Any relationship needs to sustain an element of a spark or flirtation in order to thrive.

At least, such is the philosophy of one of Bermuda's youngest advertising and branding companies, Flirt Branding. And, creative director Taylor Rankin believes the same philosophy applies to business since, as examples, marketing and advertising are built on relationships.

With a creative team of four people and an office full of Apple Mac computers, Flirt Branding's attraction is its youth, creativity and energy.

Mr. Rankin said: "We approach every project from the branding angle even if we've only been approached to do a brochure. What we like to do is to involve ourselves with the client company and really involve ourselves in its services and products, almost to the point that we know the company so well we could be hired as employees ourselves.

"When the company is confident of that, then it can trust us to make the right call for it (regarding its marketing). We do have the capabilities of an advertising agency, but we really focus on branding."

So, what is meant by "branding"? Mr. Rankin explained that a company's brand is not only comprised of what is in an advertisement but also the business and the people within the company.

He added: "It's the credo they go by; (Branding is) setting yourself back and looking at the people and making honest comments to the people in the corporate structure on what we think (about how its putting itself forward to the public).

"We treat it from a very human angle because you can do market research, but when you talk to the people, you can often find out a lot more that way."

He added that tools such as advertising and public relations, design and broadcast all fall under branding. "We look to build a custom team to get look for our customers.

"There's no book of rules for advertising, so there's a lot of experimenting. Things are always changing, and we're always experimenting with designers and process."

The 23-year-old Bermudian attended Saltus Grammar School before his family moved in 1991 to Victoria, British Columbia, where he attend St. Michael's University School.

While there, Mr. Rankin toured as a violinist and started his own graphic design company. He then attended York University in Toronto and graduated with a degree in fine arts though he specialised in music and "dabbled" in marketing and design.

While at York, Mr. Rankin launched his second company with clients such as the Swedish car company, Saab, and in Toronto.

Mr. Rankin said, with his first two companies, he was focused on attracting the biggest clients and soon realised he was missing "the core, the little guys, like my family's companies".

Mr. Rankin's grandfather started the Knick Knack and ran This and That and Bermuda Import Agency among a few other local companies.

Mr. Rankin was inspired to develop his theories of branding in the smaller context of Bermuda. Now almost two years old, his third company, Flirt Branding, is not only a reality ? with clients such as Gibbons Company ? but also looking to expand.

The company is waiting for planning approval to move into its new space on Reid Street adjacent to the In Motion School of Dance.

Mr. Rankin said the offices will double as an art gallery, and "we want other companies to look at our work, and say, if it's good, 'Let's one up it,' and push the boundaries".

Flirt Branding already pushes the boundaries of being a traditional advertising agency. In addition to branding and advertising, the company offers design and post-production services such as visual effects and compositing for recorded visual materials from advertisements to music videos.

Mr. Rankin said he hopes to eventually separate the broadcast services into an exempt company. "When we get enough American clients to make it an exempt company, we will. In the US, there's more out there to really push ourselves."

Commenting on the challenges of running a small business in Bermuda, Mr. Rankin said: "Sometimes, we falter. Sometimes, when you work with external subcontractors, things don't go perfectly.

"But if we make a mistake, we will rectify it 300 times what we did. You have to remember that in advertising, we're partners with our clients because they are the only advertisements we have for our work.

"We know that we have the drive, and we'll admit that we don't know everything, so, whoever we have to go to collaborate with, that's exciting. I think a good core team is just as good (as a larger agency)."