Necessity is the mother of invention

For creative agencies like Better, it’s been about adapting to those unpredictable changes and developing new ways of working. But the situation has brought one positive — the opportunity to continue digitising, streamlining and strengthening our BetterBrandBuilder programme.

Fine-tuning delivery

From moving face-to-face workshops online to gaining insight through testing and making more informed decisions, we’ve been able to underpin, fine-tune and improve our overall process.

In fact, these innovative tools have allowed us to continue delivering ongoing national and international projects with minimum disruption. And just as remote working has levelled the playing field for many brand agencies, further digitisation has meant less emphasis on locations and head offices, and more focus purely on process, people and projects. Exactly as it should be.

Our Creative Director, John Taylor, said: “More often than not it’s restrictions that trigger the most creative thinking. Creatives hate restrictions, so they tend to think twice as hard to find ways to overcome or subvert them.

“COVID-19 has placed all manner of restrictions on us globally, as a nation and as a business but in doing so, it has forced us to work smarter than ever.”

Together is better

In an evenly poised creative and strategic environment, working together has always been a crucial part of building brands that finely balance the remarkable with the relevant; that goes for both internal and agency-client perspectives. But in the COVID-19 world of working from home and social distancing, there’s potential for spontaneous creativity and off-the-cuff conversations to be lost in a sea of video calls and email threads.

Given the circumstances, it’s somewhat ironic that despite being further apart than ever, we’ve found new ways of working that bring us closer together. Whiteboard style tools have allowed workshops to continue seamlessly online, bringing an interactive element that otherwise would’ve been restricted to good old pen and paper. As well as being more engaging, this has helped streamline different sections of our process, enabling key elements to be fluidly imported, exported and called upon as a project develops. Throw cloud-based working into the mix and we’re left with a truly streamlined package that has efficiency, flexibility and collaboration at its core.

There’s also the added bonus of increased client buy-in, with more internal stakeholders being involved in the process from the very start. We all know the complications of busy calendars, extended travel times and practical meetings, but with a more digital approach these roadblocks of the past have essentially been removed.

Account Manager, Charlotte Linton, said: “As we’ve all adapted to new ways of working, the power of digital communication and agile collaboration has been immeasurable. Cloud based tools have allowed us to work together in a way that’s not only more streamlined, but also more effective.

“For our clients, they can see and understand our process clearer than ever before, while also contributing through efficient feedback that feeds directly into our team and wider schedule.”

Testing, testing

Another part of our process to have been refreshed and redeveloped over the past few months is consumer testing. Thanks to powerful new tools, we’re now capable of stress testing everything from consumer habits to brandscapes, naming and creative; all with a highly targeted audience that’s filtered by key demographics. This allows us to gain crucial and valuable insight that can inform decision making on every level.

Perhaps most importantly, uninformed subjectivity has become a thing of the past; replaced by fact-based consumer testing that brings clarity on what really resonates with your audience. Simply put, we can reduce risks by getting to the heart of what will and won’t strategically work for your organisation, prior to any key decisions being made.

Leaner and meaner

Just as the first few months of the pandemic provided a chance to reset, rethink and reshape the everyday, the time that followed has allowed us to refresh and redevelop our BetterBrandBuilder process. A process that we now feel is more streamlined, more productive and most importantly more effective.

John added: “In many ways we’re collaborating more closely than ever before, despite being further apart. Rapid consumer testing is allowing us to back up and validate recommendations and creative directions. Cloud based collaboration allows team members to feed in thoughts from their desk or their dining table, as well as offering previously unavailable insight to our clients.”

Whether that’s for clients across the road or across the Atlantic, it’s a powerful process that guarantees we make brands more remarkable and more relevant than ever before.