Q: You’ve been in the business for over 30 years. You obviously love what you do. What makes you energized to get to work in the morning?
A: Jerry
I've found the passion for delivering solutions is a powerful driver in getting to work every day.
Andy Boyden and I have always taken other people's (businesses') challenges as our own. We felt we were well-rounded, strategically creative and reasonably intelligent enough to view their challenges from different perspectives so we could deliver solutions from a place free of the emotional issues that come from being too close to the challenge.
Arriving at the right solution has always been more rewarding than the compensation we received.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: Andy
Quite a few things.
For starters, our don’t text and drive campaign that began locally with a simple message. Over a decade, it grew to become a national, and even international, campaign.
Also, working with Parkview has allowed us to partner with many different and extremely talented directors. Being able to develop a person-focused, warm, emotive brand has been very exciting.
I could go on. The list might never end.
Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in the past 30 years?
A: Jerry
In-the-moment analysis.
Constantly reviewing the situation at hand based on the perspective of everyone involved is critical. We’re never developing solutions in a vacuum. Multiple agendas, understandings and ideas surround every challenge. We take into account the perspective and needs of each member of the solutions team. This helps get to the right solution faster.
A bonus is that you also learn a great deal from everyone else because you’ve walked in their shoes for a bit.
Q: What’s made B&Y successful over time?
A: Andy
We’re unafraid. And we’re constantly trying whatever is new.
B&Yers live to push the boundaries of what’s possible. We’re constantly thinking about what’s next, including laser-cutting brand identities on meteors in the asteroid belt for commercial space travel.
We’re the little big agency. Offering a holistic approach – media, research, strategy, execution, strong creative – we’re not just one thing. And with this helps us solve problems for our clients. They don’t have to go to three different companies and piece together a solution for themselves, they can just come to us.
Q: A lot has changed in the past 30 years. What’s stayed the same?
A: Jerry
People are people. Challenges are challenges. These two things will impact your day. However, as long as you give 100% of the best “you” with the greater good in focus, it’ll all be fine – and successful for clients.
A: Andy
Our relationships with our clients haven’t changed. It’s never been just a client and vendor relationship. We’re partners.
You’ve got to be able to build trust with your client partner in order to be successful. We work towards their successes with them. And we feel it too.
Q: What’s the most important part of the branding process?
A: Andy
Jerry might have his own answer about consistency. But mine’s your tagline or positioning statement. Within it, you show how you are different from your competitors. It also helps with any visuals or logos.
Our tagline is ‘We think. You win.’ It took years to fully come up with it. It’s easy for everyone to understand and speaks to the heart of what we do. We think for and with our clients to help them achieve success.
Q: What’s do you think the next 30 years of marketing will look like?
A: Jerry
The real question for me is this. How do I prepare myself for the future of advertising and marketing?
We, at one point, jumped off the “latest trend train” and boiled everything down to providing solutions. We boiled that down even further to thinking — critical thinking, creative thinking, strategic thinking, common sense thinking.
We think. So regardless of the future, committing yourself to being a good thinker will leave you in a sought after position.
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