Suggestions
Over his career, Gary has worked for international advertising giants, independent national agencies, and his own boutique branding consultancy.
Gary began his career in Chicago in the early 80’s, helping to build mega brands like Beatrice Foods Group (20 individual brands including Meadow Gold, VIVA, Mountain High Yogurt, etc.), Jack in the Box Restaurants, Long John Silver’s Seafood Shoppes, and Dani Frozen Yogurt.
As a consummate brand strategist, he transitioned to Chicago’s independent agency ranks joining BB&L Advertising as Managing Director. Under Gary’s leadership, BB&L’s business more than quadrupled, adding Wilson Sporting Goods, BMW Automobiles, GMC Trucks, Oldsmobile Automobiles, Chicago Tribune Companies, and Town & Country Homes, where he met and began a long working relationship with CEO Bill Ryan (a relationship that would span over 25 years and four companies). Gary joined K&R Advertising as a Managing Partner, increasing the agency’s roster and revenues with Apts.com, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Blue Chip Casino, Del Webb, and Chart House Restaurants. K&R’s growth caught the eye of MARC USA who acquired the agency in 1998, establishing MARC USA Chicago. As President, Gary worked to build MARC’s reputation, presence, and revenues adding Jimmy John’s Sandwich Shops, True Value Hardware, and CareerBuilder.com.
In 2006, Gary started Young Communications Group, a branding and internet marketing firm dedicated to working with small and mid-sized privately held companies seeking senior-level marketing leadership and insight. At YCG, Gary worked once again with Bill Ryan, CEO of Sustainable Solutions LED.
That relationship continues today with the High Performance Home team.
Gary resides in Chicago with his wife and soulmate Joy.
The High-Performance Home is dedicated to elevating the creation of HOME. We aim to set a new standard of design and performance, breaking from the herd mentality that seems to dominate the industry today.
On 20 March 2023, Alex Murrell wrote a piece entitled, “The Age of Average.” The title instantly implied a negative perspective. The daily digest, “1440,” teased the article with a summary suggesting it was an opinion piece about architecture and design. Those are topics of which I am keenly interested, so I clicked the link.
Alex starts the piece by sharing an experiment conducted by two Russian artists, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, who, using market research analytics, attempted to capture and create the ultimate piece of art. Ultimate in the sense that it met the “needs” of its viewers. The artists created a piece of art that reflected the answers to several research questions. They did this across multiple countries. In the end, the works looked surprisingly similar.
Komar quipped: “Looking for freedom, we found slavery.” Individuals can be individualistic. The mob thinks in the collective. As individuals we find comfort in the familiar and the accepted. We understand this phenomenon. Yet, innovation requires blazing the new trail.
As Murrell writes, “This article argues that from film to fashion and architecture to advertising, creative fields have become dominated and defined by convention and cliché. Distinctiveness has died. In every field we look at, we find that everything looks the same.
“Welcome to the age of average.”
This begs a question. When developing a new brand, will we attract a broader audience by offering the familiar? Or, do we benefit from striking out with an individualistic identity? If it is differentiation, or innovation, we seek, the average is not the future we envision.
“Aaron Taylor Harvey, the Executive Creative Director of Environments at Airbnb had spotted something similar: ‘You can feel a kind of trend in certain listings. There’s an International Airbnb Style that’s starting to happen. I think that some of it is really a wonderful thing that gives people a sense of comfort and immediate belonging when they travel, and some of it is a little generic. It can go either way.’”
There it is again: “a sense of comfort and immediate belonging.”
I bump into this mindset (if I dare call it a mindset) in my real estate business. I had a listing recently that divided potential buyers on the value of the property. More than once, a prospect commented that the home was “dated” and would require substantial remodeling. Every new buyer wants to put their mark on their new home, whether it be the furniture, new paint, or some other décor. That is natural. Each buyer develops their certain style moving from property purchase to property purchase. However, I quickly noticed a recurring theme among the shared comments. They were describing a certain “look” that they expected or hoped to find. One prospect put a price on the expected redesign of $300,000. Given my long history in homebuilding, I couldn’t imagine how this prospect arrived at such a number. I believe they wanted to see “that look.” In other words, they wanted the familiar.
Design trends try to predict what the market seeks. Such trends might inform us of “what sells!” That cannot be ignored. One who seeks out new trends is thirsting for new insights. Such a differentiation-mindset is admirable. It is also challenging to continually improve. Trends and customer tastes will always change. We can learn from each trend, taking what resonates with our vision, shaping our individual identity.
“AirSpace” is the name Kyle Chayka has given to a digital lifestyle. this international Airbnb design aesthetic. Kyle goes further to define the psychographic of this typical client: “wealthy, mobile elite.” Much is suggested by this moniker. Wisely, Kyle points out that this client wants “to feel like they’re visiting somewhere ‘authentic’ while they travel, but who actually just crave more of the same.”
You’ve heard me say, “If it ain’t broke, break it!” For me, the secret to high achievement is to constantly be innovating. In today’s marketplace, any design aesthetic is so heavily influenced by a retail sector that is starved of inventory. So many stores display so little variety. We understand why. The retail sector is hanging on by its fingernails. Large retailers are burdened by underperforming stores. The age of the Big Box retailer has met its online match.
However, whether online or in person, homogeneity reigns. It is easy to specialize with an online marketplace. Such businesses offer just-in-time inventory, without a large investment in undesirable products. Enabling simple return policies, so many products allow “trying them” to discover whether the product meets our felt-need. Online furniture, on the other hand, does not make “trying on” so easy. Virtual furniture stores depend on strong reviews to overcome their customers’ fear of inferior quality.
How do we trust those that vouch for a product? What if you had a trusted source to certify the quality of the products you seek? The High Performance Home exists to drive competency and innovation in the delivery, improvement and development of housing and its components.
In 1995, the Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at Harvard University, Rem Koolhaas, published an essay titled The Generic City. In it he states, “Convergence is possible only at the price of shedding identity. That is usually seen as a loss.”
In today’s retail marketplace, customers are limited by the products they are offered. Merchandise-buyers at many retail chains seek the safety of homogeneity. In other words, we make buying decisions heavily influenced by the inventory and products available in the marketplace. Unless we can fabricate our own products, our choices are increasingly limited.
A “playing it safe” mindset does not value continuous improvement. In commercial construction, component improvement happens every day. This makes sense. A single building or tower is a significant investment. Additionally, as towers go higher, developers, contractors and architects demand exterior systems that offer higher performance. In the residential construction market, innovation in systems occurs in fits and starts. We have certainly become comfortable as producers of HOME. Home buyers, on the other hand, are frustrated by inferior quality of service and product.
The smart home is not that smart. Energy efficient construction is adopted by the few, rather than the many. Sustainability is seen in experimental housing not mainstream offerings.
The High-Performance Home is committed to inspiring change in the home-building industry. At times we might appear to be criticizing today’s suppliers and builders. That is not our intention. Our mission is to better inform all providers and elevate the design and construction for all.