#AOTYAwards MY 2021 spills: 4 Thirteen Group's definition of agility that drives success

Founded in 2009, 4 Thirteen Group is a branding and digital marketing agency that specialises in brand consultancy, digital and social media, technology and web, creatives and performance media buy. Among the list of brands the agency has worked with include Yoodo, Panasonic, Big Bad Wolf Books and Scismic.

Recently, the agency clinched the gold award for Rising Star, Most Creative – eSports Marketing and Most Effective Use – Esports Marketing at A+M's Agency Of The Year and MARKies Awards 2021. Aside from clinching several gold awards, the agency also managed to bag the bronze award for Boutique Agency of the Year and Most Creative – Video. 

Additionally, the agency was a finalist for Most Creative – Launch / Re-Launch, Most Creative – Specific Audience and Most Effective Use – Mobile at A+M's MARKies Awards 2021.

CEO of 4 Thirteen Group, Danny Gnaniah (pictured), told A+M that in order for agencies to succeed in today's day and age, they must be able to adapt and ideate new and innovative branding. "Today’s market is constantly in flux. It is ever-evolving with new and different avenues as well as approaches to communication arising. The needs and wants of brands, the communications platforms, be it social media, broadcast, out of home or others, and ultimately end consumers are constantly changing," added Gnaniah. 

This interview is done as part of A+M’s winners' and finalists’ interview series for AOTY Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

Tell us about your agency and what makes it special?

Gnaniah: Established in 2008, 4 Thirteen is a Malaysian-based full-service agency. We began over a decade ago and we have come a long way since then, fostering a strong reputation for ourselves amongst a solid portfolio of clients.

We come from humble beginnings and have grown steadily since then. We started off as a graphic design studio then morphed into a digital and branding agency and are now in our next stage of evolution – a full-service agency with the ability to deliver on our entire scope of work completely in-house. I am immensely proud of where we are today because I think it is reflective of the approach and strategy we have cultivated when it comes to servicing clients. We have always viewed our relationship with clients as a true partnership and as such we approach each client with a view of building a meaningful, beneficial and long-lasting relationship.

We focus on the long term business goals of our clients and ensure that any endeavour we undertake for them, be it a longer-term or short term campaign, is in service of these more holistic objectives as well. This means taking the time to delve into and digest our clients' businesses and industries to see what their true challenges are and how our initiatives can have a real and meaningful impact on said challenges.

A client also once said that 4 Thirteen Group is the "only agency that really understands its business." This all boils down to our business-first, entrepreneur-inspired approach to all parts of our service. It is always about what is best for the client's long term business goals and how we can best meet those goals. This is what I believe sets us apart.  

What do you think is needed for agencies to succeed in today’s day and age?

Gnaniah: When it comes to branding or for that matter communications in general, what we believe is crucial to guarantee success is agility and adaptiveness.

Today’s market is constantly in flux. It is ever-evolving with new and different avenues as well as approaches to communication arising. The needs and wants of brands, the communications platforms – be it social media, broadcast, out of home or others, and ultimately end consumers are constantly changing.

In just the past few years, we have seen brand new modes of communication, like TikTok, emerge and begin to dominate the market.

A successful agency must be able to adapt to this, to ideate new and innovative branding approaches that not only portray the brand in the right light but do so on the right platforms to effectively reach the right audience. It all boils down to understanding human behaviour better. When we understand what drives and motivates our audience, we can then deliver resonant content that sticks with them and truly makes an impact.

Agility is not just defined in the way work gets rolled out, it also needs to be captured in the way in which ideas get formulated in the first place.

Collaboration is key to success for an agency. An agency must have the agility to go into a working relationship with a client as equals – to equally understand the campaign, equally identify gaps, equally devise strategies and finally equally be invested in its outcomes.

How do you attract the right talent for your teams?

Gnaniah: It is undeniable that finding and attracting the right talent is what could make the difference between success or failure for an agency. But actually achieving this is a lot easier said than done.

The market is more competitive than ever before. Not only are we in competition with other local agencies, but there are also regional and international players vying for the best talents. Add to that the growing prominence of freelance marketplaces and you’ll find that the available talent pool is rather stretched.

To help us stand out, here at 4 Thirteen we believe in emphasising our core values. We truly believe that today’s employees do not just care about a big brand name or a big paycheque. There is a lot more nuance to it nowadays. Employees want to work somewhere they feel truly valued and where they believe they can grow meaningfully.

Our work system is driven by the concept of achieving a healthy work-life rhythm. This is why we are one of the only agencies with 4-day work weeks in place. It is also why we genuinely and consistently invest in mental wellness and activities that support this.

From a growth perspective, we are committed to ensuring that everyone that walks through the doors at 4 Thirteen grows in meaningful ways. We know that we can enrich various aspects of the lives of our young and talented team and we leap at every opportunity to do so.

These are the factors that we strongly believe in and would want to see value in the talents we bring on board. So naturally, it makes sense that we emphasise these in our talent acquisition endeavours.

What do you think makes for great client-agency relationships today?

Gnaniah: Reiterating what we shared previously, at 4 Thirteen we believe that to foster great client-agency relationships we must do away with the conventional agency mindset.

The lines between client and agency should be blurred because the agency is so invested in the client’s business and the success of that business.

We play the role of problem solvers, not just solution implementers. We take the time to understand our clients and understand their actual problems as well as their true goals. This way, we are the ones spotting gaps and recommending workarounds.

This is where the true value of an agency lies – in being able to at times understand the client better than they do themselves. From there, it is all about being agile and adaptive enough to rethink strategies and change game plans on the fly to proactively meet a client’s needs.

That entrepreneurial spirit that we bring into every one of our projects is what makes us shine and helps us build those tremendous client-agency relationships. We know the realities of business first hand and understand what the overriding goals are as well as what we need to do to achieve them. Being able to see things from their perspective always makes conversations with clients easier.

What capabilities will you build on as we head into 2022?

Gnaniah: Heading into 2022, we are focused on further elevating our proposition as a full-service agency. This means both enhancing existing expertise and building up capabilities in brand new segments, to continue to diversify our in-house offerings to our clients.

Specifically, we will be looking to grow our portfolios in the performance media buy and data analysis segments as we see significant value on these fronts with the increasing digitisation of all facets of communications and business.

Going hand-in-hand with this is the expansion of our team of talented individuals. Our team is the lifeblood of our organisation and we intend to reinforce our already great team with a few selected individuals that align with our core values.

At the end of the day, it is all about building long-term brand love for our clients in whatever way that works for them. So as these ways continue to multiply and diversify so too will 4 Thirteen’s capabilities and offerings.