Jax Beach Ad Agency Earns National Recognition
Author: Florida-Times Union
Jacksonville Beach-based Adjective & Co. is building a strong case for being known as one of the best boutique branding agencies in the country, and their culture seems to be a contributing factor to their award-winning work.
In the June issue of Inc. magazine, Adjective & Co. was named one of the top 50 companies to work for in the entire nation for the second year in a row — regardless of size or industry.
On June 8, the forward-thinking agency took home six coveted Gold National ADDY Awards — the industry’s highest honor — for their branding and design work on Whalebone Magazine.
National ADDY Award winners were honored in Chicago at the American Advertising Awards ceremony. The winners were selected from more than 34,000 entries nationwide that won at local and regional levels before advancing to the national competition. Adjective shared the spotlight with some of the largest agencies in the world and some of the most successful advertising work of 2018, including top Super Bowl commercials for clients like Doritos and Mountain Dew.
These recent wins bring Adjective’s grand total to more than 60 ADDYs in the past four years — 50 of which were golds.
The award-winning work seems to be a direct reflection of their creative-focused approach and people-first culture.
“To receive this kind of recognition in the same month from names like Inc. magazine and the American Advertising Federation is such an honor and tells us we’re doing something right,” said Taylor Harkey, co-founder and executive creative director. “The advertising industry has started to notice and respect us, and they’re noticing Jacksonville along with it. It never gets old seeing the words ‘Jacksonville Beach’ at the award shows right next to LA, Austin and New York. We get some head turns, for sure.”
The boutique agency’s success is also validating Jacksonville as a thriving creative community.
“With their six gold national ADDY wins, Adjective & Co. has cemented themselves as a powerhouse in the design category with their client, Whalebone Magazine,” said Susan Jang, president of American Advertising Federation (AAF) Jacksonville. “Putting our city amongst the New Yorks and San Franciscos of the advertising world is not only a win for them, but a win for Jacksonville.
As the new president of AAF Jacksonville, I cannot wait to see what Adjective will come up with next and their impact on local creatives and culture in the years to come,” Jang said.
Adjective’s culture has been getting just as much attention as their work. They now have 16 team members with a majority of them being full-time employees working from their Jacksonville Beach headquarters and a few in their satellite office in New York. Some of their more unusual employee perks include: unlimited vacation, monthly allowance for anything that “makes work life better,” flexible work hours, no timesheets (very atypical in advertising), a company credit card, and full transparency in regards to the agency’s business goals and financials.
The company also takes annual team trips and offers summer Fridays, in addition to all of the traditional benefits such as retirement-plan matching and healthcare insurance. Their open-concept office overlooks the ocean, and one of the only four walls in the workspace is a giant collage of inspiring visuals chosen by individual team members.
“There are a lot of great places to work out there,” said Autumn Berrang, Adjective’s co-founder. “But a business that truly trusts its team members is hard to find. When you have a team of people you trust, you can offer things other companies can’t offer and create work that other people can’t create.
“Our culture is built on transparency with our team and trusting them to do what’s right for our clients and us, and we think that’s what makes us such an amazing place to work,” Berrang said.
According to Harkey, the team feels like it has established a strong balance of freedom and responsibility, which empowers them to work how they choose while still maintaining extremely high standards.
“We give a lot, but we also expect a lot. We never just set out to be the best in Jacksonville, or even the best in the country,” Harkey said. “We set out to push the boundaries of how brands engage with the next generation of consumers, and to rethink the way things have always been done.
“We’ve been selective about who we let into the Adjective family, be it clients or team members, and all of them must subscribe to the fact that ‘good enough’ is never good enough,” he said.
Founded in 2013 by Autumn Berrang and Taylor Harkey, Adjective & Co. specializes in brand strategy, branding and design, advertising, social media and web design/development. Notable clients include the New York Islanders, THE PLAYERS, Ascension St. Vincent’s Healthcare, Whalebone Media and ICEMULE Coolers. Learn more at AdjectiveandCo.com.