Today we’d like to introduce you to Daren Bascome and Christine Needham.
Born and raised in Bermuda, Daren knows that every city is full of stories waiting to be told. As Founder and Managing Director of Proverb, a Boston-based multidisciplinary branding agency, he works to shape the images, narratives, and messages that define his clients. He created the type of agency that the industry tends to lack- dynamic, international and culturally relevant. He started his career as a talented designer working in a variety of environments ranging from small design studios to publishing and exhibit design, where he created products and services with cohesive brand experiences. He first worked in a design firm that planned and produced permanent exhibits all over the world for museums and aquariums in places like Australia, Taiwan, Seattle and Kansas City. But says Bascome, “the company had grown very quickly, and there were murmurs within the company that there were going to be layoffs. I was working as a freelancer and I had just finished a project that felt like a big one to me (Bacardi-based in Bermuda). Two weeks later I started Proverb with eight grand, a used computer, and not much of a plan.”
The first year, Daren worked on several projects with some of Boston’s most prestigious institutions and businesses such as MIT Video Lab and Christopher Myers, one of the most influential restaurateurs in the city. Twenty years later, Proverb is an agency that is nationally recognized for providing insights and design along with campaign and marketing execution for some of the most distinctive places in the country.
In 2008, Christine joined Proverb as Partner and Director of Client Services. With her holistic, hands-on leadership style, she has been instrumental in cultivating the agency’s most productive and long-term client relationships. A client both she and Daren were actively pursuing first made the suggestion that the pair team up. “I think we both thought it was a terrible idea,” says Bascome of the pairing, “But then we finally got together and did a project, and we could see the benefits of us working together.” Daren and Christine have been working together for more than ten years, and together they’ve built what Proverb is today, “It was really in those last six years that we focused on building this version of the company – including our office space and team. But also doing the work of clarifying our value proposition and what we do as we move forward.” Says Daren. Before coming onboard at Proverb, Chris ran the independent design shop, Chris Needham Design Studios, where she earned a reputation for her originality, wisdom, and design expertise. Her work was featured in Graphis, Print, and Communication Arts. Also, Christine is a graduate of Boston University, Austro-American Institute of Vienna, and Parsons School of Design.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
We developed a growth plan, committed to a lease, built our partnership and made our first hires in the summer of 2008. We all know what happened in the fall of 2008. Despite our best-laid plans, timing is everything. Establishing our business and reputation has really been an exercise in the expression of “You eat what you kill,” and out of necessity, we learned how to be more effective, and to compete with larger and better funded, better experienced organizations.
Our many successes have come from our efforts to figure out the best environment for hiring and inspiring highly talented people. It’s about constantly asking, how do you articulate a vision and a culture that empowers people to do their best work?
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Proverb partners with innovative real estate developers, cities, hotels, museums, architects, hospitals and other organizations that seek to transform the built environment. Our work connects with smart, sophisticated audiences, stands out from competitors and creates lasting value for our clients. At Proverb, we believe brands exist to build trust and loyalty. They’re shorthand for a mission, a set of values or shared beliefs. They get people onboard. They give an organization something to say and the tools with which to say it. We have guided revitalized neighborhoods in cities like Washington, DC and Los Angeles in reshaping their image and have even helped religious leaders strategize about how to better connect with the millennial generation.
Proverb has won a series of awards, for business acumen and growth, other industries and trade recognitions, design and advertising results. The most recent of which:
-2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 ICIC Inner City 100 Award: Ranked among top 100 fastest growing inner-city companies in America
-2017 Multihousing News Silver Award for our work with Bozzuto on the Corsair
-Sienna- The Condos at Ink Block won the Prism Award for best film on October 12, 2017
-2016 Nutmeg Awards hosted by Connecticut Apartment Association: Corsair Apartments in New Haven, Property of the Year 1-10 Years
-2016 Webby Award Honoree: Real Estate: Hecht Warehouse
-2016 Strategic Healthcare Communications eHealthcare Leadership Awards – Platinum Award for Best Marketing Campaign
-5th Annual Hatch Awards: Won 3 in 2015, Corsair, Hecht Warehouse, and Merit for Corsair brochure, 2017 won the Multi-Housing Silver award.
What we do:
-Insightful Strategy
-Market Research
-Audience Insights
-Brand Positioning
-Messaging
-Product Development
-User Experience
-Digital Strategy
-Social Strategy
Powerful Creative:
-Brand Identity
-Digital Design
-Web Development
-Environmental Design
-Advertising
-Video & Content
-Product Design
-Print Collateral
What were you like growing up?
Daren – curious, well-dressed, thoughtful, odd, entrepreneurial, pirate; “the boy who looked like a girl”
Chris – creative, mediator/therapist, solo-ist, seeker, gypsy; the girl who stood up for the kids bullied on the bus, and got beat up in the process.
Contact Info:
- Address: 543 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118
- Website: https://proverbagency.com
- Phone: (617) 266-0965
- Email: info@proverbagency.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proverbagency/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProverbAgency/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProverbAgency
- Other: https://thetruthinaction.com
Contact Info:
- Address: 543 Albany St, Boston, MA 02118
- Website: https://proverbagency.com
- Phone: (617) 266-0965
- Email: info@proverbagency.com
Image Credit:
Kristi Oster
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