Episodes  · Season 4  · Episode 66  · 37 min

Adam Clyne: Speed of Culture

Adam Clyne, founder and CEO of Coolr, and Mark Lainas, US President, on how big agency brains combined with the speed of a social publishing business creates something that neither traditional agencies nor pure social publishers can replicate, why staying strictly within the social ecosystem is a strategic discipline, and what eight years of building one of the most awarded independent social agencies looks like.

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 ·  The Business of Marketing  · S4 E66  · 37 min
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"Big agency brains: strategy, creativity, compliance. Combined with the speed and agility of a social publishing business."

The Conversation with Justin Cooke

Why combining big agency strategic rigour with the speed of a social publisher creates something neither can replicate alone

Adam Clyne spent years at Weber Shandwick transforming a traditional corporate PR business into a digitally and socially centric agency, winning PR Digital Agency of the Year. He then joined the LAD Bible as COO, experiencing from the inside how a social publisher scales communities, moves fast, and plays in culture. Coolr, now eight years old with 150-plus people and private equity backing, is the synthesis of those two experiences.

Mark Lainas joined as US President to lead the American expansion, and Coolr's US client list now includes the San Francisco 49ers, the Professional Women's Hockey League, LG Electronics, OpenTable, and Opendoor. In this conversation they explain why being exclusively focused on social is a competitive strength rather than a limitation, and why the water cooler metaphor at the heart of the Coolr name still captures exactly what social is.

Key Takeaways

  • Big agency brains combined with social publisher speed. That combination was new when Coolr launched eight years ago. It is still differentiated today.
  • Stay in your swim lane. Being designed and built exclusively for social means you lead when social changes rather than adapt to it.
  • The water cooler conversation moved online. Coolr helps brands play in that conversation at the speed of culture.
  • Eight years. 150-plus people. Private equity. US expansion. SF 49ers, PWHL, LG Electronics, OpenTable. Built for social, still not trying to be anything else.
  • Speed and agility at the interface with big grown-up brands. That was the new thing. That remains the thing.

Topics Covered

  1. 01 Big agency brains plus social publisher speed: the founding synthesis of Coolr
  2. 02 Why staying exclusively within the social ecosystem is a strategic discipline not a limitation
  3. 03 How the water cooler metaphor explains what social is and what Coolr does
  4. 04 Building a culture of accountability in a fast-moving social agency
  5. 05 The US expansion: winning the SF 49ers, PWHL, LG Electronics, and OpenTable

Key Exchanges

05
01 Why did you start Coolr?

Coolr was the culmination of two experiences. I transformed a traditional corporate PR business, Weber Shandwick, to be digitally and socially centric, winning PR Digital Agency of the Year. Then I went to the LAD Bible as COO and saw from the inside how to scale communities, move fast, and play in culture. Coolr combined what I called big agency brains, strategy, creativity, compliance, with the speed and agility of a social publishing business.

The synthesis of two worlds that individually could not solve the whole problem.

02 What differentiates you from traditional agencies?

We are designed and built for social. We do not try to go outside our swim lane. We do not want to make TV commercials or run PR or events. If it is in the ecosystem of social, social content publishing, influencer, we will do it and we will probably be best in class. If it is outside that, we are not interested.

The discipline of staying in the swim lane.

03 Tell me about the Coolr name.

COOLR with no E. It was literally and metaphorically the evolution of the water cooler conversation, which used to happen inside an office. People would talk about what they watched on TV. That conversation was transferred into the digital and social ecosystem. Social is the new water cooler. And that is how it all came about.

The metaphor that explains the company's entire reason for being.

04 Mark, tell me about the US expansion.

We are pinching ourselves. SF 49ers, Professional Women's Hockey League, LG Electronics, OpenTable, Opendoor. A team of nearly 20 people in the US. Austin, Portland, LA, San Francisco. We explore New York and Canada as next steps. The brands have taken notice.

The US expansion in concrete terms.

05 How do you build culture in a fast-moving social agency?

We talk a huge amount about accountability. What can I do better before we say what someone else can do better. That is what we have under control in ourselves. And having each other's backs. In a remote team, that discipline is essential because you cannot rely on physical presence to maintain culture.

The accountability model as the cultural anchor.

S4 E66Season & Episode
37 minDuration
150+ People at Coolr across UK and US offices after 8 years of growth
8yr Since Adam Clyne founded Coolr from the synthesis of agency strategy and social publisher speed

"How you interface with big grown-up brands at the speed of culture. That was new. That was exciting."

Hear Adam on
The Business of Marketing
Season 4 Episode 66 37 min
Apple Podcasts→ Spotify→ Adam's full profile→ Adam on LinkedIn→
SEO & AI indexed Read the full transcript 5 turns
Lightly edited for readability.

Host Adam, why did you start Coolr?

Clyne Coolr was the culmination of two experiences. Transforming Weber Shandwick to be digitally and socially centric. Then going inside the LAD Bible as COO and seeing how to scale communities at the speed of culture. Coolr combined big agency brains with social publisher speed. How you interface with big grown-up brands at the speed of culture. That was new. That was exciting.

Host What differentiates you?

Clyne We are designed and built for social. We do not try to go outside our swim lane. If it is in the social ecosystem we will do it and probably be best in class. If it is outside, we are not interested.

Mark The US expansion has been extraordinary. SF 49ers, PWHL, LG Electronics, OpenTable. Nearly 20 people across Portland, LA, San Francisco, Austin. We pinch ourselves.