A Different Kind of Agency

Sitting in the Debussy, cold and a little tired, I watched David Baldwin explain to me what my future could be.  He didn’t know I was sitting there. He didn’t know he’d told me exactly what I wanted to hear when I hadn’t even known what it was I wanted to hear. I tried to talk to him afterwards, but he got called backstage and I didn’t run into him later at the festival. Of course I’ll email him, but this will be separate, formal, normal, not the ephemeral magic of hearing a version of your perfect future laid out.

David Baldwin is the founder and CEO of Baldwin& an independent agency operating out of Raleigh, North Carolina.  It is a self-described “hybrid branding/digital/advertising/mobile/social media thingy.”  It works for brands such as BMW and Burt’s Bees and was awarded small agency of the year by Advertising Age, a coveted prize in the USA, within a few years of its beginning.

The presentation Baldwin gave somehow managed to be humble even though it was entirely centered on the work of the agency.  It was self-deprecating.  He talked about their work and showed a few case studies, but mostly he talked about their policies. This is what appealed to me most.  He said they didn’t like to define jobs, a common theme at the festival, because it limited only creatives to being creative. The work they do they try not to categorize. It’s a sort of catch-all agency making ads, films, websites, social profiles, outdoor events, art, connections, and communication. 

Then he explained that they only took clients whose goals they supported. The only way they could do their work effectively was if they believed in what the client was doing. They never took business they couldn’t stand behind.  And that was the moment I thought: I could work there. That doesn’t mean I’m going to or even that it’s the right place for me.  But before hearing this I had pretty much crossed agency work off my list for future jobs.  I never want to end up at an agency where I’d have to do work for a company I don’t support. It’s bad enough that I already buy things from brands that aren’t socially sustainable, like Nike and Wal-Mart, I don’t need to help them get even more money than they already have.  I don’t want to wake up in fifty years and realize I dedicated my life selling the next version of the cigarette.  So I’ve been thinking of doing in-house PR work for a non-profit I support (because there are plenty of problems I have with some of those as well).  I’ve been trying out some internships in local non-profits, but it all seems a bit pell-mell, and it’s hard to get people to understand what exactly public relations is and how each department can use it to their advantage.  At least at an agency people have some vague idea that you’re making communication for a series of brands.

Hearing Baldwin say that his agency only takes work it supports was really important to me.  Maybe Baldwin& isn’t the right place for me, maybe the work I support wouldn’t line up with the work they did, but at least I know that some agencies operate like this.   At least I know I can expand where I’m looking in my search for a career that offers a way to make a positive impact on society to include agencies again.