Growing an Agency at the Intersection of Business, Culture, and New Ideas
Results are king at creative performance agency King Street Media
After 5 years in business, Toronto-based creative performance agency King Street Media has set out to define a new age of business partnership.
The company’s vision is to change the way businesses, agencies and talent work together. They hope to re-invent the business-agency relationship — creating a new standard for the industry.
There are over 22,000 agencies within North America — many of which are run the same way. King Street Media and their new-school millennial leadership team is actively trying to change the way agencies partner with clients and harness their team to create work that truly has an impact.
The company is doing this in 3 main ways.
True business partnership
When it comes to serving clients, the team knows the difference between performance and a performance.
“We know the results our clients are looking for — and we’re willing to bet with them that our strategies and our work will get us where we both need to be,” says Managing Partner Anthony Chiaravalloti.
The traditional agency-client service model is often costly, overhead-intensive, and centered on the agency, not the client, which erodes trust. A Forbes article on the future or agency models argued that “in many agencies today, there are whole levels of people whose job is to essentially sit around and wait to approve or disapprove someone else’s work.”
This is a problem because in the modern fast-evolving world of technology, added administrative fees are becoming antequited with automations and software backed by artificial intelligence.
“This all adds to the client’s returns and margins” says Chiaravalloti. “If we win, our clients win.”
Entrepreneurial spirit
The performance-based model applies to the internal workings of the agency as well. Not only do team members pitch for the projects they feel best suited for, but in many cases their compensation is also aligned with our clients’ overall business performance.
The agency fosters a dynamic working environment allowing team members to work across multiple divisions, experiment with their own ideas, and even create their own practices within the company.
“Unlike most work environments, where employees are told where, when and how to work on things, and at what price — King Street values having entrepreneurs within the company acting in a free-market that is governed by fair rules and a true meritocracy,” Chiaravalloti explains.
This meritocracy rewards talent, skill and outcome — regardless of age or experience climbing the corporate ladder.
“We believe that if we empower our team members to be accountable to the client’s outcomes and ultimately their goals. A happy client, makes a happy team, makes a happy company — not the other way around”, shares Director of Accounts and Partner Mark Simone.
“King Street Street is on a mission to harness the entrepreneurial spirit to foster a community where talent translates into business growth and prosperity.”
Nimble and multidisciplinary project management
King Street Media’s full scope and digital integration allows for a multidisciplinary team to come together using their KSM Way™ project management process. Their performance-based model and adaptive creative process sets the agency apart.
As a creative performance agency King Street leads with a consultative approach, identifying key underlying issues and developing strategies that solve those issues to win. Not only does the agency have ideas and plans, they can also integrate into a client’s business and ensure those ideas turn into reality, unlike many other creative agencies.
“For our clients’ best interest, we believe agencies should take a holistic, brand-first approach. This includes periods of exploration, stakeholder engagement and multidisplianry creative thinking — which doesn’t work with too many rigid, outdated processes,” shares Director of Strategy and Partner Daniel Francavilla.
“Rather than focusong solely on individual tactics or aesthics, we think holistically to build brand equity, create conections and foster community.”
“Creative strategies, plans and execution — with actual impactful business results as our North Star isn’t the standard, but is here at King Street,” concludes Chiaravalloti.
Media Contact:
Daniel Francavilla, Partner & Director of Strategy
daniel@kingstreetmedia.ca
647-893-7504
