You can have an idea capable of shifting an industry and still struggle to explain it before someone’s attention wanders elsewhere. If the pitch needs three diagrams, a glossary and an encouraging ‘bear with me’, the idea may be ready long before its identity is.
That Thing is a London branding agency built for that awkward but promising stage. It brings words and design together to turn ambitious ideas, early inklings and complicated propositions into brands that are easier to understand and harder to forget.
When a Big Idea Needs Fewer Words
Industry-shifting work tends to arrive with its own vocabulary. Founders know every technical detail and teams have spent months refining the proposition, but an audience still needs a quick answer to two basic questions: what is this, and why should I care?
That Thing’s writers translate important, complex subjects into language that feels simple and gettable. Your audience can meet the idea without needing a decoder ring, while the intelligence behind the work stays firmly intact.
Celsius Industries offers a neat example. The climate investment venture came to That Thing without a name, and the studio developed its naming, positioning and visual character around temperature as one of the world’s most powerful agents of change.
Words and Design Should Share a Brain
A logo cannot rescue a story nobody understands. Equally, excellent copy looks rather lonely when the design appears to be speaking an entirely different language.
That Thing connects positioning, story and copywriting with identity, digital work and campaigns. Its broader portfolio also includes photography and film, with the creative mix changing according to what each idea needs in order to enter the world properly.
For bemyfriends, a creator-economy business built around the power of fandom, the work extended across brand story, messaging, visual identity, website and launch film. One central proposition could then carry through the language, design and digital experience instead of splintering into separate creative pieces.
Small Duos Keep Big Ideas Intact
Agency structures can become complicated enough to need their own organisational chart. A promising thought enters one meeting, passes through several departments and emerges weeks later wearing somebody else’s shoes.
That Thing gives every project a dedicated creative duo that owns and directs the work from start to finish, both strategically and creatively. The duo remains responsible for the output while drawing on the wider studio when the project calls for additional expertise.
This structure keeps the people shaping the strategy close to the people shaping the words and design. You work with creative leads who know the history behind each decision, which gives the central idea a better chance of surviving every stage intact.
New Ventures Are Only Half the Story
Industry shifts rarely wait for a convenient moment. Startups may be introducing an unfamiliar model, while established organisations can find that the identity everyone recognises says more about their past than their next move.
Abbey Road faced that second challenge as the recording studio approached its centenary, expanded its offer and looked towards the future of music. Working with consultant Estelle Dixon, That Thing helped reposition the famous name, organise its growing offer and establish a guiding idea that could bring its newer stories forward without misplacing nearly a century of cultural weight.
Lone Wolves Club began as an ad-hoc Slack channel for music-industry professionals and grew into a wider network of expertise and support. That Thing created an identity, positioning, copywriting and digital presence shaped around the group’s curiosity, courage and kindness as it developed towards a multimedia organisation.
A House Style Is Great for a House
A recognisable agency personality can be appealing, but your finished identity still needs to feel unmistakably yours. Placing the same aesthetic costume on every client rather defeats the point of hiring someone to find what makes your idea distinctive.
That Thing’s portfolio avoids that creative conveyor belt. The work ranges from the Galápagos tortoise at the centre of investment house Gravis to the caring-and-clinical identity developed for pain-care service Leva and the ‘Engineered with heart’ story created for hydrogen vehicle business HVS.
Across music, transport, technology, healthcare, investment, retail and material design, the recurring ingredient is a strong central thought rather than a repeated visual formula. Each identity receives its own vocabulary, character and world to inhabit.
Make the Shift Easy to See
A new idea becomes easier to support when others can understand it, picture it and repeat it. That Thing builds the story and identity around that idea so it can move from something inside your head to something recognisable in the world.
If you are developing an idea that could change how something is built, made, moved, powered or understood, explore That Thing’s branding portfolio. You can also email hello@thatthing.com to start a conversation about turning the idea into a Thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What services does That Thing offer?
That Thing works across identity, positioning, story, copywriting, campaigns, digital experiences, photography and film. The mix is shaped around the needs of each project, allowing the words, design and supporting creative work to grow from the same central idea.
How does That Thing structure its project teams?
Every That Thing project is owned and directed by a dedicated creative duo from start to finish. The duo leads the work strategically and creatively, with support from the wider studio brought in when the project requires it.
Does That Thing work with new and established organisations?
That Thing works with both emerging ventures and established names preparing for change. Its portfolio includes building Celsius Industries from an unnamed proposition and helping Abbey Road organise and reposition its offer as the studio approached its centenary.
What industries has That Thing worked in?
That Thing’s portfolio spans entertainment, music, investment, transport, data, healthcare, retail, fitness, manufacturing and material design. Named clients include Abbey Road, Celsius Industries, Lone Wolves Club, Platform, Happy Fruit, HVS, Gravis and Leva.
What does ‘industry-shifting’ mean at That Thing?
That Thing uses the phrase for clients introducing better ways to build, make, move, power or grow. Some shifts are large and disruptive while others move an established field forward one meaningful step at a time.
Where is That Thing based?
That Thing is based at 170 Bermondsey Street in London. New-business enquiries can be sent to hello@thatthing.com.
