurant, and you’ll see customers being ‘digitally empowered’ to tip significant sums for the routine service they receive — up to 20% or even 25%. This has become a new moment of truth for customers who must make a quick decision to accept, decline, or choose another amount. You just don’t see these institutionalized digital tipping interfaces in other parts of the world.
In Australia, for example, customers can tip if they believe they have received excellent service, but no retailer or restaurant realistically expects it on a regular basis. Furthermore, Australian customers don’t respond well to feeling pressured by store owners and their technology, which encourages them to tip. So, while it may appear that life in America and Australia (or Amsterdam) has become more similar, there are still many significant differences in consumer attitudes and behaviors, particularly in how people react to the interfaces that mediate our interactions with service providers. Getting the design of these screens and experiences right or wrong can make a big difference in whether people believe your brand values their humanity and culture.
How has working in so many different places, markets, and sectors evolved your approach to work?
Throughout my career, I’ve tried to focus on building human-centered brands that appeal to universal human motivations. I’ve had the privilege of advising major global CPG brand owners, such as Nestlé and PepsiCo. And some of my most rewarding experiences have been with luxury brands such as Range Rover, Lexus, Rolex, and Mandarin Oriental. Recently, I’ve found myself working more in the B2B sector for technology clients who I could never have predicted that I’d be working with just a few years ago.
You might say this approach sounds scattergun, and I should be concentrating on becoming an authority in one domain. But what I’ve discovered is that the work I do across a multiplicity of sectors actually helps me become a more rounded strategist overall because it broadens my understanding of the human condition from very different perspectives.
So, my passion isn’t in one particular sector or industry, but actually in the human challenges that each one throws up. Each industry has its own set of user nuances, which creates unique opportunities for innovation. If forced to choose, I’d gravitate toward any project that combines the power of code and culture. Because it’s at this intersection that so much progress and prosperity is happening in the world today. Unsurprisingly, I see that this is the area where brands can truly differentiate themselves.
During the pandemic, my wife and I decided to apply for US citizenship in case our kids wanted to settle here, so we’d have the right to reside. You may think this might have solidified my desire to work and live here, as some kind of emotional response. But part of the application process was to create a list of all the places where we’d lived and worked. And in looking at all these places, we realized that we’re like sharks. We like to live everywhere. We need to keep moving forward. We want to stay upstream.
I never feel more alive than when I get the opportunity to go somewhere new. I love life in LA at the moment. Southern California is one of the most exciting places to work because of the convergence of culture, technology, and creativity here. So much of what’s new and interesting in the world happens here first. But I’d have to think long and hard if you told me that I’d have to stay in this one place forever.
Does being part of Group Of Humans facilitate this desire to move forward because of the nature of the work?
One hundred percent. I got thrown into the deep end when I came to GOH, as I was asked through a contact if I wanted to work on a project the HUMANS were already putting together and so joined by default. In the end, that project didn’t move forward, but my interest was piqued. As I scratched the surface, I started recognizing names and discovering that every HUMAN was kind of a luminary in their field.
If I hadn’t joined, I would never have gotten to meet these people or work on these projects — I mean, I had the privilege of working with an ex-NASA astronaut late last year! That would never have happened if I’d been working as a brand strategist at a holding-company ad agency. I’ve since been involved in several diverse projects, from a horse racing app to a global energy services company, often revolving around helping to define these clients’ problems in human terms, providing strategic leadership, and fostering a ‘group-mind’ mindset.
Has GOH’s Interdisciplinary Project TRIBE approach worked for you?
The approach at GOH definitely differs from traditional agency experiences I’ve had. I can sense the fluidity, commitment, and real drive to do more innovative and impactful work. I love the notion that the ‘best idea’ can originate from anyone, anywhere in the world. It’s especially effective for innovation projects that benefit from agile and adaptable team structures.
Traditional agencies are like a pyramid. You have a small number of seasoned professionals at the top and a vast number of juniors below. And while they might be bright and highly educated, they don’t have the experience to really know what they can do. Your job as a leader in those businesses is to help these high-achievers reach their potential through coaching and developing them so they can deliver against client expectations.
In GOH, I start every project knowing every other HUMAN on the team already knows what they’re good at — my job is to provide insights and open up pathways that will help them do what they do best. The difference with GOH is that I don’t find any of the barriers to trying to communicate the value of these insights that I’d normally encounter in traditional agencies.
I’ve found that this helps create ideas that don’t just meet a client’s brief but also push the boundaries of what’s possible in brand experience and product design. I’m a big believer in the power of diverse, cross-disciplinary teams to drive positive change and create groundbreaking work. So yes, it’s been really refreshing — invigorating, even!
Clients also seem to dig it — particularly the ones who respect the thought we put into bringing a human perspective to their business and brand challenges and who share our commitment to changing the way people experience the world, and achieving maximum impact for new ideas.
Group Of Humans
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Group Of Humans is built on an innovative community platform designed to cater to the evolution of creative and strategic work. We do not work to any traditional business or agency model but are holacratic, distributed and diverse, not just geographically but also creatively and philosophically.
We work cooperatively in bespoke TRIBES, built on demand to meet specific challenges. Adaptable and scalable, we combine our talents, viewpoints and experience to create fresh perspectives and meaningful solutions that meet global challenges and move humanity towards better outcomes.
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