Sitting here drinking an AriZona iced tea, I find myself contemplating the value of independence.
First, you should know, I am not usually found with an AriZona iced tea—at least not since the days of chugging them post-hangover in college. But recently, I saw a story on the Today Show where the founder, Don Vultaggio, explained why they were keeping the drink at 99 cents, despite inflation and being able to charge more. For him, it was simple: “We’re successful, we’re debt-free, we own everything … Why? Why have people who are having a hard time paying their rent pay more for their drink? Maybe it’s my little way to give back.”
If you couldn’t feel it in that quote (“we’re successful … we own everything”), you could hear it in his delivery—there was more than a bit of rebellion that comes from independent ownership, a pride in being able to choose for yourself how your business operates. And for Vultaggio, that means doing his audience right.
And there you have the gift of independence: The value to determine the pathway for your business. The bets you will make. The sacrifices you need to make in order to make the bets. Ultimately, how your company values play out in your day-to-day. And how those values affect each one of your clients.
Importantly for many clients, since many indies are still founder-led, independence registers in a deep sense of partnership. We treat our client’s success with the utmost care. For founder-led indies, client success is a personal matter. When they win, we win.
Surely this is a leading factor behind recent wins that have received headlines, exciting times in which indies competed against the big guys and won: nice&frank winning Häagen-Dazs; Miramar winning Rocket Mortgage; Bandits & Friends winning Liberty Mutual.
See, coming to an independent shop doesn’t involve some kind of holdco “solution,” in which a brand is a tasty pork chop to be devoured. (Is it any wonder that our industry is complaining of being treated like “vendors”? That’s how this industry is acting.)
