“We’re 40 Years Young, Not 40 Years Old”: A&G on 4 Decades of Independence and Obsession

“I am keenly aware that just in the US alone, there are 15,000 agencies. And we ask ourselves every day, why us?”

That ‘why us?’ mentality has kept independent agency Allen & Gerritsen (A&G) operating at the top of its game for the past four decades, and CEO Andrew Graff has been part of the ride for three of them.

Joining the agency thirty years ago, Andrew has seen A&G evolve from a Boston-based “ten-year startup” comprised of 10 people, to an over 100-strong workforce today. “I call them the dreamers, the thinkers, the makers, the craftpeople, the disruptors,” says Andrew.

Now centred around two main hubs in Boston and Philadelphia, aptly the two cities “where independence was born”, the agency’s Boston premises overlook the Tea Party Ships, whilst Philly has the Liberty Bell in its eyeline – an ever-present reminder of the power of independence.

Founded in 1985 as Allen & Gerritsen, the agency – which is now more widely known as A&G – has embraced the ampersand as a driving philosophy to always think of what’s coming next. “Originally, there were two people linked together with a common symbol using the ampersand,” Andrew explains.

“We’ve adopted that ampersand as our philosophical guiding principle that says, ‘How do you know when a great idea is a great idea?’. It’s when it becomes the engine which everybody can build on and be like, ‘and then what?’, ‘and what if?’, and ‘what's next?, ‘and imagine this?’, ‘and you can keep the idea going’.”

Andrew notes that there’s a “staying power” to A&G that contributed to its success, sharing that many shops that were established at the same time have since ceased to exist or been absorbed by holding companies.

“While the industry and everything has gone through cycles, our staying power is to get ahead of it, and get ahead on behalf of our clients.

“We really make sure that we lean heavily into the most important things that clients are looking for these days,” he continues. “That has changed dramatically over the years, in terms of the tactics or distribution channels. But really what hasn't changed is the quality of a great idea – and making sure that great idea absolutely positively never stops short.”

This forward-facing mentality has been with the agency throughout its lifetime. Its first clients were predominantly in the tech space, equipping the agency with an “amazing view of how tech impacts the world”, gaining insight from a sector that required the agency to learn to be “agile and nimble”, says Andrew.

“Right now,” he adds, “AI is the big thing, but two or three years ago, it was the metaverse. And yes, I feel like AI has its place, but human intelligence, originality and craftsmanship is what our business has always been built on – and that won’t change.”

Making Brands ‘Unignorable’

Nowadays, A&G works primarily with challenger brands, boasting an almost 60% pitch win rate this year.

“We are a great fit for challenger brands and marketing leaders that are really navigating the change and complexity [of the market], with our simple promise of, we’re going to help them do better, be better and help them make an impact on business branding communities.”

Andrew explains that the agency’s vision is to “use creativity that’s designed to transform,” but in a more practical sense, its everyday focus lies in the motto: “we exist to make brands unignorable.”

“We start with the outcomes, and not the outputs,” Andrew adds. Fuelled by an “unbelievable obsessiveness” around audience demographics, behaviours and psychographics, A&G looks beyond earning attention in someone’s mind, but in their life too.

It’s an approach that’s been favoured by prospective as well as pre-existing clients, who, amidst economic uncertainty, have told A&G they are “data rich but insight poor.” By tackling these challenges head-on, A&G is empowering its clients to make “smarter, braver decisions”, be it through predictive analytics – a growing specialism for the agency – or through creativity shaped by behavioural science.

“We're winning because we're not trying to outspend the market – we're really just trying to out think it,” Andrew adds. As such, the agency has fine-tuned its marketing investment strategy - “it’s kind of like performance marketing, but not limited to media,” Andrew explains. “We’re ensuring every dollar drives real impact.”

More than Advertising

Testament to the agency’s ability to flex and adjust to market conditions, Andrew emphasises an inherent belief that “creativity doesn’t always just mean advertising.” Looking beyond traditional advertising formats, A&G works across social, experiential and PR too.

Its PR team is a “creative team” in itself, Andrew adds. Fully integrated within the agency, it is involved in every touchpoint of client interaction. “They're in every pitch with us, and that is also contributing to our success in win rate and why people are being drawn to us.”
In an example of the PR team’s creative thinking, to mark the opening of a new Dunkin’ franchise, A&G went beyond a typical grand-opening PR strategy, and instead embraced the idea of, “how do we make a huge statement?”.

Coincidentally, the restaurant was opening within a so-called, ‘Dunkin’ Desert’ – a town without any open Dunkin’ franchises. So, to tackle this Dunkin’ deprivation, the town of Stow, Massachusetts was officially renamed Dunkin’ for one day on July 24th, ending the drought and resulting in “off the charts” opening day sales.

In another example of unconventional thinking, A&G pulled off the unexpected for its tourism client, Meet Boston. Identifying Atlanta as a high potential fly-in region for visitors to Boston, it staged a Boston-focused music festival in the city, featuring bands, food and more, “We said, all right, if they’re not coming to us, let’s come to them so that they will come to us,” says Andrew. The stunt resulted in an upsurge in online searches, hotel bookings and general positive sentiment around travelling to Boston.

Looking Ahead

In 2021, Andrew made a decision around A&G’s workplaces that spoke to the agency’s commitment of always looking to the future. “We had an opportunity to reimagine our workplace,” he says, “and when you start to reimagine the workplace, it reimagines the way you work too.”

It happened around the time that many companies were evaluating their post covid-19 return-to-office policies – something that made Andrew feel uncomfortable. “I couldn't do it, because when you say ‘return to office’, it implies you're going backwards – you're going to return to the way it used to be. And that's just not us.

"Everybody's talking ‘return to office’. I'm talking about the future of the workplace and the workforce and the work itself.”

With the leases in both Boston and Philadelphia both soon coming up for renewal, in 2021, Andrew set the wheels in motion to reframe the intent of the physical workplace, based on people’s remote, more flexible working habits.

A&G decided to open-up the traditional ‘office’ format. Instead of being a space for employees only, by adopting a “hospitality mentality” the premises would serve as a hub for people to be invited to come together, collaborate, work and communicate – a “third space” – whereby home is the first, the office would be the second, and A&G believes in the third.

“We created this space where people want to collaborate, share ideas, be surrounded by other creative minded folks, and we don't call it an office – it's not allowed.”

Extending this idea even further, A&G opened its own production studio inside the third space. Initially more of a closed environment for clients to come into, the studio has evolved to welcome the wider community and non-profit organisations looking to shoot, with A&G always nearby to lend a hand if needed.

Andrew adds that none of A&G’s continued momentum and success would be possible without the passion and commitment of his team. “That's probably the most important part of this. They're the ones who show up early, they'll stay late, they ask the harder questions, push for better answers, and they're honestly – if there's anything I can say about my team – obsessed with helping clients punch above their weight and, frankly, win.”

Driven by that longstanding “entrepreneurial spirit”, Andrew emphasises the joy of independence, of being able to “answer to ourselves”, and tackle challenges with “a lot of hustle and a tonne of heart.”

Far from a midlife crisis, A&G is celebrating 40, embracing change and looking to the future. Andrew sums it up, saying, “We’re 40 years young, not 40 years old.”