Today, we launch Custom, Digiday Media’s creative content agency. When we launched its first iteration the Digiday Content Studio four years ago, our mission was clear: Help tech companies drowning in colorless marketing speak and technical jargon to communicate in a more human way.
Back then, Digiday Media was still in its infancy, nine people in a tiny office on Greenwich Street in New York City. Nick Friese did what a CEO should do. He encouraged us to say “yes” first and “how” second. Brian Morrissey, our editor-in-chief, crafted a new editorial vision for this business community—no hype, no cheerleading, just honesty. Our mantra was “Quality over quantity. Honesty, not spin.”
That rallying cry was infectious. By bringing a sharp editorial focus to our coverage and our events, we brought together a community. Savvy, digitally curious brand marketers, agency executives and publishing professionals met the tech companies that wanted to reach them – a powerful nexus for defining the future of an industry.
Living at that intersection has taught us a lot about the unique needs, opinions and challenges of some of the most influential people in media and marketing. What we’ve learned is that Digiday isn’t just a media company. It’s an ecosystem. And that ecosystem is full of life, teeming with different schools of thought, cultural undercurrents and some of the most culturally influential consumers available to B2B and B2C marketers.
That’s why we’re launching Custom, a creative content agency with instant access to intelligence about the people, business and culture of tech disrupted industries. True to our Digiday roots, our new agency is putting a human spin on brand-building for businesses.
We’re turning our backs on the stilted marketing speak that casts our audience as “decision makers” and “users” and inundates them with vectors, specs and ROI. Instead, we’ll remind our clients that first and foremost, their “targets” are people. And people like funny, cool, interesting marketing.
Inspired storytelling will still be at the heart of everything we do. We have a larger team of journalists and editors than ever. But we’ve added another layer: the addition of Adrianne Read, a creative director whose experience working on a cross-section of tech and consumer brands including Google, Yahoo, Cigna and Red Bull, will help us to give our clients a creative jolt.
So join Custom in creating the future of creative content.
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