Ryan Reynolds is everywhere. Have you noticed? And he’s absolutely killing it. This Ryan Reynolds empire thing has been building up for a few years. Ten years in fact. From Deadpool, Reynolds built Maximum Effort where he is now Chief Creative Officer. He’s also an owner of Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile – fun fact.
To refresh our creative branding blog, we decided to conduct a little study on Ryan Reynolds. Flicking through all his ads and social media posts was fun. I can’t say Mother’s Ruin Punch was our favorite, but hey, The Vasectomy was worth it. More on that later.
So, back to creative branding … let’s break it down for you.
What is creative branding?
Creative branding is creating your brand using storytelling, art, space and technology. There’s so much noise, and it’s hard to get noticed. To innovate you need to be creative. To brand something, you need to be creative. Some say that there’s a fine line between creativity and branding. One thing’s clear: Brands need to think outside of the box to get noticed and remembered.
What is a brand?
People create brands. Brands are people’s dreams. Brands fill voids that are missing in the market. Brands have their own personalities and styles, goals, mission statements, ethos, tone of voice, story and so forth. A strong and unique brand is authentic, relevant, and uncomplicated. Brands answer the question, “Why do I exist?”
Take Maximum Effort, for example. As Reynolds admitted, he spent 10 years trying to get the movie Deadpool made. Without the backup of the studio, Reynolds did something innovative and “fairly unorthodox”. With a bit of fun, Maximum Effort took on the Ryan Reynolds humor and sarcasm.
When you add character and personality – a bit of humor or seriousness, you’re building your brand’s persona. Of course, don’t take on the sarcasm just because. C’mon! If you’re at the beginning of your brand journey you need to know how to write your story. Want to learn more? Read our blog on how to write a kick-a*s brand story.
Here comes the juicy bit.
How do I get some of that “Ryan Reynolds Magic”?
Tip #1: Your brand is everything. Take the time to conduct brand research. Do the unexpected.
Brand research helps you figure out the north star. You need insights that will help you make decisions. Without insights, you’re most likely wasting your efforts, time, and resources.
Brand research doesn’t have to be expensive or exhausting. Two ways to conduct brand research without blowing your budget or timeline includes:
- Understanding brand sentiment through social media listening. It’s easy to figure out what customers are saying about you and your competitors using social listening tools. Brand sentiment generally falls in three buckets:
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- Positive – it’s a good thing. Your brand has become one of the customer’s top choices.
- Negative – not a good thing. This negativity might lead to the customer disliking or avoiding your brand. Try not to get personal. Track the good and bad.
- Neutral – the customer feels indifferent after interacting with your brand.
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- Asking what customers want via surveys, focus groups or other means to collect data. What do customers care about? What matters most to your potential customers? There is no point in trying to compete for market share in a niche where competitors dominate. Do customers dislike what existing brands are offering? Is there something that customers have been asking for, but no one has offered? For example, Ryan Reynolds and Mint Mobile reduced their pricing when competitors were increasing prices. The reason: inflation. They figured, why not do something counterintuitive? Check out Ryan’s interview with Yahoo Finance.
Tip #2 – Want to Create Brands with Speed and Relevance? Tap into conversations so that your brand IS the conversation.
Everyone wants to build a legacy brand. We all know that it takes time to come up with a masterpiece. Time is relative. Some clients don’t want to wait for months for a brand to come to life. For some, success is about speed and getting to markets first. Crafting that winning creative brand strategy can take at least six months plan and push out.
But what if your brand is relevant to today’s lifestyle of culture? What if speed and relevance are of the essence? Reynolds recommends tapping into conversations that’s already happening. That way your brand then becomes the conversation. Drop the marketing talk. Talk to your audience like humans. That way your audience may help you reshare it. Looking for creative ways to boost your content marketing? We’ve got you covered. Read More
All ABBA-out this. @VancityReynolds @RealHughJackman pic.twitter.com/p2Ji69hh3h
— Maximum Effort (@MaximumEffort) June 14, 2022
Tip #3 – Craft better stories through collaboration.
There’s a wealth of talent out there. Get creative and see how you can tell better stories that is relevant to a larger pool rather than to a select few. X marks the spot, so they say. Think about Adidas x Pharrell Williams, Puma x Rihanna or even Reebok x Victoria Beckham.
Then of course there’s Aviation Gin x Nick Cannon. Father’s Day promo. The Vasectomy. Need we say more?
And finally… have fun! Our belief is that creativity has no boundaries. Have fun and enjoy the journey.
Want to learn more about us? Or looking to hire a creative branding agency to get your started? Book a consultation with us now.