The world of freelancing is full with a wide array of skilled and distinctive creatives; making our task of finding them their next collaboration one of the most rewarding parts of what we do. In our new series ‘Tomorrow’s Freelancer Spotlight’, we bring you to some of our key trailblazers paving the way in Tomorrow’s creative landscape. This week, we welcome researcher and strategist, Brandon Walsh.
Hey Brandon. Tell us, who are you, where are you based, and what do you do?
I am Brandon, BWA. I’m a queer Mancunian, who escaped the big city life for the countryside, out in Oxfordshire. I am a researcher and strategist. For me, good strategy is all about proper conversation, understanding people and knowing that what you’re doing is useful, resonant and something that actually matters.
What inspires you?
You’re asking a question which I often think about – my inspiration comes from so many places. Sometimes I’m inspired by the back and forth of sharing TikToks with my 19-year-old sister; other times it’s walking aimlessly around a city and finding new places, new foods, new books; other times it’s having passionate conversations about something bonkers, like the unification of Italy and Germany in the 19th Century; or reading inspiring stories of people gone by, like The Bloomsbury Group and their middle finger to societal norms (albeit upper-class norms), and how that was a foundational part of queer life in the UK.
Tell us about a project you look back on and feel good about?
I’m very fortunate (never lucky, you make your own luck) to have worked on so many incredible projects. One of them was understanding the difference in dating cultures in the UK and France, and how a US-based dating app can fine-tune its messaging and brand to work best in those two cultures; seeing how in the UK you date at the pub in the evening, and in France, you go on your lunch break for a coffee. And humour is important, but French and British humour are not close at all… Oh, and I must talk about the one where I looked at the future of sustainability for a beauty brand. Speaking to people in a student commune in Lyon, or a guy off-grid in Carcassonne, or a 30-year-old intentional community in Totnes, to your regular mum who wanted to do something better but didn’t know what (she spent a lot of time on her allotment!).
What makes good work?
There’s something about true collaboration, and actively listening. I mean it’s what everyone says right? But to get to the heart of good work, you need to trust the people around you, but to also have trust and belief in yourself. Everyone always tells me that, “you’re not always going to do interesting work, like the future facing stuff, how do you feel about that?” and to me, every project can be made interesting. “Grunt work” or “boring work” is only boring if you make it. The great thing about conducting research and then translating that into strategy is that you can make something interesting. We have a very centralised, beige world at the moment – let’s do our bit and get ourselves out of that, huh?
What does a normal working day look like to you?
A normal working day – define normal? (laughs). Working project-by-project, it really does depend. Last week was bonkers – a project signed off, one day of recruiting and scoping the research, travelling to Paris, the weekend visiting stores and respondents to conduct the research, then the rest of the week synthesising it into a report that can influence strategy and campaigns that are happening in the next 3-6 months. But other times, it’s being given 4 weeks to really get into the meat of the strategy, and regular reporting back, and then delivery. No one day is the same, and I much prefer it like that. A lot of my time is writing and figuring out what I want to write. My brain is quite full with various ideas, and having a career where I can air those opinions, thoughts and feelings, well, I love it.
How do you nurture your sense of exploration and creativity outside of your work?
Having a dog helps, and having a partner who is in the world of interiors and art direction certainly helps too. But also being surrounded by a lot of nature. This year, I’ve been to Cornwall three times, I was in an off-grid cabin for four days and I’ve gone freelance. If you told me this two years ago, I’d have laughed at you. There’s also my fascination with history (if that hasn’t come across), and I love to see how that can be inspirational too. Getting lost in a yesteryear is quite the antidote to trying to understand what’s going to happen tomorrow.
What makes a piece of work distinctively… you?
There is always a human element to my work, and I think more of it comes through my uncontrollable enthusiasm for the work. I love being able to explain things to people and for them to understand it, and run with it. A report is a report, but the way you present something is important. Eye for detail, backed up by the project findings and, importantly, fun.
What does the creative industry need more of?
The creative industry needs more bravery and needs to get out of this data-focused tunnel it finds itself in. Finding something else to be scared about, or finding something else to blame, when really people just want good shit. They want something to talk about. They want something to be inspired by and to light a fire under their arse. They just want good fun and want good work by good people. The world is a crazy mess right now, and of course, it’s not for us to solve it. But we can do a better job of helping people navigate the chaos, can’t we?