Check Out Benjamin A.'s LinkedIn Stats (Last 30 Days)

ADWEEK’s Social Media Week in NYC kicks off today! Our team from OK COOL will be there every day this week. Additionally, we're hosting a small happy hour on Wednesday for our brand partners and friends. If you're around and want to connect, DM me! #SMW #OKCOOL

Last year I watched HYROX NYC as a curious spectator... This year I’ll be on the start line for the first time 😬 If you're not familiar, HYROX is like an intense gym workout meets competitive road race; you run a bit, lift stuff, lunge, ski, push a sled, sweat like crazy, then do it all over again… 8 times. It's chaos, it's pain, and somehow it's a total blast. But HYROX is more than a fitness race, it’s become a movement. And it’s exploding! In just the past 12 months: • Participation jumped from 90,000 to over 175,000 athletes globally, with more than 600,000 expected to compete this year!! (A far cry from the first event held in Hamburg in November 2017 with 650 participants) • Events have expanded to over 65 cities worldwide, with new markets opening across Asia and South America • Boomed from 800 to over 5,000 affiliated gyms worldwide, a staggering growth rate. • Revenue has surged past $35M, with no signs of slowing • ALL WITHOUT A SINGLE DOLLAR SPENT ON PAID MEDIA, INFLUENCERS OR TRADITIONAL ADS HYROX has built an empire on community, word-of-mouth, gym affiliates notably F45 Training (and my gym Ironbound Performance Athletics💪), brand deals such as with our friends at PUMA Group, and unforgettable real-world experiences. As Douglas Gremmen, their Chief Growth Officer, told me, they've never paid for ads or influencers. "The community does the best job telling our story.” And that IS the story. What HYROX tells us is clear —> communities today dont want staged perfection, they want sweat, stakes, and substance. They want real life - and then they want to share it. HYROX taps perfectly into this shift. It’s physical, emotional, people-first, and when documented right (which the brand is crushing!) then it’s digital gold. And if you’re building a brand today, this has to be part of your social media playbook: IRL not just URL. DM me to chat more - or just catch me on the HYROX NYC starting line on June 1. Let’s go!! #HYROX #OKCOOL

Where is the influencer and creator economy heading? 🤔 I regularly get asked this by our partners. Some on here are suggesting creator fatigue has set in, that a microeconomic pullback is on the way. But if you ask me, it's (still) only going one way 📈 When you look at the space's evolution over time, it's getting more deeply engrained and more diversified ① First there were brands ② Influencers and creators supported brands ③ Brands started to rely on influencers and creators ④ Influencers and creators became brands ⑤ Influencers and creators leverage brand partnerships to grow and monetize their own brands ⑥ Influencer and creator funds start to build brand monopolies ⑦ Influencer and creator monopolies replace traditional brands, creating wholly independent business ecosystems. Okay, point 7 is a futurist thought, for sure... But for me, the creator economy is moving in one direction - from brand partnerships to economic dominance. That's why we're continuing to invest in building a world class influencer and creator offering here at OK COOL. It's always been a prominent string to our bow but it's only becoming more and more critical for brands and agencies like ours to have true and differentiated expertise in. Think I'm being overly dramatic with my future prediction? Just read this excellent substack 👇 by Aaron Miller and Yash Gupta https://lnkd.in/e8K7xib7 Implications for brands? Simple: Involve and evolve. Fast. Because too many still see the space as purely a means to amplify their own brand messaging. Am I way off here? What do you think?

Hey LinkedIn devs, here's an idea: What if LinkedIn could remember? I love this platform. But it often feels like an endless loop of the same ideas being shared over and over. The constant recycling of perspectives and content can make it seem like we're stuck in a cycle of déjà vu. Imagine if LinkedIn could flag repeated content for users at the draft stage. Before you hit that post button on your latest "groundbreaking" AI insight, what if LinkedIn could show you that it's already been posted about by thousands this week? Similarly, before resharing that viral campaign for the umpteenth time, what if LinkedIn could gently nudge you that it's already flooded feeds in the past few days? It could save us from inadvertently - or intentionally - adding to the echo chamber. This platform craves a touch of uniqueness, it needs to be humanized. LinkedIn needs a soul. Perhaps incorporating a real-time content qualifier or contextualizer could be the answer. While it may sound like just another algorithm, the goal would be to promote originality and relevance over redundant content and clickbait. Maybe LinkedIn already has something in the works, but what if it could do more to encourage fresh perspectives and timely discussions? Could a blend of discovery and quality, akin to what TikTok offers, elevate LinkedIn to new heights as the ultimate professional network? Add in a better, more qualified way to network and I think you have a super interesting revamped platform. Would you be on board for such an evolution?? Who knows, maybe I should take the plunge and bring this vision to life…. Let me know what you think, or comment below 👇

Year 1️⃣ for me completed at OK COOL and what a ride... Big wins. Hard truths. Plenty of lessons, some learned the hard way. 🔥 The (very) good: Built a team of absolute superstars. Every company says that, but our people honestly amaze, inspire and challenge me every single day Officially, one of the Fastest Growing agencies out there rn. Momentum is real Still hybrid and dispersed but NYC team (partly seen here!!) is growing every week Onboarded some DREAM brand partners. Big things coming! Work that doesn’t just talk about culture, it moves it 👀 Upgraded to a cool new SoHo HQ. Swing by anytime. ⚡ The real talk: We’re not for every brand. And that’s okay. Gen Z thinking isn’t for the cautious. Overspent on pitches we should’ve walked away from. Lesson learned. No more free work. Hiring and process gaps? Still have some. But we see them. And we’re fixing them fast. Not every decision makes everyone happy. We’ve had to say no - to potential hires, partners, even team members. It’s never easy, but it’s always necessary. 💡 What we’ve learned: Saying no is a superpower. If a brand isn’t built for what we do, forcing it won’t work Growth is great, but only if it’s sustainable. Fast and smart is the only way Social media and culture are moving faster than ever. Agencies that don’t evolve in real time? Left behind 👋 With all the uncertainty around us, more than ever leadership means making tough calls. I've been reminded I can't please everyone but clarity > consensus All in all? Year 1: Epic. Year 2? Looking great so far. Let’s go. 💚💚

Last time I was in Chicago, the river was green and my hair wasn’t grey! Excited to be back in one of my favorite towns this week Finally getting to meet irl our awesome OK COOL team there and local clients Would also love to catch up with any new or old friends while I’m town Let’s chat content, culture and creators… or just have a coffee HMU in the dms✌️