The best brands live and breathe culture.
These brands know who they are and who they’re for. They’re thought-provoking and engaging; devoted and inspiring. They action their most sacred beliefs to shake and secure the world around them – doing so with confidence and strategic intent.
To me, branding should get emotional. Both the process and the outcome should teem with creative energy and push far beyond a mission and a logo to effect and inform a company’s actions at every level. It should hit you in your gut, flutter your heart or consume your mind. If it does, chances are it’ll hit home for others, too.
Business Dev
There’s a lot of important work that goes into a project prior to kickoff. Carter combines all of his experience and strengths to steward new business – from outreach to scoping, scheduling to team structures.
Research
Through both qualitative and quantitative methods, Carter unearths compelling insights and guiding truths; identifies market opportunities and distills audience profiles – all to set the stage for the rest of the work to come.
Concepting
One of Carter’s true strengths is translating strategy into creative territories. In tandem with designers, he thrives envisioning, narrating and guiding big picture thinking to ensure the end result is not only evocative, but ownable.
Architecture
Carter systematizes brand and product portfolios to be clear and cohesive. Whether a parent brand has acquired or divested assets, or a startup has reached a new threshold, Carter rebalances hierarchies to help brands continue to grow.
Strategy
From research, Carter collaboratively develops foundational brand strategy – everything from purpose, mission and vision, down to positioning, core principles and personality.
Naming
Whether descriptive, invented or somewhere in between, Carter digs deep into etymology and associative thinking to generate a bevy of potential names – each with their own unique set of strengths.
Verbal
From there, voice and messaging can be crafted – the full toolkit of directives and guidelines needed to ensure the brand’s language feels engaging and on strategy.
Innovation
Carter brings fresh, divergent thinking and a series of Harvard-backed tools to any innovation brief. His polymathic approach and diverse interests fuel this area of his work to help bring truly groundbreaking new ideas into reality.