Summer of Collaboration

One of the benefits of new office space is more space. More tables. More chairs. More rooms with doors so you don’t totally distract the rest of the team. More opportunity for collaboration.

So we’ve been hosting and attending a lot of collective conversation since moving in. And it’s been inspiring. Different from previous big agency experiences. Seems like this is the new spirit of marketing and advertising—smart, nimble teams forming as needed to solve business problems quickly and efficiently.

Three of our affiliations have been particularly rewarding: helping found Known Associates, being an inaugural member of the Magnet 360 network, and partnering with Taxi Branding. Each is based on a desire to create an optimal solution—not just force or repackage existing structure or assets. And each collaboration is distinct.

Known Associates is a swat team of marketing specialists with serious, hands-on brand experience. Brands like Starbucks, Apple, Volkswagen, United Airlines, General Mills, Disney, Holiday Inn, Dairy Queen, Citi, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nike and Blue Dot. The collective members have deep experience in brand, consumer and business strategy, creative development, media and production. We just launched knownassociates.com, but have been meeting to iron out the offering for almost a year now, and several members have been working together on various projects since before we began this journey. I’m excited to see how this collaboration evolves.

The same must be said of Magnet 360. We’re excited to work with industry leaders Scott Litman and Dan Mallin and their executive team in helping define the new agency network model. Having ready access to over 20 other distinct marketing services agencies and their 450+ members allows Hello Viking to become as big as our clients need us to be, literally at the drop of a helmet. Already Magnet 360 is providing significant service to brands like 3M, Best Buy, P&G, Coca Cola, NWA, Sony, Wells Fargo, Unilever, Ford and United Health Group.

Our partnership with Tim, Debra and Richard at Taxi Branding continues to be a wonderful adventure. Taxi provides rich expertise in retail. Last year we collaborated on a campaign for Borders Books. Now we’re about to embark on another mutual adventure (more on that soon).

Each of these experiences adds to our understanding, our perspective, and our ability to get work done in new and inventive ways.