Krystle Loyland — Co-Founder & CEO, Preacher
Krystle talks to TheNextGag about creating an ad agency in Austin, getting new business and the agency’s plans for SxSW 2017.
Krystle Loyland is the Co-Founder & CEO of Preacher in the USA.
Preacher was recently named to Advertising Age’s coveted A-List as one of its 2017 “Agencies to Watch” and also landed a spot on Creativity’s 2017 Standouts list.
Preacher is one of Austin’s hottest independent creative agencies — home to clients like Venmo, Crate&Barrel, Beam Suntory, Tommy John, and on projects with Squarespace, Samsung and more.
They have been killing it over the past year with work including the big Grammy’s/Leon Bridges campaign for Squarespace, Venmo’s first major brand campaign, “Pony-Up”, the hilarious Tommy John “No Adjustment Needed” work for its underwear and undershirt lines, and finally Crate & Barrel’s latest holiday campaign.
Krystle Loyland is certainly both parts business and creative-minded at Preacher. She prides herself in building modern, quality-obsessed, category-hacking brands through advertising that is culturally resonant.
Krystle has been quite a powerful force in the industry throughout her career and prior to founding Preacher. She was Head of New Business at Mother for years, and account director on brands like Google, Starwood Hotels, Tanqueray and more. She also held court at CP&B, Strawberry Frog and The Richards Group.
THENEXTGAG: WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME OF YOUR AGENCY ?
KRYSTLE LOYLAND: I’ll skip the part about the exhausting process of coming up with seemingly brilliant names that can’t work or are already taken, and get to the part where we found our forever name. I was lazily getting back into the rhythm of my Texas accent I had tried to hide for so many years. My partner Seth was talking about finding soul in our industry and the trap of working on things you don’t believe in, and I think I said (read in your best down-home twang), “Why can’t we just only work with people and brands we really believe in, then do our best to start spreadin’ the good word?” I’m sure that’s the moment the name just came to Rob. “Like a Preacher,” he said. In an equally southern-fried accent.
This was never about religion in the traditional sense — the visuals of our own personal Preachers started capturing our imaginations and finding their way into decks — Waylon Jennings, Muhammed Ali, Debbie Harry. We wanted to make and share good work for good brands — with some fervor and energy, in a way that’s contagious and attracts a like-minded flock of believers.
TNG: DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO GREAT WORK OUTSIDE OF A BIG MARKET, LIKE NEW YORK FOR EXAMPLE ?
KL: Of course I do. We’ve been part of, and witness to, great work over the years at famous agencies in Miami, Boulder, Minneapolis, and Boston.
And any fears I had before starting here I’m proud to say are way behind me, because my team (and our predecessors in town) have made magic right here in Austin.
It’s certainly easier to attract talent, clients, and be exposed to leading edge culture in the big cities. But there’s something to be said for having room to experiment, freedom from watching what your neighbors are doing, and exposure to the rest of the country where a lot of our clients’ best customers actually live. I’ve always thought a bit of isolation helps to uncover original thought.
TNG: WHAT MAKES AUSTIN A GOOD PLACE FOR A CREATIVE AGENCY ?
KL: Austin was already home to some best-in-class shops, and the production community continues to grow in size and excellence. We were immediately attracted to generosity of time, ideas, and effort from the creative community — how art and commerce seem to be really cozy with one another, and anything seems possible.
It’s not only one of the most technological and entrepreneurial cities, it’s also one of the fastest growing. We’re right by the University of Texas, which ranks #3 in nation for number of patents earned. Now, we’re not applying for any patents yet, but that seems like a good measurement of our area’s appetite for innovation. Lastly, it’s not hard to convince talented folks to move and visit here.
We have a lot of success, especially during the month of February.
TNG: WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR AGENCY TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR A CERTAIN TYPE OF WORK OR ARE YOU OPEN TO EXECUTING DIFFERENT STYLES ?
KL: Preacher prides itself on not having a house style. Under the creative helm of Rob Baird, I’m confident our work will always be recognized as soulful and highly crafted. But we get a kick out of finding an original voice and world for each brand and pushing us all to stretch our personal inclinations to get there. And under the strategic direction of Seth Gaffney, I know our work will all be truthful and special. I hope that we become recognized for constantly pushing boundaries while consistently hitting our taste level. That’s why I’m really proud that we have recently been named a Creativity Innovator Standout in AdAge’s 2017 A-List.
TNG: DO YOU THINK THAT THE TRADITIONAL AD AGENCY MODEL NEEDS REINVENTION ?
KL: Throughout our careers we’ve witnessed the power behind strong cultures, emphasis on quality and taste, and innovative business initiatives.
However we’ve also witnessed an industry where creative is getting more commoditized, with high administrative and overhead costs suffocating imagination and experimentation. Talented folks are leaving to try to find some soul in the business again.
The model needs to focus more on providing leadership and cover for healthy relationships and inspiring assignments. How can we expect our people to thrive and our clients’ businesses to thrive if we suck all the respect and joy and reason to hustle out of it? I don’t know if the model is broken as much as the capacity to do the right thing at the right moments for the right reasons is sometimes weakened.
TNG: CAN YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THE PREACHER GALLERY ?
KL: The Preacher Gallery is a significant part of this place we come to every day. It is a constant reminder for us to Spread the Good Word — in this sense, not on behalf of ourselves and our clients but on behalf of the incredible artists we exhibit and share a community with. Running a true gallery has been one of the best decisions we made.
It started with our very first show, a group show at SXSW 2014 amidst the rubble of our newly-leased space (which used to be a nightclub called Karma) where we wheat-pasted prints and hung pieces on drywall that would later be built over (yes, there’s art buried in our walls). Now dozens of solo and group shows later, we’ll be featuring the wondrous work of Butch Anthony during SXSW 2017.
TNG: DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR SXSW ?
KL: We’ll be hosting the 4th Annual Preacher Early Service. We invite an eclectic group of industries and friends to spend afternoon and early evening with a lot of creative co-conspirators during SXSW Interactive. We’re perched above and away from the craze of the convention, and always try to offer a respite.
Being in Austin, we care most about the musical guest (this year is going to be special), followed quickly by the food (this year is going to be fried chicken, like always), and the drinks (Texas Beer and Kentucky Bourbon).
We’re also looking forward to helping our friends and client partners Kasita launch their game-changing product and becoming the talk of the interactive festival.
TNG: HOW WILL YOU EVALUATE SUCCESS FOR YOUR COMPANY ?
KL: I’d like for us to be renowned over being big. I’d like people to want to spend time with our work. I’d like for our clients and employees to leave our care stronger than when they came in…and maybe some never leave. And I’d like to always be able to look to my left and to my right and still have love and respect and inside jokes with my two incredible partners, and never let anything make us forget about why we get up and do what we do every day.
TNG: WHO DESIGNED YOUR BEAUTIFUL BRAND IDENTITY AND SWAG ?
KL: The Preacher brand is a living thing. It originated from the strange subconscious of Rob, but has been coaxed out in really interesting ways by every creative (and for that matter every person) that works here. We see the brand as being OURS. It’s both an honor and an obligation to be tapped for a Preacher brand assignment, and I’m surprised all the time at what weird and wonderful ways our folks interpret its meaning.
Clients are looking for some soul in the business too. Thankfully they’re willing to look in unorthodox places to find it.
TNG: HOW YOU ATTRACT BIG BRANDS, SUCH AS CRATE & BARREL, BEAM AND SAMSUNG, TO A LOCAL SHOP ?
KL: Through process, scale and efficiency. Just kidding.
We don’t invest in typical new business tactics. From my previous gig running business development at Mother New York, I learned the hard way what an unreliable and unnatural game that is. What we focus on is finding the most passionate, ambitious and human clients, then caring about the work and their business and their audience at least as much as they do, and then never quitting. We succeed with their confidence and collaboration. And then it’s a small world. They tell their friends and peers and then we find like minded, self-selecting new potential clients, and try to do it again.
Our size doesn’t often get in the way of opportunities with big brands because we take on the right amount of work and don’t let them down. And don’t underestimate how just like us, clients are looking for some soul in the business too. Thankfully they’re willing to look in unorthodox places to find it.
TNG: I LOVED YOUR CRATE & BARREL HOLIDAY AD. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BEAT THE UK RETAILERS AT THEIR OWN GAME ?
KL: I’m not sure that’s possible! We’re big fans and students of the brilliant John Lewis and Marks & Spencer holiday ads from the UK, and wanted to find our own uniquely Crate and Barrel way to capture the spirit of the season — which, for our target audience was about always being ready (and quite stoked) for what might stress the rest of us out. It was important to me that our female hero be real, honest, and likeable (which I think our team nailed in execution), even though she was playing a strong, organized, savvy woman — a role in commercials that is too often caricatured into someone I’d never want to be or hang out with.
Krystle Loyland
Co-Founder & CEO
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