Hello, friends –

 

This month we are all about health and wellness here at Cider HQ! Time to blend up some green smoothies and dust off your ankle weights and resistance bands – we're going to help you look and feel your best. 

 

You may have noticed there was no issue of The Pour in March. Sorry about that. The month was characterized by a flurry of business travel and major client deliverables, but more importantly, it was the month when work stopped for a full six days to attend a Wellcraft retreat in Mexico, led by our brilliant client, Elaine Hayes. You can read more about our work to build the Wellcraft brand in the case study below, and would definitely suggest you download the app immediately. And maybe see you in Tulum next year?!

 

In this issue, you'll also find some reflections on building healthier agency self-image, a lament about the bland ubiquity of so many recently launched mass premium beauty brands, a bit of gorgeous packaging for one of our favorite wellness tools: chocolate. Plus, as always, wise words from a brilliant brand leader.

 

Finally, we'd be remiss not to mention that April 1st marked Cider's fifth birthday – a real milestone and point of pride. Thank you for being a part of our world. 

 

Cheers,

Laura

 

In reading this recent article about agency new business pitches, I was struck with a pretty big aha moment. The author bemoans the fact that when selling themselves to prospective clients, creative agencies seem hellbent on presenting a proprietary process as their most vital form of differentiation:

 

 

From the beginning, we've taken a skeptical view of all trademarked strategy models here at Cider. Sure, we know our way around The Big IdeaL™ and a Brand Driver Platform™, but at the end of the day (my clients reading this will recognize this particular refrain) they're just blunt instruments. Tools to help us check and channel our thinking.

 

So what are we selling, if not a distinct process or framework? Well, at the end of the day, we're selling people. And those people need to represent potential for the client's business. Potential new customer segments to entice. Potential new meaning that keeps folks coming back for more. Potential new revenue streams or product lines. Potential initiatives to reinvigorate a workforce.

 

Now, let's be clear, in pitching all this potential, I do not for a moment suggest that we should be giving away this thinking for free. (Cider believes that unpaid creative pitches are the scourge of our industry!) So how should we convey the inherent value of our people to prospective clients, if not through a process chart?

 

As with most things, it all comes back to conversation. Old fashioned human connection. A deep and meaningful chat about the problems you've got, and how we might go about solving them. At least, in our experience, that's when it works best. There are a few reasons for that:

 

1. It's all about the client. Leading with an agency process shifts the spotlight away from where it needs to be: on the client, and their business. 

 

2. It's irreplaceable. If the rhombus you're selling today doesn't work, the client can easily swap you out for another agency's hexagon. If you avoid making the process itself too precious, it's harder to discard your offering outright.

 

3. It elevates the relationship. By making a true team from agency and client leaders, you'll be forging new bonds by doing the work…together. And who knows where the engagement can go from there?

 

We have long felt that the key to true happiness and wellbeing is a nightly dose of dark chocolate. So imagine our delight at spotting this gorgeous packaging design for chocolate brand Beaningful by European agency RUT. With a richly pigmented palette, whimsical lettering, and a psychedelic bent, this brand brings beautiful new dimension to the world of cocoa beans.