FINDING YOUR TRUE VOICE WITH SAW.
SAW IS A STRATEGIC DESIGN STUDIO.
4
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.
5
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.
6
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.
7
8
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.
9
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.
10
TO SAY THE PUPOSE OF BUSINESS IS TO MAKE MONEY IS LIKE SAYING THE PUPOSE OF LIVING
11
12
13
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.
14
IT’S EASY TO LOSE YOUR WAY.
15
16
-H ELEN KELLER
17
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.
18
WE’D LOVE TO SAY IT’S EASY...
19
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.
1
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 ?
20
4
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.
21
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.
22
23
24
25
26
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
27
THIS HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE STYLE OF WILD PONY AND NOT SCHOOLMARM.