“Putting the Emotions in Brands”

As the only ad agency run by a psychologist, Renee Fraser is different. Fraser Communications generates insights from observing behavior in addition to conducting ethnography and qualitative research. Using psychological practices of motivational interviewing and projective techniques, they develop campaigns and themes that resonate and empower people to change. Renee is a leader who listens and emphasizes empathy for her employees and her clients. “Trying to see the situation from the other’s POV has always been a strength of mine and helped me take a longer-term view of any situation or opportunity. It has certainly helped us grow to $34 million in size. “

Fraser runs a successful, full-service advertising and marketing firm in Los Angeles. One of the largest independent agencies and one of the fastest growing woman-owned companies in LA, Fraser Communications is known for smart strategic thinking, insightful branding, research, successful social media, traditional media and website content creation.

Helping women in business is Renee’s passion. “As President of NAWBO Los Angeles in 2001, I became a spokesperson for women entrepreneurship. Since 2010, I’ve been integral to 2020 Women on Boards (re-branded 50/50 Women on Boards) and advocated for increasing the proportion of women on publicly traded company boards,” adds the steadfast leader. “I host my own radio show, called The Deciders on KABC, Los Angeles. That’s been a terrific experience, as I can offer the microphone to women leaders to access a wide-reaching audience.” Renee has always been an idealist. “At 16, I visited by Dad’s ad agency and came away loving the people but disenchanted. Here were all these creative, smart people, just selling products we really don’t need, instead of making communications that could help the world.” Fast forward 20 years, Renee became the president of the Pacific Division of a multi-national ad agency. “After four years of leading that $150 million enterprise, I started my agency with a mission to focus on changing behaviors in health, healthy products, education, and conservation issues.”

According to Renee, it’s an exciting time because, through digital, one can expose many messages and see which ones resonate and cause click-throughs, view throughs, and shares. “The psychological trigger may be different for different people and with digital we learn what works very fast,” she explains. “The agency has moved from 10% to 40% digital in the last 4 years. We have very skilled storytelling and film creatives at the agency. They know how to create content for digital platforms that are compelling and doable in terms of cost.” Renee and her team don’t just reach influencers, but to find strategically appropriate influencers and make sure they are authentic, will reach the right audience, and provide value to the brand. “This is a world that is maturing, and we have to keep our eye on its evolution. As a research-based communications company, all plans are based on research we have done or will do,” she says.

One of the most successful campaigns Renee and her team developed was for First 5 CA. It achieved an unheard of 87% awareness throughout CA among parents of young children. The charge they were given was to make parents aware of the importance of the first five years of life to brain development. “I isolated the three most important things all parents could do more of: Talking, reading, and singing to their child. We call it ‘Talk. Read. Sing. It changes Everything’. We created animated characters, our Brainy Birds, and because we know the value of rhyme in song, developed a memorable jingle,” says Renee. The campaign has broken awareness records and won awards every year since its inception in 2015. This work feeds into the Fraser mantra: Build trust. Change behaviors. Solve problems.

The pandemic was a plan-changer for every company in the world. Fraser Communications is optimistic about what they can offer: a more agile, intelligent, experienced company to handle the emerging issues of the 2020s. “We will take the experience we have gained working closely with LA County and the State on COVID, meth, opioids, tobacco, early childhood education and other health/wellbeing issues and offer that knowledge to cause-oriented private sector clients,” says Renee. “On our roadmap is a division focused on social media and the strategic use of influencers. Social media is a strong force in e-commerce and DTC. We are using social to create advocates and strengthen brands with an emphasis on psychological insights.”IE