Jon Sneider is the author of Hacking Advertising: How We Learned to Make Ads Without the Agency (And You Can Too). He also runs Wild Gravity, an award-winning creative production company based in Seattle, Washington.
Jon’s book describes an approach he’s perfected at Wild Gravity—in their own words, an “agile team of seasoned production professionals and extensive network of partners” who “produce world-class work at a fraction of the footprint and timeline of conventional shops.” I was curious to learn about Jon’s background, what led him to start Wild Gravity and write this book, and what advice he had for clients, agencies, and individuals in the advertising world.
Read on for all that and more, and be sure to stick around for Jon’s book/author recommendations, including work-related content and some fun mystery novels.
Jon’s background and how it informs his writing
What inspired you to write Hacking Advertising? What core problem in the advertising industry are you aiming to address?
I was inspired to write this book after two decades of watching brilliant creative people get bogged down in bureaucratic bullshit that doesn’t make the work better. The core problem is simple: the traditional agency model is broken. You’ve got agencies that don’t actually make the ads, production companies that can’t talk directly to clients, and a game of telephone that involves hundreds of people and millions of dollars to create work that gets watered down at every step. It shouldn’t have to be this hard.
Was there a pivotal moment or experience that heavily informed your point of view on the traditional agency model?
Absolutely. It was at Microsoft when my boss and I worked with a boutique agency and shot with Broken Lizard (the Super Troopers guys). We completely subverted the traditional process—no focus groups, no months of testing animatics. We shot three spots for less than what one spot cost with our big agency, and they all performed better when we ran them side-by-side. That’s when I realized we had “backed into the new model.” We could concept, shoot, edit, and test in-market faster and cheaper than the traditional route.
How did your background at companies like Microsoft and Redfin influence your views on advertising inefficiencies?
Working client-side at these companies showed me the inefficiencies from the inside. At Microsoft, I had a quarter-billion-dollar media budget and worked with the “Agency of the Decade,” but I was constantly frustrated by the process. At Redfin, my CEO wanted me to prove ROI by the week, which forced me to develop completely new ways of thinking about ad measurement. Both experiences showed me that clients really don’t need all the agency overhead—they need great creative that works.
Hacking Advertising: How We Learned to Make Ads Without the Agency (And You Can Too)
You advocate for combining creative and production under one roof. How does this approach differ from traditional models, and what advantages does it offer?
The traditional model has the agency concepting work they can’t make, then throwing it over the wall to a production company that had no input on the creative. It’s insane. When creative and production work together from the concept phase, you get several advantages: concepts that are actually makeable within budget, faster turnaround times, no miscommunication between teams, and creative that’s informed by production realities from day one. We don’t pitch work and then figure out how to make it—we only pitch work we know we can execute brilliantly.
I was inspired to write this book after two decades of watching brilliant creative people get bogged down in bureaucratic bullshit that doesn’t make the work better.”
—Jon Sneider
The book mentions the use of small teams of seasoned professionals. How do these teams operate differently from larger agency teams?
Small teams of pros move fast because there’s no hierarchy and no bureaucracy. Everyone has discrete job functions—producer, writer, director, editor, VFX artist. No confusion about roles. No six layers of account management playing telephone. When I was the client and wanted a change, I’d tell the account manager, who’d tell the account supervisor, who’d tell the project manager, who’d tell the associate creative director, who’d tell the designer. That’s not communication—that’s a recipe for mistakes and delays.
Can you elaborate on your “Five Magic Metrics” framework and how it shifts focus from vanity metrics to meaningful results?
The Five Magic Metrics are:
- Breakthrough;
- Brand/Product Recall;
- Message Recall;
- Likability; and
- Purchase Intent.
They form a cascading funnel—if you don’t break through, you can’t drive recall. If you don’t drive recall, you can’t drive purchase intent. GEICO nails all five metrics with every campaign, which is why they’re the most successful television advertiser. Most advertisers get distracted by vanity metrics when these five are all that matter for driving business results.
What are your top 3 takeaways from the book?
- You don’t need an ad agency to make world-class advertising. There’s a ton of stuff that the agency does that is not additive for the client. A lot of the work the agency does (and charges you for!) is not for the benefit of the client. It’s to the benefit of the agency.
- Real-world, in-market testing will always give you better results than focus group or pre-market testing. Don’t spend valuable time and money on those things. Make stuff and test it in the real world.
- By bypassing the old model, brands and agencies can make and save millions of dollars, get work into market faster, and generate better advertising creative by going straight to production.
Practical applications and outcomes
For brands considering moving away from traditional agencies, what initial steps do you recommend to adopt your model?
Start small and manage your rhetoric. Don’t talk about “blowing up” the agency model—talk about streamlining and adding efficiencies. First, audit everything your agency does and identify overlaps with internal capabilities. Try one-off projects with hybrid creative production shops. If those go well, start ramping up. The key is proving the model works before making big changes. And remember—you’re going to face internal resistance from people whose jobs depend on managing all those agencies.
Could you provide an example of a successful campaign executed using your approach and the outcomes achieved?
When Microsoft’s B2B team came to us needing a launch video in less than three weeks after their consumer video got killed, we cast, shot, built pixel-perfect screens, and delivered in that timeframe. The video was so well received it was featured in the chief product officer’s keynote and became the main asset on Windows.com. Only a shop with creative and production under one roof could have pulled that off.
How does your model handle scalability, especially for large brands with extensive advertising needs?
We scale with separate dedicated teams for each job—elite squads of industry pros. We can go from ten people to sixty in two days because we have a great reputation in the freelance community. We treat people well, pay them fairly, and give them a cool place to work. When the job’s over, it’s high-fives and “see you next time” instead of layoffs. Two of our clients are trillion-dollar companies, so the model absolutely scales.
Industry implications and future outlook
What do you see as the future of traditional advertising agencies in light of the model you propose?
Agencies provide real value, but they need to evolve. The smart ones are already becoming lean creative-generation machines that skip the bureaucratic bullshit. The ones clinging to the old model with six layers of account management are going to struggle. There’s room for agencies in the new landscape, but they need to focus on what they’re actually good at—creating great work—instead of endless strategy slides.
Related: “Q&A with Martin Lindstrom,” author of The Ministry of Common Sense
How has the industry responded to your book and the ideas within it? Have you faced any pushback?
The industry response has been resoundingly positive from forward-thinking marketers and from people actually doing the work. Creatives and marketers get it immediately because they’ve lived the frustrations. The pushback comes from people with money invested in the current paradigm. But this isn’t really a new idea—it’s been the keynote topic at Cannes. The difference is we actually built the model and proved it works.
Do you believe your approach is applicable across all industries, or are there specific sectors where it’s more effective?
It works across industries, but it’s especially effective for brands that need a lot of content and want to move fast. Consumer technology is our sweet spot because those products have complex value props that benefit from having creative and production people collaborating from the start. Any brand that’s tired of slow, expensive, bureaucratic processes will see immediate benefits.
Jon Sneider’s personal insights and advice
Reflecting on your journey, what lessons have you learned about innovation and challenging industry norms?
The biggest lesson is that experience is everything. You can’t disrupt an industry you don’t deeply understand. I spent twenty years learning what worked and what didn’t before I was ready to build something new. Also, doing the right thing isn’t just moral—it’s smart business. When you always do right by your employees and clients, they become your biggest advocates.
What advice would you give to marketers and creatives who feel constrained by traditional agency structures?
If you’re on the client side, start pushing back on the processes that don’t add value. You’re paying for it—shape it to work how you think it should. If you’re agency-side, focus on being a get-shit-done person. Those are the people who actually make the work, and they’re only about 5 percent of any organization. Be that person who picks up the ball and moves it down the field.
Focus on being a get-shit-done person. Those are the people who actually make the work, and they’re only about 5% of any organization.”
—Jon Sneider
Looking ahead, what developments or trends in advertising are you most excited about?
I’m excited about brands finally waking up to the fact that they don’t need to accept slow, expensive, bureaucratic processes just because “that’s how it’s always been done.” The most exciting trend is seeing brave marketers willing to try new approaches and getting rewarded for it with better work, faster timelines, and massive cost savings. The future belongs to organizations that can move fast and make great creative.
Q&A Bonus Round with Jon Sneider
What are you reading right now?
I read a lot of crime novels. Carl Hiaasen is probably my favorite working author. I love Michael Connelly and Don Winslow. I’m reading the newest Don Winslow novel right now.
What show are you binging right now?
Animal Kingdom. About a crime family living in Long Beach. Starring Ellen Barkin. Also, loving Resident Alien. Just finished Friends & Neighbors with John Hamm.
What’s the last movie you saw?
Superman.
What’s something weird on your desk right now?
A fake $100 bill. Was a prop from a shoot.
What’s playing in the office (or home office) while you work?
KEXP.
Any branding/advertising book recommendations?
Gary Vee, Hormozi, Godin.
Any advice for junior people or people interested in getting into branding/advertising?
Try and work every job in an agency. Get as much experience as you possibly can on as many different things as you can.
If you couldn’t live in Seattle, where would you live?
Jackson Hole.
What’s the advertising/branding/design scene or community in Seattle like right now?
Thriving.
Rob Meyerson is a brand consultant, author of Brand Naming, and co-author of the sixth edition of Designing Brand Identity. He runs Heirloom, a brand strategy and identity firm, and hosts the podcast How Brands Are Built.
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