Building Brands & Creative Economies with Olivia Neal Howell, Founder of TONE

Olivia Neal Howell

[: 00:00:00

Laura: Well, we have Olivia Neal Howell with us today. Olivia, how are you

doing?

Olivia: What's up, you guys? Hi, Laura. Hi,

Lisa.

Lisa: It's so exciting to have you on

the podcast. I can't wait to dive into our

conversation,

Olivia: Me too. It's always fun to talk marketing.

s of things you've worked on?[: 00:01:00

Olivia: Yeah. As you can see behind me, there's furniture and lighting materials and lots of artists and fashion and sewing items. So my background at my core, I'm just an art

kid. Went to Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, and immediately went into

fashion. Menswear fashion design with Abercrombie and Fitch where I basically went through design bootcamp and it was very intense on like brand and marketing and how customers feel and experience things.

And then I moved to Seattle, Washington and worked with Eddie Bauer for nine years. So big background in menswear design and building brands and storytelling there. But after 16 years, it's kind of like what's next and you can only do. You know, tech packs for so long and you want to flex and expand outside of that.

So I started my own talent agency and design studio where we

on interdisciplinary humans [: 00:02:00

Laura: Cool

Olivia: really just areas that we like to do fun stuff.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: question.

I totally, I'm the one who asks the weird questions. I'm just excited to have you on and all the artistic stuff. But when you look at men, do you really like break it down because you did men's fashion for so

long?

Olivia: Literally, I'm usually dressed like a 12 and I always look

at menswear fashion before even womens. But I've always just shopped my closet and thrifted anyway, so it's not so much about like, what are you wearing

It's like, how are you wearing

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: Mm hmm.

Olivia: And I think the curation of

a look and your personality for that day is really it.

Laura: Yeah.

Olivia: I like, it's like a joyful expression for me of like how people put things together And how they present.

Laura: I love it. I thought I can't think of the name of oh, what was her name? She's in all of the

na, Bonham, Carter. she said [: 00:03:00

I liked it.

Olivia: Yeah. I mean, the school that I went to Columbus College of Art and Design was pretty amazing because you did a foundational year. And I always knew I'd be an artist, but I didn't. It's almost like fashion was looked down upon because it was very like classical 2d, very strong Bauhaus and like fine artist approach.

And I do love that as well. But I do see art And fashion kind of like, it is an expression. It's the same thing, just another medium.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: Mm hmm.

Olivia: sometimes when you're in corporate fashion, though, you don't feel so

creative and you're like,

I can do more than just, you know, men's graphic t

shirts and you're just like dying a little bit to go try new things.

You know, there are some brands that champion innovation and

I, I was always thirsty for [: 00:04:00

time I was like, let's try new things. Let's not buy last year. Let's be disruptive. And

some of those environments, you

just can't. It's culture, too.

Laura: It would be a big change. And that's tough. that's

tough for some.

Olivia: yeah. sure. But, I will

say, when you work in a brand

like that, and you have like a hundred year history, it's pretty amazing to like, go back to the archive

and come up with like, more ways of storytelling. And the brand heritage. So I do love

that, too.

Laura: yeah. I love that about those old brands. Pendleton and Filson and,

you know, they've just got these rich histories.

Okay.

so there's so much more

Olivia: I know.

Yeah, yeah. Fashion was like, that feels like eons ago.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: Then you, then you, then you made your way

to

on like color and sound and [: 00:05:00

And then creating the symbols for it was even more fun because they turned into like hieroglyphic shapes. But like the T is a plus sign. So it's like positivity, you know, and the O gives me like full moon vibes. And you're like, you're a witch. And you're like, yeah, a little bit, but you know, it's fun to like develop that side of it.

So anyways, I

think I wanted to just work with like. I wanted to be the Tom Ford modeling agency or Tom Ford's designer, the Ford modeling agency,

Laura: Oh, the Ford,

Olivia: the Ford.

Laura: hmm. And background there, my mom's a model. So I kind of always put things through like the agency lens, but I got see them reinvent themselves all the time.

ographers and videographers, [: 00:06:00

Laura: Yeah. works. So it's fun to like live vicariously through all the other talent. And then you also can take on a more diverse, like Rolodex of clientele and be in different industries and fields. And then it just makes you like, More.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: Dynamic.

Olivia: And like, it's like, you're a weapon at that point. You're like, we can go anywhere.

Yeah.

Laura: Love it. So how do you feel about, since we're on this topic, how do you feel about like union talent versus non

union

Olivia: honestly, I don't have that much experience with it. The only union talent that I've worked. So

Laura: Cause I, do some, we do like voice talent actors.

e right thing, but then, oof,[: 00:07:00

Olivia: Yeah. I mean, okay. There's two sides of that. So the artists and creatives I work with always under charge. No one knows their value. So they're like as the agent with like a corporate background and negotiating contracts and traveling all around the world and being like, no, we need it to be that sort of, like, I loved that part of the game.

So I can get people pay better. And that is like really important to me. We should talk about that exchange value thing.

Like, at some point,

Laura: that is something that marketing directors have to deal with a lot, as they're going to, to talent to do you know,

and to even pay their production company, it's just a big line item, if you're going to use it year after year.

Olivia: Well, and I don't think, honestly, I don't think there should be a built in guarantee. I think if you the, so the union experience I had was was with Cornish College of the Arts, and they have a IOTC backup house team. So if you wanted to turn a light switch on in their black box theater. You're working with that team, but they were amazing.

I love back a house because [: 00:08:00

And I just don't think there's this like, everyone fairness. I know that sounds really weird, but like, I think that conditions some workers just to dial it in.

Laura: right,

Olivia: and I'm kind of a GSD er.

I get

shit done. And so like, I go hard. And so if you were paying someone the same amount, I don't know. I don't, I don't think that that creates.

Laura: the best work, incentivizes good work,

Olivia: Yeah. I don't think it does. I, but I'm also super competitive. And so I'm like, I think that's an athlete in me back in the day of just like, be the best, work really hard, rise to the top, you know? And

like, you [: 00:09:00

Laura: right, right. And, yeah, it's just, it can be tough sometimes

Olivia: , we are very bespoke. Like I think the best way to do it is. Put yourself in your client's shoes. What do they need to accomplish? I feel like there's always a way to get there. And if it's like you go through the ABC options and then you back it out and you're like, well, we can do this at this tier of this threshold and just keep working with them.

I don't really have a rigid approach, kind of hard for business. Cause every time it's different and there's no like, just like rote system. But I also enjoy working project to project and solving it for. Our next gig, like

what do you need?

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: so question, if somebody was, you know, I'm thinking of marketing directors, they're making, videos for their web, they're making training, they're making commercials, they're making, you know, short videos for social. What, do you have anything, like, that you could,

Olivia: Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah.

Laura: like,

Olivia: I [: 00:10:00

Laura: or even just like if someone needs, hey, I need some social videos made.

Olivia: That's usually how, yeah, that's usually how it starts. Like they'll come to us for brand identity often and they'll be like, okay, you build brands and you tell stories and you understand the consumer experience. Like let's start there. So I actually was thinking about two people I wanted to bring up because I think their marketing campaigns have been insane this year, and they've just taken the world by storm.

One is Tyler, the creator,

and one is Dochi, and both of them were so disruptive in their creative first, and I think that's what sometimes brands and marketers and definitely salespeople miss. It's like, you can't just sell products, you have to sell a story. So if you do not take time to set up and invest in good talent on the front end, then your campaign is just going to fall flat and you're doing the same damn thing as everyone else.

You're not disruptive. And you're like, what is the point?

Lisa: [: 00:11:00

Olivia: . And that's why Dochi and Tyler, the creator broke out like chromatopoeia made up word symbolism built into it.

You can Google it. And not only did he make up and like, that is the first thing with branding, makeup words, hack, like hack them up, put them together, make it your own.

And it's like intellectual property at that point, then you build out the campaign that echoes that, and it shows up in every iteration. You had talked about social media and websites and. Live events and poster artwork.

The campaign for chromatopia is so insane that it impacts everything from fashion to your stage presence, everything.

troyed the game. And he also [: 00:12:00

faux pas in the industry.

Like you just don't do it, but like. This is my point and your point too. You need to be different and you need to make noise and you need to change the game.

Lisa: Something

I feel like we hear a lot is brands want the impact of something risky, but they want to do it with something safe. And that's just simply not, you need one or the other, you can't have both.

Olivia: you have to be okay with not knowing. You have to be okay with taking risks and maybe there isn't a return on the investment, but even if you follow the mold. There's no guarantee there either. You might fail, but you also might be that disruptor and break through and be like, wow, they're doing something really signature over there. I want to work with them. I think that's more powerful, but take the time to build the creative upfront. So

from like a planning stance, you need to be, I mean, I used to work 18 months out, which was crazy.

nge, change, change, change. [: 00:13:00

So anyways, I think the lead time and the sweet spot for me is like the four to six month mark. There's enough time to ideate and develop, test the concepts, explore it. And that starts with like the brand and the brand assets and the color applications. And then your print lead times, your production timelines, the photo shoot, all the things that you have to build into it.

Laura: But

I mean, when, you know, I have just planned all this, and I'm thinking when we were going to launch it, it was going to be like, kind of like cut boom, you know so it wasn't trickling in.

Laura: Is that how you would

Olivia: I mean, I love a big unveil. That's like the drama side of me. It was like, boom. Yeah.

Laura: I mean testing up beforehand, of course, we had

Olivia: Yeah. Yeah.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: a couple

Olivia: Dry runs.

Laura: Yeah, actually focus groups, too

we we were [: 00:14:00

Olivia: Yep. No, I think that's brilliant. We used to do a lot of focus groups and like actually listening to your customers and making those decisions is important too. But I do like the idea of pushing them in a direction that they might not be comfortable, but like finding that middle sweet

Laura: Well, they were all kind of edgy, so I

didn't too bad about it. They all, I did not provide a truly safe one.

Olivia: When you're coming up with names, like, I don't know what kind of campaign you're working on, but like you said, your background's in copywriting. That's fun.

Laura: But that's my degree. I, do media buying. So I've been doing media buy, but I'll tell you, there's never a time when I'm not having to write copy or think about concepts or, you know,

ke getting it down to two is [: 00:15:00

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: It's so funny. You say that I was just telling my staff that because I have another client that we're, I'm working on and I came with more of a. billboard concept, so that it was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Boom. Okay? But it was

Olivia: Like get it done in like five words.

riverside_laura_szczes_compressed-audio_the_paid media play_0064: yeah, yeah, that was that, but we really needed a tagline, and that one is tough, and it's technology too, so it's even worse, right?

So, it's like, you know, Faster Speeds, Local Support. You know

Olivia: everyone else? And, I mean, honestly, usually my approach is humor.

Laura: Oh yeah, me too. Me too.

Olivia: Humor sells. Like, sex sells. Humor sells. Everyone loves it.

Laura: 100%. 100%. Our ideas all were funny. And they resonated. One of them resonated with the past. One of them was like, compared to and this is risky, but we did it in a way that it worked. Drug addiction. But

e you're like, tackling this [: 00:16:00

Laura: and a loved one suffering from this? But it's something ridiculous. That we made up. And so

Olivia: I mean, Super Bowl commercials. I was literally shushing my whole household.

Laura: Oh, me too!

Olivia: Like, you guys, I need to hear the punchline! Yeah.

Laura: Yeah, I'm the, I'm the crazy one over there.

Yeah. But like, yep.

Olivia: Where are you on that?

Lisa: On Super Bowl commercials, I'm forced to witness them.

Olivia: Oh. See,

no. person

I was raised in football. I actually have a football injury. I had to have reconstructive surgery. Cause I was, yeah, I was playing football in high school at a mountain camp

with

Laura: like,

flagger?

Olivia: were supposed to play flag, but the girl, my bestie was like, we're ultimate and strong.

And I was

like, okay, Tess, we'll do that

first snap. Smashed my face on the ground with two people on top. Reconstructive surgery. So anyways, yeah, I know. I'm so lucky that I'm like somewhat symmetrical.

Builds character.

Laura: Oh, so Okay, [: 00:17:00

Olivia: What I'm doing now, like in life with work.

Laura: Oh,

Olivia: Right now, I'm panicking about a launch that I have and Like 24 days. We're building out a very risky pavilion. That's a 40 by 40 foot pavilion at the Northwest event show.

Laura: yeah. Yeah.

Olivia: So I've never done it before, but I have this like

Laura: 40 by 40. That is quite a space.

Olivia: huge. And I'm not a giant like brand household name that has like global reach with all the budget in the world

to create it. So what I'm doing is leveraging my community and working with like the architect and talent, right. And my event design system planner and art directors and painters and people that work in galleries and art studios. And she'd be like, how do we do this? And so we're getting a little bit down to the wire.

ose locations where. It's a, [: 00:18:00

every, yeah. And like you're, I'll find a ton of partners and people and hopefully a bunch of new clients that think what we're doing is brilliant. And the one thing I will say, Laura, is, going back to two word taglines, our pavilion's called the Get Happy Pavilion.

Laura: I love it.

Olivia: Why else do an

event?

Laura: Yeah. I can't wait to see. At the end of the day, who would you consider your ideal client?

Olivia: Well

Laura: Will.

Olivia: A lot of yeah I mean, it's funny, because I'm like Yeah, they gotta have money. Of course. I'm at a point now where it's like we've put enough of our productions out into the world and hopefully they, people, my ideal client sees that we care about culture and community and art and doing things that are joyful and experiential.

culture. So I'm on this like [: 00:19:00

And I think we talked a little bit about this before. Like, why are we so quiet and hush hush about how cool it is out here? It's because it's like the best spot ever in the summer. We don't want more, you know,

like, but we,

we don't have, yeah, I just, I want some more economic recovery for people, and I want more exchange of capital.

I don't like the trade game or this. If I do your trade

show, you do like no one's paying rent or mortgages at that point. No one's saving. Like, how are we really stimulating the economy?

Laura: That's such an artist problem, too, like a creative artist I think it's everyone's problem right now. Like I went out to

can't do trade. I don't

point, but I've seen it on. [: 00:20:00

This has nothing to do with labor. This is just the, literally the cost of living in Seattle. So I'm just like, we have got to start spending money again out here. Investing in the infrastructure and getting people out. So I'm just kind of on that tip.

have the FIFA world cup next: 2026

So the infrastructure is mobilizing and everyone's like, right, who's producing, who's got this.

And I'm like, let's start marketing now. Okay. Like let's get all the flags hung off the stadiums. I'm like, what's the campaign. Like, I want an upper left campaign for us to be like, ,

Laura: would it be the Visit Seattle part? Or who do you think would have that up?

ivia: so I, I reached out to [: 00:21:00

bunch of the product, yeah, for Oregon and Vancouver, like all the partners that have vested interests. So if we can be strategic working together as a team, because everyone needs the recovery over here, I think, you know, like we're, Seattle's doing better than, Some other

cities, you know, in the

Laura: Don't name them.

Okay, You're Like

Olivia: Like literally

I'm like the other, so I'm like, let's work together. And that's honestly always my strategy. Like if we amplify the messaging and get everyone touring, like the wine country and the mountains and the waterfalls and the cruises. And like, it's just amazing out

here. So I'm like. What's that campaign?

And I've been trying to get it to three words.

Laura: Oh, I'm gonna

e just silo out and do these [: 00:22:00

Yeah,

Laura: Yes, I completely agree.

Olivia: And I think this goes back to growing up in like Kentucky and being a part of the Kentucky Derby. For like my first nine years of life. It was very informative school closed down for like the Oaks and the whole month of April, there was like the entire city entertained. And so it was like boat races and an art fair and a 3k marathon and hot air balloon races.

And you had activations go the whole month. And that's what I'm talking about, like economic impact and businesses winning.

years I [: 00:23:00

Olivia: But if you were 20 and you leaned into it, imagine how much I mean, I'm grateful for everything I went through. But having to not wait to learn that you got it going on. It's kind of cool. So if you just believed it and like leaned in early. You don't need anyone else or a title to validate it.

Just do what you do.