Hummingbird Creative Group’s philosophy is to provide insightful big ideas, intuitive innovation and inspiring creative, which brings to life each client’s brand story and translates your strategic positioning into reality.

Insight is at the core of what we call BIG IDEAS. And how, exactly, do we come up with those? “Some people think creativity is about sitting in an empty room and coming up with something that never existed,” says Wendy Coulter, founder and CEO of Hummingbird. “To me, creativity is solving problems.”The first step: We talk to your stakeholders, customers and prospects. You’d be surprised how much your customers will tell us, things you didn’t think mattered much. “When we talk to your customer to find out why he bought and why he keeps coming back, that directly tells us what your company’s advantages are,” says Coulter. Those interviews eventually tease out a common thread, which turns into our BIG IDEA. That thread-turned-big-idea gives Hummingbird the perfect platform to inspire creative solutions for problems your business might be facing. “When every person you talk to says the same thing over and over again, suddenly you have a BIG IDEA, which usually translates into a tagline or other major marketing message that will help tie the brand together,” adds Coulter. “The customers help shape it so you know it’s going to resonate and help attract new business.”

Some people think creativity is about sitting in an empty room and coming up with something that never existed,” says Wendy Coulter, founder and CEO of Hummingbird. “To me, creativity is solving problems.

Our favorite clients let us take Big IDEAs grounded in insight and implement them… we call this IDEAS on the Fly! Hummingbird is always open, always looking for strategies to launch your Big IDEA. How? We hire people with different perspectives from diverse backgrounds—people with experience in technology, strategy, branding, design and writing. In addition to diversity, Hummingbird has experience—more than 20 years. If “necessity is the mother of invention,” experience is the fuel behind the intuitive innovation that gets the ball rolling. We know what works—and what doesn’t. That knowledge didn’t come easy. We understand how companies are evolving in sales, marketing, finance, human resources and operations. At Hummingbird, we’re poised to innovate your brand strategy by combining creative with real-world experience. “Everything we do is business-enabling, and we need that knowledge from different fields. In order to be successful at marketing, you have to understand the sales cycle, operations, accounting and how people interact,” says Coulter. Here, the artist and technology guru work side by side. The deep thinker complements the realist in a brainstorming session. That’s how intuitive innovation works. Diversity and knowledge fuels creativity. Think of the brands you love the most; they inspire something unusual and multi-faceted.

At the heart of Hummingbird is inspiring creative that brings to life each client’s brand story through both messaging and graphic platforms. Creative is most inspiring and believable when the positioning and competitive advantages are evident and justified through insight. It’s about translating the strategic positioning and competitive advantages into reality in the best way to reflect your brand’s style and character, differentiate your brand from the competition and create a memorable story. Creative strategy must make sense and solve problems. It’s not always about starting from scratch or thinking “outside-the-box.” “First, you have to know what the ‘box’ is,” says Hummingbird’s creative director Mike Neel. “So the number one thing is listening. We have to understand the business realities our clients face and have a clear vision of the issues—or the box—to begin with. We explore every perspective.” How? By talking to customers, employees and investors; their feedback tells us the truth behind the brand. Once we find that theme, it’s much easier to create messages that resonate. And then we get busy creating. “There is no one-sided thought process,” says Neel. “We explore every perspective. We have a diverse group of minds that come at a creative problem completely different, but in a balancing way. Listening and exploring prompt creation—from specific typography and logos to colors and thoughtful messages.” Whether designing an ad campaign for a continuing retirement care community or edgy visuals for a leading regional coffee roaster, Hummingbird partners with the best print, web and media people in the area to get it right. Creative strategy is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. “It doesn’t work that way. Clients are different and need different strategy to work optimally. Rigid marketing plans that hit it out of the park for one company may not work for others. We always go back to the first step, listening, and assign a process that works for each client individually,” Neel continues. “We realize no one knows our client like our client. Our goal is to create ways to convey the brand’s vision. It’s all about fueling the brand for longer distance flight.”