Almost five years ago we sat in the office and dreamed how we will start something bigger than all of us. How we will manage to become one of the leading companies in our region. How we will manage to grow outside of simple marketing practices and close the cycle, creating a family that can deliver everything a brand needs to succeed. To be honest we remember this day as it was yesterday. Sitting, dreaming, planning and drawing on a big white board with a marker that turned out to be quite permanent and thus the initial plans stayed in the office for three years, more like carved than drawn.
But for just three years we managed to do it. We were already big enough to be one of the biggest in our region. We were organizing events, shooting videos, boosting start-ups, doing marketing, PR and developing digital platforms. So it was time to remove the white board. And “carve” a new plan for ourselves. That’s when everyone in the office started dreaming of the one thing every startup wants to achieve – “going global and bigger”. We knew we have done such an immense progress. In the same time were yet far away from that dream. No one dared to share it too loud, just loud enough for everyone to hear, but not loud enough so anyone could smirk.
I remember the day. It was late spring to early summer. Terrible day as I had to wake up early in the morning for a meeting that everyone should’ve been on. We sat in one of our conference rooms. Cups of coffee spread everywhere. Some of us knew what was happening but not all. Thus some of us had little smiles and glittering eyes, ready to explode while waiting for everyone’s reaction to the news.
‘We go global’ I remember the words. They almost echoed in the room. Even the PRs were listening and not speaking. To be honest I drove out of the speech as I already knew everything and looked around. Have you ever seen a crowd whose eyes start getting fuller and fuller with dreams. Whose faces start melting and whose minds fly away simultaneously. That is what happened. I saw a long-time anticipated dream coming to live just before my eyes.
But going global is not just about saying it. There is much more to doing it. This is why we needed to rebrand. In order to show what we are capable of. To show the world what we stand behind and what we oppose. To leave our own mark in everyone’s mind. To simply stand out by being ourselves.
It is one of the biggest challenges towards anyone in marketing and all who work there know what I am speaking about. The case where you tell everyone else’s story but you sometimes tend to forget to tell your own. To present yourself. Just because you crave for those few hours of sleep.
To be honest we were in hurry. But we had to design our new logo in order for it be more contemporary. We had to redesign almost all of our websites and create a whole new copy for 4-5 of them. It was a month or two of a non-stop brainstorming and working. Putting our ideas and what we believe in and structuring it was not an easy task. Presenting who we are proved to be challenge. But we made it, telling about things such as Symbols of Tomorrow!
This is why today we look ahead. The white board is blank once more and our next mission is to conquer new markets, help new brands tell their story in the right way, be inspired by even bigger challenges, grow and be who we always were – Symbols of creativity, passion and innovation.
Peter Lozanov, Managing Partner