Owl Street Studio: Recent Episodes
Brian Rawson
At Owl Street Studio, we use the power of empathy, marketing, and design to help you solve the complex problems in front of your firm, agency, business, nonprofit, and practice.
By working together to dismantle the obstacles in front of you, we strive to build place for all of us.
In this episode, we look at how businesses use branding, personality, and selling points to reach your emotional needs and, in the process, raise their value from cheap to luxury. And we see all of this in action through, the one and only, Aldi grocery stores.
In this episode, we look at how businesses use marketing and selling points to communicate external and internal needs and how Olive Garden uses all of this to masterfully tap into your emotional needs in less than 30 seconds.
In this episode, we look at the connection between marketing and your emotional needs. Through the episode, we unpack how all businesses sell you an external need and an internal need, and we see this in action with a case study on Starbucks. We discuss how Starbucks doesn’t really sell coffee. They sell you something else entirely…
In this episode, learn how we all use the number three to make sense of all the prices and buying decisions we face every single day. Plus, see the connection between prices and relativism, and how we use prices to affirm our self-identity (even in the grocery store).
Learn what you and Bud Light have in common. In this episode, we examine Bud Light’s recent controversy to show how Bud Light is bound by the same social norms you are. Both you and Bud Light worry about reputation, social standing, and identity, and neither you or Bud Light can change any of these things too far too fast without paying a high social cost.
Why do you buy what you buy? Why did you buy those shoes? Why those clothes? Why that computer? You might say you bought them because of the price or the features or the reviews, and that might be partly true. However, it’s absolutely not the full story. So, if price points and reviews don’t make you buy what you buy, what does? Your buying decisions are shaped by what you want OTHER people to believe about you. Here's How...
Why do you buy what you buy? What made you get that car? Why that toothpaste? Why that pair of shoes? Maybe you’ve never thought about it (which is ok), but we think about it all the time. Marketers are constantly contemplating what makes you buy what you buy. And do you want to know what we know…about you? You buy what you buy because of what you believe - specifically what you believe (and wish to believe) about yourself and what you want others to believe about you. (Don’t worry, we all do this). Listen to the episode to see how.
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we share our thoughts and perspective on race and demographics. We discuss how we feel that demographics must talk about race, but that they should do it through the much more nuanced terms and concepts of ethnicity, heritage, identity, and presentation. We then unpack each of these terms and show how they connect and build upon each other. Plus, we share how these terms help incorporate the lived experiences of code switching, passing, and colorism; and we share how they help incorporate the experience of class and able-bodiedness into the discussion of race and culture.
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we discuss our approach to demographics. We talk through how we feel that demographics should only be used with empathy. We also share how we use demographics as a way to expand empathy and to better understand what it’s like to move through the world as someone different from yourself.
Learn more about us, visit: www.owlstreet.studio
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we discuss the connection between politics and branding. Through this conversation, we unpack what branding really is, and we outline how politicians use branding (specifically personal branding) to influence your vote.
Learn more about us, visit: www.owlstreet.studio
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we discuss what actually has to come together to make a price a price. Through this conversation, we unpack how prices are made of two main components: numbers and emotions. And we talk about how looking at what you buy reveals what you care about, value, and believe in.
Learn more about us, visit: www.owlstreet.studio
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we discuss how our perceptions influence inflation. Through this conversation, we unpack how marketing is really just word of mouth, perceptions, and inner thoughts and beliefs. And we ask, “Can we use marketing to change our perceptions and thus change inflation?” Let us know what you think.
Learn more about us. Visit: www.owlstreet.studio
In this episode of the Owl Street Studio Podcast, we talk about how you can grow team diversity and inclusion. We discuss how you can use a simple checklist to guide you through the self-reflection and team introspection needed to create a truly diverse and inclusive workplace and team.
Visit our website to learn more about us and how we grow diversity and inclusion in our team and in the clients we work with.
Learn more about us here: https://www.owlstreet.studio
To make a great logo, you have to know your art. You have to know how to use shapes, colors, typography, and layout to project your brand out into the world. Why? Because a logo’s whole purpose is to identify and project your brand to your marketplace. And if your logo fails to project your brand, do you really think your business can grow (or maybe even survive)?
But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Together, we’ll see what it takes to make a great logo by learning the fundamentals of logo design. In Part 1, we dispelled the myth of the "Cool Logo." In Part 2, we talked about the importance of knowing your brand when it comes to designing your logo. In Part 3, we discussed how to find and understand the context of your marketplace so that you can stand alongside your competition while standing out from them. Today, in Part 4, we talk about the basics of art and how to use those basics to project your brand to the world like this...
Read the full Logo Design: 101 article here: https://www.owlstreet.studio/logo-design-101
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Learn more about us and see our work samples and case studies here: https://www.owlstreet.studio
To make a great logo, you have to know your marketplace. You have you know the context that surrounds your logo. Why? Because a logo’s whole purpose is to identify and project your brand to your marketplace. And if your logo fails to adapt to your marketplace, do you really think your business can grow (or maybe even survive)?
But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Together, we’ll see what it takes to make a great logo by learning the fundamentals of logo design. In Part 1, we dispelled the myth of the "Cool Logo." In Part 2, we talked about the importance of knowing your brand when it comes to designing your logo. And today, in Part 3, we discuss how context makes or brakes your logo like this...
Read the full Logo Design: 101 article here: https://www.owlstreet.studio/logo-design-101
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Learn more about us and see our work samples and case studies here: https://www.owlstreet.studio
To make a great logo, you have to know your brand. Why? Because a logo’s whole purpose is to identify and project your brand to your marketplace. And if your logo fails to do that, how many new customers and clients do you really think you’re going to get? If your logo fails, do you really think your business can grow or maybe even survive?
But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Together, we’ll see what it takes to make a great logo by learning the fundamentals of logo design:
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Know your brand
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Know your context
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Know your art
So, let's start with the first pillar of good logo design: know your brand. To know your brand, do this...
Read the full Logo Design: 101 article here: https://www.owlstreet.studio/logo-design-101
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Learn more about us and see our work samples and case studies here: https://www.owlstreet.studio
Sponsorships: off for this episode
A logo’s purpose is to identify and project your brand to your marketplace. And if your logo fails to do that, how many new customers and clients do you really think you’re going to get? If your logo fails, do you really think your business can grow or maybe even survive?
So, you can’t leave your logo - this vital piece of your business - up to chance or gut feelings or intangible intuition. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. We’re here to turn those fuzzy feelings into a smooth vocabulary.
Together, we’ll see what it takes to make a great logo by learning the fundamentals of logo design:
-
Know your brand
-
Know your context
-
Know your art
But first we need to learn what a logo is not. A logo is never cool. Here’s why...
Read the full Logo Design: 101 article here: https://www.owlstreet.studio/logo-design-101
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Learn more about us and see our work samples and case studies here: https://www.owlstreet.studio
Now, you can design your own business website by dragging and dropping elements into a page layout. Platforms like Wix and Squarespace provide this web design freedom and access.
But what they don’t tell you is that, if you do use their service and build your own drag/drop site, your website will house a fatal flaw.
No, this flaw won’t literally harm anyone, but it can harm your business. Listen to here what that flaw is and how you can remove it.
After listening, learn more about us and look through our work samples here: https://www.owlstreet.studio