Why Every Brand Brief Should Start With a Bathroom Wall
Let me explain. Last week, I went to a dive bar in Ōtautahi. Not the Instagram kind, the real kind—pinball machines, sticky floor, lots of Springsteen. In the back, I saw an ancient toilet door covered in decades of graffiti. Some of it funny. Some angry. Some sad. But every line said the same thing: people want to be heard. And they’ll use whatever space you give them.
Which got me thinking about brand messaging. Why do so many campaigns feel like they're built in a vacuum? We obsess over strategy and tone decks, but miss the raw voices in the wild. I'd argue the best brand insights don't come from workshops with post-its. They come from listening to how people actually express themselves, especially when they think no one's watching. Bathroom walls. Reddit rants. Chatroom slang. Even bumper stickers. Not to steal the words, but to understand the rhythm of real conversation.
Take Spark’s late-night Twitter replies. Or Viva's street interviews with everyday Aucklanders. That stuff feels alive. It connects because it's not trying too hard to be clever. It’s responsive, human, even a little messy. That's what most brands miss when they aim for polish. They iron out the wrinkles, forgetting that it’s the creases that give clothes character.
So here's a challenge. Before your next brand sprint, spend one night out without an agenda. Read the scribbles on bathroom walls. Watch what people laugh about in queues. Then try writing a tagline that sounds like it might’ve come from someone with a Sharpie and half a pint left. You might just find your voice there.
Which got me thinking about brand messaging. Why do so many campaigns feel like they're built in a vacuum? We obsess over strategy and tone decks, but miss the raw voices in the wild. I'd argue the best brand insights don't come from workshops with post-its. They come from listening to how people actually express themselves, especially when they think no one's watching. Bathroom walls. Reddit rants. Chatroom slang. Even bumper stickers. Not to steal the words, but to understand the rhythm of real conversation.
Take Spark’s late-night Twitter replies. Or Viva's street interviews with everyday Aucklanders. That stuff feels alive. It connects because it's not trying too hard to be clever. It’s responsive, human, even a little messy. That's what most brands miss when they aim for polish. They iron out the wrinkles, forgetting that it’s the creases that give clothes character.
So here's a challenge. Before your next brand sprint, spend one night out without an agenda. Read the scribbles on bathroom walls. Watch what people laugh about in queues. Then try writing a tagline that sounds like it might’ve come from someone with a Sharpie and half a pint left. You might just find your voice there.