Circus Maximus is an NYC-based creative agency founded in 2013 by veteran creative director Ryan Kutscher of Burger King “Whopper Freakout” fame.
Their work with brands including Justworks, Smartwater, JET.com, and American Express, has grabbed the attention of many admirers. The agency, which was awarded a Gold Advertising Age Small Agency Award — calls itself the anti-establishment agency, as they push against traditional agency models with one that collapses strategy, creative, and production under one roof. They’ve become a go-to agency for startups, having worked most recently on the widely-seen subway campaign for JustWorks, New York’s second fastest growing start up.
Check out their recent work for Nuelle here:. www.legalizev.com
DIVERGE talked to the CEO Ryan Kutscher to find out more about Circus Maximus
What made you start Circus Maximus?
I didn’t want to work for a big agency any more, and I saw what I thought was an opportunity to create a startup that could capitalize on new technology, trends and such to come up with great ideas for clients.
Why is it the anti-ad agency? Is that what makes you unique?
I don’t know if we’re the anti-ad agency. If we believe the saying that being safe is the most risky course of action, then we’re in line with that. There seems like a big opportunity right now with young, potentially exciting companies that need to develop brands. For example, the mattress category. There’s casper. But there’s also helix, hyphen, tuft & needle, somzi, and others. The world can probably support a couple of them, but they’re going to need unique voices. And right now I can’t tell you the difference. There are fantastic, smart, analytical businesses being born, but they lack this idea of a soul, or personality. The startup community is wary of the advertising community. Or they think they can do it themselves. But there is a very big need for a smart way for us to come together. That’s the agency we want to be.
Who are some of the clients you are working with currently?
Justworks, Nuelle, Adyen. We’re working with Boston Beer a little, and we have many irons in the fire, but I’m not sure what the status of our NDA’s and so on are. Maybe we leave it at that.
How important is diversity to your company?
Look, all creative people inherently understand that diverse perspectives, attitudes, and ideas are the ingredients for the most compelling results. It’s the Sly and the Family Stone formula. For example, we created a campaign for Nuelle (With an overwhelmingly female team from creative to production, I think there were only 2 or 3 men out of maybe 30 people) called “Legalize Vagina.” It was born from an insight about how women are “allowed” to market and be marketed to, which laddered up to a social movement. It resonated with people of all walks of life because it said look, the way we’re restricting women’s free speech affects us all. It got picked up by the Chicago Tribune, Fast company, and others. But at the same time we try not to make the mistake of thinking that diversity is a product in and of itself. It’s the best practice to get to the best work, simple as that.
Any special benefits for employees (pto, diversity initiatives, extended maternity leave, etc?)
So much of our model employs entrepreneurs and contract workers who are doing their own thing. So the biggest advantage we offer to creative people is a schedule that works with their other interests. Or I supposed with maternity/paternity. We’re figuring it out. For so long the model has been gathering as many people in the same place. But we’re the opposite. We let people work from wherever. We have employees in the UK, in Ireland, in Boston, Boulder, Miami. LA sometimes. Upstate New York. Geographical freedom. That said, in our office we have a fun thing we call the Commitness To Fitness, which is a crossfit thing we invite people to join us in doing. Preventative healthcare, folks. Trust me, that’s the way to go.
Can you talk a little about your career/background? What are some of your favorite projects that you have worked on?
Yeah, I got really lucky to work at CP+B in the early 2000’s when 2 things happened. First the rise of digital, which gave me a perfect way into the business. So I learned to approach ideas that way. And the second was just this crazy wave of success at that agency that brought me opportunity after opportunity. Burger King was a lot of fun. Volkswagen. I have really enjoyed some aspect of everything, because the other operating mentality that I was given was to remain delusionally optimistic. So I try to find the good in everything. I mean, I bitch and moan with the best of them. But it’s because I think we can do something amazing every time and I get disappointed when we don’t try.
What do you hope to accomplish with your agency in the next year or so?
I’ma sell this mofo for like 100 mill, dog. No, I think we’d love to build a roster of inspirational clients that give us the gift of going to a job we really love every day.
Can you share what others can look forward to from Circus Maximus in 2017?
Ideally more provocative, but fun work. Or a fire sale of office supplies when we go out of business. I’m kind of kidding, but we’re a small business, and them’s the brakes.
For more of their work, check out their creative reel.
CM_Reel_2016 from Circus Maximus on Vimeo.
