On the 1st anniversary of the opening of Earnezt in New York, Sarah Przybylak tells her story of the first year.

1. DEAR DIARY
1 Year of Earnezt
By Sarah Przybylak

2. One year ago I stepped off the plane
at JFK, New York, small suitcase in
hand, much much larger one lost
in transit somewhere.
I had arrived with a simple dream;
to chase the humdrum out of B2B
marketing.
And I had heard, that if I could
do it here, I could do it anywhere.
Or something like that.
My name is Sarah Przybylak, and
this is the story of 1 year of Earnezt.
Visit my LinkedIn

3. NEW
YORK
CITY
Earnest is an award-winning B2B
marketing agency, based in London.
And it had been my work home for
the last 6 years.
We had always worked with global
clients, but it was in May of 2019 that
we opened our first North American
office in the city that doesn’t sleep.
Watch our New York Office Launch Announcement

4. Before our official opening, we made
an early visit to the city in March.
We met up with some of our existing
global clients, Vodafone and Centrica.
Picked out our new office.
And met up with what would soon
be our first New York office client –
CyberMDX.
The foundations were set.

5. The plan was simple.
I would lead business set up and client
management on the ground. And I’d
have the full support of the creative
and strategy teams back in London.
There would also be regular visits
from core members of the team across
the agency.
And as we grew, we would look
to recruit local talent to build
up our New York team

6. So after switching the ‘s’ in Earnest
to a ‘z’*, and ensuring our ‘chasing
out the humdrum’ mission was firmly
at our core, I arrived in New York
on May 15th and excitedly made
my way to our new office at
79 Madison Avenue, WeWork.
I worked out the printers, stocked up
on post-it notes, and of course scoped
out the best nearby coffee shop and
lunchtime sun trap.
*A move to both fit in with the locals, and
avoid some possible US-style legal implications.
But that’s a story for another day ; ) Madison Avenue
79
may

7. But there was no time to sit in the
sun all day.
Getting straight to business like
a true New Yorker I wrangled with
operational admin, banking processes*,
squeezed in a pitch, and then got straight
on a plane to the windy city, Chicago
for the ANA Masters of B2B Event.
There I was met by Matthew
Kilgour – our creative strategist.
may
GOCHICAGO
*I have so many questions for you America.
SO MANY.

8. We ate a lot, heard a lot, learned
a lot, and got very inspired by all
of the strategic and creative thinking
happening in the industry.
We thought about keeping all
these insights to ourselves. But then
we did some self-reflection over
a Chicago deep dish and decided
to share it all on our blog.
Not the pizza though.
We’re not that selfless.
may

9. JUNE
In June it became apparent that I was
going to have to acclimatize to quite
frankly tropical weather conditions.
Is this why they call New York
the concrete jungle?

10. If I could pinpoint a difference
between doing business in the UK
versus the US that I have enjoyed the
most, it’s the approach to networking.
In June I met B2B marketers across
the industry, networking everywhere
from The Wall Street Journal,
to a cruise on the Hudson River.
Throughout this year, we have made
a lot of friends that have given great
June
NETWORKING
advice, market insights, and been
generally good company to have
a GT with at the end of the B2B
working day.
Networking comes so naturally
to New Yorkers which makes it feel,
well, normal. Which it is.
Dear Britain, Let’s try to be a little
less awkward.

11. The first friend we made was Jeff Matteuzi.
He joined us for drinks in Byrant Park
on our first Friday in New York, showed
us where the best guac near our office was,
and then joined us to lead Media strategy
shortly after.
JULY

12. We were, of course, in New York to
do great work with great companies.
In July we were very excited to kick off
a brand new website project with our
new client YSC, a leadership consultancy.
JULY
See the finished product here

13. And we also celebrated our
first Independence Day.
july
4th
july
See #4thofJuly post
happy

14. AugustAs part of our own little bit of ABM,
in the UK we have been known to send
cake to companies that we love. Those
that share our desire for chasing out
the humdrum in the world of B2B.
We wanted to do the same in New York.
But it came at a cost.
You see, whilst delicious, in the
New York City heat, buttercream
icing has a tendency to depart
its cupcake base during transit*.
Thankfully this sweet treat disaster
was identified and we pivoted this
campaign tactic to doughnuts.
A clear demonstration of our
optimization capabilities.
* I can confirm buttercream icing tastes
as good off the cupcake as it does on it.
A MA M

15. I should probably note that there
is a little more to ABM than just edible
treats. And here at Earnezt we think
the B should stand for bespoke.
We explain all that here.
But back to those important tactics,
in case you were wondering about
the specifics.
August

16. SEPTEMBER
In September there was another
British newbie in town – The Chip
Shop Awards.
These creativity awards have just
one rule: ‘It has to be brilliant. Period’
And that’s something we can most
certainly get behind.
So our studio back in London put their
thinking caps on, sharpened their pencils
and got to work, resulting in us winning
three awards on the night.
The Drum
Chip Shop
Awards

17. SEPTEMBER
Best Ad from the future
Winner
Best use of alternative
media spacere
Winner
Best use of celebrity e
Runner up
1ST
1ST

18. October
As we approached Fall – in my opinion
the best season in NYC – we met
Truveris and kicked off a number
of exciting projects.
It was one of these projects that led
us to experience the pinnacle of all
American networking events.
The crème de la crème of business
conferences. The business trip to
make all other business trips jealous.
VEGAS!

19. If you haven’t been to a conference
in Las Vegas I can tell you that
it is quite the experience.
HLTH – A healthcare conference
kicked things off with mimosas
at morning registration and closed
with a Flo Rida party.
But we were there to help Truveris
steal the show.
October

20. And so with a magician, a bouncer,
and a big black box, we helped
Truveris become the talk of the
town. It even won us two awards
atThe B2B Elevation Awards!
There was not an ounce
of humdrum in sight.
Watch the full video
October
Best use of live marketing
Best use of creative
1ST

21. One event wasn’t enough for
us in October, so we sent Jeff and our
London-based strategist Rahul Savadia
to the MarketingProfs B2B Forum
in Washington DC to scoop up some
more insights from the industry
and do a lot of ‘speed networking.’
The insights were successfully
scooped and rounded up to share
far and wide.
As for the speed networking, they
were a little more cagey about that….
October
WASHINGTON, D.C.

22. In November everything changed.
We took the next important step for
Earnezt and hired our first two NY
office client managers; Joel Lawson
and Elvira Zilber.
NOVEMber
The beginnings of our Earnezt
team were forming and we moved
up the WeWork ladder to a larger office
to accommodate our new size. We even
started an office playlist on Spotify.

23. december
The world tricks you into
thinking December should
be a slowing down business
month. But it rarely ever is.
We kicked off work with
two new clients. Blockchain
platform provider R3, and
the ever-creative Shutterstock.

24. And with a team in place, it meant
we could have a Holiday Party.
I would have 100% have celebrated by
myself if we didn’t have a team. But this
way people didn’t feel sorry for me.
3 Steps to an Earnezt holiday party
Step 1: Get a Christmas tree and name
it Monty after his home city Montreal
Step 2: Choose a restaurant purely based on
the number of kitsch Christmas decorations
Step 3: Go to see Derren Brown’s broadway
show, meet him backstage because one of
your copywriters just happens to know him,
and take an awkward selfie.
december

25. And so 2020 began! Our New Year’s
resolutions set, our hopes high, and
full of ambition for the wonderful
year we just knew was about to follow.
2020
January

26. Things started strong.
A 3D interactive experience
we created for our first Earnezt
client, CyberMDX went live.
See the finished product here
January

27. And we went to Omaha to kick off
a project with Fiserv US. Already
a client in the UK we were excited
to work with them in a new market.
It was here, whilst negotiating the
best path between thick snow on
the grass and a black ice sidewalk
that I pondered;
Do business-appropriate snow
boots exist?
January

28. In February our UK designer Jo Lowy
was seconded over to build up the
creative team.
She immediately fell in love with
New York and its vegan scene.
Her top three finds to date are;
Modern Love Brooklyn, Very Fresh
Noodles, and Ja Ja Ja.
FEBRUARY

29. Love truly was in the air as we
continued to recruit locally. Hiring
Meg Wroe to start our strategy team.
And as we moved into March we
added to our account management
team with Clara Kowalkowski who
would help us to continue to build
partnerships with our clients.
FEBRUARY
Loveis in the air

30. And then, well, I think
you know what happens
Next

31. As a marketing agency, you don’t really
plan for a pandemic. But you can have
systems in place to make things a little
easier. We have been set up to be able
to work from home for a long time. And
so that transition was straightforward.
Personally, for me, I’d started this off
as a remote worker. And so I was already
familiar with the potential challenges.
But we hadn’t accounted for the positives.
This universal WFH made us actually feel
more connected to the UK office and our
clients than ever before.
There are some hidden benefits to
this that we could all take advantage
of – and maintain. I’ll tell you what
I think they are here.
March

32. April
So WFH is now the new norm.
Some of us stayed in the city, and
some of us moved out. And we all
found our rhythm.
Most importantly we helped our
clients work out ‘What do we do now’.
It’s a toughie.
Should you be in market? What should
you say? Should you mention Covid?
Should you be seen as ‘selling’?
Well, you can say something still.
Here’s what.

33. In May I had the opportunity to look
into the industry, as a judge for the
ANA Ace awards.
It was a welcome view of our peers.
And encouraging to see that pushing
insight-driven creativity within
B2B is high on the agenda.
may

34. may
And so here we are. One year old.
Still learning. Still proud to be part
of this industry. Still Chasing out
the humdrum. And very much feeling
like NYC is a true home for us.
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY

35. On May 27th we’ll be a sponsor
at B2B Ignite, and our MD Chris
Wilson will be leading a talk. We’ll
even have our first-ever virtual booth!
So come and say hi!
If you can’t wait until then, you can
email us at hello@earnezt-agency.com
Our
story continues