TRUTH, HOPE & COURAGE a guide to SAW

FINDING YOUR TRUE VOICE WITH SAW.

SAW IS A STRATEGIC DESIGN STUDIO.

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SAW BELIEVES THAT CRITICAL THINKING CAN CHANGE THE WAY HUMAN BEINGS UNDERSTAND THEIR WORLD. WE HELP ORGANIZATIONS TO FIND THEIR CHARACTER AND PURPOSE BY WORKING HARD TO IDENTIFY THE TRUTH.

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Truth is tough. It’s a lot of trouble.

What something could be is just as good

And then it gets worse. The effort is

as it being. For organizations, the result

tremendous. It requires more than

is an immeasurable degree of skepticism

a promise. It demands action. In the

from their audience.

moment, it’s not gratifying. It exposes, it humbles. It forces vulnerability and

Too often it appears that the only option

accountability. It can mean not getting

is to change to fit the message. To fit

what you want. It is reality. And raw,

the marketing. To make ourselves more

unvarnished reality in business is scary.

acceptable, palatable, liked. If this wins

Cue hope and courage.

us the customer, maintains or grows the share price, or retains the employee,

Without them, fear moves in and cloaks

that’s OK. To deny who we are, and why

truth as counterintuitive. The result is

we exist, is rationalized time and time

that truth becomes rare, commoditized,

again. Most organizations are content with

spun and bastardized. We drift further and

bypassing the process and critical thinking

further away from it. The ability to barely

it requires to communicate the truth. Truth

see it on the horizon becomes acceptable.

simply does not seem to matter anymore.

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But it does and it will. Truth matters

With truth embraced, courage is

because it always finds a way.

required to hold to it with conviction and candour. Then, and only then,

Companies need to feel empowered to

can we remove the struggle to

run on what they believe — not what

communicate authentically. The

they think people want them to be. It

ability to serve and effect change

feels foreign and incongruent to what

becomes clear. The barriers turn to

everyone else is doing. It will feel like

opportunity. Real work gets done.

a setback and a shakier position — all

Decisions get made in reality. Smart,

you have is hope. But to take a step

strategic plans get executed. That’s

back reveals that gambling with truth

the possibility of truth.

takes place for organizations in the now.

The short term. The long game is rarely

That’s the work we believe we were

considered. Hope is the bridge between

meant to do.

the short and long game.

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MEETING OF OPEN MINDS

The communications sector offers clients many choices, from advertising agencies to public relations consultants. SAW has thought long and hard about where we fit into that industry. Our conclusion is that we stand at a considerable distance from the traditional business model for ‘marketing and creative services.’ So for many organizations, we won’t be a good fit.

SAW believes in a relationship where our clients expect us to speak our minds at a strategic level. We don’t expect to simply take an order and execute. Our strategic insights may lead us to recommend approaches that deviate significantly from industry norms. By the same token, we expect clients to question our approach at every turn, to engage in candid debate about the reality of their business and their purpose … and ours.

SAW BELIEVES IN A PARTNERSHIP WHERE CLIENTS EXPECT US TO SPEAK OUR MINDS AT A STRATEGIC LEVEL. As you read this booklet, we hope that you come to understand what it might be like to work with SAW. But we also anticipate that you will have questions.

Perhaps you are even a little apprehensive.

Please contact us to talk it through.

Our minds are open to the possibility of rejection.

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WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE? STRATEGIC

SAW has no system, or formula, that we

We believe that courageous

apply to our strategic projects. Instead,

communication is a leadership

we begin every project looking for the

responsibility, flowing from the true

truth, hopeful that we can be of service to

character and purpose of the organization.

society on behalf of our clients, and relying on our courage to see us through the difficult, and sometimes painful, journey of

DESIGN

discovery our principles force us to follow.

We solve real world problems by focusing on the true voice of an organization.

STUDIO We serve our clients by creating practical

NEITHER SYSTEM,

business tools, including brands, advertising, websites, apps, videos and

NOR FORMULA.

print materials, which emerge from strategic design. We think, then we make.

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TO SAY THE PUPOSE OF BUSINESS IS TO MAKE MONEY IS LIKE SAYING THE PUPOSE OF LIVING

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PURPOSE LEADS THE WAY You will hear us talk a lot about purpose

SAW EXISTS

at SAW. Purpose is the non-negotiable

What follows is our reason for being,

reason for an organization’s existence.

our purpose as a business.

Without purpose, it’s easy to lose your way, to disconnect from the reality of your

TO APPLY OUR THINKING AND CRAFT

product, to become unmoored from your

SAW attracts and curates a range of

service to society. In doing so, you may

complementary skills and talents that are

become nothing more than a brand.

simultaneously strategic and practical.

You will find that SAW digs deep into your organization to help you find your true

IN THE SERVICE OF

purpose, so that we can speak eloquently

Being of service means standing in

on its behalf. Since purpose is such an

the shoes of those who come to us

important ingredient in delivering our

for assistance and advice, without

service to you, it’s only fair that we

fear or favour.

reveal our purpose to you at the outset, so that you can judge for yourself if it

THE FREE EXCHANGE OF IDEAS

is a purpose that you are prepared to

Truthful, transparent dialogue, and

support as a client.

equal access to critical thinking and creativity, is a sign of a civilized and progressive community.

IN AN OPEN SOCIETY The open society we hope for allows everyone, even the dispossessed, to have a voice, to express an opinion and be heard. Our business is part of that society.

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IT’S EASY TO LOSE YOUR WAY.

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-H ELEN KELLER

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A TYPICALLY ATYPICAL SAW JOURNEY SAW offers no magic bullet solutions, no

Next, we’ll take the raw thinking from

off-the-shelf formulae or technique du jour

the discovery phase as a starting point

to move your project swiftly from A to B

to create a strategic plan for the project.

without a hitch. We have to burst our own

We’ll organize, refine and polish until

bubble on that straight away. There’s no

everything starts to squeak. We’ll agree

such thing as a typical project at SAW, no

on measurable outcomes.

matter how we might wish it otherwise.

Last of all, we’ll develop creative Instead, we offer an iterative process

expressions of the strategy. Who knows

that always begins with the discovery

what that might be? We’ll execute to the

of your true purpose as an organization.

highest standards of craftsmanship, from

How we do that is partly up to you. There

graphic design to code. And we’ll measure

will be big meetings, small meetings,

how well we did against your targets.

one-on-one meetings, writing on walls, long drafts, presentations, sketches,

The best thing to do is to ask an existing

diagrams, arguments, wrong turns and

client what it’s like. We’re happy to give

silent contemplation. We’d love to say that

you the names of several clients who will

it’s easy, but it’s not. It will almost certainly

fill you in on projects that turned out well.

take longer than you think is reasonable.

In the interests of full disclosure, we also have a couple of clients who didn’t like what we did.

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WE’D LOVE TO SAY IT’S EASY...

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SAW’S METHODOLOGY CRITICAL THINKING CHANGES EVERYTHING SAW believes in the power of critical thinking to change the world for the better.

So it follows that critical thinking plays a major role in all of the projects we undertake, from major strategic counsel to a website, from a single brochure to a national advertising campaign. Everything we do, we do with care. For SAW, due diligence requires four stages: Review, Critique, Solve and Craft.

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ST E P S

2

REVIEW

C R I T I QU E

Analysis of reports, plans,

Critical thinking applied to

portfolios, research, and data.

objectives, assets and liabilities

Site visits, interviews and

to gain deeper understanding of

discovery sessions.

underlying needs.

Outcome: Clear articulation

Outcome: Clear articulation of the

of objectives, assets and

reason why messaging, processes

liabilities.

or channels succeed or fail.

Why do you do it ?

Wh at do you do?

H o w do you do it ?

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3

SO LVE

C RAFT

Critical thinking applied to

Creative expression and

core communication needs.

systems design to deliver

Outcome: Working

strategic thinking.

examples of potential

Outcome: Usable

strategic solutions to

communications assets

real world challenges.

and tactical applications.

H o w c a n you do it ?

W h a t s h o u ld y o u d o ?

W h a t c o u ld y o u d o ?

Specif ic deli verable websit e ad brochure video et c

* Find out more about purposeful business tools in our accompanying booklet.

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Actually, we’re not half as serious as we sound in this book. You’ll find lots of happy-go-lucky, take-me-as-you-find-me SAW people at our offices on Calgary’s eclectic 17th Ave. You may even see SAW folks in said street, gnawing on the dark matter of a Timmy’s donut, or sipping philosophically on an Ethiopian medium roast at Caffe Beano. Oh, and we have puppies.

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HOW TO FIND AND FOLLOW US SAW’s office is on 17th Avenue SW, Calgary in Alberta, Canada. If you are driving, we have parking at the rear of our building. Call us in advance so that we can reserve a space for you.

Calgary International Airport (YYC) is 30 minutes to the north by car.

You can find the many voices of SAW on social media, via Twitter, Behance, Instagram, Medium, Google+ , Vimeo and Linkedin.

GO TO WWW.SAWSTRATEGIC.COM TO FOLLOW US. SUITE 200, 1013 – 17TH AVENUE SW CALGARY, AB, T2T 0A7 MAIN: (+1) 403.294.1700 TOLL FREE: 1.866.672.1701

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THIS HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE STYLE OF WILD PONY AND NOT SCHOOLMARM.