One on One with Max Ottignon the Co-founder of Ragged Edge

One of the leading stars of Britain's branding agencies discusses how to build a brand, artificial intelligence, and dancing with Gandalf at Elton John's garden.

1. Please tell us a bit about your early days. How did you start your brand design journey?

I’ve got a bit of an unconventional background. A philosophy degree. Followed by a brief, unsatisfying stint as an account exec in advertising. And then a period of existential uncertainty as I tried to figure out how I could find someone to pay me to do what I was actually good at. Fewer timing plans and time sheets, more ideas and creativity. 

As well as the fact I’d been in the wrong job, I felt like I’d also picked the wrong industry. I’d been working on an ad campaign for a credit card where the strategy was to make getting into debt feel frivolous. I didn’t find that particularly fulfilling, and started to think that brand, where there was an opportunity to go a bit deeper, and think in longer time frames, would be a bit more me. I saw branding as a way to help brands create positive change. 

“Brands need to earn attention, so first and foremost they need to stand out. They need to be simple, and easy to understand. And they need to connect emotionally, not just rationally with the intended audience.”

2. What made you decide to go independent and start Ragged Edge?

I’d set myself up as a freelance brand designer, and had managed to build a pretty good set of clients. This happened to coincide with a time where brands were suddenly having to take digital seriously. But where most of the established brand agencies were still very focussed on print, packaging and business cards. It felt like a big opportunity. 

Ragged Edge was born when I teamed up with my friend, Matt Bland, then a developer in 2007. We felt we could build something different - an agency that was the opposite of what was out there. Something built from our own values - mainly just being nice to people - while taking what is now described as a ‘digital first’ approach to branding. Back then, that just wasn’t something people were talking about. But most importantly, we wanted our work to make an impact on the companies we worked for, and the world around us. 

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? 

Brands need to earn attention, so first and foremost they need to stand out. They need to be simple, and easy to understand. And they need to connect emotionally, not just rationally with the intended audience. I think that’s pretty universal, regardless of whether the brand is seen as ‘performance-driven’. Of course messaging can – and should – flex depending on the specific channel, audience mindset, and objectives for any execution. There will be places where it makes sense to dial up the functional elements of the proposition. But the underlying brand should remain consistent. 

4. Which brands do you admire most? Has a particular brand’s work affected you in some way during the course of your career?

Lego fits both those categories. Not least because it formed the primary outlet for my creative expression when I was young. I grew up wanting to work for Lego. Decades later, I still want to work for Lego. To build a brand that’s as relevant for a four year old as it is for a forty year old is some feat. That’s testament to the discipline of the business. The logo hasn’t changed meaningfully in my lifetime. It’s barely changed in my parents’ lifetimes. And the brand still stands for the same things, seamlessly adapting to whatever changes the world throws at it, and has the strength to cross categories, drive partnerships, experiment with emerging technologies without ever compromising on that. Incredible.

“Storytelling is – of course – crucial for brand building. But there are places where too much of it can get in the way of achieving a tactical objective. The challenge is getting the balance right.
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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?

There’s a time and a place. Storytelling is – of course – crucial for brand building. But there are places where too much of it can get in the way of achieving a tactical objective. The challenge is getting the balance right. 

People are more likely to buy brands they’ve heard of. So building awareness, salience, distinctiveness, all that good stuff, is crucial to making sure that when you are looking to drive performance, those assets work as hard as they can.  And at a base level, consistent use of the brand’s distinctive assets is fundamental if you want to avoid eroding the brand’s equity. If you get that right, and don’t say or do anything to contradict the story you’re trying to tell elsewhere, that can be fine. So long as you make space elsewhere to tell that story. 

6. Which challenges can a brand expect to face? How will these challenges develop and change in the future? AI? Etc.

The best brands supersede changes in technology and culture, adapting without compromising their core identity. Lego’s a perfect example, but so are Apple, Ikea and Nike – a sportswear brand that can seamlessly shift into web3 without anyone batting an eyelid. With AI, we’re still learning what’s possible, and what might be possible. Brands will need to adapt and respond quickly, embracing new ways of doing things. And do so in a way that’s unique and distinctive to them, and true to who they are. 

Personally there’s nothing worse than brands getting caught up in the hype of a new technology, just for the sake of it. We’ve seen so much of this recently, whether in the metaverse, or with NFTs, and I’m sure that will be the case for AI too. But one thing’s already obvious – AI will make it easy for any brand of any size to create high quality content in an instant. That will make it much, much harder to stand out. So building a distinctive ownable identity will be even more important in getting noticed. High quality execution is no longer the preserve of those with the biggest budgets. 

7. 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? 

Having a clear story, and a consistent way of telling it, is going to help at whatever stage you’re at. But deciding when to invest in a full brand project will very much depend on what you’re doing, and what your challenges are. Some businesses rely on brand to differentiate. Here it would make sense to invest early, and launch with a bang. Others are very much product driven, and so it’s logical to put your time and money into getting that right first. 

It’s also true that the more you know about what you’re doing, the more you know about your audience, the more bandwidth you have to execute it, the easier it will be to get right. 

“Personally there’s nothing worse than brands getting caught up in the hype of a new technology, just for the sake of it. We’ve seen so much of this recently, whether in the metaverse, or with NFTs, and I’m sure that will be the case for AI too.
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8. How do you envision the future of Ragged Edge? What does that look like and mean long-term?  

We’ve built Ragged Edge on a simple principle. To create brands that drive change, and to get better every day. That ambition remains as true then as it is today. And it’s self-fulfilling. The more successful brands we create, and the better we get as a team, the more opportunities we get. We just have to make sure we take them. 

“There was a surreal moment where I found myself on the dance floor (not a natural habitat for me) with Gandalf, as Fat Boy Slim brought the house down.
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9. 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?

In the early years of Ragged Edge, we did pretty much everything and anything for Grey Goose vodka. They were an incredible client, and trusted us with some unusual briefs. One night, I found myself the host of a bespoke pop-up night club we’d designed from scratch. A full, working night club. Pretty weird. But it gets weirder. The night club was built in the middle of Elton John’s garden, and populated solely by regulars of Hello magazine. There was a surreal moment where I found myself on the dance floor (not a natural habitat for me) with Gandalf, as Fat Boy Slim brought the house down. 

Max Ottignon is the co-founder of Ragged Edge, a London branding agency that builds brands globally.

He spent his career fighting to change how people think about our industry. From brands as logos and typefaces, to brands as ideas with the power to change perceptions, behaviour, categories, industries and - just occasionally - the world.