In the early days of advertising, we had Mad Men. Companies would pay fortunes to listen to charismatic middle-aged men whose brilliant ad campaigns would bring their businesses marketing glory. In those meetings, the Mad Men would express their visions through nice drawings and bold taglines.
Fast forward to today, the new Mad Men are replaced with digital marketers. These marketers choose to make advertising decisions based on data rather than a catchy slogan some guy came up with in the shower. SEO agencies, content-marketing firms and influencer shops have all sprung up, serving businesses that cover various industries.
Verma Media is an elite agency founded by millennial AJ Agrawal. They have worked with the highest-funded brands in San Francisco and publicly traded companies. Agrawal’s business model has stripped the ad agency structure of the boring, overspecialized, old-school methods that have traditionally been synonymous with the word “marketing firm.”
Agrawal started Verma Media in the financial district of San Francisco in 2016. At the time he was a 26-year-old entrepreneur who had built close ties to the marketing firms of Fortune 500 brands. He predicted companies would want higher-end marketing agencies that could be remote without sacrificing quality and could scale with those companies as they expanded. The theory proved correct. Three years later, Verma Media is expanding its global reach faster than ever. In 2018, Agrawal pushed the company to specialize in emerging tech like crypto and cannabis, temporarily removing its cap of 20 clients at a time, which resulted in setting an internal record for the number of blockchain companies it helped fundraise and also a milestone for the number of ICOs it successfully helped.
For businesses, the agency you pick has become a reflection of your company values – your style, target market and your own brand as a leader. The bolder your product, the more forward-thinking your agency should be. Businesses will pay unheard-of amounts to have the top marketing agencies to support their business needs. This is a trend Verma Media has capitalized on. Mad Men may have considered themselves top-tier marketers, but they would have tipped their hats to Verma’s unconventional and highly effective methods.
You may have never heard of Verma. Mostly, they only take clients from close referrals. Just so you know, it will be an investment with monthly retainers ranging anywhere from $30,000 to $350,000 a month. Client onboarding meetings take place in 5-star resorts in places like Singapore, Miami and Barcelona. To become a client, prospects go through several onboarding calls including one with Agrawal. However, when you’re on board, you get the attention of the entire team, because Verma Media limits the number of clients they work with to a maximum of 20 at any given time. Each client will have a 5-person team or more working on their accounts to ensure they have 24/7 attention. Because of the high monthly retainers and the in-person marketing retreats, the typical Verma Media client pays over $1 million a year. “We have clients who do pay high-end fees,” Agrawal said. “We also work with a portion of startups that we believe in for way less,” he added.
For global companies, Verma’s international team provides an endless supply of marketing support including language translators for every country in Asia and SEO experts all over Europe. A personal leadership account manager will plan, manage and travel with you across the world on speaking tours.
“I want to be responsible for bringing amazing companies to people whose lives will benefit from them,” he said. “I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but it’s what drives me.” Today, half the roster is made up of progressive supplement companies like CBD and fitness brands.
Aged 28 now, AJ Agrawal comes across as a typical San Francisco millennial, though with a side of New York hustle. There’s a tinge of nerdiness in his demeanor, but mixed with an affability that makes it easy to let your guard down when you’re around him. Nice, with a soft smile, he shifts to a serious demeanor when describing Verma and what it means to him. “I want to be responsible for bringing amazing companies to people whose lives will benefit from them,” he says. “I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but it’s what drives me.”
Agrawal is also a huge proponent of new health products like CBD, organic all natural foods, and progressive medicine which is a reflection of the founder’s lifestyle. He subscribes to three of San Francisco’s food-delivery services, prefers organic and free-range foods, and exercises four or more times a week. Agrawal lives and breathes for the brands he markets.
Each of Verma Media’s clients enjoys a tailored approach, based on factors like company size, industry and how much the founders of the business want to be in the media. These companies usually want to achieve hockey-stick growth at all costs, without the wasted time and effort that goes into “brainstorming meetings.” Companies that want mid-level marketers, “good enough” solutions and budget-friendly customer service are not the ideal clientele. Verma remains rather secretive about the internal team and structure. The executive team is remote, and for fear of poaching does not publicly list all employees.
Verma has developed into a powerhouse, isolating businesses that aren’t the 1 percent. The strategy has worked until now, but it will be interesting to see if this new wave of a marketing agency becomes the norm.
