Behind every strategic milestone, every workshop or presentation, there are many micro-decisions that will ultimately have an effect in how a brand shows up to the world:
How a given concern is received.
How an objection is addressed.
What is being asked when no one has time to listen.
How a revision request is handled without blocking progress.
When to insist, and when to listen.
All of this belongs in the realm of the intangible, yet it changes everything.
Overseeing isn't executing. It is being present
Being present when through high and low. Whether the project moves forward or it stalls. Being present to sustain the vision when we walk on thin ice.
That is overseeing. It may seem somewhat obvious, but it is deeply strategic. Because when it's done right, its outcome can't be replaced by shortcuts: we create actual trust
The project as a space for transformation
Best-case scenario, a brand project is not just a series of deliverables. It is where a brand can do some soul-searching towards making decisions that often go beyond the brand itself.
For that to happen, it isn't enough with good strategy. We also need shared commitments, and safe spaces to think outside the box. Plus the right mindset to move from complexity to clarity.
This is not about us. It's about how change is built
In my role, I have seen how very different companies have been able to progress beyond what they thought possible. Not because they amassed more resources, or better ideas, but because they have created the right conditions to move forward.
Those conditions can't be taken for granted. They are built slowly over time through each touchpoint. Where intangibles become decisive.
To sum up: what holds a brands together is also invisible
If I can leave you with just one nugget, it should be that a brand does not evolve on its own, and neither does design or strategy: brands evolve through relationships.
Brands are a reflection of what goes on inside them: the type of discussions inside the organisation, what relationships are being nurtured, and what commitments are held, even when it is difficult. All of that, even though it's not seen, is also part of what we do.
— Elluz Rodriguez, Client Director at Small*
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