About

Hi, my name is Jeff Bowman. I’m “soul proprietor” at Bowman Creative. I help brands find their brand soul so they live out their true visions.

Despite all the titles that I’ve had throughout my career, the one that matters most is “Creative.” I am a CREATIVE, with a capital “C,” first and foremost.

Secondly, and second most, I’m a BRAND guy (with a capital “B,” too, I guess). I’m able to help brands find their brand soul through my thorough brand discovery process that you’ll hear about in just a short scroll down from here….

One phrase (above) I’ve become known for throughout my career shows up here in this little birthday prank using my high school yearbook picture. (This proves some serious research talent existed at Catevo PR & Advertising!) Also, some hairstyles never go out of style, aye?

Bowman Creative is a place to showcase some of my favorite “creative” that my friends/teams and I have created for some great clients, agencies, and in-house institutes over the years.

Brand discovery session I conducted with RTI International staff at the NYC Department of Health using design thinking to pull out insights into the brand’s positioning, personality and affiliation.

My philosophy is to never “whitewash” bad strategies. I don’t do pretty for pretty’s sake, but design conceptually to engage the customer in the brand. I want the creative to be a natural extension of the product’s function for success. Function and form in perfect harmony. My focus then is strategy first that leads to strategic storytelling. I do this by asking lots of questions, interviewing the clients and hopefully the intended audience, if possible. A good interview where we listen really well leads to much better work because it leads to an authentic storytelling about real people.

Speaking at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, Ca. on strategic storytelling for science.

I try to talk to one targeted person and tell the most compelling story to that person that has “wisdom, wonder and delight.”* I specialize in helping develop, discover and define a brand for maximum impact on your target audience. Then, ideas, ideas, ideas. My strength is brainstorming and facilitating others in the brainstorming and creative processes all the way to high quality execution.

A typical day in the creative “war room” when I was at Lewis Advertising in 2016. I never met a whiteboard or push-pin wall I didn’t like.

Lately, I’ve been studying more about behavioral economics in marketing, and how to incorporate focused experimentation to gain insights to people’s behaviors to inform that storytelling. Why? I want to know that the creative I create will “work.”

I have worked for a wide range of clients, businesses and consumer products. If it can be designed, me and the teams I assemble can design it in whatever media is required. I’ve done everything from the basics of digital advertising campaigns, brand design; logos, brochures, web sites or direct mail pieces to the more unexpected; stadium ribbon board animations, international retail production or national TV ad campaigns.

BRAND DEVELOPMENT PHILOSOPHY

Once I’ve worked with you to create a solid CREATIVE BRIEF for your project, we can dig deeper into your brand. First, I work with you to define what “business you are really in” (the true soul of WHY your business does what it does). Then, I walk you and your team through a unique process (using a few design-thinking fun and games, if desired) to do three, important things:

  1. Define you brand’s INTELLECTUAL APPEAL by writing a
    BRAND POSITIONING STATEMENT

    How your brand, product or service is uniquely positioned (brand differentiation) in the marketplace against competitors to your target audience.
     
  2. Discover your brand’s EMOTIONAL APPEAL by developing your BRAND PERSONALITY

    Define the personality or character traits that your brand, product or service will display to your target audience.
     
  3. Decide where your EGO APPEAL lies by deciding on your
    BRAND AFFILIATION

    Decide how using your brand, product or service will make your audience feel as they affiliate with the kind of groups, or tribes, that tend to associate with your brand.

If interested in talking more about how I can help you with your strategic creative, branding, design, advertising, or marketing needs, contact me here: jeff (at) bowmancreative (dot) com.

I founded Bowman Creative as a “soul” proprietorship in the Raleigh/Durham area of NC (Research Triangle Park). I can work alone or build teams for any project at any size and any where in the world.

Since founding Bowman Creative, I’ve done a lot more than just work for myself. I’ve worked part-time and/or full-time [please send some love to the “perma-lancer” and “gig workers” out here, people!] in many of the RDU area’s best creative agencies and firms. Recently, I’ve had leadership roles in various great companies—agencies and in-house. You can find out the latest by downloading a résumé here.

Click here to download a PDF version of my portfolio of work.

You can also connect on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Thanks so much for checking out some of my work and philosophy.

Let me know if you want to talk soon.

Jeff Bowman

* “The Strategic Storyteller: Content Marketing in the Age of the Educated Consumer” by Alexander Jutkowitz, Aug 21, 2017