It’s hard to imagine, but a year ago, Mintleaf first sprouted. Before our move to Portsmouth— even before the launch of our website—Mintleaf was just an idea created by two college graduates. With a healthy amount of watering over the last 12 months (and the addition of some lovely brands) Mintleaf has started to take shape.

While we’re still very much learning as a young video marketing agency, we’re happy to share some takeaways and mental tidbits from our journey so far.

1. The importance of adopting brand identity

A lot of companies have a product or service but lack a cohesive brand identity. Just having a logo, website and social media presence aren’t enough to grow as a brand. Instead ask yourself, what emotions do you want to convey in clients when they interact with your brand? Your brand (including its logo, public copy, website, interactions) should all be unified. So many brands ignore conveying an emotion because bureaucratic voices tend to be the go-to way to interact with the public. It shouldn’t be.

Be fun, be exciting, be comforting, be edgy—just never be boring. Too many companies would rather their brand be boring then risk trying something new.

Even Mintleaf went through an identity crisis. For a while we knew we had a passion for creating media but didn’t know which niche we’d fall into. And as a result, we ended up working with clients across too many industries—from industrial to restaurants. It’s only been in the last few months that we’ve started to carve out a niche in the food and beverage industry. Let your brand grow, let its identity change—and embrace that change.

2. The value of working with a favorable brand

There’s so much innate value in working with brands you love. And as we’ve begun carving out our niche in the food and beverage industry, we’ve started to scratch the surface of working with some amazing brands. From practical video shoots of wine bottles (see below), to scripting up content for local chain restaurants (coming soon), we’ve realized that it’s so important to love the brands you make content for.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hey @tattoogirlwine, is it too early for a glass?

A post shared by Mintleaf (@mintleafllc) on Oct 15, 2020 at 9:52am PDT

For example, the above shoot took hours to get right. We used a mechanical slider to both rotate the bottle and to elevate the camera. In post, we alleviated some lighting issues and added some lens flares. It would have taken half the time to render the bottle using Cinema 4D, but it became a really enjoyable shoot to attempt practically. Getting to work with a fun brand to create something unique is always a worthwhile endeavor.

3. The view from Portsmouth is pretty nice

Working from home for our first 10 months worked—albeit in an uninspiring way. Days sort of blurred together and our interactions with clients seemed equally distanced. We’ve recognized the importance of moving into the city the last couple of months. Being able to meet with clients (with some fresh, sleek masks) has helped rejuvenate us as a company. Also, we won’t complain about our frequent trips to Ohana Kitchen, Dos Amigos and The Works. There’s a creative energy that permeates in Portsmouth, and we love being part of it.

It’s been a crazy first year here at Mintleaf. We’ve grown, evolved, and found ways to adapt despite COVID-19’s best attempts to slow us down. And we’re so excited for some big announcements on the horizon as we move towards the winter season. As a young company, we can’t wait to see what the next year has in-store for us!

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Need help with video marketing services? Get in touch with us.

Mintleaf is a creative marketing agency located at 159 Middle Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It serves the greater Seacoast Region and specializes in videography, content marketing, social media and web design.