It’s not just about doing effective, award-winning work for clients. It’s about creating a positive agency culture and making it a place that people feel great coming to everyday. It’s about building opportunities for people to make things and establishing a nurturing, creative space where people can be fearless.
“The Listening Cloud”
The Listening Cloud was started at my former agency, RPA, under the guise of, “I wonder if we can.’ Well, we did. The Cloud's custom software extracts real-time data from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram's public APIs, and "sends a command through a wireless bridge to LEDs inside the cloud." The Listening Cloud lights in red for every Facebook 'Like,' blue for every Twitter mention and purple for every Instagram mention. The Cloud, however, is not strictly limited to ad agency clients, and can be programmed to respond and "listen to" other real-time feeds. By inputting Justin Bieber, for example, the cloud aptly looks like an ominous storm hovering over the horizon.
“Listening Cloud” case study
“The Give Back Bike”
Santa Monica weather is arguably some of the best in the world, so it’s no surprise that a lot of folks at RPA like to ride bikes. The Giveback Bike was a way for RPA associates to do just that, and to make every mile matter. Each mile ridden was matched with $1 from RPA. Each dollar earned went towards a bike to be donated to a local child in need. We partnered with Helen's Cycles, created a video, identity, checkout system, website and social sharing.
“Give Back Bike” case study
Ethan gets a new bike, courtesy of RPA.
“RPA Student Hours”
We wanted to give design and advertising students the opportunity to get feedback from real marketing professionals. In the same way teachers offer Office Hours, we started Student Hours, where associates from our creative and strategy departments set aside time to talk with students about their work…and about working in advertising.
It was also a good strategy for meeting talented students and introducing them to RPA.
“GIMI-5: The High-Fiving Robot”
Someone at RPA had the crazy idea of creating a high-fiving robot to bring to SXSW, the intersection of humanity, technology and social media. So we found the funding, brought in our tech wizards, and paved the way to make it and send GIMI-5 (and its inventor) to Austin.
“GIME-5” case study
“Summer Concert Series”
Every Thursday at RPA, every summer, an up-and-coming band plays our patio while we mingled and took a break from work. It also gives our creative department a chance to flex their muscles on amazing concert posters (which have actually netted several design awards).
