Atomic 212 chief executive, Jason Dooris, is having a spectacular year. The agency he heads has made an remarkably impressive showing at all the major awards so far, is winning business, has launched a content agency and is known for pioneering forward thinking ways of working.

The head of the agency that also doesn’t come from traditional bloodstock and isn’t stuck on established ways of doing business has fresh thinking to share about brand building. Happily, Dooris shared them with The Stable, so that we could share them with you.

Brand-building is like building a friendship, by Jason Dooris, chief executive, Atomic 212

The depth of a well-built brand today is far more complex than its awareness, or its dependency on any inherent, subconscious attachments that it may have formed in the past.

With ‘brand’, comes ‘personality’. And with personality, comes a brand’s duty to be genuine and authentic.

We no longer perceive a brand as untouchable, nor is it unapproachable. They, as our friends, are our friends, because they have earned a right to be.

Think of the Kardashians. And as much as I hate to admit it… they are a great example of a brand built from personality. And an even greater example of the benefits that are gained from constant maintenance of that brand personality, and earning their right to be in your friend circle.

There is still merit in the placement and use of TV commercials for brand building, though it’s no longer the only element. The broadcast nature of TV makes it great for mass reach. In fact, many of my favourite campaigns have been built on the combination of clever creative and mass reach. But personal communication is better suited to other media channels. These days, you rarely see a standalone TV brief – a holistic approach is always best, and digital channels tend to be the most effective at fostering friendship. I even question how long the music industry can continue creating TV friendly music videos, that prohibit the expansion of core narratives into other channels – but that is a topic for another day.

‘One-to-many’ communications will diminish, but will remain part of some mixes. But today it is all about the ‘one-to-few’, and to reach that Holy Grail of ‘one-to-one’. It’s all about creating a relationship. A brand friendship, so to speak.

Media placement is as contextual as personality. You would not see Emma Watson at a gunshow, as you would not see an energy drink company at a diabetes convention. A brand is a person. It has a tone of voice, it is tangible, and it evolves its attachment to its so-called ‘group of friends’ (aka consumers). Meanwhile, consumers have gained, and will continue to gain, from the great content that it produces. Just like a friendship between people, there is a give and a get for friendships between consumers and their brands.

Solving the full mix of content relevancy, and its relevant placement, breaks us out of our silo thinking, and into what I want to coin as, ‘ocean thinking’. Ocean thinking connects the continents of the marketing mix together, and their inhabitants. Can we help our consumer-friends cross that ocean? You bet. And even better, our delivery methods are somewhat teleportational… they’re only one click away.

In today’s world of online communities, social media and content marketing, creating a brand-friendship scenario can be one of the most effective one-to-one communication tools in a marketer’s toolkit.