- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
- Have any questions?
- 02 9247 6000
- media@commsroom.co
Menu
How do you build a good brand? No two brand experts put in the same room would probably have the same answer. But for a veteran like Dan Ratner, who has worked with brands for more than a decade, it all goes back to perception, and the power of a well-written and executed creative brief.
“I fundamentally believe that this concept of the strong brief leading to an excellent outcome is absolutely critical in the execution of creative ideas or ideas of communication. So, I believed that we had an alternative way to do this. uberbrand was a manifestation of all that; to create a vehicle by which we could implement those ideas,” Dan said.
With this philosophy serving as the bedrock of his ideas, Dan founded his agency uberbrand, which has more than a decade of building influential brands such as Fairfax, UnionPay, and IP Australia.
There’s no doubt that Dan is a creative professional, with years of experience under his toolbelt even before he founded his agency. But to lead an agency of creatives goes beyond competency as a brand expert, you also need to know how to lead.
As a leader, Dan’s approach is decidedly hands-off, but it doesn’t mean that anything goes, willy-nilly. Instead, Dan focuses his energy on building processes that lead to success.
“I’m not in there trying to do their jobs for them. I’m trying to show people what is a way that they can think so that they can make their thinking connect and deliver on what those bigger strategies are,” he said.
This approach means he’s not constantly looking over everyone’s shoulder. Instead, Dan is all about creating infrastructure that allows creatives to thrive and contribute using their own strengths. Dan believes in cultivating people’s strengths, which he calls “finding the genius in the room.”
“Everybody’s strength can also be their greatest weaknesses. And so, it’s very interesting to see where people’s skills are the genius, like that’s when something really amazing can happen. But you give them the frameworks to allow that to happen, and it does happen more often.”
“I like to see them grow, and I like to see what can come out of it. I like to give them that framework and see them excel in that framework.”
“Without process, it’s ideas for the sake of ideas,” Dan said.
When asked what a successful brand looks like, Dan emphasises the power of influence and perception. Understanding the granular metrics is good, but it’s critical to look at actual outcomes and successful you are at influencing people.
As Dan likes to point out, “a brand is a perception is held in somebody’s mind. It’s not what you say it is, it is what they think it is.”
“It’s not about being the biggest brand or having the most customers or other metrics. The metric was if we can realign people’s thinking around what you want them to think, then you have a successful brand,” Dan said.
In Case You Missed It: Brand Transformation: the magical formula does not exist
