this is a photo of the actual boat.
This email to you all is about narratives — those in the brand world, and those we craft in our own lives.
Our stories and how we upend and redefine them has been the fasciation that’s guided my work first in journalism, and later — in a different way — at Red Bull and Apple. It’s probably why I recently shook up my own life, leaving a solid job and my hometown of San Francisco to move with my wife and three sons to the Netherlands, a country I’ve never lived in. (And if you’re into unfiltered feedback, bike-based derring-do, and opaque canals, boy can I recommend it)
I learned the adage “show, don’t tell” early in my journalism career, and realized that if I ever had an opportunity to apply that in the raising of my kids, then I shouldn’t hesitate. If I could show them a way of being in the world, then I should take it.
So … Amsterdam, yes … a redefined narrative that offers me and the family a chance to grow and transform. And in addition, a new line of work: a consultancy I’ve called Hella that does that same for brands, and — maybe later — people.
This email in your inbox will be one of a batch I drop over the coming weeks & months. They’re an effort to get down in writing the strategies and lessons I’ve learned building voice and content in different mediums at places like Red Bull, and new business initiatives and audiences at Apple Retail. I’ll talk a bit about the upstream work — positioning, context, filters, tone — that lays the foundations for the great content to come.
Most interesting to me, though, is finding the brands out in the world doing it right. The stakes in finding authentic narratives that connect feel higher these days, as social platforms become algorithmic slot machines, and programmatic dies a slow, cookie-deprived death. So there will be a curation of links in each letter that showcase smart filters, consistent tone, and clever positioning from places like WeTransfer, Patta, Levi’s, Sequoia Capital, and many more I don’t know about yet.
I’ll also add stories I just think are well told — brand-relevant or not. Like this one on two friends who ride a train, or the review of this beautiful book on the ground-breaking work of America’s first black-owned creative agency.
Digging up these links helps me provide clients with context. SO I KNOW WHAT I’M GETTING OUT OF IT. You? Hopefully you’ll be inspired by stories of smart brand strategies and narratives and flow them into your own work. Most of you work in the brand world, or have worked with me along the way. I hope you’ll reach out and help me share your own relevant stories and examples along the way.
When the weather warms, I’ll share interviews with those that have their own, unique narratives and a willingness to shake them up. Some will be guests on my boat as we cruise the Amsterdam canals. See the bow in the graphic at the top of this email? That’s Hella — a refurbished steel rescue boat from a large German container ship that has already gashed a few, lesser vessels in our 8-month relationship. The boat’s big enough for a couple of cameras and guests wearing lav mics. You’ll see all of that on YouTube when they’re ready.
If you’re getting too many emails, just delete the other ones and save this one. But if you really mean it, then unsubscribe below.
See you all shortly,
Dre