AKQA Veterans Launch 'Untraditional' Agency, Said Differently

Many newly launched agencies claim to do things differently and “unconventionally,” and that assertion is not dissimilar for Said Differently, an agency started by a couple of AKQA veterans. In their case, however, the claim seems to be true. Said Differently was founded by former AKQA managing directors Rachel Barek and Brian Skahan just as the pandemic reimagined how agencies worked. Their model seemed fit for the new requirements of the era, since it had no real home office and looked to a pool of 3,000 specialists around the globe to create curated teams, combined with new technologies, to solve client problems. According to Barek and Skahan, they created Said Differently to offer a more cost-efficient and relevant way to work during and post-pandemic. The agency selects an integrated team of specialists to meet specific client goals, under a single point of strategic management. “There are a few differentiating factors with Said Differently, the first being that we don’t have the two biggest liabilities agencies have on their books—real estate or FTEs,” Barek told Adweek. “Said Differently is 100% distributed. More specifically, the organization is roughly 80% freelance 20% staff—and that is our ideal ratio to maintain.” Barek and Skahan had the idea for the distributed agency model before the pandemic, looking to eliminate overhead and real estate while seeking out the best talent, regardless of location. Covid-19’s necessity to work remotely accelerated the new work model. “We thought we would have to sell clients and procurement hard on the merits of distributed work. But because of Covid, and the fact that we all look the same behind a Zoom screen, the last year’s challenges may have gotten us to where we are now, faster,” said Barek. To bring clients on board, Barek and Skahan consult directly to figure out the best team to bring on board. They then use technology like Virtual AOR and Team Design to blend their teams of specialists and studios with the clients’ in-house teams. Barek said the agency works with the smallest team design in the shortest timeline possible, in part because some of the agency’s people are not committed fully at 40 hours per week. “Many are working parents, bright young talent that only wants to work part-time or on projects that create social impact, and more,” she said. Elias Akantour, founder of ENV.Studio, which is one of Said Differently’s partners, said in a statement: “What we appreciate most about partnering with Said Differently is that Rachel and Brian are extremely hands-on and know how we work and what projects are the right fit. Their approach removes the inefficiencies that many projects have in briefing and feedback loops.” To broaden the talent base, Skahan said that he and Barek have long-standing professional relationships with many small specialty agencies, freelancers and self-organizing collectives—and they vet referrals to build them into the agency network. “Our end goal is to design a team where the sum of the parts is greater than the individual contributions,” said Skahan. The new model seems to be working. Said Differently has already landed a solid core of clients, including the National Democratic Training Committee, tech startup WorkReduce, fashion platform True Fit, Crisp and End Well. “Each Said Differently client is unique and every single strategy and team we develop is bespoke. The right dynamic of agency and client teams is the difference,” said Skahan. Said Differently is not the only agency to adopt a freelance networking model. Pltfrmr (pronounced “Platformer”) launched late last year as a creative consulting firm with just a few employees and a "talent cloud" of freelancers. Other recently launched agencies operating remotely utilize freelancers on a more limited basis to round out existing teams as needed while they scale, including Gerry Graf's Slap Global and Colossus, a Boston agency launched by veterans of Arnold, CPB, Digitas and The Martin Agency.