The year is 2007. It's just before Christmas. The economy was going downward, the housing market was in crisis, and a young creative director named Stæven had just been given a letter from a tearful boss that the agency he worked at was closing its doors.
He went home with his box of stuff and contemplated, as any of us do. There was a mixture of fear, panic, anxiety, and yet success and satisfaction were still in his pocket. He'd worked at three agencies and two studios."What do I do next?" was the natural question, but "what do I really want to do?," was the truer question. He wanted to do branding—and not just designing logos, but solve problems. The big kind. The ones that really count. Make brands that functioned commercially and on a high-level. But there were no agencies here in Nashville doing that, just one-stop shops.
While necessity is often the mother of innovation, passion tends to be the father of pursuit. and that pursuit was to follow passion and opportunity. In January of 2009, Quantum Branding opened its doors.
We work in the field of brandonomy—the study of brands—and through the principles of brandometry, advise our clients.
Since 2009, Quantum Branding has been founded on the ideas and values countercultural to the typical agency. In fact, out of our experiences at previous agencies—everything from our structure, environment, and culture to how we do business, talk to clients, and even see ourselves—is radically different.
There's no corporate BS, cubicles, obnoxious agency overhead, red tape, or a fancy walnut conference table to get in the way.Instead, there's a vibrant, fluid agency model that allows us to do our best work, work with the best clients, and make the most impact.
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These words actually mean something to us. They inspire, inform, and guide
the heartbeat of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
They're sacrosanct, immovable, and vibrant components
both professionally and personally.
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Everyone has truth they must walk in. We're not talking religion or faith systems. We believe in walking in the truth of who you are and what is true. Being who you are, how you're wired and being present—with what you have, who's with you, and where you're at. Sometimes that means saying no to opportunities, clients, or projects.
While we are each our greatest resource to one another, our thinking is our most critical asset. How we think is the most vital component to our work in the branding industry and in our client's work.Thinking is the one thing that we offer that we can ensure brings the highest level of professionalism, thought-leadership, and innovation to every project we work on.
Without vision, people perish.We don't think that its a literal death either, but rather an internal one. We refuse to live passively and go with the flow, but rather seek our direction, explore, discover, be curious and more forward towards something of value. Vision, is seeing what others do not and going there.
Notice we didn't say perfection, you won't find that anywhere. We believe in doing incredible work to the best of our abilities, working with the best clients and brands possible.Excellence guides the level of A-Game we bring in everything from our conversations and relationships to our worklife. This applies to our thinking, our health, and our creativity.
The human element is one of the most important to us. The level of respect, camaraderie, and compassion that we have for other humans is central to why we do business—to help others share who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Its the same heart that drives us to rescue cats from dumpsters, transport dogs to new homes across the state, and out friends experiencing homelessness.
We all want courage—one of the attributes of our character the makes us compelling as leaders. Our courage is more than doing the right thing, that it is feeling fear yet choosing to act; following your heart; persevering int he face of adversity; standing up for what is right; abandoning what is familiar and expanding your horizons; andfacing suffering with dignity and faith.
Orange is our company color for a few reasons. In addition to it being Stæven's favorite—even as a baby only eating orange food—orange is the color of change, power, and creativity, one of our most sacred values.
We believe that creativity isn't just art or design, but innovation, problem solving, and perspective. It can be crunching numbers to changing a recipe, but it's driven by curiosity, wonder, discovery, and sharing.
There's no such thing as "done growing" in our books. Our learning, interpersonal relationships, and professional journeys are marked with strategic stops for continued education, sabbaticals for inspiration and retreat, and explorations of curiosity and discovery.
This ensures our thinking, actions, and well-being are the highest level we have to offer ourselves first, and then others next.
One of the biggest things we've taken away from our previous jobs was the distaste of becoming burnt out, overworked, and feeling under appreciated. It felt like clients' work came first and their money did all the talking. Stæven vowed to ensure we take care of our own first.
We work the hours we need to get things done, no one pulls all nighters, and our people come first. Little league games, sick days, school plays, and vacations come first. Why? Because without our people, there's no reason to work, no one to work with nor lead our clients.
Technology is a tool we use to make our agency work. We invest in the hardware and software necessary to facilitate the world's best branding agency possible. Ironically, having a technology with purpose as a main value also means sometimes removing technology.
Where and when possible, we remove technology from ourselves, and only use it when it's necessary to accomplishes its goal and facilitates work.
We believe that people are the most important, ideas are the most powerful, and that brands connect the two. Everything else is just decorum.
Our lovable founder, principal, and senior brand strategist. He guides the everyday conversations, strategy, and thinking, grounding the company with passion, purpose, and values. He loves typography, productivity apps, shortcut keys, oranges, scooters, white mochas, coke zeros + cats. He hates condiments and mean girls.
We are always on the lookout to work with the best. So, if that's you, do something about it. Quantum Branding's culture is distinct, full of freedom, excitement and incredibly rewarding demands. If you're wanting to make an introduction, please do. We however, do not accept solicitations for partners or vendors, sorry (not sorry).
Our flagship agency opened its doors in 2009, but many of us come from a variety of backgrounds, agency experiences, and corporate brands. Quantum started in 2004.
We're passionate about petcare, cpg, and retail brands. We've worked with over 150 name brands, 30+ industry sectors, and honestly too many to count. While our experiences are diverse, the process for brand excellence is the same.
No, they're not hiding or nor not allowed to have profiles on here. The truth is, our agency is a lean agency, working with people first. Many of those people are full-time, 10-99 contractors, who, by sharing their names draws more attention to them than they'd prefer, or even away from their current responsibilities.
We have web development, researchers, strategists, and designers who are always on board, just not always on every project. This way, you're only introduced to the people that correlate to your project.
Scientifically, orange is the best color in the world* Oh, and the guy who started our agency loves it. He used to eat so much orange food as a baby, he turned orange. His car, his KitchenAid mixer, two of his kitties, and quite a lot of things in his home are orange.—but he nice tone of orange though, the harvest orange. (*This fact has may or may not have been made up)
Great question. We don't have one. Since we invest in our people first and technology second, we're a virtual, results-oriented work environment. This allows us to remove the red tape and additional costs out of your projects, ensuring you get our best work.
We walk with all of our clients through a Brand Discovery Process. From here, we're able to truly understand what type of problems you're looking to solve, prioritize the opportunities, and ensure you've got a blueprint for your future.
From here, clients can:engage us in a monthly retainer consultancy to help them accomplish these goals with the team of their choice, or for us to engage our services as well. We're happy to be involved either way.
Yes and No. While there is currently a waiting list to work with us, you should still fill out the Project Kickstarter Form to get in our queue. We'll contact you within one business day of contacting us and let you know where you're at in line.
Those clients wishing to engage us as soon as possible can prioritize their project and be first in line by putting down a deposit, placing them ahead of the waitlist. Email us if this is you.
