We're Not We're a
Of course we use AI. But it doesn’t define us.
We’ve seen this dog-and-pony show before. Back in 2014, every agency wanted to be a digital agency, so they called themselves just that. Left and right, creative and branding agencies rushed to fit square pegs in round holes and rebrand as “digital” regardless if that was true to who they really were and what they were capable of. Well, history sure does love to repeat itself, and the AI revolution is no exception.
As the agency landscape becomes increasingly AI-centric, we’ve worked methodically to incorporate emerging technologies while redefining best practices with a human-centered, augmented intelligence approach: embracing innovation while staying true to the theoretical framework behind what drives real results in performance marketing.
If you look around our office, you’ll see analysts diving deep into campaign data. Media buyers orchestrating strategies across channels. Writers distilling complex brand messages into magnetic headlines. Designers transforming concepts into scroll-stopping visuals. Performance specialists debating audience segments and mapping user journeys on the whiteboard.
And yes, there is AI – helping us predict user behavior, optimize bidding more effectively, write ad copy faster, create videos with stronger hooks, spot patterns in mountains of data, synthesize consumer behavior patterns into actionable growth strategies.
But calling us an AI agency would be like calling a surgeon a ‘scalpel expert’ or a chef a ‘stove specialist.’ It’s not just about the tools. It’s about the results. It all centers on the performance.
We’re growth drivers, conversion architects, and ROI hunters who happen to have powerful new tools in our toolkit. AI isn’t our identity. It’s one set of instruments in our performance marketing arsenal that helps us to deliver exceptional results. We’re even building our own beta toolkit, AdPrism AI, to supercharge our performance marketing services. But we don’t consider ourselves an AI Agency, because we want to stay true to who we are and what our focus is: performance.
Your brand is nuanced. It’s complex. It has history. Yes, you can absolutely benefit from AI — but you need human insight and oversight at the helm. You need brilliant minds who’ve managed millions in ad spend driving results, who can spot an opportunity or a pitfall before it happens because of experience, not an algorithm that has none of that prior knowledge.
It can be tempting to opt into all the automation tools and AI enhancements available — the options are vast and varied. But even the best platforms with the most sophisticated technology can fail when machine learning is the only thing in the driver’s seat. Case in point: We ran ads for a Grammy-winning artist during a concert series this past year, and a social platform’s AI auto enhancement added a generic stock audio track of a different artist to the concert ad. Do you think a human would make that error? AI is amazing, but it hasn’t replaced strategic thought and sound judgement.
We’ve spent years obsessing over the theory that is the foundation of what we do. Why do consumers behave the way they do? How do they communicate? How does it differ across cultures, across regions? What messages resonate better, and why? Consumer behavior isn’t just about data points – it’s about understanding the intricate web of cultural contexts, communication patterns, and psychological triggers that drive decisions. When a campaign thrives in Miami but tanks in Minneapolis, or soars in Dallas but sinks in Denver, it’s rarely about the platform or the pixels. It’s about understanding the subtle cultural codes, communication norms, and social dynamics at play.
This deep theoretical foundation is what separates performance marketing from performative marketing. Yes, AI can help us analyze behavior patterns and optimize campaigns with unprecedented speed. But knowing which patterns matter, understanding why they exist, and predicting how they might shift across different cultural landscapes – that comes from years of studying human behavior and cross-cultural communication.
When we build campaigns, we’re not just looking at click-through rates and conversion metrics. We’re applying theories of social influence, cultural dimensions, and communication frameworks that have been tested and refined across continents and contexts.
Don’t get us wrong. AI is a game changer. A revolution. It has put us on a new frontier. And we’re using it every day. But AI should not be the soul of an agency. It’s a set of tools to help us make better decisions. So we can get you better results faster, and ideally, pass on cost savings to you over time. AI does not define who we are, but along with our varied expertise and experience, it enables us to help you be the best you can be.