Global Branding Firm Thinktopia Goes ‘Primal’

Global branding firm Thinktopia, founded in 2003 by social advocacy innovator, author and TEDx speaker Patrick Hanlon, is breaking barriers to create primalbranding.co, a new firm offering strategic brand innovation and transformation services for brands worldwide.

The new company is founded on the seven principles of Primal Branding, the book that redefined brands as belief systems, written by Hanlon and first published by Simon & Schuster in 2006. The book, which anticipated social communities and how to build them, is required reading for creators at Google/YouTube. The book is set for a re-release via Simon & Schuster this Fall.

“‘Primal Branding’ uncovered the root code that attracts people and brings them together,” says Hanlon. “Now primalbranding.co can help billion dollar brands--and those who want to become billion dollar brands--build this process themselves. It’s smarter, faster and more responsive than conventional marketing.”

Hanlon and his teams have helped global enterprises such as Levi’s, Shopify, Fossil, Sunrise Banks, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson, PayPal and others to launch new products or reimagine existing ones via their proprietary “Primal” approach to social strategy and communications.

“In current times, when people are wary of false advertising messages, brand storytelling is essential,” says client Eugenio Perrier, former chief marketing officer at Sabra, a division of multinational PepsiCo. “Primal Branding provides an exceptional framework to articulate the narrative in a way that encourages an engaged dialogue.”

“Brands are unintentionally smothering themselves in the belief that performance marketing and Brand are mutually exclusive,” declares Hanlon. “This tired, traditional thinking is driving companies into the ground.”

Primal Branding has raised 21st century consciousness about how to unify social, digital and traditional media under a single theory that guides messaging through media channels.

“I look at Primal Branding as a way to get high visibility and be highly believable and authentic,” says legendary advertising leader Jon Bond. “To move from organic [unpaid social media and PR] to highly credible content at scale. And there’s also always branding for free, because your brand vision and values are inherent in every point of contact, paid or unpaid.”

Fledgling primalbranding.co already has two new clients, The Hess Group based in Bern, Switzerland and a technology startup. Primalbranding.co offers a comprehensive suite of brand transformation tools including:

Primal.Dig

Deconstruct your brand to its essence and build it up again ready for expansion and growth.

Primal.x

Rapid prototype strategies using real customers to help break apart, rebuild and finally validate brand direction in real time.

Primal.Certification

The best way to be like us, is to become one of us. primalbranding.co certifies people in strategy, social and digital media and upgrades traditional advertisers.

Primal.Live

Held nationwide since 2017, these events bring 'Primals' together from around the world to share new discoveries, people, places.

“Primal takes the purpose and meaning and belonging bucket and fills it with values, relevance, resonance, active language and stronger reasons to believe,” explains Hanlon. “This is P2P built on advocacy and word of mouth. Then we use technology, design and entrepreneurship to help users pull us into their lives—they don’t buy us as much as they buy into us.

“Ultimately, your brand must have meaning,” affirms Hanlon. “We show how to move your consumers along a narrative from Who cares? to I care!”