If I was going to guess what the title of this post was going to be when the story actually began, I would have said something like “The Difference Between Branding And Simply Knowing How To Use Photoshop,” or, “Stock Imagery And Other Threats To Actual Creativity.”

But, alas, my smugness turned to a meal of crow shortly after this story actually began.

It all started with a team lunch at Joe’s Stone Crab – a Miami icon, M Network client and a favorite eatery for just about everyone I know.

Walking into the restaurant, we were greeted by this:

At this point, it’s important to understand that, over the years, The M Network has designed a lot of stuff for Joe’s. It’s also important to understand that we did not design this. I also want to point out that my personal distaste for this poster was, in fact, so great, that I took this picture on my way out – well before I ever dreamed I’d be writing this article.

My goal was to have a conversation with the owner of the restaurant about how to bring these types of posters into better alignment with the Joe’s brand. I never got that opportunity.

A few days after our lunch we got a call from Joe’s GM telling us that they wanted us to redo a poster. According to him, their biggest issue was that the current poster featured a host of drinks that the restaurant either didn’t serve at all or were not part of their cocktail hour.

That was fortunate because, for us, part of our problem with the poster came from the fact that the person who assembled it simply relied on a generic stock photo. In branding terms, this meant that the preeminent design component wasn’t actually representative of the restaurant at all. In fact, by definition, the photo wasn’t representative of any specific brand. It’s stock. In fact… here it is. You can go buy it on Shutterstock for under $30.

Instead of using stock, we decided to just grab a camera and head to the restaurant. Important to Joe’s was the fact that Cocktail Hour consists of ½ price beer and wine (not flaming shots, mojitos, or whatever the red stuff is in the Martini glass). Also important was the fact that the chef hand selected a number of dishes to feature each cocktail hour. So… with that feedback in mind, we created this poster…

… And the client hated it.

Wait? What??

The email from the GM simply stated that the owner of the restaurant would like, “more outside representing the cocktail hour set up.”

To which I personally responded, “It would have been nice to have that input BEFORE WE SHOT!!!”

To which the GM responded, “That’s the feedback I got after he saw the picture. Will call later.”

After the call, the team at The M scheduled another shoot at Joe’s. We shot all the same items — beer, wine, oysters, logoed cocktail napkin, etc. Only, this time, we shot outside.

During that shoot, the owner happened to be at the restaurant. When he came by the set, we started talking about the whole concept of cocktail hour.

“The fact of the matter,” he said, “people think of ‘happy hour’ or ‘cocktail hour’ and they have a certain picture in their head – like a bunch of people in suits sitting around a bar drinking after work. This is more than that. This is more than cocktails. It’s kind of a whole Florida, outdoor lifestyle thing. It’s just, I don’t know… More.”

It was then that I realized that we weren’t redoing a poster. We were going to begin the gradual process of rebranding cocktail hour into something that might someday be known as…

“Joe’s Patio.”

Here’s the poster.

And the owner’s response?

Right about now you might be thinking that the moral of the story is to not be lazy in your design, or to go out and shoot photos instead of using stock, or to use professionals to create your branded content, or some other thing. But that’s not the moral of the story at all.

You see, while we were busy criticizing someone else for being lazy, we were guilty of the exact same thing. Instead of stock photography, we leaned on stock ideas.

The truth is, we’ve been with Joe’s for more than a decade. The owner is a dear friend and one of my favorite people on the planet. There was absolutely no reason, other than creative arrogance, for us to move forward with any type of branded material for Joe’s without first having a conversation with him.

Yes we were moving fast. Yes we were cranking stuff out. Yes we know a lot about branding generally and Joe’s branding specifically. But none of that stuff was what our client was looking for. Even our client didn’t know exactly what he was looking for.

But that one conversation – 5 minutes or less – not only informed every aspect of the end product – it may have actually helped Joe’s begin yet another fantastic, Florida tradition.

Stay tuned on that.

(Or just meet me on Joe’s Patio next Friday for some good food and great conversation.)