Ken Cook’s uniquely integrated 'tripod' career blends design, branding, and advertising—traditional and digital—on both agency and client sides. A diverse career that covers a myriad of disciplines including design, brand strategy, marketing communications, packaging, corporate identity, advertising, interactive, Web, rich media, online experiential, web commerce, digital/disruptive/guerilla campaigns and retail POS.

With broad and robust expertise working across a spectrum of clients in high-tech, financial, consumer product, and sports marketing, he has led, created and managed successful global brand and advertising campaigns, product launches for internal corporate marketing groups, agencies and their clients. He has created identities for numerous established and start-up companies through his past associations with design firms, agencies and his own creative consultancies: Brandtank and ideagun.

Ken is a C-suite-seasoned, energetic leader. He works hands-on and encourages the best out of his teams, delivering great ideas that are consistently award-winning, year after year. He's led teams of five to 50-strong. His sense of humor and collaborative coaching approach has inspired many creatives and clients alike to seek him out, working with him again and again.


kencook@brandtank.com               Txt: 510-457-6356 c

Where we work.

Brandtank offices and shooting studio operate out of a 4,000-sq. ft. converted c. 1948 machine shop near Pixar Studios, in an area that's becoming a mini silicon, bio-tech and green energy "valley". Many emerging bio-tech and exciting tech companies are busy developing technologies, products and services along the Emeryville corridor and Oakland border, companies like Electronic Arts, Maxis Software, LeapFrog, Sendmail, MobiTV, Bayer, and Novartis—help make it an ideal centrally located base.

Ken's full-time/project basis collaborators, including many who have worked with him repeatedly over the years, are located in San Francisco, Marin, Silicon Valley, Portland and across the U.S. But our shop is just the hub. Our many spokes enable us to tap into creative, strategic, and production expertise from the Bay Area to New York.

Hallelujah.

We've seen the light. After years of working in design, branding and advertising agencies, all of whom wielded hefty freelance/contractor budgets and were partially or mostly staffed with talented contractors. We felt there was a better way for clients and team alike. Something adaptable. Tailored. More nimble. And less of a cost burden on clients. Clients too avoid paying for the mistakes of inexperience and full-time staff that don't directly apply to the project at hand.

What's in it for you?

Fewer layers. No misteps. Faster turnaround. Brandtank's approach is not that of the typical staffed agency with costly overhead or up-and-down head-counts, but it's a more competitive and flexible creative brokerage led by an experienced executive creative director with a depth of strategic acumen and strong leadership skills. Brandtank's extended team capabilities and production resources of one-two dozen curated and tested strategists, project managers, creatives and production experts are brought to bear on client projects and collectively possess deep expertise in film, video, interactive, UI/UX, advertising, interactive, branding, design, copy/content and brand strategy. Call it a SWAT team or Ocean's 11 of strategic problem solving + creative: The best creative for a tempered cost, completed faster. That means clients aren't paying for 10% of the staff to be on vacation, shiny lobby or a stack of company credit cards hitting their projects.

So, the client is assured that only the right talents are assigned or apply time to an effort at the right phase of development.

Our ground floor offices also allow easy access for product and people, which comes in handy for comprehensive photo shoots or video/green screen productions.

No different, really.

Trust us, in function, our tailored model is no different than that of most design offices or agencies in that we quickly build teams around engagements that expand or contract with the ebb and flow of our assignments or project phases. That means we're only about the work. The ideas. The solution. Not the HR department, the company party or stocking the kitchen with fresh coffee capsules and energy bars.

What's in it for us?

Choice. By doing creative in this way, we can pursue projects that reflect our many interests, experience and passions and avoid the trap of too narrow a portfolio, specialization or a pigeonholing of our brand. After all, it's about creating cool creative, sticky campaigns, and breakthrough ideas. As a Creative Director, Ken has always gotten to the best ideas from a close-knit team anyway. Those that he has had the opportunity to assemble and made up of the talents he respects. Trusted and fun collaborators working with each other and arriving together at what best addresses the client's tactics or need.

A formula that has always proven to be successful.



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