From Agency Life to Entrepreneurship

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Are you currently utilizing AI or fear it will replace digital agencies? Most agency owners fall into one of these two categories. However, those open to exploring this technology's potential and maintaining a sense of curiosity will lead the way in innovation. Today’s featured guest lost some clients who opted for in-house ChatGPT services over his agency's offering.

Instead of staying fearful of losing all his clients to this technology, he was prompted to explore how AI could be leveraged to enhance his services. Through experimentation, he created what has become a very effective foot-in-the-door to showcase good results with very little investment. Tune in to discover valuable lessons about creativity, collaboration, and the evolution of marketing strategies.

Abraham Bree is the founder of Brand:Whatever, a full-scale, small-sized branding agency based in Brooklyn, New York. With over 15 years of experience in the marketing, branding, and advertising landscape, Abraham shares insights into his journey from traditional ad agencies to becoming an agency owner.

He discusses the creative processes learned in the agency world and highlights the challenges of navigating interactions outside the creative bubble, particularly with non-creative roles like accounting.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

• Why success in marketing requires more than creativity.

• Creating value-add AI-powered solutions.

• Leveraging relationships to sell your high-impact low-budget solution.

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Forging Agency Leadership Through Diverse Roles

Although owning an agency was not originally part of Abraham's career plan, he began his journey in advertising, dedicating eight years to traditional ad agencies where he refined his creative abilities. However, he soon discovered true success in marketing requires more than just creativity. It demands understanding of how to work with diverse teams and navigate corporate structures. In his view, creatives operate in a bubble without ever interacting with people outside the client who have different ideas and opinions.

This realization came as he transitioned from the creative agency life to a corporate role as a marketing director. In this role, Abraham not only had to deal with his creative team but also the accounting, sales, and HR departments. This experience taught him the importance of cross-departmental collaboration, as he strived to align everyone with his vision while allowing them the autonomy to pursue their own initiatives.

Following this successful transition, Abraham continued to ascend the corporate ladder, seemingly reaching the pinnacle of his career until the onset of the pandemic. The ensuing uncertainty around the lockdowns and the impact Covid would have on different companies ultimately affected his standing. His new employer could no longer sustain his role as Chief Marketing Officer and he was offered to continue as a consultant. It was the pivot he needed to launch his own agency.

Turning AI Anxiety into an Agency Advantage

By now, companies are either embracing the use of AI or fearing it. Abraham had chosen to embrace it, even before a client dropped his agency and brought their content creation in-house using Chat GPT. He had been toying with ChatGPT himself, but now felt worried he was starting to lose clients to this innovation. How could he use AI to sell more marketing campaigns?

Abraham understood that effective marketing is not just about promoting a product or service; it is fundamentally about solving problems for clients. He decided he could use this technology to help people with their pain points and create innovative solutions that added value.

In his first venture using AI in this way, Abraham created an app designed to assist families in planning their Passover vacations. This not only addressed the immediate concern of families looking for vacation ideas but also opened up avenues for marketing partnerships with kosher food companies. It effectively addressed consumer needs while presenting these businesses with an opportunity for direct engagement with clients, offering more value than a traditional print ad campaign.

The app attracted over 40,000 users in a one-week span. Although the number of users dropped after the first week, but it was still a success for a high-impact low-budget campaign made with AI. By leveraging AI to solve pain points, Abraham was able to enhance strategies, foster meaningful connections with clients, and ultimately drive impactful results.

Creating Value-Add Using AI for Agency Clients

One of his best strategies with this project was coming to companies with an idea they could easily adopt. To gain support for this initiative, he targeted existing relationships, leveraging connections he had nurtured over the years and asking for just five minutes to explain his project.

Companies quickly recognized the potential to get in front of clients with little cost and signed on. Abraham then utilized this platform again on several similar projects and continued to drive results with these short and impactful campaigns.

These projects offer an excellent chance to demonstrate value to potential clients without the need for substantial retainers. This way, Abraham was able to generate buzz while also establishing a foundation for ongoing relationships.

For agency owners who want to try this approach to AI, Abraham recommends using it as a tool. Don’t go and try to build your own language model and become the next Open AI. Instead, focus on the many ancillary services you can bring to the table using AI. Figure out how you slice off a piece of your current offering and use it as a foot-in-the-door — that is where you’ll find your goldmine.

Overall, Abraham’s advice to agency owners is to stay curious, a good guiding principle for anyone aspiring to grow in their field. The moment you think you have figured everything out is the moment you’ll cease to progress. Let your curiosity fuel innovation, push you to explore new ideas, and seek out diverse perspectives, and you’ll ultimately discover new avenues for success.

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