Sep 12, 2019 3 min read

RF|Binder’s Chief Creative Officer Says Brand Storytelling Needs to Be ‘Purpose-Led’

In the sixth episode of season two of The Rough Cut, Storyhunter co-founder Alex Ragir sits down with David Weinstock, graphic designer by…

In the sixth episode of season two of The Rough Cut, Storyhunter co-founder Alex Ragir sits down with David Weinstock, graphic designer by trade and Chief Creative Officer of RF|Binder, from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.

Weinstock began his career as a graphic designer and gained experience as a creative director for The Oprah Winfrey Network and a commercial director for Hero Content before settling into his role at RF|Binder. While at RF|Binder, Weinstock founded The Grove, the company’s multidisciplinary creative group and winner of 2017 PR News Agency Team of the Year. He’s also worked with P&G brands like Crest, Febreeze and Bounty.

Alex and David discussed the increasing demand for video, the value that freelancers can provide agencies and what purpose driven content can do for a brand.

Below are edited highlights of the conversation:

People Want More Video Content

“I feel like the ask for video content is almost accelerating exponentially. What I see as one of our challenges, as content creators, is being able to do it at the speed and cost efficiency that makes it a smart business decision [for the creator and the brand] as well as being able to develop the content that aligns with the strategy of the company.”

Freelancers Provide Agencies Value

“As an agency, it’s our job to create better efficiency to go from strategy to idea to creation. We’re looking for partners all the time that can help us realize that. Those partners look like very fast individuals, production companies, organizations who are open to this type of modality. We’re also working with other types of content creators like designers and external writers. A lot of freelancers.”

Brands Distribute Content in Waves

“How our brands communicate is like a drum beat. At certain times the drum plays faster and sometimes it plays slower. It’s very dependent on the issues that we’re talking about at any given time. Certain brands for instance are gonna talk around unique times, like Dunkin Donuts will communicate a lot around National Coffee Day. And there’ll be times when they’re less active. By having this ebb and flow, you actually create much more impact for your brand.”

Create Purpose Driven Content

“Every year at Cannes there are usually some pretty key thematics. Environmental and Global sustainability is one of them. Gender equality and inclusion is another one. As an overlay we see purpose-led initiatives, meaning that brands today need to have a clear purpose-led message for consumers and businesses to develop a level of trust with them. Brands that aren’t doing that are missing out on an important opportunity and helping to create a better world.”

Design Has Many Impacts on Advertising

“I spent a lot of my career focused on how design plays a role in advertising and communications. It’s as much about the messaging as it is the aesthetic. Majority of our revenue is related to developing brand identity and visual language for an organization. We’re at a time where design plays such an important role in how people perceive brands and it’s never been more important.”

Previous episodes of The Rough Cut:

Season Two:

Bonin Bough, Founder & CEO, Bonin Ventures

Mary Kate McGrath, Chief Content Officer, Gallery Media Group

Barri Rafferty, President & CEO, Ketchum

Stacy Minero, Global Head of Content Creation, Twitter

Ari Halper, Chief Creative Officer, FCB New York

Mickey Meyer, President of Network, Group Nine Media

Season One:

Courtney Coupe, VP of Content, Great Big Story

Stone Roberts, VP of Global Video Strategy, Refinery29

Jason Beauregard, Head of Studio, VaynerMedia