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The Irrational Edge, by email
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Where I can help
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My conviction
The inferior product wins more often than it should. Understanding why is the actual job.
I’ve spent twenty years watching objectively worse products beat better ones. The difference is almost never in the product. It’s in how the choice is framed, what the buyer is actually deciding, and what the brand understands about how people behave. Everything I do starts there.
Selected work
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01
2019
Smartfren #BedaBisaBersama
The Problem: The 2019 election split Indonesia into two camps for a year, and every brand went around the wound because there is no safe side to stand on. Except a network does not have a side; its whole job is carrying both.
The Solution: Reclaim difference as the thing Indonesians share. #BedaBisaBersama handed one question to real Indonesians, from a topeng dancer to the street artist Muklay: what does different-together mean to you?
The Impact: In the year Indonesian advertising tiptoed around the split, the campaign addressed it head-on and stayed unattackable, because different-can-be-together indicts nobody and invites everybody.
No side
The Only Safe Message
Branded Film Series
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02
2019
LaFonte Pronto × Persib
The Problem: West Java files pasta under foreign food, and the objection was never taste, it was belonging. Persib is the region’s object of total belonging, and buying anything with the club’s logo is an act of support.
The Solution: Do not sell Italian pasta to Bandung; sell Persib. Official packs put I Made Wirawan, Atep, and Kim Kurniawan on the boxes, with a Tempel di Helm collectible inside that rides around the city on fans’ helmets.
The Impact: The special edition moved LaFonte Pronto from somebody else’s food to my club’s pack. Trying the product became an act of support.
Fans into buyers
The Mechanism
Brand Partnership
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03
2018
Smartfren #IndonesiaGueKeren
The Problem: August 17 is the most scripted day in Indonesian advertising, and a millennial scrolling through it has no role except audience. The pride exists; it just has nowhere personal to go.
The Solution: Stop staging Independence Day for millennials; let them post it. #IndonesiaGueKeren put pride in the first person and asked millennials to show the Indonesia they rate, on the accounts they already run.
The Impact: The campaign moved Smartfren out of the price war for one day and into the one conversation every Indonesian has on August 17. Handing the flag to the feed gave the watcher a part to play.
Gue
Pride In First Person
Digital Campaign
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Writing
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The Irrational Edge, by email
One behavioral-science idea per edition, sent only when it’s genuinely worth your time.
Where I can help
Communication Strategy
One project
Business problem, Consumer truth, One idea to act on
Copywriting
Per piece
Ad copy, Scripts, Brand voice
Creative Direction
Per campaign
Concept, Art direction, Production
Framework and Handbook
Built once
Written playbook, Not a template, Built for your team
F.A.Q.
How do we start?
Fill in the form below with what you need. I’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a fit before we go further.
How much does this cost?
Depends on the service and the scope. A one-off piece of copywriting is a different conversation than a full campaign. I’ll give you a number once I know what you actually need.
Is this separate from Brave & Company?
Yes. Brave & Company is the agency I co-founded. This is me, working solo, on projects that don’t need a full agency behind them.
How fast can you turn things around?
Depends on which service. Copy and creative direction move faster than a framework build. I’ll give you a real timeline after the first conversation, not before.
What won’t you work on?
Alcohol, tobacco, and interest-based banking. Not negotiable, whatever the budget.