May 20, 2020 / Thought Leadership

20 Years of Perseverance

Alyssa Toro
Senior Partner, Chief Creative Officer

 

For over 20 years, I drove to the South End on autopilot. I walked the same brick-lined streets and up 5 flights of stairs to the old piano factory we renovated. The business can get repetitive after that long, but somehow we always kept it interesting. So many things changed in that space as we grew from 4 to over 100. People would come and go, but some things have always remained consistent:

We’ve always been about the people. 

Without sounding too cult-like, we seem to attract the same type of people. Kind, empathetic yet ambitious and really clever. It’s funny because in many ways we all couldn’t be more different, but we are strongly united by a common purpose.

We blast music at every turn.

It’s ever present and eclectic and sometimes, entirely too loud.

We have an intangible energy.

There’s a certain energy in the air when visitors come for the first time. You get the sense that everyone really wants to be there. We’re there to create. That energy defines who we are and even though we aren’t there at the moment, I can still sense it.

Despite all of that consistency, every few years we are hit with a big shift in this ever-changing industry. And this one, by no fault of advertising, is certainly a doozy. We are fortunate to be able to work from home and still respond to client needs quickly. Our process is to define human insights and use it as a roadmap to create distinctive work. And what’s more human than the entire universe going through the same pandemic protocol? Relatively speaking.

There’s so much empathy and understanding to be had. And humor to get us through it all. We are proud to have the trust of our clients and thankful for their support.  I suspect we will emerge from this crisis with a new perspective as we have in difficult times before and I really do hope we can hang onto it. Our shared experience will help us come up with more insightful ideas making us well poised to tap into how people are feeling right now and respond in a way that creates connection.

So much has happened over 20 years, but what’s happening right now, at this very moment, is the thing that will propel us to be a stronger company. Here’s a quick snapshot of the brands that contributed to our success over the last 20 years.