Giving creative people their own voice produces living, pulsating brands

One of Edu Pou's bosses in Amsterdam made a point that stayed with him: advertising usually expects people to fit a role, to write and design like a brand. When you try to mimic a company's voice, the work becomes completely soulless. The alternative is to embrace the individual human voice, whether that is literally a speaking voice, visual art, photography, or any other craft. Edu's approach has been to surround a project with genuine artists, do the casting carefully, and then give people enough room to feel like they own the work. When that happens, the brands behind the work start feeling lively and start pulsating. The key is not constraining creativity to fit what a focus group has already decided, but turning that dynamic around.