Our Story: Growing together

I remember when I first learnt about branding and advertising, I thought it was all about being aesthetic appealing. So I picked up the skills of making beautiful logos, beautiful graphics and beautiful photography.

But after all, I asked myself, would beautiful visuals alone make people care more about the brands? Or was I doing it to make me or the brands feel good?

There are different answers to that. Some said, the visual representation is a differentiator to our identity; another said, what the brands offer is far more important; another said, it depends on how we deliver it.

They are all fair points. I don’t disagree.

My only response is, why would people care?

I know it’s a big question. And I often get this reply – “as long as people buy my products or services, why would I care what people care?”

Again, it’s a fair point.

My next question is, do you want to grow your business? (Obviously, I did not say it to them as it sounds a bit snobbish.)

When I was working in the agencies, there is one common business challenge cut across different industries, from consumer products to technology-related business, it’s always about growth.

And it is getting tougher these days. Competition comes from everywhere, which explains why brands are reacting pragmatically, with more product and price wars.

I get it. Being a consumer, I definitely care about products and prices.

However, despite having people consume or buy products or services, people may not necessarily feel good or loyal to the brands. Some of them don’t even remember the brand names. In some occasions, people are forced to consume the products or services because they have limited options.

So would product and price wars help the brands grow, even though people don’t feel connected to the brands?

I think that would just add pressure to the business to offer more with different tactics; otherwise, the company has a deep pocket. In some cases, it will lead to mistrust and confusion, which eventually prevent brands from growing.

I know, it’s easier to say than do.

At Okanism, we want to solve problems and help companies look at their brands differently.

We make sense of people and cultural behaviour, and help brands redefine their business challenges and opportunities, to build brands are different but relevant to people.

We are not a big team.

But the good thing is, we have been collaborating with awesome people, who genuinely want to help business grow by building meaningful brands.

We believe that growth won’t happen alone. Whether people, business or society, we all grow together.