Getting Famous, People

There's this exercise we do when we're digging deeper into an organization's brand. It sounds a little hokey at first, but it actually sparks a ton of conversation and really does give us (and them) a different way to view their organizational "personality" as a whole.



We ask them to answer this question: "if you're organization were a famous person, which famous person would they be?"

Hey, it's not like we're asking what kind of tree they would be.

This particular group represented above, had a very rugged, of-the-people, vibe. And they like hats (even though Reba wasn't wearing hers here).

This was actually a voting ballot we created after we got everyone's answers.

John Wayne won. Of course. Who can beat out the "King?" Wait, no, the "Duke?" Wait, no... that's right. I just Googled it.



Sometimes we'll go a step further and then compare how the organizational persona stands up to their customer's persona. So from Bill Gates on one end to Average Joe on the other, it can be a telling exercise.



How we work out the customer persona is a lot less about celebrities and more about focusing in on all the things that make up that real person: life stage, age, gender. Sometimes when we get a really enthusiastic group, we'll even talk about where they vacation and if they own a boat. It happened. See "Bill's" boat up there?

This is all done through group collaborative discussion (sometimes shouting, the good kind) and a whole lot of gettin' crazy with the markers.

Of course we always like to do these exercises on ourselves as well.

So when we asked Third Degree-ers what famous person our agency would be, we got some really interesting answers. Here are just a few:



Tina Fey actually got two entries.

"She is smart, quirky, hard-working and coming into her own."

"She is witty, edgy and respected. The first woman head writer for Saturday Night Live.
And like our CEO, Roy, she tests the boudaries of appropriateness :)"



Jean Chatzky, Money Magazine editor and Today Show guest contributor.

"She works to break down complex messaging into practical, useful and compelling information relevant to the target audience."

Wow. Very practical answer. One guess which Third Degree-er that came from.



Robert Downey Jr.

"We've been around the block, know what's up and are still a bit of an underdog...."



"... plus Iron Man's pretty much branded with our colors."

One guess what department the person who made that comment came from.



The Brat Pack

And speaking of the edge of inappropriateness. Guess who chose the entire Brat Pack as our Third Degree persona? Roy. A true eighties boy. And his words:

"They were hip for their time, slightly irreverent, but made one hell of a splash together. They had the look and the attitude to back up their popularity. Individually they all had their own accomplishments, some more than others. But almost everything they did as a team was a success. So that's us... just a pack of brats."

Well said.

La Cap's New Look

We've been busy launching a new brand in Louisiana lately. La Capitol (but all the cool people call them La Cap) is a statewide credit union that came to Third Degree for some branding love.



This credit union is so rooted in culture and community, that we created a look and feel for them that would organically tie them to not only the physical traits of their state but also the Louisiana state-of-mind.



Local, local, local... and credit union differentiation from banks are the main themes you'll find woven into all the messaging.



We created a brand video seen here, and a condensed version for television. Probably one of the more sincere and steeped-in-tradition animated videos we've done in a long time. Usually our animated videos (which are a great way to get a high-quality feel for a modest budget) tend to be bright and "poppy," with like toy cars or happy little wrenches. But this video for La Cap shows you can use the same execution to tap into a more heartfelt emotion as well.







Getting the employees on the bandwagon is so important it's not even funny. So part of the soft launch of the brand included a variable, specialty mailer sent to each employees home (that's right, their home), not just tacked to the break room wall. Not that break room walls aren't a very handy medium. But this kind of piece makes everyone feel "the love"... La Cap style.

Office Space (Delta Style)

So I just got back from visiting Delta Community Credit Union in Atlanta last week.



They have really fantastic branches. The design is really modern, but the way the flow is set up is really welcoming and organic.




So I shouldn't have been surprised that their brand new internal offices (they just moved in a few weeks ago) would be equally pages-of-Dwell-magazine worthy.







All of their spaces reflect Delta Community's progressive but personable credit union vibe. But the marketing department especially had its own creative flair going on.



"My what a cool chair you have, Ollie."



"Why this old thing? Shucks."



"Do sit down. My file cabinet is disguised as a cushiony bench. I am mysterious and have secrets that way."



Look there's Simon. Aw. He found a new home.



Right next to Andy. How cute.



What's so cool about the marketing team's space (beside that fact that VP of Marketing, Mary Olsen practically designed it herself single-handedly!!?) is that it creates this sense that the marketing team really is a culture within a culture at Delta Community.





The national HOW Design Conference has whole sessions, heck, whole conferences, to help creatives who work inhouse find creative inspiration. So it's certainly unique to find such a fresh inhouse space.



Alas, now I am back in the OKC. I cannot complain, Third Degree has a fantastic lofty, warehouse style office space. But I bet Delta Community's elevator actually works.



It was like a welcome home sign really. Sigh.

Next time I'm in "Hot"lanta visiting the Delta crew, I'll be sure to ride the elevator up and down just a few more times for the luxury of it all.