RBA, a Dallas-based branding and advertising agency, prioritizes culture. That became a bit more challenging when its 16-person team began working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Best Places to Work
Best Places to Work 2021: RBA
Agency—whose senior management team is 60 percent minority or multicultural—focuses on diversity in hiring and educated clients on #StopHateForProfit
Credit:
RBA
The agency soon scheduled virtual get-togethers in lieu of pre-pandemic mainstays such as monthly breakfast tacos and happy hours. But when the shop’s HR person checked in with team members, she learned that video gatherings were getting to be a bit much for some after days filled with Zoom meetings. So the agency found activities it could schedule during work hours—masked, outdoors—such as pumpkin carving and a catered hamburger event.
These were among the reasons RBA was ranked No. 3 among companies with 200 or fewer employees in Ad Age Best Places to Work 2021.
Co-Founders Ross Cromartie and Kace Phillips, both white men, say they try to recruit and hire people different from themselves as they are eager to give others a voice. The team is half female and half male, and among senior management, 60% identify as being members of a minority or multicultural group.
RBA participated in Black Out Day and educated clients on #StopHateForProfit, encouraging them to take a look at their social spending, even if that meant less revenue for the agency. RBA, which rebranded from RocketBrand in 2020, jumped from the No. 6 spot in last year’s ranking.
