Earlier this year, Intrinzic kicked off work with the 2017 class at the Brandery, a four-month accelerator program in Cincinnati for startups selected via a competitive application pool. As a brand mentor, we were paired with a startup company to provide branding and marketing advice and resources as they worked towards their pitch to investors.
We were matched with a Brandery startup through a speed dating exercise where we had 15 minutes with each company for them to introduce themselves and their idea and for us to explain what we do. We each then ranked our top picks and were paired accordingly. My colleagues and I went into the speed dating exercise with few expectations other than “I hope someone has a good idea.”
One after another, we listened to each company present their innovative ideas, as we explained our agency model and how we could help. It wasn’t until we met with the last company of the day, Jumper Threads, that we realized we met our match. As we had done with all of the teams prior, we asked Daniel Redlinger, Jumper’s founder, why he does what he does, which is sell a line of adventure-oriented men’s undergarments and active wear. His answer was, “I wanted the freedom to move.” We left the speed dating event that day energized with the possibility of working with this company. As it turns out, they were just as thrilled to work with us and the Brandery match was made.
So why did Daniel’s answer evoke such a strong reaction in us? What does the freedom to move have to do with undershirts? At Intrinzic, we talk about creating human connections through our work. As a creative agency, we believe in digging deep to find that spark, that common belief or bond, that brings people and brands together and we bring that to the forefront of our work. As Simon Sinek says in his famed Start With Why TEDx talk, “if you talk about what you believe, you will attract people who believe what you believe.” That is why we were drawn to Jumper Threads as our partner—Daniel believed so strongly in his own unique take on men’s clothing.
Daniel could have simply told us that he sells men’s undershirts using comfortable, premium fabrics at an affordable price. But he didn’t, he started by addressing a very relatable problem, “underfrump” as he calls it—the twisted, bunched up mess of a standard cotton undershirt that sits uncomfortably under your clothes. He told us his story, this risks he’s taken and the passions he’s chased, and how important it is to be able to move freely to achieve his goals.
Daniel and Jumper Thread’s “why” connects to something that’s craved universally by all humans—the freedom to move the way we want to move. Jumper leverages intelligent design and technology to create premium threads that are meant for movement. Daniel is not just selling a product, he is selling a mindset—to not be bound by jobs or obligations or stress, and least of all, by the clothes we wear under our clothes. And as a startup, Jumper’s team has been so effective at connecting their desire to move to that same feeling in their consumers, that they already have over 3,000 followers on social media, many of whom are avidly chiming in on in-development products that haven’t even launched yet.
People want to be part of what you do if they believe what you believe, not just what you sell. That’s why the brands we develop at Intrinzic are built on a foundation of shared interests. We make connections by creating culture, powering conversation and creating consumer reaction through a method we call brand re(action), which is why we understand how powerful the joy of movement is to Daniel and to his consumers. It is his Why and it’s theirs, too.
