Hidden Gems: Meet Brad Todd and Yannick Nelson of This\That

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad Todd and Yannick Nelson.

Hi Brad & Yannick, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Yannick and Brad were both operating their own independent practices for a few years. We were introduced by a mutual client who paired us up on a rebrand project. We discovered that we worked really well together and complemented each other’s skill sets, which led to us constantly partnering on new projects. One summer afternoon having a post-meeting beer at Denver’s Union Station, we threw out the idea of starting a new partnership, and thus This\That was born.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a challenging and bumpy road, but still very fulfilling. We’ve learned a lot about entrepreneurship in the last three years. When we first launched, we were super excited and took on any project that came our way, but we didn’t have the processes down to manage the workload efficiently. Our client work took all of our focus and we didn’t work on the business as much as we would have liked. In 2019 we had a very bad client experience on a large project, which made us doubt everything and almost shut our doors. However, the lessons we learned from this experience changed our whole landscape; how we approach projects, how we think about the branding process, and how we operate our agency. Getting these changes in place really helped us weather the storm during 2020 and actually led to our strongest year ever as an agency.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a brand agency that helps our clients launch sooner. We believe the traditional branding approach is slow and most clients we encounter need it delivered faster. We’ve built a new model for branding that delivers faster work with a more efficient process and client experience. In our Brand Sprint we guide client teams through an accelerated process designed to create an actionable brand strategy, a visual identity system and a marketing website they can put into use right away.

The things that set This\That apart include: Undivided Attention – We work with one client at a time so our entire focus is on their universe – Team Alignment – We utilize short, intensive workshops to create a clear, shared understanding early on in the process. – Targeted Sprints – We structure projects as a series of shorter sprints, each with specific, targeted goals. This makes for a more efficient and predictable project cycle. – Facilitated Review – We facilitate review sessions to enable rapid, confident decision-making that keep the team aligned with the project goals.

We’re most proud of building the Brand Sprint process we just described, which we are preparing the final roll out of in the next couple of weeks. We love meeting and partnering with fast-moving companies, and Denver is full of them right now. Being part of this startup community in Denver and Boulder has been awesome and we’re proud of being part of its growth. We support Denver’s “Give First” philosophy and take time to engage with local design students and recent grads to provide portfolio reviews and career mentorship.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Don’t be afraid to ask. Send the scary email. We find a lot of people are actually willing to help if you approach them in the right way. Be humble and respectful of their time, but also include a specific ask. Make it reciprocal by asking how you may help them. Don’t be salesy, focus on building a long term relationship. Try to seek out people whose work you appreciate. Look for people who hold a position a notch or two higher than you, they can give you really good insight on what they did to get there. Most industries have some form of local community, seek those out, attend the events, volunteer.

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@thisthat.co
• Website: www.thisthat.co
• Instagram: instagram.com/thisthatagency
• Twitter: twitter.com/thisthatagency

Image Credits
Lindsay Todd (Team Photo)