In our work as brand excavators and strategists, we are not working to shoehorn your brand or business into a pre-set market position that we’ve deemed advantageous. That’s Old World …

If you were being interviewed by The New York Times about the success of your brand, what would you say? (I’ll give you a moment). Would you explain how you made …

When is the last time you raced against your buddies to make and fly a paper airline? Or when have you last handwritten something sacred and private, folded it up …

By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster One of the greatest pains of modern thinking is our addiction to dualism. While we are used to seeing this us-versus-them, black-or-white approach in …

“That’s the story!” I exclaimed to a client on a recent storytelling and content coaching call. If I’ve learned anything from our clients recently, it’s this: when it comes to …

By Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster The marketing world is over-saturated with formulas. This is because formulas are intended to remove uncertainty. And because uncertainty is the boondoggle of human …

LISTEN HERE (audio + video) Synthesis is a Root + River hosted webcast featuring nonconformist leaders whose ideas make them — and us — see the world differently. Our eleventh …

By Emily Soccorsy and Justin Foster A brand doesn’t magically appear. A logo might. But not a brand. Brands are really deeply seeded ideas, so they take time to formulate …

By Emily Soccorsy + Justin Foster Small business owners are in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to marketing. You can either do it yourself or bring in …

Marketing is a little bit like a Rodney Dangerfield quote. It can’t get no respect. Everybody in the business wants great marketing and basically nobody wants to do great marketing. …

I recently opined in a tweet that branding is an extension of a leader’s EQ. That low EQ leads to bad branding decisions, lack of awareness & message obsession. This …