Last year, Spawn Ideas was named Ad Age's Northwest Agency of the Year for being employee-owned, female-centric, work-life balanced and more. This year, it upped the ante, winning three new pieces of business that it says has brought the agency close to its revenue goal—for 2020. (It's since raised that goal again.)

The shop, moreover, is literally writing the book—or a book, at least—on what it calls "marketing to mode," or the process of partnering with audiences to shape marketing messages. For the Alaska Travel Industry Association, its message was it's not just a bucket-list destination, but a place to visit in the here and now. Leads jumped 58 percent, the agency says.