The Creatives: Pat Snavely

Pat Snavely
Principal and Creative Director, Partly Sunny
Ballard, partly-sunny.com

FOCUS: We want to help clients do exceptional things that inspire people, with culture as our guide and creativity our medium. Clients have included Sonos, Amazon, Gaiam, Starbucks, Adidas and Glassybaby.

MOST CHALLENGING ASSIGNMENT: Launching a completely new brand in a crowded category is a particularly tough task. We definitely felt this with Bluebeard Coffee Roasters and I think we found success by building the brand around a compelling persona. Perhaps the people of Tacoma have a favorable bias toward beards, But were told the branding gets praise on a daily basis. And it helped put Bluebeard on the map as a high-quality roaster right out of the gate.

CRAZIEST THING IVE DONE: A few years ago, we rebranded Balanced Body, the leading manufacturer of Pilates equipment. We were in the middle of a strategy session when a heated debate broke out between departments about the future direction of the business. My strategy partner suggested that we pause for some breathing exercises. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by a boardroom full of executives doing sun salutations. I wouldn’t call it crazy, but definitely an unusual experience for me. And it worked. Crisis averted!

THING IM MOST PROUD OF: Eleven years in business.

I ADMIRE: Anyone who starts a business, not because they’re sure it’ll be successful but because they believe it’s an idea that needs to exist. People like that, who are fully committed and driven by ideology, are the ones who make the world a better place.

VACATION LOCATION: The thing about Seattle is that you dont really have to go far for a change of scenery. I enjoy exploring the surrounding areas as much as traveling to distant ones.

HOW I WOULD BRAND SEATTLE: Modern Frontier. There’s a lot of opportunity and people are free and willing to take risks.