A BRAND EXISTS TO SOLVE A HUMAN PROBLEM.
This core belief guides our work.
Too often, we see teams overly focused on an offering’s performance characteristics. Only a passing mention is made to the human user’s needs.
Our approach to creating brands mandates that we place maximum emphasis on where it belongs—on resolving the human users’ need state.
THE FORCE OF GRAVITY
GRAVITY BRANDING defines a brand’s value to its audience.
We also name, design and execute the brand’s digital and physical manifestation in the world.
GRAVITY BRANDING has been providing expert counsel and strategic creativity to its clients since 2000.
In that time, we have learned that success will follow if we place maximum effort on delivering high caliber, creative solutions. While we strive for strong profitability, any talk of compensation is always secondary to the work at hand.
Our passion for creativity is evident in all we do. We take great pride in our profession and we hope that you find working with us to be positively, impactful.
HOW WE BRING FORM TO YOUR BRAND
WE CREATE NEW REALITIES
Our clients come to us with one of two challenges:
1. a novel brand to be realized;
2. an existing brand, requiring refinement to address
a shifting landscape.
In both cases, our job is to secure a strong understanding for the audience need state and the market dynamic. Our approach is always focused on crafting brand propositions that inspire and motivate audiences to act.
We employ imaginative processes with our clients at the outset of every engagement to ensure that all realities are considered. Once the brand idea begins to take form, we refine it utilizing the strategic considerations.
THE IDEA
Every successful brand embraces a singular idea that inspires its audiences to action.
We engage management teams in the challenge and, together, we agree to a singular understanding. We study the market dynamic and develop hypotheses for how the brand might be crafted.
We utilize the resulting IDEA to directly inform the brand’s overall manifestation.
THE NAME
The forces that influence preference for brand names are frustratingly idiosyncratic—they vary as much as human opinion.
Our time-tested solution is an objective process that is informed by subjective influences.
We are adept at analyzing the significance, style, spelling, and the sound of names. We utilize this expertise to create and recommend names that capture THE IDEA in a compelling and on-brand manner.
THE VISUALIZATION
The human brain responds variably to visual stimuli. Preferences for design can be unpredictable, but not nearly as they are for brand names!
Our design team takes some comfort in that, but like our namers, their work is always strategically-focused on bringing THE IDEA to life in visual form.
Whether it is a logo, a label, a package, a web site or a design system, we take pride in blending art with strategic intent to craft category-defining brand VISUALIZATIONS.
THE EVALUATION
Once the IDEA, the NAMES and the VISUALIZATIONS have been developed, the proposed candidates may be subjected to a variety of EVALUATION measures.
For a pharmaceutical offering, we engage partners to embark on a robust name safety testing program that includes POCA analysis and regulatory filing documentation.
For B2C or B2B offerings, we can initiate international linguistic evaluation and qualitative or quantitative programs designed to solicit audience reactions to the proposed candidates.
THE EXECUTION
Brand realization requires not only defining the strategic intent, trade dress and digital presence, but, at times, its physical form.
We are available to work with and or brief advertising agencies, printers, signage and production companies to ensure an on-strategy implementation.
RARE COMPANY
CLIENTS
GRAVITY BRANDING delivers aesthetically sophisticated, on-strategy brand creation services to brand leaders at world class enterprises, mid-cap companies, and venture funded start-ups.
While we maintain strong domain expertise across industries, we relish the challenge of cracking new categories.
OUR WORK
Represented here is a small selection of the strategic and creative output of the GRAVITY BRANDING team.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Our team is a multi-disciplinary group of strategists and creatives who bring diverse passions and years of experience to their work.
We partner with senior management and executive teams that require a creative and strategic counterpoint to their day-to-day thinking.
EDWARD SAENZ Managing Director
Edward is an imaginative branding leader who employs a highly collaborative approach to defining brands with executive teams. Edward is the founder of Gravity Branding and has served many companies, from Fortune 100 enterprises to tech startups since 2000. Prior to that he was co-founder of Interbrand’s San Francisco office. He is an agile leader that employs a rigorous strategic method to deliver world class, ground breaking creativity. He and his team build distinguished brands that radiate an audience-first view of the world. Apart from his brand strategy work he is also known for having created the names Wi-Fi, Kisqali, Herceptin, Expedia.com, (Nissan) Xterra, Sempra Energy and others.
Johanna DeIonno Pino Brand Strategist and Account Director
Johanna is a force of nature. She’s a veritable firecracker that drives each engagement with passion and purpose. Her no nonsense approach to managing branding engagements instills confidence in her team and her clients. Process management, meeting facilitation, consumer research, organizational development, and employee engagement are all disciplines in her wheelhouse. She’s highly collaborative and excels at forming relationships with senior and executive management. She has been previously employed by Greenberg Research, CBA and Bonfire Communications. Her clients have included Genentech, ESPN, Intel, Playstation, Harrah's Entertainment, Nestlé, Spansion, and Starbucks.
Tom Davidson Executive Creative Director
Tom has had the good fortune of crafting a broad range of successful creative brand solutions for the world’s most recognizable brands including Energizer, Sprint, Williams Sonoma, Campbell’s, HP, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Tom is proud of his achievements in a career spanning 30 years. He has worked in New York City and San Francisco and is passionate about crafting authentic brand experiences from concept to implementation.
He specializes in strategic brand identity systems with a focus on visual storytelling and brand integration across touch points. Tom is known for his collaborative nature, dedication to innovation and for making his clients happy!
Sandra Hill Senior Creative Director
Sandra has managed and implemented branding programs for a broad range of multinational companies. Her career has spanned two decades during which she’s honed her creative vision, strategic tack and her collaborative spirit. At Interbrand and Siegel & Gale, she produced world class design solutions for American Express, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, AT&T and Motorola. In spite of her senior roles, she is recognized very much as a hands on, inspiring and energetic wellspring of creativity.
The Gravity Branding team maintains varied interests that range from cycling and mountaineering to cooking and family to the appreciation of art and photography. What binds us together, is not just a love of brands, but a deep respect for our one planet.
ACCOLADES
We really aren’t super comfortable chatting about ourselves or our accomplishments, but people tell us we need to toot our horn so here goes…
“I have had the privilege of working with Edward Saenz and his team on a multitude of strategic brand projects over the past 20 years . Edward has a deep understanding of the value of a company’s brands.”
“Edward and his team led Mayfield’s brand refresh and did a fantastic job. He’s got strong strategic branding experience for startups all the way up to Fortune 100 companies, and is very good at incorporating multiple ideas and then lining up consensus from many different stakeholders. Highly recommended!”
“His creativity is balanced by his understanding of business strategy and the results are always on point. He is able to guide entire organizations on the path to articulating a singular brand message. Edward and his team’s work is more than branding—he puts organizations back on the same page and inspires a completely different way of thinking about business process.”
TALK TO US
CALL
+1 415 415 987 9033
info@gravitybranding.com
We respond promptly!
We are highly respectful of your time and need for privacy.