Author: EGD Agency

We spend so much time dreaming up branding ideas for other companies that it’s become very easy to forget about branding ourselves, and that’s not a good thing. In early 2020, we presented a magnifying glass idea for another project, but secretly wanted it for ourselves. We breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t bite. “Yes! Let’s make 200 of them” we said. “They’ll be great leave behinds for our meetings!” we said. “Nailed it!”, we said. Just kidding, we never say “nailed it”, but we did make them. A lot of them. And, sure enough, within a say “nailed it”, but we did make them. A lot of them. And, sure enough, within a week after picking them up from the printer, meetings as we knew them
became obsolete.

Recently, we were asked by a prospective client what they should expect if they decided to move forward with Uncharted. After a moment of quick thought, we responded, “constant surprise”. Yes, constant surprise, over and over again. We firmly believe that whoever you employ to handle your marketing efforts should surprise you with constant, unexpected, smart thinking.

We believe this to be so important and a great measuring stick for any creative partners. You should be surprised. You should expect to be surprised. You’re paying someone to think for you. If they bring in ideas that stay the course and act as you would expect, then they haven’t done their job.

We’re guilty.

Do you recognize this lyric? It’s from that Coldplay song – is it called The Scientist or something? We’re not avid Coldplay listeners so we don’t know exactly, we swear. But either way, we doubt it was written for Guitar Center. We’ve learned that recently Guitar Center has filed for Chapter 11. Clearly, the final nail in the coffin for this establishment has everything to do with COVID. But this is a company that has been struggling for years, in our humble opinion, for two reasons. First reason, sales strategy, or lack thereof. We’ve visited this store many times in our lives, and with the exception of some of our Uncharted podcasting gear, we’ve made 0 purchases here. We go to Guitar Center only to test and play the instruments they have on the floor, because we know, as most do, that no store rep will approach us to ask if we need help. They have become infamous for this and it’s hurt them. Secondly, you guessed it, image.

Welcome to the late spring edition of the Uncharted Northstar. We hope this message finds you healthy and well. It’s been an interesting couple of months for us all, but we see things turning and now we’re moving forward together to forge a better tomorrow. We hope you enjoy this quick read and find it to be time well spent.