OVO

07/06/2022

OVO co-founders Kyle Hildebrant and Ryan Durant were recently interviewed on the All Shine, No Flash podcast. Hosted by Ann Smith of A.wordsmith. Thanks for having us, Ann.

"This week we are excited to welcome Kyle Hildebrant and Ryan Durant, founding partners of Portland-based branding agency OVO, to the podcast. Kyle and Ryan model what it means to know what you want in business and turn that vision into reality. Their successful 17-year business partnership has resulted in an agency that attracts global clientele and great talent, all while making time to celebrate and have fun."

‎Show All Shine, No Flash, Ep Season 2, Episode 17: Kyle Hildebrant and Ryan Durant, Founding Partners of OVO - Jul 6, 2022

03/08/2022

New Work: French Kiss

A tiny pâtisserie in Portland expressing the essence of 80’s-era Franco culture in deliciously modern pastry.

03/03/2022

How to Improve Brand Awareness
It’s no secret: for people to buy (into) a brand, they first need to know it exists. No matter an organization’s industry, geography, size, price, or positioning, brand awareness is where the customer journey begins. In that regard, it is an essential benchmark for all brand stewards.
https://brandsbyovo.com/how-to-improve-brand-awareness-ovo/

It’s no secret: for people to buy (into) a brand, they first need to know it exists. No matter an organization’s industry, geography, size, price or positioning, brand awareness is where the customer journey begins. In that regard, it is an essential benchmark for all brand stewards.

03/24/2021

Understanding the impact of a rebrand is a long-term process that’s critical to transforming market perceptions—and it must start before launch. By quantitatively measuring and benchmarking perceptions of your organization’s brand, you can unlock opportunities for strategy-based decision-making. Learn how to use Quantitative Research to measure the efficiency of a rebranding initiative.

https://brandsbyovo.com/quantitative-research-ensuring-the-effectiveness-of-a-rebranding/

Quantitative Research can be used to establish baseline awarness and measure the efficacy of rebranding or branding activities. Here's how...

09/09/2020

We're excited to announce that the OVO-produced and directed film, First in Man, won "Best Director" (Ryan Durant) at the 2020 Oregon Documentary Film Festival; in addition to being a finalist for "Best Northwest Documentary" & "Best Oregon Director" + kudos to Tonal Video, our DP and crew. You can watch the full documentary, for free, here:

What if a radical new treatment could bring hope for millions? It would require an explorer. An adventurer. Someone willing to go first.

06/18/2020

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We have been struck (yet again) by the swirling currents of brutality and humanity. Of a dying man crying out, “mama!” while one paid to protect and serve him takes his life. Of the collective reeling, solidarity, and protest. Of blood and fire.

Are we (finally) getting it?

Like you, we have been on our own complicated journeys through race and identity. We've had to reconcile personal and collective experiences—those pervading narratives and hidden histories. As two white men working in a historically black neighborhood in America's whitest big city, we understand the nuance, the contradictions (perceived or real) and the paralyzing fear and doubt that can plague each of us in the face of such daunting issues. Admittedly, we see as through a glass darkly.

If polls are to be believed, the majority of Americans believe that black lives matter. But if we're honest—and we are speaking for ourselves here—we have not always behaved as though they mattered to us. Personal practice of equality and universal human rights, yes. Urgent advocacy for people long subject to discrimination, prejudice, and injustice, no. Collectively—and we're speaking for all of us here—we must do more.

“Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates

We're just two voices in the choir (and rarely singing on key), but we invite you to join us. We are listening, reading and watching. We are participating in protests. We are donating monthly to the Equal Justice Initiative. We are supporting officials willing to address long-standing systemic issues in public school funding, policing, and criminal justice. And we are looking for opportunities to affect change within our industry.

May this be the real turning point in the good and just fight for civil rights—for HUMAN rights.

Black lives matter to us.

Sincerely,

Ryan & Kyle
Founding Partners
OVO

References and Resources in bio. @ OVO

05/17/2020

The hands-brain divide has limited the potential of many a company-agency relationship by relegating agency partners to doers rather than thinkers. Here’s why it happens—and how to overcome it.
https://brandsbyovo.com/overcoming-the-hands-brain-divide-in-client-agency-partnerships/

The hands-brain divide has limited the potential of many a company-agency relationship. Here’s why it happens—and how to overcome it.

05/16/2020

CHAPTER 3:
Best Practices: Brands Thinking Forward

In this final chapter, we will look at a few select brands that are employing successful brand strategies and how they’re messaging during this time. More importantly, we’re interested in how they are acting to address the realities of a tumultuous market and the feelings that come with it. There are so many examples of organizations, both great and small, that exemplify best practices in times of trouble. Each has taken a different path.

https://brandsbyovo.com/covid-19-branding-best-practices/

We look at a few select brands that are employing successful brand strategies, examining their response and messaging during this time of COVID-19.

05/07/2020

New work: Desert Botanical Gardens — Growing appreciation in the heart of Arizona’s Sonoran desert.
https://brandsbyovo.com/work/nonprofit-brand-strategy-for-desert-botanical-garden/

Our research analysis and nonprofit brand strategy project for Desert Botanical Garden included a brand audit, in-person interviews, and research analysis.

05/02/2020

Occupying a unique place in the minds of customers requires careful examination of the environment in which your brand competes. Take advantage of natural strengths unassailable by competitors while aligning the organization to deliver on a singular sense of identity.

https://brandsbyovo.com/brand-positioning/

Occupying a unique place in the minds of customers—brand positioning—requires careful examination of the environment in which your brand competes.

04/24/2020

Staying Safe While Thinking Forward:

The second chapter in a short series, we continue to explore life and work in the time of COVID-19. Our goal with this series is not to provide the silver bullet. Each brand, each agency, and each client is unique. And that’s the point. But we do intend for these installments to provide food for thought and a touch of inspiration as we work to emerge from the challenges that Coronavirus has introduced.

Is our brand positioning clearly defined? Are our digital properties working for us? How are we developing new business? Answers to those questions and more...

04/10/2020

What just happened!? And just like that, everything changed. Or did it? https://brandsbyovo.com/what-just-happened-covid-19-response-from-branding-perspective/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=covid-19&utm_content=hildebrant

And just like that, everything changed. Or did it? Balancing work, life and managing brand during the time of the novel Corona virus.