Seeking the Next Big Idea

Creative work means always being ‘on the clock’

by

Editor's Note: Cabell Harris, founder of the creative branding agency WORK Labs, is one of eight media professionals inducted this spring into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. The other local honorees are Brian Ellis, executive vice president at public relations firm Padilla; Kym Grinnage, vice president and general manager of WWBT-TV NBC12; and Thomas P. Kapsidelis, a veteran journalist, author and visiting professor at the University of Richmond.

I carry a journal wherever I go. It’s a blank book that I fill with ideas. Every inch of every page. I have a library of these books — hundreds of them. And each is filled with my thoughts from the last 30-plus years.

To fuel my work as an ad man, designer, professor and entrepreneur, I am always looking for inspiration, scribbling thumbnail sketches, writing and crossing out headlines. Pasting in new typefaces, images, inspiration and reference material — labels peeled off bottles, quotes, articles about new products and business innovations, interesting styles of photography, graphics and illustrations.

It’s how I make a living and feed my soul. It’s my belief that nothing comes out of your head unless you put it in there first. What does that look like? Here’s how my day typically plays out:

At 6 a.m. (or 3 a.m. if an idea wakes me in the middle of the night), I start on my computer looking for mental stimulation, reviewing current clients’ industries and refreshing myself on their audiences and goals. Then I move to sites such as Springwise, Harvard Business Review, Pinterest and others that will feed my thinking. My appetite is to be informed about innovations, the disruptors in technology, business and design. The things that resonate, I put in my journal and stow them away in my head.

8 a.m.: I shower, often scribbling a thought or a layout on the steamed glass to help me visualize the idea.

9 a.m.: I have a wall in my studio that is filled with work for clients. When I arrive in the morning, I walk the wall and look for ways in which my team and I can make more things come to life. What are the opportunities that a client has but doesn’t see? Can I make them aware of these opportunities and bring them to life? I begin by looking at a client’s brand through different lenses: brand as position, brand as experience, brand as conscience, brand as technology, brand as communication, brand as buzz, brand as product, brand as education, brand as environment, brand as shared moment.

One example is Cobra USA, a 40-year-old California company that makes mufflers for motorcycles. They came to me thinking they might need a new logo. Not only did we create a logo, but five years later, we have transformed the company. We designed print ads, directed photography, provided social media services and worked on the website, videos, trade shows, an apparel line and sales materials. We even developed a newspaper specifically for Cobra’s customers that celebrates the motorcycle lifestyle.

Many people think of me as a creative. However, I believe my strength is in critical thinking, and that’s what makes me a better creative. My first question for all my clients: “Why is it important to your audience that your company exists?” Then I follow a simple process for every project I work on. The questions are the same, but the answers never are: Who are you talking to? What do you want to tell them? How do you tell them? Where do you tell them? Was it effective?

Thoughts to Ponder From Cabell Harris

  • A great strategy executed predictably is a waste of time.
  • If you can’t outspend the competition, you need to outthink them.
  • The business has changed from solving problems to seeking opportunities.

11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: No two days are alike — I’m always multitasking: working with studio and staff on presentations and execution of concepts, online researching and looking for inspiration, developing concepts, emailing and going to meetings. But what drives me is to always be creating. I try to produce work that engages and inspires, no matter where it lives. So every idea we create is elastic. It works where the audience is. It can live on a screen, on a wall, in a store, on a package — in places not even imagined yet.

After 6 p.m.: My workday doesn’t end, but it becomes much more relaxed. You may find me at a restaurant doodling on a napkin or having an informal meeting with a client. At home, it’s not unusual for me to be on the drawing board, looking through Pinterest or adding to a journal.

I’ve found that the key to a long career is to always be evolving. Along with running WORK Inc. and creating ad campaigns, shaping corporate identities, packaging products and books, building apps and taking our own brands and products to market, I was also a professor for over 10 years at the VCU BrandCenter, the No. 1 ad school in the country. The biggest difference in my mindset from when I started in the industry is that advertising, by itself, is boring to me. It’s not challenging enough; it feels like the job is just partly done. When I began, all projects were focused on traditional media (newspapers, magazines, TV and radio) because that’s how the agencies got paid.

Now I have transitioned into being a complete brand thinker. Often the concepts I show clients have nothing to do with advertising but encompass all phases of a brand: from seed and development to startup, then growth and establishment, expansion and finally, maturity and possible exit. Maybe it’s an idea for a new product or ways to motivate employees, an installation for their office or something as simple as a viral social media April Fools’ Day prank. Whatever it takes to help a client get to their next critical stage.

Cabell Harris started his career in Richmond before working for companies in New York, Boston and Los Angeles. He founded WORK Labs in L.A., then returned to his roots and relocated the firm to Richmond in 1995.