Here's an outline of how we would approach the work:

Step 1: Brand Strategy & Creative Foundation

We'll sharpen Cardano’s Brand Identity and create its Global Creative Platform. Cardano has a clear path to outcompeting the communications programs of its peer set. We’ll start by digging into the research and setting a data-based strategic foundation for the Brand.

This work typically includes the following:

• Brand and Competitive Audit (This Audit could potentially be delivered via the Market Research, Testing & Strategic Planning workstream. If so, we won't duplicate efforts. If not, we'll do the research ourselves).

• Stakeholder Interviews and Audience Research (This Research Product could potentially be delivered via the Market Research, Testing & Strategic Planning workstream. If so, we won't duplicate efforts. If not, we'll do the research ourselves).

• Brand Positioning and Strategy

• Brand DNA (the non-visual elements of the brand)

• Tagline/Slogan(s) and Key Messages

• Brand/Creative Platform(s)

• Creative Campaign Strategy

• Creative Direction and Campaign Visual System

• Concept Applications

• Channel Distribution Plan

The Brand Strategy serves as the backbone reinforcing and supporting channel tactics such as:

Marketing & Advertising – Digital marketing, social media, web, traditional advertising (TV, print, radio).

Brand Awareness Campaigns – In any shape or form, from organic to paid media, PR, and community engagement initiatives.

Content Creation – Blogs, videos, podcasts, and social campaigns to engage audiences.

Sponsorships & Partnerships – Collaborations with influencers, events, or strategic alliances.

Customer Experience & Engagement – Improving touchpoints (like improving website UX or creating campaign based websites and campaign conversion flows).

Step 2: Creative Production

Once the Foundational Work is complete, we would move into Creative Production to translate the concepts into visuals, written work and multimedia content.

PLEASE KNOW THAT WE ARE AWARE OF THE OTHER CHANNEL-SPECIFIC WORKSTREAMS IN THE DRAFT GMC BUDGET - E.G., SOCIAL MEDIA, COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT, ETC.

WHATEVER CREATIVE ASSETS WE DEVELOP FOR THE GLOBAL BRAND AND THE CREATIVE CAMPAIGN WILL BE SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE CONTENT PRODUCED FOR THOSE WORKSTREAMS.

We would collaborate with other "channel-specific" workstreams as they will be some of the primary distribution mechanisms for the Creative Campaign - for example, some of the Campaign Content will require distribution through Cardano's social/digital channels, Cardano's Event Booths, etc.

We will therefore also need to collaborate with the Program Manager outlined in the current draft of the GMC budget proposal because part of our shared responsibility should include ensuring that all of the 2025 Marketing Workstreams consistently communicate the Cardano Brand. In marketing and communications, we call this "Staying On-Brand and On-Strategy".

Our Production Capabilities include the following:

Visual production and photography: Creative direction, planning and orchestrating creation of visual footage and imagery.

Motion Graphics: Creation of GIFs, soundbites, videos, product explainers, launch animations, etc.

Videography & Animation: Production of high-caliber video/animation including storyboarding, sound design, visual effects, cinematography, etc.

Illustration & Memes: Custom mascots, iconography, meme design, etc.

Events & Merchandise: Conceptualizing and producing printed materials, booth designs, campaign-aligned merchandise, etc.

Infographics & Decks: Development of detailed product explainers, one-pagers, pitch decks, internal company materials, etc.

UI/UX & Web Assets: End-to-end design of landing pages, UI builds, dApps, dashboards, NFT Collections, etc.

We intend to host the Global Brand Asset Library on a digital content hub (i.e., a website) that can either be accessed by anyone on the internet or involve some sort of registration process, walletconnect, etc. pending direction from stakeholders such as the DReps, GMC, Cardano Community, etc.

Whatever route Cardano decides to go, we will collect and curate the available and approved Brand Assets from the Four Founding Organizations and begin to add assets produced for the Global Brand Campaign.

Cardano does not currently have a unified Global Brand Strategy and a Global Creative Campaign Program to promote its Global Brand.

If Cardano does not create a powerful emotionally and psychologically resonant Global Brand and distribute it through Omnichannel Creative Campaign(s), it will struggle to maximize the impact of every marketing and/or communications initiative in the 2025 Marketing Budget.

Without these programs, the success of Cardano's 2025 Marketing program will be measured by "Addition" rather than “Multiplication” - that is to say, it can only be as effective as the sum of the successes and outcomes of each individual Cardano Event, Community Management Program, Social Media Campaign, etc.

We'll elaborate on why this is an undesirable outcome relative to our proposal in the following "Benefits" section.

There's also a relatively smaller - but quite important - problem that will be solved through this proposal. Cardano also lacks a Global Brand Asset Library.

Brand Asset Libraries are online databases of brand assets that are readily accessible to every individual and organization around the world who wants to promote the Cardano brand - from college students hosting local hackathons in India to major initiatives spearheaded by Cardano's Founding Organizations.

We'll outline the specific Brand Assets that should be available to Cardano's global community and Cardano-aligned stakeholders later in the proposal, but we want to share a true story we heard from a DRep at the Constitutional Convention in Buenos Aires this past December. It’s a small example of how Cardano's lack of a Brand Asset Catalogue has negatively impacted the brand. It has likely occurred dozens, if not hundreds of times, on a global level.

A DRep was slated to give a lecture about Blockchain and Cardano at a local university. The individual struggled to produce a compelling presentation about Cardano to an audience of approximately 200 people because they didn't know how to get "Cardano Propaganda" (in their words).

One outcome of this Workstream will be to create a one-stop-shop, where future lecturers can pack their conversations with official Cardano-approved brand assets - from proper logos, fonts and colors to high-impact materials like video and photo libraries, social/digital media assets and so on.

The story about the lecturer who missed an opportunity to share the Cardano Brand with 200 people has likely played out dozens, possibly hundreds, of times since Cardano launched. The problem has likely become more acute as Cardano has evolved to become one of the most important projects in crypto - a Top 10 coin with a ~$22 billion market cap.

Now that we've outlined the problem, it's more exciting to talk about the solution.

Building an effective Global Brand will positively impact every interaction the project has an untold number of stakeholders by deepening their connection to Cardano - from the attendees of the Indian college Hackathon and the 200 students at the DRep’s lecture to the millions who are exposed to Cardano on Discord, Twitter, Earned Media, Events, etc. on a monthly basis.

The Power of an Effective Brand is that it turns the impact of global programming from Addition (+) to Multiplication (x) by enabling the whole of the marketing program to become far greater than the sum of the disparate parts.

Global Brand & Creative Campaigns unify the disparate tactics and enable every single Cardano Event, Banner Ad, YouTube Video, etc. to hit some of the same critical emotional and psychological notes consistently over time - exponentially increasing Cardano's ability to deepen relationships with its most important stakeholders as quickly as possible.

The journey is generally sequenced as follows:

• Topline Awareness: "I saw a Cardano billboard outside the Rare Evo conference"

• Interest: "I saw the Rare Evo Billboard, thought it was interesting and then watched some Cardano YouTube videos”

• Evangelist: "I got so into Cardano that I decided to become a DRep”

Apple has built the greatest brand in the world as measured by the appraised brand value, which sits at ~$575 billion USD. Apple's brand adds a boost to every area of its business - from consumers lining up to buy its phones and computers (without even comparing Apple’s tech to peer brand) to landing government contracts, navigating anti-trust legislation, penetrating new markets, recruiting the world's best talent, etc. And most of Apple’s influence is subliminal because the brand has reached a place in stakeholders' hearts and minds to a point where they can't even tell you why they REALLY chose Apple over Samsung. The decision-making process was largely subconscious.

As anyone who has bought or sold a home knows, appraised value can be very different from the final number on a check. Likewise the $575 billion appraisal of Apple's brand "isn't real until it is."

But there is decades of empirical evidence demonstrating how building a strong brand translates into real money, even if it is categorized as "intangible value” or "goodwill value."

One recent example: In 2017 American e-commerce giant Amazon purchased a very large upscale grocery store chain, called Whole Foods, which had built an amazingly strong brand over the previous 30 years.

At the time of the acquisition, Whole Foods' stock was trading at $35 per share. Amazon paid $42 - nearly a 20% premium - to acquire the company. The delta was categorized as a "goodwill valuation" attributed entirely to the strength of the brand.

Cardano is one of the few projects in Crypto with a 10-year track record of success.

More importantly, it is one of even fewer projects that can also confidently say that the next decade has a chance to be even better than the last.

Imagine how much intangible value Cardano can create by applying a century's worth of marketing science to strengthen its brand - literally an untapped force multiplier.

The creation of the Global Brand Asset Library is a big part of this equation. It will create powerful value in its own right by enabling the next generation of Cardano's global stakeholders to turn millions of formerly missed opportunities to promote the Cardano Brand (like the DRep Lecture example) into powerful brand experiences.

Milestones

Month 2

Delivery of the Brand Positioning and Strategy

Month 3

Delivery of Brand/Creative Platform and Tagline/Slogan(s) Delivery of Creative Campaign Strategy and Direction

Months 3-5

Delivery of the Brand Asset Catalogue Microsite (to be maintained in perpetuity) Delivery of Campaign Concept Applications and Channel Distribution Plan

Estimated Agency Fees

• Global Brand Strategy Development: $200K USD

• Global Creative Campaign Development: $300K

• Creative & Content Production for both Workstreams: $500K

• Production of Cardano Global Brand Asset Catalogue (includes microsite development and asset production): $250K

Potential Out-of-Pocket Expenses: $250K USD

Could include things like supplemental budgets for: Video Production, Photography, Graphic Design, Physical Creative Assets, etc.

This proposal will likely require a team of 10-15 SCRIB3rs (our internal name for teammates) across our Brand, Creative and Production Teams.

We don't bill by the hour and will not manage this work according to time limits or quotas - individually or as a team.

In other words, while that is our estimate, we will dedicate whatever internal resources are necessary to deliver the best work.

We have a team of ~65 people with experience in Web3 prior to SCRIB3. Collectively, we have led Global Brand & Creative Campaign Initiatives for projects including Eigen Labs, Polygon, MetaMask, Aptos, TON Foundation, Pinata, Wincast, T3rn, Movement Labs, Optimism, Axelar and others.

Equally as important, our Team is comprised of veterans from some of the best Brand/Advertising/Agencies in the world including Leo Burnett, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, WPP, Golin, W20 and others.

We have developed Global Brand Campaigns for some of the most valuable brands in the world including Emirates, Lyft, Rover, GM, Champion, Morningstar, Corona, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Home Depot, Samsung, Mexico Tourism Board, Microsoft and others.

After our Brand Strategy is complete, we’ll take a Campaign-based approach to Content Production and Dissemination. We’ll create campaign themes that ladder up to the Creative Platform, and ultimately, the Master Brand.

We’ll also bring the campaigns to life across all relevant channels with synchronized content beats to create a “surround-sound effect” and build a “brand halo” where Cardano communities build equity for the Master Cardano Brand and vice-versa.

This proposal will (hopefully) be endorsed soon by the Growth & Marketing Committee (GMC). It aligns with one of the Workstreams in the draft 2025 Marketing Budget Proposal being proposed to the DReps by the GMC this week or next.

As mentioned previously we will be somewhat or very dependent on the following:

• Working well with the Marketing Program Manager (if that Workstream is approved) to ensure all of the other relevant Marketing Workstreams remain "On-Brand" and "On-Strategy" throughout the duration of the program.

• Working well with any channel-specific workstreams - e.g., Social Media, Community, etc. - as well as the organizations with the ability to update channels like the Cardano website, etc. to ensure the Global Brand & Creative Campaigns are represented consistently and presented "On-Brand" and "On-Strategy."

• Working well with the Market Research, Testing and Strategic Planning Workstream to collect the high-quality data-backed insights that will drive the Brand, Creative and Content Production work. In the event that the Market Research workstream is not delivering at the level necessary to support the Brand workstream, we can work with the Marketing Program Manager to remedy the situation or take over the workstream, if need be.