Larry Agency’s first year. Where did we start from and where are we today?
Larry Agency turns one year old.
I must admit that writing this article was not exactly a walk in the park. This is the third version I’ve thrown down. Shall we call it“performance anxiety?” Let’s call it that.
Describing Larry’s first year is a bit like riding an emotional roller coaster, looking down and feeling in your stomach the adrenaline rush typical of those preparing to embark on a journey that is anything but ordinary.
I rewind the tape. A year ago, together with Gianfranco Zizzo and Valeria Marci of Sabanet (whom I consider my mentors), I put my signature on the official birth of Larry Agency.
I didn’t know exactly what would happen from that point on. I wondered how I would be able to be an inspiration to the team, to create new processes. Also, the bureaucracy? The administrative processes? In short, a dense throng of questions that far outnumbered the answers.
I remember that even before the fateful sealing in front of the notary, with Cindy Pedone and Stefania Altamore (with whom I had already shared 3 years, as we represented the all-female Sabanet Communications team that Biden scanned), we were already at work on Larry’s identity as the small but cozy 20sqm office took shape thanks to Viorel, who took care of all the details.
It’s January 31, 2022: Larry Agency, the Happy Branding Agency, sees the light of day, and if you’re curious as to why the adjective “happy,” I invite you to read the first blog article.
In February, Larry’s will be populated with Sara Calabrese (our romantic copywriter) and Gabriele Cometa (our gentleman web designer).
At first it was a muscle test, and while I was looking for “ The handbook of the perfect manager “, I collected a string of mistakes, as was to be expected. I spent days and nights wondering if I was holding the helm in the best way possible, I even shed more than a few tears because right from the start I felt on my shoulders the (positive) weight of those who entrust you with their dreams, devoured by the desire for redemption and to take their place in the world.
When you’re dealing with people and people are important to you-notwithstanding those who keep repeating without any knowledge that resources are the main entrepreneurial asset of “any” company-you have to put all this into consideration. If there is one thing I have learned to do-and which I did not do since I was spoiled by a view of work sweetened by that “never look back, always look ahead.” – was just turning around a lot, not to forget where I was coming from and to appreciate more the steps I was taking. What a struggle, though.
We always talk little about mistakes, yet I find the most uplifting aspect of a project is the failures and, above all else, the transformation of the people who are part of it.
Speaking of which, I saw Sara fall, peeling knees, getting angry and yet not giving up despite the fact that at times despondency prevailed. Today his suitcase is colorful, full of experiences, nuances, dark moments and happy moments. It is full of new awareness.
I’ve seen Gabriel convert insecurities into strengths (he’s still working on it); I even see him occasionally raise his hand to ask for help, and it’s a liberating gesture because, let’s face it, the team works when where one doesn’t come, the other does. Cindy and Stefania, as veteran as they are, have had to re-accustom themselves to a new normal by throwing blood and effort into closing jobs in impossible times. Today we inhabit an expanded microcosm, which has also become “home” for Mattia Murianni (the other graphic designer), Giulia Lacava and Serena Fornaro.
In short, we have made great strides, even though we are small, even though we are in our infancy, even though we are number 2 (to quote one of the most beautiful Marketing campaigns in history, that of Avis). We do not aspire to be better or perfect, and we have abolished from our narrative the rhetoric of the high-performing agency at all costs. Our greatest privilege, after 365 days of honored service, is to be able to proudly flaunt our identity: solid, powerful, unique.
We understood that our skill (and I don’t mean technical skills in the strict sense, for those there is the “services” page of the website) is tell stories with disruptive creativity, stories we identify with because we are convinced that Communication is not a trivial succession of social posts, but rather is an interminable journey.
On the other hand, big brands teach us that it is the stories that make the difference.
Brand values, identity, and vision, however intangible, represent an invaluable cultural heritage. In our still short but busy agency life, there is no room for the gurus of the 10 things to do to make money as fast as possible.
Larry does not need shortcuts or foolproof methods. Larry needs to feel free to make his voice heard and to“re-write” some chapters of Communication and Branding with his retro and innovative style with which he turns the ferocity of ambition into energy.
When we communicate, we have a big responsibility: to choose the right words that define us and define who we are.
Do you know what our main challenge has been since we started this adventure? Simplify .
Bruno Munari wrote: “Complicating is easy, simplifying is difficult. To complicate just add, whatever you want: colors, shapes, actions, decorations, characters, environments full of things. Everyone is capable of complicating. Few are able to simplify.
To simplify you have to take away, and to take away you have to know what to take away, as the sculptor does when he chisels away from the stone boulder all that extra material from the sculpture he wants to make.
To take away rather than to add is to recognize the essence of things and to communicate them in their essentiality. Yet, when people are confronted with certain expressions of simplicity or essentiality they inevitably say, “I can do that too,” intending not to value simple things, because at that point they become almost obvious. Actually, when people say that phrase they mean they can do it again, otherwise they would have done it before. Simplification is the sign of intelligence; an ancient Chinese saying goes, “what cannot be said in a few words cannot be said in many.”
Happy first year Larry, happy first year team!
Yours, Stefania
The photo is by Toast Studio
