On this episode of Build Better Brands, Danielle Clarke is joined by Paul David Perry and William Gadsby Peet, founders of Literal Humans, who have a focus on creating not just resilient brands but brands that are mission-driven and have real values.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• We gambled a little, but were thankfully proven right on, as there probably wasn’t a better time to start than in the middle of a pandemic. Obviously the first six months were pretty rough, everyone battened down the hatches and no one had any budget. But then everyone realised that the only way we can make money is online and it was a good time to run a content and digital marketing agency because to sell stuff online you need content and digital marketing, so it proved to be a bit of a lucky/strategic masterstroke.
• The name gets us a lot of mileage, I think it sticks in people’s heads and maybe they laugh about it initially, but they ask about it. To be fair, your first job as a marketer when you’re starting an agency is to build something memorable, build a memorable brand for yourself that will be sticky in people’s minds and thankfully we’ve accomplished that, I think.
• SaaS is Software as a Service – Dropbox is SaaS, technically Netflix is SaaS – it’s anything you pay a recurring retainer for and in return you get software as a tool, like Adobe, Figma or Canva. With the world we live in today those are the ones that tend to be unicorns. The reason we focus on startups in the SaaS space is they tend to grow very quickly and very interestingly. With regards to mission-driven, we work with people we think are making the world a better place in some regards. We don’t work with anyone we think is doing something actively bad and we don’t work with anyone we think is not going to be into our style and our marketing, anyone who’s going to be too by the numbers, boring, uninterested in what we do. 
• One of the most common things that annoy us about brands is 1) that they’ve drunk their own Kool-Aid and they think that they’ve created a revolutionary product, then you use the product and you’re like: “Mate, this is just a rip off of something else with slightly different branding and one USP.” Be eyes wide open about what you’re selling. 2) No one has any fucking creativity or interest in being risky any more. In the 90s brands’ logos and work marks were made, now every single brand copies Apple’s; a straight monochrome word mark because everyone would rather be non-offensive than actually inspiring. One of the things we love about our agency and the people we get to work with is they’re up for taking risks. They’d rather delight 70% of their market and piss off 30% of it than be a bowl of oatmeal to all 100%. That’s one of the biggest things branding is missing at the moment: Risk takers.

BEST MOMENTS
‘Most marketing is shit. The reason that it’s bad is it just talks at people rather than to them. All the best marketing tells a story, treats people like humans and tells a human narrative.’
‘Everything we do is for humans by humans.’
‘Bad branding is bad branding, I don’t think by doing a bad job you should be crucified online. But, you kinda should do it.’
‘A principle we laid down early on, and we’ve seen the data and we just know intrinsically and morally, frankly, that diverse teams perform better. It’s not even just about performance, it’s the ethical right thing to do in 2020 in one of the most diverse cities in the world.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Prior to launching Literal Humans, Paul David Perry worked as a freelance writer and content strategist for a number of different tech brands, including Contentstack, Submittable, TransferWise, and Toptal. He also helped build a previous agency from $500K ARR to $1.5MM ARR in under two years by providing high-quality content strategy + execution across a range of clients and building internal agency systems. Before his career in content marketing, he worked in education and nonprofit management in the US.
William Gadsby Peet is a former journalist turned digital marketer that specialises in content and digital marketing strategy. Before co-founding Literal Humans, he worked as a performance marketing specialist and consultant, generating millions of pounds in profit for a roster of international clients.
Website: https://literalhumans.com/
Socials: @literalhumans
ABOUT THE HOST
Danielle Clarke is a Brand and Marketing Consultant, University Lecturer and Business Owner.
Since 2006 Danielle has provided brand design and marketing support for clients including Škoda, Gtech, UK Biocentre, UK Mail and GIRLvsCANCER Danielle is committed to helping brands that want to have a positive impact on people’s lives. She spends her time consulting and working with business owners to help them attract and retain their best customers.
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