Death and Rebirth - Stamp MKII
Stamp as a company is now dead.
Stamp just turned 15 years old, which in human years makes us about 80 and no business is immortal. By reaching this age we are in a group of less than 10% that ever accomplish this milestone. Even the greatest brands on earth are not as old as you may imagine. In the ever evolving landscape of business and innovation, one thing remains constant: change. As entrepreneurs, marketers and creators, our ability to adapt and evolve is paramount to our success. This principle applies not only to our strategies and services but also to something seemingly small yet profoundly impactful – our marks or versions. Each re-versioning of ourselves becomes a new ‘Mark’.
Business death rates (as one source ominously calls it) are high. As markets, viewing habits and cultures change, Stamp must die. So we can be reborn. Evolved to meet the challenges our clients face, so we can help solve them.
Fly like an Eagle Phoenix
Fawkes the Phoenix in Harry Potter bursts into flames before being reborn.
Before we delve into the importance of evolving and creating new marks, let's clarify what we mean by ‘marks’. Marks can be represented in your logos, brand symbols etc but they must be underpinned by iterations of your product / service to meet the needs of your client.
My inspiration from this was two fold. First, the natural world and evolution (more on that later). I’m competitive and don’t really cherish the idea of Stamp dying and remaining dead. Secondly, it is inspired by the Spitfires that were designed to meet ever changing threats posed by the Luftwaffe and Nazi Germany. They are your brand's phoenix, capable of experiencing death and rebirth to emerge even stronger. For younger readers Tony Starks Iron Man suits are ‘Marks’ and demonstrate the continual improvement we seek here at Stamp.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Too big to fail…
The fact that nearly nine of every ten Fortune 500 companies in 1955 are gone, merged, reorganized, or contracted, demonstrates that there’s been a lot of market disruption, churning, and Schumpeterian creative destruction over the last six decades. Like the Titanic… your business is unsinkable, until a massive iceberg you didn’t see rips a hole in your side. Note to self.. equip business with enough life boats. If big business can fail, then surely a small business like mine is even more vulnerable.
Fear of failure
Turns out fear of failure is real. I have feared it my entire professional career. Fear, I can’t make payroll for the team, fear I’ll be found out for not knowing what I’m doing. The list is long and boring. Don’t get me wrong, I have carried my fear and courageously at times stepped towards it. I once met a spider and I didn’t throw my wife at it. My acting career was full of doubts and hope and yet, I auditioned and met rejection after rejection with enough courage that at times, I was actually rewarded with parts. As a result, I worked with Sam Rockwell, Heath Ledger, Robert Lindsay, Zoe Wanamaker and many others, when many had laughed at me for even trying. But now I’m in my forties with two kids and some inspirational family and friends around me, I think for the first time, I am no longer afraid of failure. I need it (in the right measure) so I can learn and improve. Some of the best things I ever did were when I faced that fear head on and stepped past it.
A photo I took hanging outside of a plane above Alaska - something I feared before doing it.
Once upon a time, Dinosaurs ruled the earth
If you work at a brand or large global firm, then you’ve probably experienced glacially slow procurement and eye watering quotes to deliver a video.
This is for many reasons. For a reason that no one can remember - if you want a video, some people who aren’t experts in video brief three or more companies on a video idea looking to get three quotes that can be used to get the lowest price possible. This practice is flawed on many levels (which is why we just say no!) and costs businesses more than they realise.
Production itself is not set up for efficiency. Branded content has blindly followed the production principles of the film industry. Expensive day rates, singular roles, following a clear and often feudalist system of ruling a shoot. Modern filming, needs to be more flexible, faster and cheaper and yet crucially with intelligence. But how to combine it all? The answer is simple. Make it more efficient. Taking lessons from our filming in sport where marginal gains add up to big wins.
Just look at F1 pitstop crews and imagine that doesn’t change. That is exactly what production is like today, unchanged and unchallenged. Until now. We have developed, for Stamp MKII, what we believe are among the most efficient systems in the world to ensure we can deliver the best creative to engage audiences at a larger scale for less money. Where we don’t have them we have implemented them from others e.g check out Frame.io enterprise level and see how that gives us (and our clients) an edge.
Sympatheia
Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe.
I’ve been more bold in my emotions recently after feeling crippling anxiety with a drop off in cash flow and seemingly no answers early this year. Risking embarrassment, I frequently tell people I love them because … I love cuddles. Everything is interconnected, and how we operate at Stamp is no different. We are a team looking to compete and be a force for good, which is why we certified as a B Corp.
Stamp is dead. Long live Stamp MKII.
Like the The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell it’s time for Stamp to die… and to re-emerge stronger than ever.
Ben
P.S. This week we have a new episode out for Simon Rogerson’s Agents of Change for Octopus.
P.P.S. If you need ideas for Christmas presents. I completely unbiasedly offer up my first (and probably last) coffee table photo book as inspiration. Perfect for history, aviation and travel enthusiasts. I guarantee at least three of the images are in focus! It will be released as the official companion for our documentary on the same subject, which will air on Sky History in November [Silver Spitfire - The Longest Flight].
P.P.P.S. Over the coming weeks, we will be blogging some thoughts and curiosities that may spark your own imagination or inspire you when meeting your own challenges. Feel free to subscribe today and unsubscribe tomorrow. (Yes I stole that line from copywriting legend Dan Nelken).
Silver Spitfire - The Longest Flight - book releasing Oct/ Nov 2023
