One on One with James Greenfield the Founder of KOTO
One of the world's leading branding agencies founders talks about branding,
marketing, and how to leverage your brand.
1.Please tell us a bit about your early days. How did you start your brand design journey?
As a teenager I was interested in joining the military after school. I came from a family that had a military background and was fascinated by the excitement it held at that time. But I also increasingly loved art and design and it was a growing part of my life. I look back now and it was the ideas in the fashion, record covers and culture that I consumed that I loved as much as the design of anything, but there were no jobs in ideas I knew about.. Aged 15 I had to undertake some work experience one summer and I was lucky enough to land at a small place in my home town helping them design some literature for the local council. The combination of design for real life and using some early macs changed my life. That summer the military was gone from my mind and it was all about becoming a designer of some kind and the computers I would have to use.
“2013 I had lead the rebrand of Airbnb and it was the apex of my career to date, with such a high profile project. Just before the launch of the brand in 2014 my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my decision was made, I would start the business before he was gone. ”
2. What made you decide to go independent and start Koto?
I had always had dreams of having my own studio from my time at college. Throughout education I was often pushed by others into leadership positions, so I had an idea I could be OK at that part of the job. But I also knew there was a lot to learn and I needed more than talent to be successful. I worked for some great studios on my journey to Koto and each one was different in some regard. I was keen to learn as much as possible about all the things that made companies great and how to produce good work and a happy team. I said to myself that I would start it after the next job for a few years. In 2013 I had lead the rebrand of Airbnb and it was the apex of my career to date, with such a high profile project. Just before the launch of the brand in 2014 my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer and my decision was made, I would start the business before he was gone. It jolted me out of my comfort zone into a place where life was short and it was time to activate these dreams., there would always be more experience to gain, but it was time I made the jump into the unknown.
3. In your opinion, what do you think is the most important thing to take into consideration when building a brand? And, specifically, what should be considered when building a performance-driven brand? Is there a trade?
There are a number of ways of building a brand and none of them are technically wrong, but I would advocate always starting with the story. This can be a founder story, or a product story or an addressable market story, but you need to capture that why and get your audience's imagination firing. It will help you build a team, an audience and shape your product or service. If you have a performance driven brand then the story should be really crafted to help create that outcome. I don’t think there is a trade, more a difference of how you explain the why and understanding the channel you are using to connect.
“In the future AI looks like it is going to arm people with a quick brand,
built without much effort. Will we start to be able to notice a human crafted brand from an AI crafted one? I think so.
”
4. Which brands do you admire most? Has a particular brand’s work affected you in some way during the course of your career?
I can have a different answer to this question every week as I am very engaged in a lot of brands, but if I think long, middle and short term then three come to mind. Long term there are few timeless brands like Nike. They have built such an incredible story around product and athletes that I can’t help but be drawn to them and what they do. The brand and marketing has built so much value for that company that I am not sure it will ever be beaten, it also attracts such a wide age range. In recent time I am personally very connected to Airbnb as having been the author of some of the key elements in their brand. In this process I got to see first hand how you can make a brand stand out in a category if you think a little differently and really work at it. The travel category can be so conservative for such an interesting area.. More recently I am a big fan of the brand District Vision, as a keen runner they make the best product and wrap it up in a story that resonates massively with me. They understand that consumers are looking for really deep understanding of culture in the creation of a brand, so that a select audience feels real connection with the brand and product.
5. How do you think a brand should apply its brand story, its DNA, in its performance? When doing this, what is most important? And, when should you take this step?
I think all brands need to make the story accessible so people can find it. Most brands don’t have the budget to make big TV commercials, so you have to be clever to have it visible to those that want to find out more. For some they might just feel it in the way the brand is presented, both physically and digitally, for others they want to know more. The story should be out there as soon as the brand feels confident in what they are saying. Some people need outside help to craft this as they need someone to be objective about them and their story, to understand what makes them interesting.
6. What is your experience with working with Israeli industries and companies?
We’ve been lucky enough to work with a number of Israeli companies now. The level of technological innovation coming out, of what is a relatively small country, is quite something to behold. There is a real DNA to the startup scene that makes some incredible products. There is still some way to go on brand for many Israeli companies, but with their global ambitions they often come to this as they look overseas for growth. We love working with people there and hope to do it more in the future. The food in Tel Aviv is amazing, so we are always keen to visit.
“It can be an expensive thing to build a brand, but the ROI will be acceleration and awareness which can both be very powerful. ”
7. Which challenges can a brand expect to face? How will these challenges develop and change in the future?
It feels like many companies we work with have strong competition in their sector and this is getting more common. The amount of capital that entered the tech market to attack every idea and challenge has flooded the market with startups. It has never been more important for companies to stand out, but they need to do it carefully. Stand out in every way and a brand can feel overly maverick in its approach, which can scare off potential audiences. Good brands are about balance, they should quickly work out where to stand out and where to fit in with their brand and the way they present themselves to the world.In the future AI looks like it is going to arm people with a quick brand, built without much effort. Will we start to be able to notice a human crafted brand from an AI crafted one? I think so.
8. How would you advise an early-stage company that has yet to create its brand identity and tone of voice? Is there any perfect time to brand yourself?
Every company is different. For some an early brand can help many have confidence in them, so investors might believe them or they might get a better team quicker. For others it might get in the way of building the product out and the singular focus. I think for all brands having something in place once you're selling your product or service to a reasonably large audience is essential. It can be an expensive thing to build a brand, but the ROI will be acceleration and awareness which can both be very powerful. Early stage companies should always look outside to do this though I think, a good agency or freelancer will have the experience and undertake the work much quicker than an internal team.
9. How do you envision the future of Koto? What does that look like and mean long-term?
Koto is on a journey to raise the level of branding globally. We’re obsessed with brand excellence and what that can mean for the companies we partner with. In the near future that means being able to work with all the people that approach us, so we’re scaling our teams and building out more presence. Beyond that it is very hard to say, predicting the future, especially in tech is so hard.
“Early stage companies should always look outside to do this though I think,
a good agency or freelancer will have the experience and undertake the work much quicker than an internal team.
”
10. A not-so-relevant question: Please can you share a funny, interesting, weird, life-changing, or feel-good story that you have experienced with clients on your personal journey?
We spent nine months on the Airbnb rebranding project before we launched it to the world. It was seen by probably 100+ people in that time and only one guy mentioned genitalia. On the day of launch the internet blew up about it. We had memes, songs and many comments. It was the number one trending topic on Twitter and journalists found my phone number and rang me for comments. I learnt two things that day. One that the internet has the mind of a teenage boy and two there is no such thing as bad publicity. Two weeks later there was a million sign ups and we hadn’t done any marketing at launch. It was intense as a period of my life, but I learnt so much and now I let most commentators wash over me, however negative they are.
James Greenfield is the CEO and Co-Founder of branding agency Koto. We're 85 designers and strategists across four studios in Berlin, London, Los Angeles and New York. The team work with industries impacting the present and startups changing our future including Airbnb, Netflix and Uber.
Prior to founding Koto, I have 20+ years of experience working at some of London’s leading studios, for the world’s biggest brands. I deliver talks globally and write regularly on brand.
