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03/17/16

Marketing. It’s numbers and poetry.

Yin and yang. Lock and key. Tom and Jerry. Some things only work in twos. In the marketing world, our inseparable duo is strategy and creative—or, as a colleague said more colorfully, numbers and poetry.

These two are like twins within our industry. Better yet, Siamese twins. And a knowledge of this simple truth is what separates the dud agencies from the greats.

Which leads to OBI’s famous formula:

Before the first droplet of creative work begins, we put numbers to work. We start with research: What are customers thinking? What grabs them? What turns them off? What are their daily pain points? Pleasure points? Price points? Are there leaks in your service, product or process along their journey? The deeper we dig, the more you strike gold. Call it a good, productive shake-up.

Only then do we wrangle all of that precious data into an airtight strategy. That’s when, at last, the creative process can begin—the slick headlines, elegant designs, chiseled branding and all the sexy stuff to sell your company—which performs brilliantly thanks to the simple fact that we calculated your rocket’s course before we hit the launch button.

Everyone knows that great creative—great advertising—is powerful. But when you get brilliant work from its nerdier, numbers-oriented sibling? Equally powerful. Seriously: research findings uncovered by our o.VOCTM survey alone have led some clients to grow their assets by a whopping 300%. Numbers are cool.

Poetry is that popular guy in your neighborhood association who brings a massive, patriotic firework that will blossom in the sky like a miniature nuke. Numbers is the person who remembered to bring the matchbook, check with city ordinance, and quietly alert the fire department—just in case.

Yin and yang. Numbers and poetry. That’s marketing. And don’t let anyone tell you different. Now, let’s go ruminate on this over a pairing of wine and cheese.

 


 

James Hoke, OBI CopywriterJim Hoke, Senior Copywriter

As the Senior Copywriter at OBI, Jim works with the creative team to develop ideas that sell and captivate. He uses his 10 years of experience to ensure that we are always on-point and our messages are never soft, dull or commonplace. Jim’s kind-heart and eloquence with words allows him to always deliver the best results for clients.