In a recent conversation with Lee Kantor on the “Women in Motion” podcast, Tamara Keller, co-founder of The Sax Agency, shared insights about her journey and unique approach that makes her marketing, branding, and advertising agency stand out. Located in Los Angeles, The Sax Agency prides itself on merging creative flair with meticulous process management, ensuring client satisfaction and impactful results.
From Engineering to Entrepreneurship: An Unexpected Path
Tamara’s path to entrepreneurship wasn’t straightforward. With a background in engineering and a stint in the consulting world, she developed a knack for critical thinking and problem-solving. However, her desire for a more people-oriented career led her to business school and eventually to co-founding The Sax Agency.
Balancing Creativity and Process
Tamara highlighted how her dual-brained approach—equally right-brained (creative) and left-brained (analytical)—benefits The Sax Agency. While creativity drives the agency’s innovative campaigns, a robust process ensures these ideas are executed on time, within budget, and to the client’s satisfaction.
Tailored Solutions Over One-Size-Fits-All
Tamara emphasized the importance of treating each project as unique. Unlike larger consulting firms with pre-packaged solutions, The Sax Agency tailors its strategies to meet the specific needs and goals of each client, ensuring a bespoke solution that truly addresses the client’s challenges.
Flexible Yet Structured
When asked about go-to processes for creative endeavors, Tamara stressed the importance of flexibility. While some project management styles and discovery call techniques are consistent, the agency avoids a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach. Each client’s needs and challenges are treated as unique, allowing for innovative and effective solutions.
Deep Discovery and Listening
Tamara explained that The Sax Agency’s onboarding process involves deep discovery sessions, often including focus groups with various stakeholders. This thorough approach helps uncover the real issues behind a client’s initial request, leading to more comprehensive and effective solutions.
Drawing an analogy from “The Simpsons,” Tamara described their approach as “listening to the notes that aren’t being played.” This means looking beyond the surface-level issues clients present and identifying deeper, underlying problems that need to be addressed for long-term success.
Serving Purpose-Driven Brands
The Sax Agency’s sweet spot is working with purpose-driven brands that aim to impact communities of color. Whether it’s increasing college enrollment among underrepresented populations or providing education resources to underserved communities, the agency focuses on projects that drive meaningful change.
Multicultural and Digital Marketing
The Sax Agency excels in multicultural and polycultural marketing, providing end-to-end strategy and consulting. They also have a strong emphasis on digital marketing, ensuring clients thrive in the digital space while not neglecting traditional marketing methods.
The agency ensures that a brand’s visual and verbal expression resonates with its audience, creating a cohesive and compelling brand identity. Additionally, they specialize in experiential marketing, crafting memorable experiences that drive the brand message home authentically.
Building an Advisory Board & Connecting with The Sax Agency
Looking forward, The Sax Agency aims to double its team size and develop an advisory board to support its growth. This expansion will help distribute the workload and maintain the high level of service clients expect.
To learn more about The Sax Agency and explore potential collaborations, visit their website at www.thesaxagency.com. Tamara and her team are committed to delivering creative, impactful, and well-executed marketing solutions for purpose-driven brands.
Tamara Keller’s journey and The Sax Agency’s approach exemplify the power of combining creativity with structured processes. Their dedication to purpose-driven projects and holistic problem-solving makes them a standout in the marketing industry. To listen to Tamara’s full story, click this link: https://businessradiox.com/podcast/women-in-motion/turning-action-into-advocacy/
About Women’s Business Enterprise Council-West (WBEC-West)
WBEC-West is a regional partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a coalition of corporations, WBEs, and regionally focused women’s business organizations. As an affiliate organization, WBEC-West implements the certification standards of WBENC throughout Arizona, Colorado, Southern California, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Hawaii, and Guam. WBENC is the largest certifier of women’s business enterprises in the U.S. and a leading advocate for women business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs. WBENC certification is nationally recognized and accepted by more than 10,000 major corporations. We also support corporations in their efforts to include WBENC Certified WBEs in their supply chain.
