THE NORTHWESTERN ADVENTURE (Post 2 of 12)
By Bobby Riley | March 24th, 2010
Northwestern page from CE Guidebook2
Over the next couple weeks we will be sharing some pages from our new Consumer Experience Guidebook, Vol. II called ‘Cult of Brand Personality’. Although many of you may be familiar with our work on the Northwestern and the Sig Hansen story, we thought it was still appropriate to share more in light of the bigger subject of personality and how it drives brand. Our work with Sig has brought significant attention to the studio based on genuine interest of who he is, the popularity of Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch” and the question– How in the hell did you guys get hooked up with him?
We got connected to Sig through our agency relationship with Helly Hansen, the 135 year old makers of action utility wear. HH outfitted Sig and crew with offshore gear and apparel. The six degrees of separation between Sig and Soldier became a direct connect as Sig Hansen and brother visited Boston a few years back to meet up with us to potentially do some work together. Impressed with some of the work Soldier has done for Helly Hansen his agent arranged the meet and greet. The rest has become bygone days.
In short, we set out to evangelize Sig as brand because it was both the easy and right thing to do. People naturally connect better with people than they do brands. In fact, many successful brands work hard to exude human personality traits without any real personality behind it because of its power i.e. to become more like-able, understandable and/or relate-able. Worthy brands have personalities that build vision, intimacy and relationship.
Sig Hansen is known for his bad-ass adventures on the Discovery Channels ‘Deadliest Catch’ as a featured Captain on the highly syndicated show reveling in extreme condition crab fishing in Alaska. When the show surged in popularity, so did Sig. He decided to align and engage with Soldier Design for the crafting of an identity and personal brand platform that would build on his legacy as a third generation Norwegian fisherman, ultimately forging distinction on the series and leading into natural opportunities of apparel, gaming, food & beverage, interactive and entertainment channels.
The services utilized to render some of the Northwestern experiences on and off the show were Brandseeking™, product design, graphic design, identity, print, advertising, packaging, copy writing, photography, art direction.
And the momentum continues…
Northwestern Business Cards
Northwestern, Dutch Harbor Alaska
Northwesterns Alaskan Storm for XBOX
Northwestern King Crab at Albertson's
Seattle Fish Market
Rogues's Northwestern Ale
Screenshot of Sig Hansen on Discovery's Deadliest Catch
Northwestern Crew Member on Deadliest Catch