WRITTEN BY NEIL HELSPER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR & COPYWRITER

You’ve probably heard that people form a first impression in as little as 7 seconds. Some studies say it’s a fraction of that—in as little as half of a second. While I’m always a little skeptical of those numbers (what did they do, pull out a stopwatch?), I think we’ve all realized how quickly we feel interested or disinterested in a person, an environment or a product. We get a gut feeling that something is either right for us, or it isn’t. And we decide to either investigate further or move on

As marketers, we can use this innate human truth to our advantage. Specifically, when developing brands, we can make sure that we stay in the consideration set for as long as possible. If we make our target audiences feel interested, inspired and comfortable, they’ll stick with us for long enough to make our sales pitch. 

So how do we do this? Through exceptional creative. If there’s one thing I feel more deeply than anything else about the job that I do, it’s this: creativity is the best tool in the world for solving business problems. That means that if you’re facing a problem in your business—whether that’s sagging sales, a loss in market share to a new competitor, or the need to build legitimacy as a new startup—you should invest in the best creative professionals available to you, because that investment will pay off tenfold. 

Recently, Hazel and I have seen that firsthand with our client, Speede Fitness. As a smarter and stronger alternative to Tonal and other connected fitness machines, Speede is inherently better than other products on the market. But to be able to explain the superiority of Speede to buyers and investors, we need to earn their attention first. And while Speede is a startup, we want to look and feel like an established brand. How do we do that? Through superior design and intentional creative choices.

Because other products in this space use bright, sunlight photography, our photography skews dramatic and moody. While others use a more feminine color palette, our palette feels both intense and gender-neutral. And all of this executed with a level of refinement that we’ve developed through our decades of experience on global brands.

Most importantly: it’s working. In the words of Speede’s co-founder, Greg Tepas:

“I’ve had so many people come up to me and say, ‘I love your branding and website, you’ve probably been around for five or six years, right?’ And they’re stunned when I tell them, we’re less than two years in.”

Exceptional creative can help your brand punch above its weight class, too. It can get you into conversations you wouldn’t have had otherwise. It can create a lasting first impression—or if you’re an established brand, it can inspire people to rethink what they know about you. It can solve business problems.

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So what issue are you facing?

Reach out to the Two Parts team and let’s all work through it together.

WRITTEN BY NEIL HELSPER, CREATIVE DIRECTOR & COPYWRITER