How Honor and Vengeance Can Grow Your Brand with Brent Vartan at Bullish Inc.

Most ad agencies have clients. That’s not exactly the case with Bullish Inc. 

Started in 2015 by Michael Duda and Brent Vartan, the co-founders of Bullish asked a provocative “what if” question that re-envisioned what an agency could be to help maximize a new brand’s success.

Their question: “What if we invested in early stage brands by providing actual money along with world-class strategic and creative services?”

That question and their counterintuitive approach to brand-building has led to some impressive results for brands like Warby Parker, Harry’s, Casper, Peloton, Hu, Care/of, Nom Nom, and many more.   

Some of my favorite aha moments talking with Brent include:

• Exploring immutable human desires like family, honor, idealism as key starting points for brand-building.
• The role of vengeance as a rallying cry for brands and consumers 
• How chasing after the lowest cost per acquisition is not always the best way to grow a brand 
• The evolution of ecommerce to consultative commerce 
• Brent’s secrets for getting consumers let down their guard during research

Show Notes:

Below are links to campaigns, books, and other inspiring ideas that came up during our conversation.

Jolly Rancher and the Jolly Rancher

Sunday Lawns - The Old Way Campaign Spot

The Psychology of Columbo

Brent’s favorite recent book - Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss