Executive creative director-turned-commercial filmmaker Ed Han has launched hybrid creative and production consultancy, Edify Story Foundry. The move represents the fruition of Han’s long-term plan to transition from agency creative to independent brand consultant.
“Given the seismic changes to the industry, I felt I could better share brand stories by taking my agency experience and transplanting it in the fertile soil of content creation.” Han wants to offer clients a way to deliver high-quality brand storytelling without compromise to quality. “It’s not a new idea but clients are more receptive to it than ever before because they need more content than ever before. And they need it to be done efficiently.”
Besides the obvious name-play, Han explained that he wanted to choose a corporate identity that conveyed something about his approach to marketing, which emphasizes elevating the client’s message by first focusing on their values and how these can help form a connection with consumers.
“For me, the story isn’t necessarily about products and features but rather about the things that connect us as individuals and communities,” Han said. “By mining for those elements, we can craft more powerfully engaging brand messages. By combining strategy, creative and production into a singular, linear process, I can offer clients a one-stop-shop approach where the brand’s story is paramount at every phase.”
Han has spent over two decades in advertising starting as an art director and was most recently the executive creative director at the boutique agency Walton Isaacson where he oversaw the creative output of all three offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. During his time there, he partnered with brands like Lexus, Verizon, Samsung, Dove and AXE. Before Walton Isaacson, Han worked with Publicis for 10 years in both the Chicago and New York offices managing the Whirlpool creative group that included brands like Maytag, KitchenAid, Whirlpool and Jenn-Air.
Among the many clients Han has been involved with on both a strategic level and as a filmmaker is iRobot, makers of the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners. For the past four years, Han has successfully partnered with the brand on various content needs, including global TV commercials and product videos.
“Throughout my career, I’ve found that most brands don’t have a product problem, they have a communications problem,” Han said. “Get the story right then tell it in a compelling way is my philosophy. iRobot created the robotic vacuum category and their products are great. They just needed help humanizing the technology.”
