A common brand mandate for agency creatives is to think outside of the box. Otis Gibson, founder / CEO 11-year-old global brand and development agency, GERTRUDE,INC. has upturned that thinking with RAYE, his new “branded architecture” and environmental design division.
To grow premium brands, he and his team are thinking “inside the box” — railroad shipping containers, to be specific — to provide premium-branded design, modification and activation.
RAYE, a name derived from Ray Eames, part of the iconic husband and wife design team of Charles and Ray Eames, gives clients the opportunity to create customized experiences that mirror their personalities.
The former Leo Burnett veteran got the idea after spending a significant amount of time in Thailand with his client Singha Beer.
“You go abroad and you are knee deep in innovation. I saw the appetite was there for using shipping containers in an interesting way and felt like this would be something clients would eat up in the United States,” Gibson says.
Clients, however, were not so welcome to the idea. “They had a hard time wrapping their heads around it. It was cool and interesting to them, but it was not a proven model.”
That all changed when GERTRUDE client spirits brand Diageo, owner of Studebaker premixed cocktails, said, “yes” to Gibson’s concept of converting an old CTA rail car into a Prohibition-era inspired speakeasy.
“We really challenged ourselves to modernize a speakeasy while avoiding all the stereotypes that come along with it.”
Designated RAYE-1001, the 20-ft. long Studebaker Mobile Speakeasy speakeasy has a handcrafted, burnt cedar whiskey crate on the outside, with a wrap-around deck and features a video and sound system and dry bar inside.
The speakeasy was a success and enough clients embraced the shipping container idea that Gibson spun off as RAYE.
Gibson explains that the advantage for brands, which are constantly looking for new, impactful ways to engage their target, is consistency as they hold their event from city to city.
“We were doing a traveling event for a client. New York and Chicago went perfectly. Then we got to Portland and were forced to throw the event in a tiny bar. The changes felt off-brand. By owning their own traveling experience, clients save on cost and headaches. No more intangibles.”
In addition to the new speakeasy, a beer garden for a local brand is set to open on Cinco de Mayo, May 5, and a mobile classroom will be making its way around the country. And RAYE has several more projects coming up, Gibson says.
Colin Costello, who still calls Chicago, “home,” is a working screenwriter whose credits include 2013’s “The Stream,” the Emmy-nominated “Moochie Kalala Detective’s Club” and the 2016 family film, “Traveling Without Moving.” He can be reached at colin@colincostello.com.
