(add)Love

Doing good is good for business

Culture is brand. The best marketers don’t just talk about values; they lead with them.

The business case for community-centered culture

As we enter a season of reflection, giving and gratitude, it's worth pausing to ask not just what we’re doing, but why it matters. For us, it starts with people. And not just in theory. Our giving program, (add)love, is built on the belief that the way we care for our communities says everything about how we’ll show up for our clients.

But (add)love isn’t just nice to have. It’s a business asset. One that strengthens our team, builds trust in our brand and sharpens the way we think as marketers and creatives.

From volunteering to brand building: purpose fuels better work

Culture is strategy. The way people feel inside your company directly affects how they show up for your clients, and how those clients feel about your brand. Agencies are increasingly responsible not just for external messaging, but internal culture. And (add)love plays a key role in shaping ours.

Sometimes doing good starts with a gut feeling. That’s how (add)love began. Not with a formal program, but with a shared instinct that the care we bring to our client work could stretch beyond the office and into the world around us. Over time, that instinct became a mindset. It is a way of working and living that fuels how we collaborate, solve problems and connect.

We don’t just volunteer because it’s kind. We do it because it brings us closer as a team. When 15 (add)venturists spent the morning with Hope’s Harvest, gleaning more than a thousand pounds of food for local families, it wasn’t a PR stunt. It was collaboration, empathy and action in practice. The same skills we bring to creative strategy and brand building.

Sock drives for Amos House, pantry donations for the Rhode Island Food Bank, and collection efforts for LGBTQ+ youth through Youth Pride Inc. are touchpoints with the community. They keep our team attuned to the world beyond our screens. That awareness matters when you’re building brands that need to feel real.

Three people cooking pancakes together in a kitchen.

Want to attract top talent? Start here

Today’s talent pool, especially younger creatives and strategists, is looking for more than a paycheck. They want purpose. They want a culture that aligns with their values. Our (add)prentice internship program, brings in students from across the country and has become a key recruiting pipeline because of the culture they step into.

We’ve seen (add)prentices become (add)venturists and (add)venturists become mentors. And when we partnered with a local high school to give a design student hands-on experience, it wasn’t just generous, it was smart. Investing in future talent strengthens our creative pipeline and brings fresh perspectives into the room. It also creates space for our team to step into leadership roles, test out their managerial instincts, and grow their ability to mentor others. These are all skills that translate directly into stronger client relationships and internal collaboration.

Man photographing two colleagues working at their desks.

Community impact drives brand relevance

It’s not enough to market to communities. You have to be part of them. Many of our leaders serve on nonprofit boards and advisory committees, lending time and expertise to causes ranging from healthcare, education, to local government and more. This isn't side work. It’s fieldwork. It’s where we learn, listen and stay connected to the real-world issues that influence the audiences our clients are trying to reach. It’s also where key relationships are built. Some of our strongest client partnerships and most valuable team hires have grown out of board connections. These aren’t just professional circles, they’re trust-based networks shaped by shared purpose. That kind of trust is hard to buy and even harder to fake.

Every CMO knows that attention is earned. Trust is fragile. Culture is brand. Service to our community is strategy. And (add)love is one of the ways we keep all three strong. It’s a case study in how doing the right thing, for the right reasons, can create long-term business value. It’s brand building.

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Doing good is good for business

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