25+ Years of Creativity and Putting People First
We recently celebrated our 25th anniversary at Sensis, a testament to the dedication and talent of our entire agency. After raising our glasses, we paused to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned from being in the advertising industry for a quarter-century.
One thing that hasn’t changed since our early days in business is our people-centric approach. In a landscape where connectors thrive, evolve and have ample opportunities to make a difference, relationships are crucial to an organization’s success. We wanted to share a few of the powerful lessons we’ve learned about building and sustaining meaningful relationships to drive growth.
“We often joke that we're not saving lives, just making ads. But during the pandemic, we got to work with clients like the CDC … to promote vaccines and safety … our team came together, and in the end, we could proudly say we did save lives.” – Dan Peralta, Creative Producer
Lesson #1: Harmony Starts Internally
Before you can become an industry-leading, award-winning cross-cultural agency, you need to create healthy relationships within your own organization. Sensis’s achievements stem from internal collaboration and trust between teams. We’ve found that the better you understand your colleagues’ skills and spaces for improvement, the more you can play to their strengths and develop synergetic work styles.
“To be successful in this industry, you have to first have ideas. Ideas are our currency. Secondly, you have to be willing to share your ideas. If you keep them to yourself, no one benefits—not the client, not the consumer, not the world. Thirdly, you have to be willing to let others make your ideas their own. When I’m in a meeting and I get a lot of ‘Yes, ands,’ I know I’m onto something. Meaning, people are taking what I’m saying and building upon it. That’s when you know you have something good.” – Mark Macklin, Strategy Director
Exceptional creatives and strategists don’t just create great work; they push everyone around them to grow, too. One of the reasons we have a strong sense of culture and the ability to collaborate efficiently across three different time zones is we encourage each other to venture beyond our comfort zones and reward those who consistently do. It’s not just about winning major awards; at Sensis, we believe in giving everyone opportunities to grow their skill sets and challenge expectations.
“I’m thrilled to be part of a team that consistently delivers impactful campaigns for clients by challenging conventional thinking and pushing boundaries.” – Sandra Obregón, Amplification Director
Employees with diverse role experiences—through promotions or departmental pivots—amplify the entire team’s capabilities when they work together. The similarities and differences within each team drive mindful ideas and creative work that resonates with audiences from a variety of backgrounds. As the largest minority-owned agency in the country, our commitment to authenticity in the way we represent different cultures is always at the core of our work and our identity. We harness our multicultural voices to champion everything that we do.
Lesson #2: Work with Your Clients, not Just for Them
Once you’ve developed a strong foundation and sense of trust within your agency, you can use it to accomplish your clients’ goals. Every client takes a slightly different approach to working with an advertising agency; some are completely hands-off, others prefer to be deeply involved in projects, and most are somewhere in the middle.
Although having clients that give you ample creative freedom and fully trust your agency to drive desired results seems ideal, it isn’t always the best approach.
“We never go into a client meeting looking to ‘sell’ creative concepts, a media plan, etc., but rather we are presenting our thinking and are seeking client input from which we can further iterate.” – Jeffrey McKinney, Managing Director, Client Services and Integrated Marketing
Our clients are experts in their fields; they know their offerings better than anyone, they’ve seen the way different markets respond and they understand the nuances and jargon of their industry more in-depth than any research could yield alone. They can also provide valuable information you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else about company and product changes, areas they’re working to improve and internal resources that just may inspire the greatest ad campaign of the year. Knowledge is power and when we share it, we can use it to benefit everyone involved.
Earning your clients’ trust is critical to sustaining impactful relationships with them. Our job is to create work that effectively resonates with audiences makes the client happy and leaves a lasting impact. Companies hire ad agencies to deliver a message that reaches their audience and drives responses. To do that, working with them is key. Involving them in decisions, asking for their expertise in certain areas and collaborating with them at multiple points, both during the project’s development and after it’s been trafficked, is key to producing work that works. You can find plenty of information online, but no Google search will match the insights real people connected to your brand partners can provide.
“If your client is a transit agency, you better be riding (the bus)” – Karla Fernández, Managing Director
Lesson #3: Know Your Audience
We’ve all heard this adage before, but in advertising “knowing your audience” truly is key to your success. Full-service agencies work with clients across a wide range of industries, some of them familiar, others entirely new. Advertisers become experts on very specific subjects by getting to know the brands and industries they work with and, importantly, the groups they’re talking to. You might be the target for one campaign and a stranger to the market for the next.
“During my time at Sensis, the project that was most engaging and fulfilling was the FDA Center for Tobacco Product’s “Real Cost: Smokeless Doesn’t Mean Harmless.” (It) took me out of my comfort zone. … the bulk of my career had been in multicultural communication (and) that multicultural marketing background … allow(ed) me to recognize the cultural nuance of (a) very unique target audience. Massive amounts of research were required because little data was available about the target. A longitudinal study … showed we got it right.” – Dallas Thompson, Senior Account Director
Encroaching on new terrain is equally challenging and rewarding. We’ve found that working with unfamiliar audiences is the best way to learn about them. Conducting consumer research yields fascinating insights on the daily lives, behaviors and interests of a group. Surveying, interviewing and observing your audience are the most direct ways to understand their pain points and motivators. This method may even produce the perfect tagline.
Advertising isn’t just the business of selling things, it’s crucial to connect with audiences on a deeper level and nurture relationships with them to earn loyalty. Engagement is a fatal factor to sleep on, especially in the current landscape of user-generated content social media and digital platforms have created. Use the channels your audience frequents to your advantage. By joining the conversations they’re having, listening in and interacting, you will make them feel seen and cared about, which should be your end goal.
“In a positive way, brands and organizations are understanding the value of PR, events, and digital marketing. … Basically, everything that is not traditional marketing is now something every campaign needs to have integrated for a robust execution.” – Laura Guerrero, Director of Content and Influencer Marketing
Agencies can—and should—be connecting with audiences both virtually and in person. Experiential marketing is an important piece of the equation that helps nurture the relationships you’ve built digitally and spark new ones. By giving your audience tangible experiences to interact with your brand, you create opportunities for positive interactions and space for them to make unique memories that leave a lasting impression.
If You Learn One Thing Today:
Putting people at the center of our work has been our greatest advantage in the 25 years we’ve been in business. All the lessons we’ve learned collectively have taught us to value, build and maintain those relationships. People matter. After all, our purpose is to meet the needs of different people and businesses, and we pride ourselves on our healthy and holistic approach to the way we treat those we work with. Here’s to another 25 years!
