Base coined the term “blanding,” but the international branding agency is anything but boring. With clients ranging from AI startup Rival Theory to e-commerce company Kidbox, Base leverages its broad portfolio of clients and designers from all around the world to help startups develop their individual personas. As they celebrate their 20th anniversary this year, we talked to Base Partner Geoff Cook about how the agency continues to evolve.
On Base’s culture:
“Base strives to have a profound cultural impact. Yes, we do strategy, and yes, we do identity, and all sorts of brand executions, but the end goal is to have a significant cultural impact for our clients. The end goal isn’t the product, it’s the result.”
“As one of our longest-standing mentors at Techstars in New York, Base partner Geoff Cook (with Base as back up) has helped to brand several of our portfolio companies and provided counsel to hundreds more.” Jenny Fielding, NYC, Managing Director, Techstars
On common founder mistakes:
“This may sound provocative, but I think the most common mistake is that there is a belief in the tech world that branding should be approached iteratively like their approach to product development. Having now been through that process of iteration with both startups and the largest tech companies, we’ve found that the results are often compromised. Oftentimes if you iterate or have different groups weighing in throughout the process, it can be detrimental to the end result. It’s a conversation we’re now having with founders to say, “We’ve tried both ways, we’ve seen these results, and we would ask that you go along for the ride and put your trust in us, and we’ll ensure that you will arrive someplace really compelling.”
Below, you’ll find the rest of the founder reviews, the full interview, and more details like pricing and fee structures. This profile is part of our ongoing series covering startup brand designers and agencies with whom founders love to work, based on this survey and our own research. The survey is open indefinitely, so please fill it out if you haven’t already.
Interview with Base Partner Geoff Cook
Yvonne Leow: To kick things off, could you tell me about your backstory? How did you get into branding?
Geoff Cook: I actually came from DKNY, back in its heyday, and met Base’s Belgian partners through the world of fashion. I always joke that I wanted out of fashion and they wanted out of Brussels. So I invested in Base and brought it to New York City in 1999. My background is in marketing and strategy. When I was leading the International Menswear division at DKNY, I started realizing that I always had the most fun working with our internal branding group. So, when I left, I knew I wanted to pivot and go more in that direction. I think what appealed to me was the combination of creativity and the massive impact branding could have on the world. The intersection of those two things really drew me in.
Yvonne Leow: Awesome. Over the past two decades, how has Base evolved as an agency? How does the agency operate?
Geoff Cook: Today, we are about 70 people split between Brussels, Geneva, New York, and I’m going to announce it now, Melbourne, Australia, which we opened Jan 1.
Yvonne Leow: Fantastic! Congrats on the new office.
Geoff Cook: In terms of how we work, it’s all one company. Every office operates largely independent of another, but there are always company-wide conversations going on. There are group creative meetings to discuss best practices and to share work. I think what’s most interesting is that Base has a very, very strong culture, and a very specific way of thinking and doing things.
For instance, we have a designer exchange program. A designer will come from Brussels to New York for three months, and the moment they arrive at the studio, they’re immediately accepted into the team. They plug into the work. There’s no time lapse or transition period needed. Even if that designer may not be talking to the New York office a whole lot, they can immediately plug in because we all have the same mindset. Every person in Base strives to have a profound cultural impact. Yes, we do strategy, and yes, we do identity, and things of that nature, but the end goal is to have a significant cultural impact for our clients. The end goal isn’t the product, it’s the result.
Yvonne Leow: How would you distinguish Base from other branding agencies?
I don’t know if you saw the article we wrote last year where we coined the phrase “blanding.” I think the term caught on like wildfire because it’s something that everyone was feeling, and yet no one really knew how to describe until we did. It was basically an observation that companies were all starting to look and sound the same. For example, just this morning I got on the subway and I saw a bedding company, pharmacy, and an orthodontist. They were all startup-y and they all essentially looked the same. When we coined blanding we said to ourselves, “This is not a reflection of the real world. A pharmacy, an orthodontist, and a bedding company should not look the same.” Going back to how we do things differently, I think first and foremost we think deeply about narrative and what each individual company stands for. We think deeply about how companies talk and act and behave.
Another phrase that we coined a long time ago is that brands are like people. It’s not just about the way a brand talks, but about how it interacts with the world that makes it an individual, just like a person is an individual. Everything that we do is bespoke and it’s really in service to that company and “who” it is as an individual.
We also have the broadest portfolio of anyone in our industry. By way of example, we are working on JFK Terminal 4, Prince (the musician), Danny Meyer (the restaurateur), The Louis Vuitton Foundation, NYCxDesign, Milk, and Wellesley College. Why have clients said that’s interesting? One reason is that we are often cross-pollinating best practices, or referencing one world to another.
For example, Kidbox is a subscription-based, direct to consumer kids clothing company. When we started thinking about the process of ordering clothing and saving mom a trip to the mall, we thought about, okay, if they’re going to be getting this box at home, how do we engage the kids as much as their mothers? We referenced contemporary artist Roy Lichtenstein for the brand identity. Why? Because that is a visual language that appeals to adults as much as it does children. It strategically aligned with their objective to appeal to both parents and kids.
Yvonne Leow: What percentage of your portfolio currently consists of tech startups?
Geoff Cook: I would say purely tech startups make up about 10% of our portfolio right now. But, they’re learning very quickly about the importance of brand, having their own voice and look, and how that translates into actions.
Yvonne Leow: Can you describe what is the ideal client relationship for Base, especially if I’m an early stage company?
Geoff Cook: First and foremost we immediately look to see if there’s chemistry with the founders. It’s a simple idea that took us 20 years to realize is that if you like one another, you’re going to have fun and you’re probably going to produce really good work. Secondly, we’re always interested in people that are ambitious. For example, we worked with an NGO called KickCancer on a pro-bono basis, and the reason we took on that project was because they really wanted to impact cancer. We knew that if we could lend our branding and communications expertise to that then we could have a significant cultural impact. Finally, there does need to be a certain budget that covers the quality of the team that we bring.
Yvonne Leow: If I’m a founder, what can I expect once we’ve decided to work together?
Geoff Cook: There’s always a first immersion meeting. My partner Min Lew likes to call it the “100% You” meeting, where everything is 100% about the company. We learn as much as we can and then supplement that with quantitative or qualitative market research with key stakeholders. We then move into a second phase, which is really about brand strategy, but it also addresses narrative and understanding the personality of the company. When we move into stage three, we’re really constructing a robust identity system, which will oftentimes then have applications in the physical, digital, or traditional world.
Yvonne Leow: What are the most common founder mistakes you see when it comes to branding?
Geoff Cook: This may sound provocative, but I think the most common mistake is that there is a belief in the tech world that branding should be approached iteratively like their approach to product development. Having now been through that process of iteration with both startups and the largest tech companies, we’ve found that the results are often compromised. Oftentimes if you iterate or have different groups weighing in throughout the process, it can be detrimental to the end result. It’s a conversation we’re now having with founders to say, “We’ve tried both ways, we’ve seen these results, and we would ask that you go along for the ride and put your trust in us, and we’ll ensure that you will arrive someplace really compelling.”
Yvonne Leow: Can you tell me a little bit about finally what’s your pricing structure for Base?
Geoff Cook: After 20 years, we’ve actually become much more flexible in our old age. Meaning some clients want retainers, some clients what project-based… we’re agnostic. In terms of how we calculate pricing, we have many different profiles within the company and some are better suited for certain projects and others for other projects. After we’ve deeply looked at the project and what it involves, we form a team around each project, and then estimate the amount of time that the team requires for the work. Then, based on that we arrive at a fee.
If that fee is prohibitive, especially for startups, but we feel really, really strongly about the company, we will then work with the company to find alternate payment structures. In the case of Kidbox, for example, we have options in the company. We find that it really helps to align interests so that all parties are really invested in a company.
Founder Recommendations
“Though MILK has been around for two decades, we were a startup when we began our collaboration with Base. They have worked on all of our key brands since then. Base gave us the foundation and design that set us up to be successful and have the ability to scale.” – Mazdack Rassi, NYC, Creative Director and Co-Founder, Milk
“The team at Base has helped our company create a completely new Brand Strategy, name, and identity. We just transitioned our original startup into a new direction and industry. Base Design has done a great job ensuring a continuity from our history, as well as a totally fresh and thoughtful new strategy and visual identity. We are all excited for the final work to be completed and launched later this year.” – Amanda Solosky, LA, CA, Co-founder and CEO, Rival Theory
“Base developed a unique graphical and visual identity for our company. The innovative logo and webpage designs gave us a fresh look that strongly supports our ethos of creating evolutionary architecture. As designers we focus daily on innovation and Base provided us with all the necessary tools to be able to showcase our work – from social media & marketing to client specific presentations – in a way that sets us apart from the competition and opens the stage for our firm’s future growth.” – Iana Kolev, Chicago, IL, AIA, Director at PALM
“I am the founder of Kidbox, a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based children’s wear company. Some of Base’s notable contributions
– They designed a brand identity that was totally fresh for our industry by referencing contemporary art (= Roy Lichtenstein)
– They made our unboxing experience best in our industry by thinking of ways to have it appeal as much to the mothers as the children. For example, they made our logo and shapes on the boxes as outlines and included markers and stickers in the box so kids could decorate them.
– Their digital strategy team is incredibly strong. Base did a deep dive into our core customers and sales funnel which had direct implications on the design of the site and our performance marketing.
– They seem to know everyone! So their value is not just in the branding work they do, but their network.” – Haim Dabah, NYC, Founder, Kidbox
“Branding agencies add value in many ways. The most common is of course a client/service relationship. However, the exceptional, more experienced firms often lend their time to mentor companies or donate their services for pro-bono work.
As one of our longest-standing mentors at Techstars in New York, Base partner Geoff Cook (with Base as back up) has helped to brand several of our portfolio companies and provided counsel to hundreds more. As the only pure branding mentor within Techstars New York, he has helped to give our program (and the companies therein) a distinct competitive advantage over other accelerators.” – Jenny Fielding, NYC, Managing Director, Techstars
“We worked with Base to design our entire brand identity and packaging applications from the ground up. To do so, we worked very closely thinking through many iterations before we landed on right execution that blended our range of our values and ambitions.” – Phil Covitz, Beverly Hills, CA, Proprietor, andSons Chocolatiers
“They have built our full visual identity and tone of voice.” – Cofounder in Brussels, Belgium
“Base is quite simply the top branding agency on the planet. I know this not only from my work with them, but from multiple business acquaintances who have worked with them and feel the same. Their portfolio includes a vast number of the most iconic contemporary brands (Milk, NeueHouse, Louis Vuitton Foundation, JFK Terminal 4), they have a very timely and contemporary take on branding for startups. Let me explain…
I just read your article on Red Antler. I took particular note of this portion of the article: “Sometimes people look around at the brand landscape today and their impression is that everything looks the same. If we only focus on the parts we can see, it’s true that there are certain design best practices, as well as trends, that influence a prevalent look.” I have had very active discussions about Base’s approach with Geoff Cook and Min Lew (the Base partners) and how they believe very much the opposite … in fact they coined the phrase “blanding” to describe this “prevalent look.” They often say that every brand is like a person, and people all have very different identities, personalities and attitudes. This feels on point to me.
I remember when I first met with Geoff. He and the Base team had done the naming & branding of my first business, Common Bond. We became a huge hit in Houston and I sold my shares to start my current business. At the concept stage of this second business, I said, “This go-round, I want to convey a personal relationship with my customers. As if I were making each panettone for them. And so I think we should use my name for the branding: Roy Shvartzapel.” Geoff was immediately, like, “No,” and after 5 minutes of discussion said, “If you want it to be a “gift” from you, personally, to your customers, let’s call it “FromRoy”.” And that was it. From a brand strategy point of view, he connected the dots very quickly.
From there, I described how my panettone were not like those on the market. That I was striving to make the best product on the market. Geoff, Min and the team at Base said, “Well then let’s break the rules of the food industry. Let’s treat your products like crown jewels.” My packaging and my website reflect this. I feel like they don’t speak to the typical codes of food. Many people have commented, “Your packaging looks more like an expensive candle or a beauty product than food.” This has helped us to differentiate ourselves from the competition
Last year I was fortunate enough to be named one of Oprah’s Favorites for 2018. I also did a special edition panettone with Giada de Laurentiis. Though my business is D-to-C, I am currently being solicited by several major food retailers for large orders and exclusive partnership arrangements. And on and on. And though I think we do a very good job with the product, I know that NONE OF THIS would have been possible without Base’s branding expertise.” – Founder and Chef in NYC