The Brains on Fire brag sheet

Posted on March 25th, 2009 by Spike and currently 6 commenting.

HUGE, BIG OL’, GIANT CAUTION AHEAD: There’s about to be a whole long list of horn-tootin’. So if you’re averse to that sort of thing, we’ll return to our regularly scheduled blog posts tomorrow.

On the webnets earlier this week, I ran into Ground Zero’s site, which is a one-pager that is part history/part brag sheet of their accomplishments. I love it. And it really got me thinking about what Brains on Fire’s would look like. Especially in this new world where so many people can claim expertise, but when you start digging, there’s no substance there.

The below really started for myself. Just to get it all down on paper in one place. Then I thought I’d share it with the team here. And then I thought, “what the hell,” and am posting it for everyone.

Brains on Fire was formed in 1998 when the best design group around came together with the best strategy group around. We wrote and illustrated the Red Ribbon Book, which President Clinton used as a backdrop for his war on drugs. One guy in our group volunteered to work for free until we could pay him. After we rebranded it, a federal savings bank sold for the highest premium of its kind - ever - at the time. A national engineering firm had double-digit growth. A national placement firm grew 558%. A shipping logistics company grew 35%. A regional landscaping company grew revenue 26%. A construction supply company grew when their entire industry sank. We got our name from the founder who was ranting and raving after he heard and idea he loved. He said, “That really sets my effing brains on fire!!” When we created the packaging for a new line of tools in a big-box hardware chain, they did 10x the sales they projected. We’ve had several offices, one of which really pissed off our corporate neighbors (sorry, Michelin), one of which was in city hall and the current one which is in a century-old underwear factory. We’ve been recognized 11 times in the past 5 years for having among the top 100 most effective and creative rebranding efforts in the world. Our design work has been featured in 3 prominent books (one of them published by HOW) in the past 3 years. We took one of the smallest tobacco prevention budgets in the entire nation and created one of the largest teen smoking rate drops in the nation. It also got a gold EFFIE and bested the TRUTH campaign, which outspent us literally hundreds of times to one. We’ve worked with companies on main street and those that weigh in on Wall Street. For insight, we delivered dry cleaning in Atlanta. Participated in all-night scrapbooking crops in LA. Mowed lawns in Florida. Hung out with engineers in Omaha. Built guitars in Durham. Worked the big-box sales floor in LA. We created a movement that doubled sales in key regions, increased mentions of their company by name 600% and still generates R&D, fan marketing and PR ideas we could have never thought of 3 years later. It’s also been written about in 5 books in the past 2 years, including NY Times best-seller, Groundswell as well as The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited and Secrets of Social Media Marketing. Our case studies get presented around the country and around the world – by people that aren’t us. Other firms also use them to pitch new business ideas. We speak nationally and globally on design, movements and long-term word of mouth marketing. Our blog is in the top .01% most read and linked to in the world. We’ve been named one of the top 3 WOM companies in the business – by our peers. We’ve always been between 20 and 30 people – that’s all we’ve ever needed.

And….done. Hopefully it’ll inspire to put yours down on paper, too.