On Turning Five...
When we started on September 7, 2017, we had no idea what the future would bring. As we turn the page on our 5th year today, it felt necessary to mark this milestone with a meaningful piece from our passionate and empathetic Co-Founders/Managing Partners- Rebecca Honeyman and Greg Mondshein. Read on to get a glimpse of how each leader (in their own, unique way) has grown with, reflected upon and envisioned the future for this company- one that has so much heart and spirit.
By Rebecca Honeyman
50% of businesses fail in their first five years.
I’d be lying if I said that that statistic didn’t weigh heavily on our minds the day Greg Mondshein and I announced we were launching SourceCode Communications back in September 2017.
After our shared careers spent leading comms campaigns for technology businesses across Europe and North America and being lucky enough to work alongside some of the most talented PR and marketing professionals in the industry, we decided to launch our own agency to try to do things a little differently.
With all the youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and self-belief we could muster, we managed to persuade the wonderful folks at PR Week to listen to our plans. I remember being nervous to share our ideas; what if we were wrong? What if our thinking about putting humanity at the core of brand storytelling didn’t resonate?
Fortunately for 2017 us, we were far too naive to even consider that the people-centered agency we set out to build would have to be so reliant on the human spirit and empathy so early on; we didn’t plan for an office shut down and support for remote staff for half of our years in business due to a global pandemic, nor did we consider that there would be a time in which our team’s basic rights would be threatened giving us the opportunity to so passionately and publicly stand for them.
While we couldn’t have dreamed of some of the challenges we have lived through over the past five years, I am incredibly grateful for the lessons we have learned as a result and it seemed only right to take the opportunity of reaching this milestone to share said gratitude. I’m a little early for World Gratitude Day but here goes…
The SourceCode team. Current and alumni. You are magnificent. From our inception, you have taught the two of us to be better leaders and better human beings every single day. The lessons aren’t always easy but I am forever glad for them. I hope we make you a fraction as proud as you have made us.
Our wonderful clients. Trusting an external team with your business is hard. Listening to and believing that team when they give you guidance is difficult. Thank you for entrusting us with your challenges and dreams, and for letting us come to you with thought provoking ideas that may go against the expected from time to time. We take the responsibility of partnership seriously and will spend the coming five years and beyond continuing to try to impress the hell out of you.
Agency peers. I have been astounded by the levels of welcome and support that have been offered to us as we’ve grown. So many of the leaders that we have looked up to for years have been incredibly generous with their time. A friendly ear here, a gentle nudge in the right direction there. Making introductions and connections for us with only the reward of helping a younger, smaller agency climb the ladder has been an invaluable gift; we only hope to pay it forward someday.
The Industry. From that very first PR Week interview to speaking on panels with PRCouncil, being recognized with awards for client work from PRNews, for our creativity by Provoke, agency growth by Inc, PRWeek, Adweek and TheObserver and for the Diversity Marketing Consortium by SabreAwards - the support has been humbling at the least. The recognition and generosity you have shown us pushes us to continue to improve upon our magic and produce top tier work.
50% of businesses fail in their first five years. We didn’t. Because of this dynamic, heartfelt community, SourceCode turns five today brimming with ideas about what comes next. From investments in analytics and value measurement, continued integration of digital and creative services from Strike 2 into client work, refining our creative campaign development tool The Storyhub to making our professional world a more equitable place with the Diversity Marketing Consortium and WeRaise, we love showing the world what we’re made of.
And we’re just getting started…
By Greg Mondshein
Growing up, my mom’s parental focus was on kindness and empathy. Her goal was to raise kids who cared about others, treated people the way they wanted to be treated, and generally cared about the greater good. While you can see some of these ideals in the ethos of SourceCode, there was less of an emphasis on professional achievement. I’ve talked to her about this and her position was raising happy kids comes from doing things for others, not personal and professional accolades. There’s obviously quite a bit of truth in this.
As I reflect on SourceCode reaching its five year anniversary, the achievements my wonderful friend and partner-in-crime Rebecca Honeyman and I have experienced has been a truly awesome and humbling surprise. In this short time, we’ve been recognized by Forbes, The Observer, Crains NY, PRSA, AdWeek, PRWeek, PRovoke, PRNews, and PR Daily more than 40 times for account work, team building, and overall agency success. Against all odds, Becky and I managed to land a few awards as well. While the PRWeek and University of Florida 40 under 40 Awards have been amazing personal recognitions, what I’ve been most proud to see has been the industry’s celebration of the exceptional human being that Becky is; something those of us who work with her have known for years. In the past 24 months alone, she’s been nominated to the PR Council Board of Directors, PRWeek’s Women of Distinction and numerous other DEI accolades.
To be clear, the accomplishments listed above were NOT the goal. The goal was to build a human-first, empathetic and transparent PR agency. And if we’re being honest, affording two NYC rent bills was second on the list! But, after a bit of reflection, you realize how these things happen. In our business, when you combine a healthy dose of overconfidence, a bit of PR know-how, a mountain of persistence and the ability to convince clients and employees to give us a chance, amazing things can happen.
Today, I’m proud to say we’re 40+ people in 12 states, with 45+ clients, and are capping off 5 straight years of significant growth with our first $10m year. We’ve started a charity in the Diversity Marketing Consortium™, which has donated more than $1M in pro bono marketing services to POC and female led businesses. We started WeRaise, a division within SourceCode working to bring the exceptional mom and caregiver talent currently sitting on the sidelines back into the fold. In addition, we’ve acquired a small business in Strike 2 that’s helping us continue to drive towards a more integrated marketing service offering. All of this, while dealing with a global pandemic, two economic downturns and a technology bubble that currently looms. To put things mildly, it’s been a wild ride.
Reflecting is honestly not my strong suit, but every time I do, it helps. It helps me see the forest through the trees, think more strategically, and approach every day with gratitude. I’m grateful to be in the seat I’m in and most importantly, I’m grateful for all those who helped, encouraged and mentored me along the way. You know who you are and I owe it all to you.
Client Service vs Servitude: Be the Cool Head When Chaos Reigns Supreme
As leaders—whether within an agency, or in-house on a marketing or communications team—being a strategic partner and source of calm rather than a “yes person” is critical to help senior leadership successfully navigate, manage and communicate uncertainty. Used to consuming frenetic, contradictory news cycles, field short deadlines and high demands, communications professionals are born to lead through these moments.
Whether you’re leading a marketing communications team in-house, or partnering with multiple clients to weather the latest wave of disaster prepping, here are three things to remember when working with clients and colleagues to make the best, most strategic business decisions.
Ignite your curiosity. Asking questions creates a human connection; it shows we care. As recession fears and plans to counteract circulate, engage in conversations around issues like how the industry has changed recently, how industry trends are likely to impact market share and quarterly financial targets,what are financial targets for this quarter and the most profitable part of the business with your clients and colleagues. By understanding the pressures and expectations they’re living with, you can proactively provide perspective that will inform and guide their decision making.
Point out the elephant in the room with data. People working in client service often mistake service for servitude. Fear of hurting feelings or upsetting people regularly leads to sugar-coating, lack of clarity, and poor decision making or misalignment. It can be hard to ‘say it like it is’ but doing so will lead to a better result. And, when possible, do the advanced homework - whether that is conversations with the target audience, pulling sales data or collecting feedback from reporters, having proof points helps remove irrational emotion from a difficult subject.
Be receptive. Use the feedback you receive from your questions and observations to ensure your recommendations/solutions appropriately reflect the collaborative efforts of all involved so that the success and failure of the idea become mutually exclusive. For example, seeking and incorporating feedback to strategic briefs so that initial documents clearly reflect what you previously discussed.
As recession conversations continue, it’s easy to fall prey to the panic, but approaching difficult conversations from a place of curiosity, honesty and collaboration will ensure you’re being a partner, not a yes person.
The Diversity Marketing Consortium™ Adds Two New Agencies to its Roster
Following its recent $1M milestone, the DMC grows to 10 agencies, with Inkhouse and No. 29 joining the PR industry’s leading non-profit as its newest agency partners
Today, the Diversity Marketing Consortium™ (DMC) announced the addition of two new agency partners to its roster — Inkhouse and No. 29. This notable expansion brings the organization to a total of ten award-winning marketing and communications agencies, nearly tripling the size of the DMC from its initial four agencies at inception in June 2020.
“The DMC has made significant strides in just two years, but the number of businesses we are able to support is directly correlated to the number of agency partners we have,” said Greg Mondshein, co-founder of the Diversity Marketing Consortium and Managing Partner of SourceCode Communications. “Bringing on quality agencies is essential to maximizing our impact, so needless to say, we’re thrilled to have this impressive group join us in our mission to change the face of the boardroom by supporting diverse founder-led startups.”
Inkhouse and No. 29 join the DMC’s existing group of agencies — SourceCode Communications, Superbolt, Cheer Partners, Peppercomm, Clarity, Racepoint Global, Praytell and Max Borges Agency. As the DMC continues its commitment to supporting and raising the profiles of POC and women-led businesses, this new agency cohort will play an instrumental role in furthering the DMC’s mission of helping to level the playing field for underrepresented founders through pro bono marketing and communications services.
“At Inkhouse, we believe equity is a human imperative, but also a business imperative. We also believe in the power of storytelling to effect change and are proud to be joining the Diversity Marketing Consortium to share our expertise in building awareness for companies led by diverse and under-represented founders,” said Beth Monaghan, chief executive officer and founder of Inkhouse.
“Through storytelling, strategic partnerships, and thoughtful activations, No. 29 has long been committed to working with organizations that are leaving the world a little better than they found it,” said Melody Serafino, co-founder of No. 29 Communications. “We’re excited to join the DMC to help founders share their important stories of sustainability and impact.”
The DMC recently reached a milestone goal of $1 million in pro bono marketing and communications services provided to more than 20 startups including Noora Health, WorkChew and Moving Analytics. Now as the organization embarks on year three, scaling both its team and client roster is the main goal in an effort to create the most impact.
The DMC is accepting applications for new agencies to join the organization and will open Q4 client applications in mid-August. For more information and to apply, please visit diversitymarketingconsortium.com.
Want an Engaged, Efficient and Happy Workforce? Give Them Paid Parental Leave.
Ask any parent how they're doing these days, they'll probably answer ‘I’ve been having a rough time.” As a mother of a two year old with a second on the way, I can personally attest to this being my experience. Professionally speaking, I’m seeing this across the board as well. As the head of WeRaise PR, I work with many working moms who have been left behind by the lack of support (most notably lack of paid leave for new parents), and have had to find alternative career solutions in order to care for their families.
While there are many issues affecting parents today (no affordable childcare, limited access to reliable and safe food for our infants, general lack of resources available for breastfeeding parents to follow new AAP recommendations to name a few), perhaps the most profound is zero federally mandated paid leave for new parents. Disproportionately affecting women and people of color, a recent study shows 75% of moms would have their cash savings depleted after 8 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. This significantly affects the long-term wealth management for families while also increasing the wealth disparity between women and men. It also ultimately forces many women back into the workforce earlier than medically recommended.
Providing paid leave to employees shows a level of unmatched support for their physical and mental well-being at a difficult time in their lives, and studies show that employees who receive paid leave among other benefits like flexibility and sick time feel more loyalty to their employer and have increased morale. Businesses can simultaneously save quite a bit of money by investing in paid leave by reducing costs associated with employee turnover and increased efficiency among the team members who benefit from paid leave. This particular investment employers make in their workforce over the years allows them to keep the institutional knowledge and experience within their organization for the future.
Not sure how to structure this for your team? According to PL+US, good paid parental leave policy has the following qualities:
- Equal - Available to all new parents, not just birth mothers. Include fathers, adoptive and foster parents in those who qualify for the benefit
- Enough - Enough time for recovery and adjusting to the new normal of having a new baby is key. Most experts agree that a minimum of 12 weeks should be the offering.
- Easy to use - Support your employees in utilizing the full benefits, and make it easy for employees to utilize by providing alternative resources to the rest of their teams to easily manage while employees are out.
Besides being a moral choice, it's also an economic one. Offering paid leave for new parents may seem daunting, but will pay dividends in the long run. I’m proud of our generous paid leave program and all our flexible benefits we provide new parents here at SourceCode and WeRaise, and will continue to prioritize and support this facet of our workforce in the PR industry so no one has to choose between their career and their families.
The Cookie WILL Crumble - Why This New Extension Shouldn’t Impact Your Plans
The past two years have been busy! We have faced a global pandemic, international war, societal upheavals, and talks of a recession. Not to mention, especially in the advertising and marketing world, the upcoming death of the cookie. Even over the past week, the cookie conversation continues to change as Google extended its life until at least 2024. While this extra time might come as a relief to some, a word of caution to those still reliant on cookies: do not not let up on implementing the necessary changes now as your competitors most certainly aren’t either.
Conversations started in early 2020, with Google setting an ultimatum that they would remove third-party cookies from Chrome. This forced many to quickly figure out how they will revamp existing tech stacks in order to continue to track, target, and engage with key audiences. Since then, many brands and advertisers have done just that- they have made adjustments and started to work with new partners in order to future-proof their business. Some are either close to completing, or have completed, upgrades so that they are no longer reliant on cookies, and are already benefiting from that hard work.
It is important to remember that the cookie conversation is not the only topic of privacy policy. Other regulations have already taken effect, like GDPR and CCPA, further changing how brands and advertisers engage with consumers. Consumers will only continue to have the regulatory support when it comes to how their data is used. The brands and advertisers who are not working towards alternative ways to target and communicate with consumers will soon find their competitors pulling ahead and dominating their respective markets as they’ve adjusted quickly and accordingly to the new regulations.
Now is not the time to slow down and take the pressure off meeting your own internal deadlines that address the inevitable demise of the cookie. Take time to strategically find ways to greet these new regulations head on, and be flexible for when future regulations come into play.
Don’t be left trying to clean up the cookie crumbs - be the one who crushes it first.
PRNews - Top Women Awards 2022 Honorees
SourceCode's Becky Honeyman
On Friday, July 29th, our very own Co-Founder and Managing Partner Rebecca Honeyman further solidified her place among the PR elite by being named an Honoree in this year’s Top Women Awards, presented by PR News.
Check out the link below; we are beyond proud of the impact she has made as an entrepreneur, industry leader and colleague.
https://www.prnewsonline.com/go/top-women-in-pr-2022/
A Case of the Gimme Gimmes: is instant gratification really the key to long term success for consumer tech startups?
Instant gratification. Blame it on the GenZers or the Millennials, but the fact is, we all want it, and we want it now. Now that the post-pandemic world is causing many of us to stay home on a more regular basis, that need has expanded to include not only fast, but also convenient service. As businesses across industries are scrambling to meet the urgent demands of consumers, many emerging brands - especially those in the consumer technology space - are basing their business models on ease of use and instant gratification. But is that strategy sustainable in the long run?
Take the home fitness space and Peloton, for instance. As the pandemic forced people to look for convenient at-home workout alternatives, Peloton’s business exploded. However, with the high cost of equipment and the fact that it could only be used for one purpose, the company’s sales eventually reached a saturation point. That, coupled with technical issues with some of its products, resulted in a rapid fall from grace. Alternatively, the groundbreaking VR fitness app FitXR available on the Oculus Quest, a proven multi-use entity with a much lower cost of entry, is still performing like gangbusters. Because the company focuses on what it knows as opposed to building expensive hardware, and since the nascent VR fitness space is just barely getting started, there is unlimited growth potential for FitXR.
The grocery delivery space was also hugely impacted by the pandemic and its aftermath. In particular, there was a rise of a number of instant delivery apps that promised to bring groceries to your door within the hour. And while some - like European-based Gorillas - succeeded in scratching the instant gratification itch, other upstarts like JOKR and Fridge No More didn’t have the infrastructure to survive. More established companies like Instacart and Whole Foods (via Amazon), meanwhile, were able to compete by pivoting to a more rapid delivery strategy while also adhering to their core business model, and as a result, are still going strong today.
In today’s consumer market, instant gratification is an important consideration for companies looking to compete. But it’s not the only thing. Honing in on one trend and being quick to market may be lucrative in the short run, but it can’t last forever. Companies that truly thrive are those that look at their business holistically and develop models that don’t just sustain a trend, but also amplify their business when that trend has long since subsided.
Happy National Intern Day 2022
June 28th is National Intern Day and we couldn’t think of a better way to honor our two dynamic summer interns, Ava Buchwald and Sophia Lopez, then passing the mic their way and letting them share their story. We’re so proud of the work they’ve done and the incredible contribution they’ve made to SourceCode. Help us celebrate these two SourceCode Superstars and check out their reflection of their summer internship below:
What Size Agency is Right for You? A Reflection on the latest PRC Speaker's Panel
Over the last six weeks, we have had the opportunity to gain real experience in the PR agency workplace through our internship at SourceCode. Our time here has been incredible, as we have been able to immerse ourselves in the agency dynamic and discover the type of PR we would be interested in pursuing after our college graduation. In addition to working closely with our account teams and attending weekly meetings, we have had the opportunity to participate in the PR Council Agency Ready Certification program. This program provided us with the opportunity to gain more exposure into the world of public relations and learn from the nation’s top PR professionals all who work in agencies of various sizes and industries..
In this week’s panel discussion entitled: “Large or Small – What is the Right Size Agency for You?” we heard from Darlene Doyle, Chief Client Officer at PAN Communications; Brinton Flowers, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Flowers Welch Communications Group; Melissa Kinch, Partner, Managing Director and North American Portfolio Leader, Technology and Food, Agriculture & Ingredients and Chief People Officer (Interim) at Ketchum; and Grete Lavrenz, General Manager at Carmichael Lynch Relate, about the various types of agencies and finding the best fit for you.
Regardless of size, client roster or leadership, we learned quickly it's all about the community. Whether it be the clients or your co-workers and managers, the people you work with truly make the place. Melissa Kinch from Ketchum spoke about the value of finding an agency that has a sense of community with clients and how having a desire to continue to grow that relationship is what will bring success to the account. As interns, we feel very lucky to have found a company with such a strong sense of community that has made us feel so welcomed and an asset to the team. We have learned a great deal in our time at SourceCode about building and maintaining relationships and recognized how important it is to get to know the people you work with holistically, beyond the work they do every day.
Being a part of this community has helped prepare us professionally for post-graduation, professional life. The panel gave us insight we can use to stand out as an applicant when we begin applying for full time jobs. In addition, we learned that in this industry, good writing skills are critical; how we use writing to communicate is just as important as what we are writing. Communication has to be deliberate in such a fast paced work environment. While this may sound uneasy to some, being “comfortable in chaos”, as Brinton Flowers from Flowers Communications Group said, is a quality that most people in this business have. No two days in this industry are the same which is arguably the most exciting part of working in PR! The usual 9-5 doesn’t apply here and being comfortable with that kind of environment is something to consider before going into this field beyond an internship. Luckily, we have both learned here at SourceCode that we fit that criteria. Our experience has been very diverse as all of our days are different, and working with a variety of clients has given each of us the opportunity to have varied experiences from each other as well.
Our biggest takeaway from this panel, and what we have learned throughout our internship, is to be constantly curious and open to learning something new every day. Darlene Doyle from PAN Communications explained how this is the best mentality to have when exploring new opportunities and roles because you never know where you might find yourself working. We know that the skills we’ve acquired during our internship have provided us with critical real world experience that will serve us well upon graduation. We’ve learned that taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself is the key to discovering our passions and the direction that we want to take our professional careers. We can confidently say that, due to the incredible mentorship and guidance we’ve received from our colleagues and managers, our respective internships at SourceCode have been nothing short of a truly engaging and quality agency experience.
A note from our founders about rising violence against our AAPI family
It has been difficult to escape the rising sense of horror and hopelessness as we have watched the increase in violence and hate crimes inflicted on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the past few months. We’ve witnessed a 150% increase in xenophobic violence in the past year alone. It is intolerable and we are committed to standing with the AAPI community in outrage and in hope that we can contribute to positive change and drive out racism where and when we see it.
This week’s tragic and horrifying attack once again shone a spotlight on the threats facing the AAPI community. But these events don’t happen in isolation. The violence and discrimination we’re all seeing now is tragically not new, and we are very aware that change will only come when we all stand together and speak up.
We have made a donation to Welcome to Chinatown, a NYC-based organization that works to amplify community leaders and support local businesses. It has been particularly vocal in response to the recent racist attacks and supporting the community during COVID. In the spirit of ‘change starting at home’ this felt like a good starting point. If you have any other recommendations please share with us. We are keen to explore new ways for us to be a better ally to the AAPI community.
Please see the resources below to learn more about ways to support the community as well as additional options to make donations:
- STOPAAPIHate
- NYC Stop Asian Hate Toolkit
- Anti-Asian Violence resources
- How to be an Ally
- NYC-specific ways to support grass roots organizations
And some additional reading and streaming content:
- Self-evident
- PBS’ Asian Americans
- #AsianAmCovidStories
- 25 amazing books by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors
We can all effect change if we do it together.