Indie Agency News (IAN) supports the independent agency world through news, content, learning and, critically, a community built into the platform (think Fishbowl meets LinkedIn, but for indies).
Our brief is simple: Build the global home for independent agencies.
The mission? Serve independent agencies and the brilliant people behind them.
The intention? Visibility for indies. Discovery for marketers.
It’s probably best to explain this via FAQs, so here it goes.
Cool. I dig it. And the brief and mission make sense. But is there anything else?
Yep. We have maxims that help us stay focused:
- Service first. Service second. Service always.
- Play offense for indies at all times to raise their visibility, especially with brands and marketers.
- Start with human, and the rest takes care of itself.
- Make it fun. Always.
- The indie agency community decides.
- We are in the business of developing personal, professional and industry growth.
- Support the trades and the talented people there.
- Ignore the rules because there are none.
- The work we do makes a difference for someone.
- Give brands and marketers good reasons to look this way.
Why did you start this?
We saw an opportunity to serve the industry, including the hard-working journalists who cover agencies. That’s right. We’ll always give credit and collaborate whenever possible.
The big thing is that we want to raise up indies and have some fun along the way. That’s why this is a platform to bring everyone together to thrive.
What’s the content? And how do we pitch you?
Indie Agency News members can simply log in and go to the Member Resources page to get started. If you’re not yet a member, please start here.
This may be a little different than what you’re used to, but it helps us:
- Keep things very organized (there are two of us running this thing, and a parade of emails is a big uff da)
- Make quicker decisions on pitches
- Develop better processes for you
Our main content franchises include:
- Meet an Indie Agency
- A weekly focus on an independent agencies telling their stories and why brands should work with them (see example here)
- #indiework Live
- Digging into some of the great work coming from indies in a fun livestream format (see example here)
- #indiethinking
- Livestreams on current industry issues through the indie lens (see example here)
- Op-eds done live to show the unique passion and smarts of indie agency people (see example here)
- Fun + Games
- We’re creating a playground where indie agency talent can stretch out, get a little creative oxygen and have some fun.
- Monday Morning Radio
- Music and talk! Join us Mondays for a dose of fun, old-school radio-style.
A massively important part of IAN is the social platform built into the desktop version of the site. Get off of Fishbowl. Create, interact with and follow public or private groups on a range of industry topics crucial to indies.
Connect with other members and build meaningful relationships and connections.
You were an editor at Adweek and The Drum—and you’re pals with many of these trade pub folks. Won’t this put a burr in their saddles?
Ah, you asked about the elephant in the room: being a competitor. Glad you did.
On one level, yes. On another, not really. We will support the indie (jargon word coming up!) ecosystem, including other publications. This is about super-serving an essential part of the industry—and one that we love.
Here’s a very specific example:
Let’s say that you pitch us something that we think is juicy. We may say, “you really should pitch this to bigger pubs.” When you’re a corporate member, it’s something that we can help advise you on. Specifically, we can do a mini-consult to get your pitch tighter.
Whether it lands on our pages first or not, we want you to succeed.
There are additional consulting services available, but this is another way we serve members.
So, you’re working with the trades?
“Collaborating” is a better term. We’re allies of the trades, and plan on highlighting indie agency stories that land in other publications. And we plan to give the hard-working journalists the full credit they deserve (and we hope you’re supporting them with subscriptions).
I see a lot of the word “livestreaming” here
Yep. Think of us as more of a broadcast model. We’ll do plenty of writing, but the majority is via live media.
Awards?
Yep. The Indie Agency News Top 40 arrives right after Cannes Lions. And we’re making it one of the easiest entry processes in the business.
Live events?
Oh yes. We love getting into our member markets. Get in touch with us about putting something together.
What’s the membership model?
Our goal is to be overwhelmingly majority member-led, allowing us to create and serve the audience.
The full agency package gives you the full breadth and depth of services, while individual memberships give you access to the site and platform.
Everyone at the agency gets a login, which is a pretty decent deal once you break the numbers down.
Take a peek at what that looks like here.
Sponsorships?
Yep. But we’re not going to do typical stuff. Any advertising on the platform must serve the business and growth goals of members and the indie agency community.
How do we get in touch?
Hit us up