One question that I am occasionally asked about my company is the background of our name: “why Clout?”Here is the story behind what led me to it.Over the course of my career, I had planned to someday open my own boutique agency that specializes in emerging media, trends and technologies. In recent years, as that day came closer, I naturally began daydreaming about what to call it.Ideas ranged from the sophisticated and pedantic (at one point, I considered the names of streets and parks in my native neighbourhood, Rosedale, and even liked the name “Bel Air” as an homage to a street in my stomping-ground back in Toronto’s Yorkville area) to the epically lame (at one point, I liked the name “Anvil,” until my older brother rightfully said that it sounded like an 80s nightclub).

Just prior to moving to Ottawa in 2008 and laying the groundwork for building my company, one word repeatedly stuck out to me: Clout.

I tested it out with friends and family (to the most acclaim of any I’d pitched).

It was a word that kept jumping out to me in some of my favourite songs, which spurred the final, convincing “eureka”.

 

Sound crazy? Well it isn’t.
The ends justifies the means, that’s the system.
I learned that in school then I dropped out
Hit the streets, checked a grip, and now I got clout.

- New Jack Hustler by Ice-T

On seeing that it hadn’t been taken yet, I immediately began to contract under the name and plan the launch of the agency.

Although a buzzword, clout embodies the entire raison d’etre of our company; our mission is to gain as many relationships as possible between consumers and our clients as possible.

 

Without a doubt
I’m the rapper with clout
Colombians rap about

- Breakdown by Wale

In branding the agency, I began with the concept of the mascot, our lion, in a crest. I had wanted something with the strength, legacy and iconography of a family coat of arms.I knew that the lion was a bit obvious, perhaps a cliche, but I felt that it would be telling to have a traditional, universal symbol (that represented our advantages of having a legacy in the industry alongside being pathfinders of tomorrow’s technology and trends).In 2009, I asked creative mastermind Andrew Limmert to bring the emblem to life.Our new wordmark, which capped-off our third version of the logo, was inspired by a couple of the timeless-yet-trending brands that we love.

We always try to include the words “Marketing Co.” when we are referring to our firm.

We do this for two reasons: to distinguish ourselves from other companies that have emerged that are using the name “Clout” on its own, or some variation or cute spelling of it; to emphasize that we are a Marketing firm first and foremost, not Jacks of All Trades, not a gaming studio, not another web shop; and, to hit home that, although we are a boutique, we are a Company, we are a business, not a collective of freelancers or gurus or hacks working from their living-rooms.

Version 4.0 of Clout Marketing Co.’s is being unrolled now with the above assets being tied together by our creative teams.

And so, that’s the story, that’s who we are.

Our logo might change, we may even re-brand entirely some day, but our brand-name is (and will forever be) a testament to the singular mission of our firm.

 

Tags: ,