Smaller is Superior
From the onset, the Madison Avenue dream was a large office, spanning several floors, in skyscrapers overlooking the bustling streets below. But is that the best way to connect with clients and consumers? We don’t think so.
That very thought is at the foundation of Street Level Studio. We never want to be “high-and-mighty”—we will always be at ground level, both literally and figuratively. A repurposed, one-story building puts us at street level, right in the thick of day-to-day life in the suburban streets of Highwood. We’re not hustling alongside unfamiliar faces: we know the neighborhood and its story as well as the shop owners and their stories. We are a part of this community, and these relationships keep us grounded.
Generally speaking, it’s easy for large agencies to get caught up in the politics of internal and external competition. Whether it’s award season or comparing creative approaches, at the end of the day, large agencies tend to focus on recognition. For smaller agencies, such as Street Level Studio, our drive is client success stories. When our creative solutions increase interactions and ROI, we know our clients have won, and that means we have too.
Our team has a varied background when it comes to marketing experience. Some of us have spent years in advertising agencies, from global companies to one-person freelance shops, while others have come from in-house marketing teams and have held very similar positions to you. That means we have lived your daily struggles and use that experience to execute the big ideas for which large agencies are known.
Large agencies, like large corporations, tend to have a large variety of departments with siloed tasks. While it’s great to be an expert in one area of choice and beneficial for businesses to create teams of focused specialists, small agencies tend to take a different approach. At Street Level Studio, our modest team of 16 chooses to be well-rounded gurus. Each member has a niche he or she is extremely well versed in, but individuals can just as easily jump from one task to another and lend a helping hand to meet tight deadlines. A more fluid, collaborative workflow like ours ends up saving time, while our diverse group of “hands on deck” contributors facilitate a variety of conversations that lead to a stronger solution.
We pride ourselves on being a small agency with big agency skills and ideas. We’re proud to be relatable and well-rounded. We’re also happy to say that the furthest from ground level we’ll ever be is on a stepladder changing a lightbulb.
