The Innovative Agency

Are you an entrepreneur that didn’t plan on being one? This exact scenario actually plays out more than you might expect. It’s what happened to Indra Gardiner Bowers, the co-founder and CEO of i.d.e.a. She shares her story of resiliency and adaptability with us on the latest episode of The Innovative Agency. We discuss: How to handle evolutions in your agency Learning when to take risks and scale back Forecasting in an ever-changing landscape Complying to new legislation concerning employees Resources mentioned in this episode: The ABC test for independent contractors in California theideabrand.com This blogpost is based on an interview with Indra Gardiner Bowers from i.d.e.a. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Just like a tree grows toward the best sunlight, your agency needs to be open to innovation in order to survive. This is how it worked out for David Searns and his agency, Haley Marketing. Due to the evolving landscape of his market, David found himself in a very particular niche. On this episode, David and I discuss: Looking for opportunities to pivot Adjusting to demands in your market Optimizing your assets Finding a narrow niche To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Agencies are typically known for lacking in internal communication and being resistant to change.  However, today’s guest on the Innovative Agency podcast, Mark Gale CEO of Charleston Orwig sits down to share with us how his agency is doing things differently.  Charleston Orwig has been around for nearly three decades. Because of their familiarity with clients they need to be nimble to shed the legacy that can sometimes lead other agencies to become complacent or stagnant.  Instead, they work very hard to stay relevant in the ever-changing food and agriculture space.  Marketing and Advertising in a category that doesn’t really reflect the reality of how nuanced the work they do is.  A testament to that is the fact that their top concern is talent, and in order to keep that talent they’ve employed a visionary tactic of using ESOP. Few people know this as well as Mark, who is also the ESOP Board Director at Charleston Orwig.  In the beginning they financed 100% of the ESOP plan for their employees at Charleston Orwig. Agencies are typically really bad at communicating within themselves. Charleston Orwig is not.  They are really pushing to be transparent about things such as billable hours, how they make money, and how they make decisions.

Every single person on the planet can and should do what they love to do. That’s a tall order, but if we all took the time to discover our purpose, we’d be that much closer to accomplishing it. On this episode, I interview Roy Abdo, CEO of Digital Revamp Marketing Agency: What we talked about: How entrepreneurs can translate personal experiences into building a business Roy’s inspiring citizenship story 3 things you need to convert your experience into entrepreneurship The importance of finding your why Checkout these resources we mentioned during the podcast:   Start with Why by Simon Sinek   Gallup’s StrengthsFinder 2.0 To hear this episode and many more like it, subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

The creative agency industry is constantly evolving. For this reason, it’s good to keep your agency’s strategy fresh. Founder and CEO of Big Sea, Andi Graham, fills us in on why the agile approach isn’t just a software development strategy anymore. We also cover: Educating your team about agile Embracing the discomfort of change Developing a feedback loop Real-time collaboration Resources mentioned in this episode include: "Manifesto for Agile" Scrum Methodology “Transforming to Agile: How We’re Doing It” This blogpost is based on an interview with Andi Graham from Big Sea. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Balancing the financial needs of your agency with the practical expectations of your clients can be a tricky tightrope to walk. The best perspectives on these sorts of balancing issues often come from someone who’s been on both sides of the equation.  Andrew Stanten fits that description perfectly; he’s worked both on the brand side with agencies, and also as the president of Altitude Marketing (one of Inc’s 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies). He came on this episode to discuss: His 3-step process for agency pricing Why you should start with strategy Using data as evidence to make suggestions (& calculate pricing) How data jumpstarts your work after you land a contract How to upsell & pivot ad spend Data and process transparency This is an interview with Andrew Stanten from Altitude Marketing. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Chris wanted to reduce the time it takes to find top talent at his agency. He found it took an average of 36 days to onboard and find talent for projects. Chris wanted to reduce that to 36 hours. And he did it.  On this episode, we interview Chris Kneeland, Co-founder & CEO of Cult Collective LP. What we talked about: How size ≠ success at agencies Why talent may not be as important as you think How talent shifts from asset to liability in

Joe Gagliese has been doing influencer marketing since the very beginning. So, he’s an expert.  That’s why I’m so excited he was able to come on this episode of The Innovative Agency to share some of his expertise with us. Joe is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Viral Nation, an influencer talent agency and marketing firm.  Here’s what we talked about: Why influencer marketing can’t just be an afterthought How to increase the effectiveness of your micro influencer campaigns How his team is leveraging their intellectual capital to generate competitive advantages

You probably know that I’m really passionate about agencies drawing upon their ideas and resources to create new opportunities — new revenue streams, new businesses, or whatever it might be. So, I'm really excited to talk to today’s guest, Daniel Herndon, because his agency, MilesHerndon, did just that.  We talked about: Daniel’s unique background Why he decided to turn the lobby of his office space into a coffee shop and cocktail bar How that decision has created some great opportunities Bonus — how Daniel handles client confusion when it comes to defining industry terms This blogpost is based on an interview with Daniel Herndon from MilesHerndon. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast. If you don’t use iTunes, you can listen to every episode here.

Working on a Hollywood set seems like one of the most glamorous gigs out there. But, have you ever considered the logistics it takes to coordinate all of those names mentioned in the closing credits?  Anson Sowby isn’t a Hollywood producer. He is, however, the CEO and co-founder of, a Battery three-time Ad Age Small Agency of the Year recipient. On this episode, we discuss: On-demand staffing structure Aligning with a larger partner How Hollywood’s staffing & selling has influenced Battery A few resources we mentioned during the podcast: Anson Sowby’s LinkedIn Battery’s home page Ad Age Awards To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Innovative Agency Podcast on Apple Podcasts or or you can find every episode on our homepage.