These 4 Brooklyn agencies are killing it right now: an industry insider’s take

Agencies are going through a bit of an identity crisis, says Lindsey Slaby.
A partner at Dumbo-based Sunday Dinner, which connects brands with a select network of agencies and independent marketers through (you guessed it) dinner events, Slaby spent the summer visiting 50 agencies throughout the U.S. to get a sense for the industry.
“Almost no one is feeling comfortable in their current skin,” she wrote in a post on Medium about her findings.
Read the post
The general consensus, she told Technical.ly via email, is that it’s no longer enough to build standalone sites to market a particular project or service.

“Those who were doing microsites of the $350,000 to $650,000 range, that work is gone,” she wrote. 

So how do agencies stay ahead of the game?
Slaby suggests that the key is thinking about developing products, rather than simply campaigns: “Personally, I believe in true product companies that build platforms and business models from beginning to distribution,” she wrote.
That could take the form of marketing-focused websites or apps, but also standalone digital services that aren’t necessarily tied to other offerings. Basically, an agency that thinks like a startup. For instance, Work & Co, a digital studio in Dumbo, redeveloped Virgin America’s site two years ago, in what Wired called “the first radical rethinking of the flight booking experience in a decade.”
And how is the industry in Brooklyn faring? Slaby told Technical.ly via email that it’s not immune to the challenges she outlined in her post, but there are several small- to medium-sized agencies in the borough that are doing excellent work.
Here’s who she singled out:

• Work & Co: “Hands down, they have the best talent in the industry. And amazing retention. They have a clear vision, and their unique way of building teams brings the client into the process, which I believe breaks down many potential issues of value and communication that surface in non-collaborative agency-client relationships. I applaud everything they are doing.”
• Midnight Commercial, a technology studio in Fort Greene: “[It] focuses on inventing future state experiences in physical spaces. This is a group helmed by MIT Media Lab graduate Jamie Zigelbaum, who is nothing short of brilliant. This is a non-traditional group who gives very deep consideration to the work they do and has quietly been the secret weapon for many Fortune 100 companies looking to design future experiences and products.”
• Imprint Projects, a digital agency in Clinton Hill: “They combine influencer, social, creative technology and activism into their very smart productions. This is a group doing things their own way, with large brands like Nike and Levi’s, to name a few, and creating work people talk about. Many would think it’s the work of a larger agency. I love the way they have really carved their own path.”
• Hugo & Marie, a creative design and artist-representation studio in Dumbo: “Their approach to design with influential and non-traditional ‘advertising’ designers has allowed them to fill a market need and create unique revenue streams for artists. They are just on another level, and the model they have built feels natural, but is actually quite modern in the general landscape of available agencies.”