Translation continues to prove the importance of culturally impactful work

Not many agencies can say they have made Ad Age’s A-List for three consecutive years, but that’s exactly the run Translation has been on. Translation continues to be one of the few agencies with a clear point of view—impacting businesses through culturally relevant work—which was a hard sell when the agency launched some 20 years ago. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here “When I started with the idea of translating culture for Fortune 500 companies, as ambitious as that was as a thought … I remember initially having that perspective, and everybody thinking culture was such a bad word for the industry,” Translation Founder Steve Stoute said. “It was associated with only being Black or only being urban. It was so niche that it was laughable as a concept to build a company on it.” “Whether it was culture or diversity, those topics back then meant nothing, and now they mean everything,” Stoute said—so much so that he claims many agencies lie about their cultural expertise. Business solutions Aside from long-term clients including State Farm, Beats and the NBA, Translation—which went from $72 million in 2022 revenue to $74 million in projected revenue for 2023—continues to pick up new business. Last year the agency gained new projects with existing clients NBA and AT&T and won new business with Hulu, Nike, Visa, Puma, DSW, Xbox, Eastside Golf, real estate firm Bedrock, D’USSE and global creative lead for Crunch and Butterfinger. These successes came amid a tough new-business year for many agencies. Translation participated in only two consultant-led pitches last year, according to Chaucer Barnes, the company’s chief marketing officer. Instead, the shop has been growing projects with existing clients and focusing on pitches that call for a business solution rather than simply a creative solution. Barnes said that the number of two- to five-person shops popping up in recent years are focused on executing a defined idea by the brand. That makes Translation's positioning as a creative solutions company all the more valuable, Barnes said. “That [agency] word needs to have a proper funeral,” Stoute said. “Agencies have always been looked at as an expense. We want to be a creative solutions company, which is much more of an investment. The truth of the matter is somebody leaves an agency, and then all of sudden they can start [another] agency and it's two people ... anybody can start an agency.” Ad Age A-List and Creativity Gala Buy your ticket to the in-person event Click here Translation’s combined efforts with UnitedMasters, Stoute’s distributor and creator network, are enabling it to reach well beyond advertising. The best example of this was Translation’s “Sound of Silence” work for AT&T, as part of the brand’s “Connecting Changes Everything” brand purpose. Translation worked with the telecommunications company for three years to create a 5G-powered football helmet with a screen that allows coaches to visually communicate with players through the lens of the helmet at a speed that keeps up with the game’s pace. This is particularly useful for players who are hard of hearing. The idea sprouted from a brief that was given to Translation, and then the company worked with AT&T to make the technology happen. “They [Translation] were in the trenches with us—with our technology team, our engineers, not just our marketing team,” Kellyn Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T, told Ad Age when the project launched last October. To promote the product, Translation gave helmets to football players from Gallaudet University, a school that provides education for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The helmets were used during a college game and a 60-second spot debuted on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which included a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” sung by UnitedMasters artist Amira Unplugged, a partially deaf African American Muslim artist. The campaign garnered over 3.7 billion online media impressions and 243 million social impressions with a 100% positive sentiment rate. One of Translation’s biggest strengths is its ability to pump out consistently compelling work. Last year the company launched 33 major campaigns compared to eight the year prior, said Jason Campbell, the company’s chief creative officer. Those campaigns included a Pepsi and Apple Music collaboration starring Bad Bunny and a beautiful Beats campaign starring LeBron James and soccer star Erling Haaland. After being named lead creative and strategy agency for the Big 12 in 2022, Translation launched a brand refresh campaign in 2023 as the conference was in the process of adding new schools to its roster. UnitedMasters artist and rapper BigXthaPlug provided voiceover work to Big 12’s TV spot. Beyond the spot, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark—who took the job in 2022 and hired the agency—told Ad Age that Translation is a big part of the conference’s future as it looks to become a national brand. “They’ve got an incredible pulse on the consumer,” Yormark said. “That’s critically important to us. Because my vision has always been not only to get on the consciousness of future student-athletes but also to reaffirm for those that are currently in the conference that there’s no better place for them.” The NBA tasked Translation with promoting its first-ever In-Season Tournament. To get players and fans interested in the new competition, Translation created an “Ocean’s Eleven”-inspired ad that featured a slew of NBA stars trying to steal the new trophy that goes to the tournanent winner. For Ray-Ban, Translation was tasked with driving awareness for its smart glasses, which were first launched in collaboration with Meta in 2021. The problem was consumers weren’t aware of the product’s capabilities, Campbell said. To show what they can do, Translation enlisted singer-songwriter Maluma, rapper Coi Leray, singer-songwriter Erykah Badu and tennis player Coco Gauff, showcasing them in videos sporting the smart specs through their days and activities. This was a full-circle moment, given that in 1997 Stoute worked with Will Smith for the soundtrack of “Men in Black.” The album went on to sell 10 million copies but, to Stoute’s surprise, the Ray-Ban glasses worn in the movie outsold the album by 4 million. That was one of the pivotal moments that inspired Stoute to break into advertising. Despite Translation’s success, Campbell said the company continues to fight a perception that it is capable of only a certain type of work, such as its Cannes-winning campaign “You Love Me” for Beats headphones from 2020. “I’ve been on a mission to almost create elbow room on [our] perception,” Campbell said. “If you think that is all we can do, we’re going to show you that we can do more.” Moving forward, Translation will continue its focus on solving business problems and investing in creators. Stoute said Translation recently invested in an AI music company with the help of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He is also looking to expand the company’s global footprint, and has looked into potential investments in media properties such as Complex Media, which Stoute ultimately said wasn’t the right fit. (Live-shopping company NTWRK recently acquired Complex.) “It’s a very wild reality that I’ve created over 20 years that I’m proud of, because it really has manifested itself into everything that I wanted to be as a kid,” Stoute said. “I obviously loved music. ‘Illmatic’ [Nas’ classic album] changed my life and I would constantly watch TV commercials saying, ‘Why did they do that? It’s obviously not good, or it doesn’t work.’ Or ‘why are they rapping offbeat’ and seeing all the flaws and one day [hoping] I can be able to affect that. And I live that dream every day.” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here

Translation continues to prove the importance of culturally impactful work

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