Big Monocle
The Sprint Revolution

Do you know how sprints are used to pump out cool products or features in a jiffy? Well, now an Agency called Big Monocle is using that same methodology to turbocharge the branding game. No more snooze-worthy meetings and projects that drag on forever – they are talking fast-paced workshops that get big brand initiatives done, and done right. With brand sprints, they take your marketing efforts to the next level and have you in the market faster than ever before.

In a world where consumers are bombarded by content, building a brand that is distinct, recognizable, and authentic is essential. “Customers don’t buy you for the reasons you are the same as your competition, but for the reasons you are different,” said Amy Stellhorn, founder and CEO of Big Monocle, “That’s why we love to help brands articulate and celebrate who they are to the world.”

Big Monocle helps businesses create a distinct identity for their products and services through its portfolio of intuitive brand management solutions. A creative agency with offices in San Francisco and Salt Lake City, they specialize in brand, brand strategy, and everything that goes along with it, like web, design, video, UI/UX, user testing, events, and more.

Started in Silicon Valley, Big Monocle collaborates with many tech start-ups across the tech, medtech, AI chip, climate, and nature sectors. They work with a diverse portfolio of clients, from Fortune 500 titans to emerging startups.

One of the key features of Big Monocle is the brand Sprint — a fast and effective way to tackle the most challenging aspects of brand development. You meet them at their sprint cabin in Sundance, Utah, where they hold their in-person, multi-day workshops. This creates an unparalleled space and place to do the kind of visionary work that is brand development. They start with the customer at the heart and leverage user feedback and testing throughout the process as well, ensuring their clients achieve the best possible outcomes from the very beginning.

"I got tired of working in a way that sucked the energy out of the project," says Stellhorn, “I wanted to love the work again. I don’t want to drain the energy of my team or my clients through death by a thousand meetings. So we pay the price to put insane attention on the project from day one and demand the same from our clients.”

Big Monocle starts client collaborations with an initial assessment of their needs and past attempts as well as a deep understanding of what brought them to this point and what success for the initiative looks like.

When asked what the experience is like, Garrett Sherwood, VP of Operations for Big Monocle said, “We tell clients to get ready to have their minds blown! The sprint approach is next-level when it comes to understanding our clients' needs and creating incredible momentum. At Big Monocle, we use this process of discovery and uncovering to get to the heart of who our clients are and what they stand for. We rapidly prototype, test and thrash the creative brief so when we leave the sprint the project can roll smoothly downhill.”

The sprint allows Big Moncole to deliver an unbeatable combo of buy-in, speed, clarity, and cohesion. “We’re not just building a brand, campaign, or a product during the sprint, we’re building a relationship between our team and client so that we can work together quickly and seamlessly for the rest of the project,” Stellhorn said, “It’s what allows our clients to do great work and get into the market sooner. Sometimes 3-6 months faster than they otherwise would, and this faster time-to-market can mean a lot for their businesses.”

Before the sprint concludes, the calendar for creative rounds, client reviews, legal and PR reviews, and other milestones is set up and the project ticks along like clockwork. If the project starts to drag on or change direction during the post-sprint completion phase (usually due to circumstances outside the direct client’s control) their clients often opt for another sprint to inject energy back into the project.

In the last year, Big Monocle was approached by several clients who had just paid for a re-brand with another agency and it didn’t go well or give them what they wanted. “It’s really devastating to go through a process as long, hard, and important as a re-brand and then not be confident or even able to roll it out,” said Stellhorn, “It truly breaks my heart for them. We really care about our clients.

We get how draining and frustrating it can be. Not only have they expended the money and they have to do it again, but the time-cost is what is truly so expensive.” This is why they talk about “paying the price to put insane attention” on a project. Clients can’t skip the sprint.

“They have to step away from the dinging text messages, emails clamoring for responses, and coworkers pinging on messaging apps for just one quick little response,” Stellhorn said, “In today’s world what’s more valuable than time and money is our attention.We have to escape the gremlins that are unintentionally stealing our capacity for deep, concentrated, amazing work.”

About the process, one client said “After burning through cash with a hodgepodge of contractors we finally did a brand sprint with Big Monocle — which is what we should have done first. We cannot recommend highly enough.” Again and again, their clients say that they couldn’t have done in months what Big Monocle was achieving on the first day of a sprint.

Amy Stellhorn has been working in branding for over two decades and this methodology was born of her insistence on loving the work. “We do better work in less time, and we love the work, and we love doing the work,” she said. “Most agencies take pride in the grind — they’ll say they worked dawn to dusk to give this to you and try to say that they love what they’re showing you. When in reality they hate the work, they hate each other and they might even feel the same about their clients. I know this because I lived it for decades.” Today she’s simply unwilling to work in a way that brings that result. “At Big Monocle we love the work. We love doing the work. We love being in the work. And we love what the work creates. And that’s ease. We do it bigger better faster and different.”

It’s what allows our clients to do great work and get into market sooner. Sometimes 3-6 months faster than they otherwise would, and this faster time-to-market can mean a lot for their businesses

A Silicon Valley AI chip startup client had this to say about them, “Big Monocle went above and beyond with our rebrand sprint. They deliver consistently awesome work with grace and poise — so skillfully crafted that once we launched the rebrand our Board of Directors and investors were asking who our agency was.”

Successes like this exemplify Big Monocle’s commitment to serving its clients as expertly and effectively as they can while loving the work at the same time. Since they want the ability to focus on each client, they conduct a maximum of four sprints at the beginning of each quarter with a project minimum of $100,000. “It allows us to put insane attention, which is one of our values at Big Monocle, on each project,” Sherwood said. “This protects the quality of our work and respects the client’s time and money. We are driven to deliver good work and love it too.” This dedicated focus on its current clientele is appreciated by new and returning clientele.

Moving forward, Big Monocle isn’t only changing the branding game, they’re also determined to lean in to creating a culture of loving the work. “If we didn’t do this, we’d be missing out,” said Stellhorn, “We would be missing the opportunity to do better work in less time and love it.”