What will give your brand a kick in the pants?

Somewhere in my holiday reading I came across a phrase that stuck with me for its simplicity and its power. It sums up better than almost anything else what it is that I do, what my company does when we're doing what we do best.

We look for "ideas that motivate the work."

Now, if I'd said "ideas that motivate the brand," that would be powerful, and it's tempting to go there. "Ideas that motivate the brand" is, perhaps, another way of talking about brand identity or positioning. But I believe we go further than that. BURRIS has always been at its best when we implement our innovations, when we execute the ideas we come up with with in good, strong marketing communications.

So when we look for the "ideas that motivate the work," we are thinking ahead in terms of execution. Not just dreaming stuff up, but extending the idea to its motivating conclusions.

Ideas will give a brand a kick in the pants, but what moves a brand in the right direction is putting the power of an idea into the work itself.

"Ideas that motivate the work." I like it.