20 Years! Twenty years! Veinte Años!

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November 9, 2024 marked twenty years since Fifteen4 was officially incorporated as a business in the state of Maryland. Founded by my brother Steve and a young Howard County native named Kurt Dutra, Fifteen Four LLC was Baltimore’s first video production company serving the non-profit and corporate sectors. 

I missed the first ten years but joined up about halfway through the company’s journey to date, as Fifteen4 was adding creative services like design, web, and brand strategy. It may not seem strange to others that we’ve got twenty years under our belt, but it fairly boggles my mind. 

Two decades of technological disruption, industry upheaval, agency mergers and acquisitions, recessions, pandemics, insurrections, tragedies (and tragic comedies), and yet here we are – still thinking, writing, filming, designing, building, and animating. Still calling Baltimore our home, still coming into an office in Hampden, and still learning what it means to run an agency in the 21st Century. 

I’m not one for pontificating on life lessons, strategies for success, or empowering messages. But a company doesn’t make it twenty years, nor could I make it ten, without learning a few things during our travels. So in honor of Fifteen4, here’s (fifteen) four reflections on the past and future as we look back twenty years (and forward another twenty).

(Fifteen) Four Lessons from the Past and Future:

1. Define and Defend Your Culture at All Cost:

An agency tends to be like the line-up of Spinal Tap – the team will change as the years pass. But defining your values at the outset – as superfluous as that may seem in comparison to hitting financial metrics – will ensure that the culture of your company remains strong. While each new employee has the opportunity to bring additional skills and experience, their ability to adhere to company values and help build (rather than disrupt) company culture is as important as their skill set. Our company values (Creativity, Adaptability, Growth, Kindness, and Problem-Solving) define who we are – from service delivery to evaluating team performance. They help us stay true to our essential character even as we evolve. Our current team is the strongest we’ve ever had, and we’re working together to enhance our services while holding true to our core values.

2. Growth Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Adding Revenue and Headcount:

If adding revenue and headcount is your primary goal, then go forth and conquer. Certainly increased revenue provides potential for bottom line growth. But potential is the key word. Scaling up has to be strategic and measured, and staff added cautiously in order to capture the true reward of growth through added profit. Maximizing the potential of your current staff and contractor network can actually prove more rewarding financially, while allowing you to only staff the committed A-players that your clients love working with. Growth is one of our core values and we are currently hiring, but for us growth means continuing to bring more value to clients while prioritizing bottom line profit over top line revenue.

3. The AI-Era Agency is Highly Strategic:

Agency Management Institute (AMI) CEO Drew McLellan has recently said that as generative AI changes the way companies create marketing content and assets, the ability for agencies to be fundamentally strategic becomes ever more important. Developing brand, social media, digital, and campaign strategies is still very much dependent on human thought, and is the product of deep discovery and ongoing dialogue between clients and agencies. To that end, Fifteen4 has continued to invest in strategic talent in the areas of branding, digital experiences, and video and animation, while adding social media strategy and execution. We love making things and will continue to do so, but we are equipped to use generative AI as a tool while we continue to strategically develop solutions for our clients.

4. Doing Good Business with Great People Never Gets Old:

It’s as simple as that, but easy to forget if you’re just chasing new revenue (see #2). Over the years we’ve built lasting relationships with clients we love, and no matter how crazy the ask, difficult the timeline, or complicated the project, we never tire of working with great people. Through the challenging times and the easy ones (when they come), our mutual trust with clients sees us through. And as for companies who see their agencies as vendors to be bullied in pursuit of more, faster, and cheaper deliverables, we welcome you to explore some of our competitors because we don’t ultimately need to work together (see #2!).

Twenty years is an achievement that everyone who has ever walked through these doors should be proud of. As we look ahead, I can definitively say that I have no idea what’s coming. But I do know that if we live our values, grow wisely, act strategically, and work with the people we love (or will love once we meet them), our chances of going another twenty are pretty strong.

Of course, I’ll be an old man by then.

 

Meet blog author Will Smallman,
Managing Partner
Read his bio here

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