Vanessa Abron With Agency Abron

Intro: [00:00:04] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studio in Chicago, Illinois, it’s time for Chicago Business Radio brought to you by Firm Space, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to FirmSpace.com. Now here’s your host.

Max Kantor: [00:00:20] Hey everybody, and welcome to Chicago Business Radio. I’m your host, Max Kantor. And before we jump into the show today, I just want to thank our sponsor firm SpaceX. Without them, we could not be sharing these important stories that we do. And speaking of important stories. I’m excited to talk to our guests today. She is the director of agency Abron. Please welcome to the show, Vanessa Abron, and welcome to the show, Vanessa.

Vanessa Abron: [00:00:45] Thank you for having me.

Max Kantor: [00:00:46] Of course. Thanks for being here. So let’s dove right in. Tell me a little bit about agency. What do you guys do?

Vanessa Abron: [00:00:53] Well, Max, you caught me at a great time. So Agency Apron is a creative direction company. We started primarily doing public relations, helping agencies and businesses and things of that nature with their public relations initiatives, especially getting them into medium. And since then, we’ve expanded beyond that. So that also includes even management and development consultations, creative direction, concept development and things of that nature.

Max Kantor: [00:01:26] So I saw that you yourself used to be an artist. Is that right?

Vanessa Abron: [00:01:33] That is incorrect. I am currently an artist.

Max Kantor: [00:01:38] You did get me there. Yes, of course. You’re currently an artist. So how did you kind of pivot from maybe doing the arts one hundred percent to then doing what you do now?

Vanessa Abron: [00:01:49] Oh, my gosh. That’s a loaded question, but let me see how I can make this really quickly. So growing up as a kid, my parents put me in dance and music lessons and I carried that over into high school college. I wanted to focus more on the development of the music business, did work in music right after college and right when I was in grad school working with an agency called Shrewd Marketing, Shrewd Marketing and Promotions, where we did marketing for Def Jam, Interscope, Bad Boy, Virgin, to name a few. The record industry had took a pivot and it was recommended that I should explore PR. And when I was in college, when I was an undergrad, a PR teacher said the same thing. So I was like, I need to give it a try. I started working in public relations full time after that, working at agencies like at Hill and Knowlton. Then I transitioned to working with Ebony magazine well, actually with Johnson Publishing Company, which had Ebony Jet, Ebony Magazine, Jet magazine and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. So working with the magazine got in touch with the music industry again because a lot of the artists that were on different labels were working to get interviews in Ebony and Jet magazine. So it kind of got my feet wet again there, especially working red carpet events and things of that nature for the publication. So that sparked my interest again. After that, I did a quick corporate stint before transitioning into being an independent consultant. And from there, I started to attract a lot of other artists, and just organically, the artists within me started to get revived again.

Max Kantor: [00:03:41] Wow, Vanessa, that that’s a crazy, cool story. And if you I don’t know if you have a Wikipedia page or not, but if you did, it would be huge. You’ve done so much in your career, and it’s very cool to see how kind of each step in your career has led you to what you do now.

Vanessa Abron: [00:03:58] Yeah, I mean, I don’t have a Wikipedia page, I think you can’t start your own Wikipedia page from what I heard, I don’t know, but no. So if you want to go start one for me, go for it.

Max Kantor: [00:04:07] Gotcha. So for agency Abrams, who is your ideal client?

Vanessa Abron: [00:04:14] Oh, my gosh. So that’s a really good question, and I really was just talking to a friend of mine earlier today about how I really want to make sure that everyone knows the agency isn’t for everyone. First and foremost, while this may sound very esoteric, I just like to connect with other individuals that we kind of have like this this connection that you can’t quite put your finger on, if that makes sense. So it’s usually like you have like this synergy that is that you can’t quite describe, and that is very important to me. I like to have I like to have clients that’s looking for a relationship as opposed to, Oh, give me, I’m going to give you my money and you execute this, and that’s it. Like, I really want my clients to feel like they’re part of a family. So, for example, just this past summer, I had a client. She is a musician and she did a listening event in L.A. I was there and I helped her with it. And when I was there, like her friends and family mentioned to me that although I had known her for only a year, our connection seemed like it was one that we have for years and years and years. And that is that. And that meant a lot to me that I would like to have that connection with my clients, but I’m also looking for those if we’re going to. So that’s the esoteric, you know, fluffy but very important aspect of it. But also, I’m looking for clients that’s looking for nontraditional ways of meeting their goals. So and actually just thinking about exploring, you know, exploring outside of the box and willing to take some risk while also combining that with some traditional means as well.

Max Kantor: [00:06:05] So you mentioned goals. What are some goals that your clients have brought to you? So some examples of those.

Vanessa Abron: [00:06:13] Well, most most importantly, everyone wants to get more visibility, and that’s different for every person, every everybody, every company, every brand. They want more exposure. They want more visibility. And what that looks like is very different for each client. So one client may want more followers on social media and or some somebody, but I going back to the ideal client, I would prefer to have the client that’s looking for more engagement on social media versus the client that’s looking for more followers on social media so that, you know, that is some goals. And you know, and so engagement is the how much are people connecting with you? You can get those followers, you can buy followers. That means absolutely nothing. But if they’re connecting with you and engaging with you and talking to you and commenting and sharing and supporting you as a result of being a part of your community, then that speaks volumes and I would prefer to work with that type of client. And so. So that’s one that’s a goal. For example, some clients may want media exposure. They may say, I have a dream of being on Good Morning America or something local like Wendy City Live, which is now, you know, Wendy Weekend. So something like that or just ABC, your local ABC or NBC affiliate. Some people may come to me and they just want their goal is I’m trying to create a video and this I’m having a hard time coming up with what that looks like visually. So I will work with that client to visually lay out what the concept is of that video. I have another client where this weekend I have to give him feedback on his upcoming album, so it’s different for every client.

Max Kantor: [00:08:20] Mm-hmm. And I know that, you know, especially in the arts visibility, getting an audience that’s so important. So the people who are coming to you, do you get a range of people with levels of followers? So like, are you getting people with 10 followers on Instagram and people who have a million followers? Is it broader? Are you focusing more for people who are just starting out?

Vanessa Abron: [00:08:44] I wouldn’t say I’m working with those in the millions, however, I do work with some corporate brands, so I want to say that I have worked with artists and I do work with small businesses. I work with some non-profits as well. And I do work with other, like other larger agencies on bigger corporate clients. So it it it varies, to be honest with you. And it just depends on. I mean, so when a customer, when a client comes to me, I have them go through an exploratory call and through that exploratory call, I really like listen to what it is that they’re trying to accomplish. And I think about, OK, what? What are your goals? What are you trying to do? And I am I able to feasibly help you accomplish those goals? And depending on where you are. So someone can come into the door and they can have 10 followers and it can be a brand new startup. And. And but if their goal is I just want to get up to one hundred followers on social media, I want to, you know, media placements. I want to do a couple of speaking engagements. I want to do some. Then that’s like, OK, I can work with you. But if a person with 10 followers comes in is like, I want to be on Good Morning America. That might be a little bit of a stretch, but if a client comes in and they already had some traction in there and they’ve been doing a lot of things before me, and it’s like, and they’re like, OK, this is all the things that we’re done. We’re ready to level up, we’re ready to go. And Good Morning America, the Today show, then I can say, OK, that’s possible.

Vanessa Abron: [00:10:19] So it depends on where someone is in their journey. I will say personally, I like the I like the MIT startup, so I noticed that like when you’re like a brand new startup, it’s like it’s harder because it’s like, OK, this is like your business is your baby, right? This is your baby, it’s your pride and joy, and you want everyone to look at your baby like it’s the most beautiful baby in the whole entire world. And unfortunately, that’s not the case because there’s a million babies out there and everybody. I mean, they may look at your and like, Oh, that’s great, we applaud you. Congratulations, and then they keep going. So it’s not about so it’s like it’s like getting people to understand or clients understand that you have to build the foundation and grow from that to really get to where you’re trying to be. It’s not it’s not as cut and dry as you would like it to be. Sometimes it isn’t, but oftentimes it’s not. So it’s like, OK, I have this brand new baby and I want this baby to go to Harvard. Let’s say, you know, it’s like your baby’s not going to be at Harvard in two or three years, but through growth and development and with the right, you know, with the right, whatever, you can get it to this Harvard level status, right? So I’m using Harvard as a metaphor, right? Or, you know, or I just like, I just want to. Maybe it’s not Harvard. I just want a child to college, right? So it’s like, what does that look like? So I hope I’m making sense because I feel like I’m rambling a little bit.

Max Kantor: [00:11:51] No, no, I’m totally following what you’re saying, and I think your business is so cool because you’re not just working with one type of artist. You know, it’s not just musicians or it’s not just videographers going through your website. You see, there’s such a broad spectrum of people that you can help. And so for you, that must keep things so interesting and so fun.

Vanessa Abron: [00:12:12] It does it does in a lot of different ways. It keeps me on my toes, it keeps me somewhat cool, especially with my nieces and nephew by having, you know, my finger on the pulse of what’s going on in today’s culture and being able to not just have my finger on the pulse, but being able to help influence it and tell the stories that’s going on in today’s culture. Like, I think one of the most invigorating things is like when you see other people talking about something that at one point they weren’t talking about before or was under the radar or, you know, just getting it to a level where it wasn’t before. And that’s pretty awesome. Mm hmm.

Max Kantor: [00:12:58] So I’m curious about this. I know for Google, you can pay to get more views, like on YouTube. You can promote your video on Tik Tok. You can promote your video. Do you recommend that to artists when they publish content? Or are you looking at other ways? Yes, you do.

Vanessa Abron: [00:13:18] I do, but I recommend I. I definitely recommend integrated marketing approach. So, yes, like if you’re well and it depends on how you’re paying. So if you’re doing like paid ads and promotions, absolutely, you want to be able to have some ways that you can be. You can guarantee that you’re going to you can reach a new audience and have your eyes on have your brand on eyes that have never seen you before. And it’s like a commercial. Like when you look at a commercial, you, you look at it, you see it and it’s like, and you remember it and you see it over and over and over again. And maybe even if you can’t invest in that particular brand or product or service at the moment that you see it by seeing it over and over and over again through commercials, you remember it when it’s time for you to get something. So, for example, you know, I’m in Chicago and that five eight eight two three hundred empire like that, that the phone number is embedded in my memory forever. Yeah, you know, so if I was looking for carpet and I made, I may or may not go to Empire, but it is. I know I can call five eight eight two three hundred to get Empire. So there’s definitely value in doing some form of advertising on YouTube and Instagram and Facebook and things like that. Do do measure your due way in your expectations, right? So what I’ve noticed, like I had one client tell me that she can get more sales by doing promotions on Google, which makes more sense because on Google, if you type in something you’re probably looking for to buy when you do ads on like Facebook and Instagram and things like that.

Vanessa Abron: [00:15:03] It’s more of a visibility standpoint, so people may not instantly buy on Facebook or Instagram right away. Unless you’re doing a whole lot of marketing, you know you’re putting a lot of dollars in that for them to see that. But I’ve noticed, like if you’re doing a promotion or something like that or you have like a free event that people can register and sign up for Facebook and Instagram, as are good for that, especially as an artist too. Like if you have a video or a music video and you put some promotion behind it and that video pops up and someone’s ad. Even though they may be watching another YouTube video, if your video comes up in the ad and it sounds good, they may keep watching it and listening to it because you caught their attention when otherwise they may not have seen you. So, yes, I do agree that pay promotions is important and you tie that in. You should everyone should have a 360 approach. You should have some pay promotions. You should be doing some sales initiatives. You should be doing some public relations initiatives like you should you should be actively on social media. And I think that’s the one thing that’s, you know, goes back into making sure you level set your goals. Because I think a lot of times when a company is a small business or a fresh new small business, as I should say, they’re trying to operate as if they’re this, you know, like another company that has a huge investment and can invest in all of these different areas.

Vanessa Abron: [00:16:29] And sometimes you can’t do that with the limited budget and you’re new. And so I’m very honest with my clients, like if I turn clients away because I’m like, Look, what’s you’re trying to do and where you’re trying to go, the money that you can invest in me, I think you will get more traction if you did some pay promotions and then at some point you do grow past that and you do do some pay promotions and you do some public relations initiatives and you do some social media and you do some sales, you know, sales things and things like that. So you have to grow and see what is important to you right now. Somebody may be like, I just need people to. Is know who I am like, I love the client that says I want to be in media to give me credibility, that’s the ideal client when a client is like, I want to be a Meethi because they think that’s going to equal sales. That’s a red flag for me, because that doesn’t happen all the time. Like a person has to hear a brand or hear a name or hear a company at least seven times before they commit to trying to invest in it, or at least remember it. Of course, if you do events and things like that and you have them on the spot, you know you have a better chance because they have that engagement factor. But a person has to at least hear your brand seven times before they even remember it.

Max Kantor: [00:17:56] Wow, I did not know that. That’s that’s that’s a very interesting statistic, but it makes sense. You know, when you hear it the first time, you’re like, Oh, you know, whatever, I don’t know what this is, but the more you hear it, the more ingrained it becomes. And then soon you recognize it. And I guess seven times is the magic number.

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:11] Right? So if you’re doing a combination of paid advertising, public relations initiatives, you know, all sorts of marketing, then you’re increasing the opportunity for that person to hear your name at least seven times, right?

Max Kantor: [00:18:26] So from your agency, do you want to share your biggest success story with us?

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:33] Hmm. What is my biggest success story I have? Hold on, let me think

Max Kantor: [00:18:40] I know it’s a big question. It’s a loaded question.

Vanessa Abron: [00:18:46] Ok, I don’t have a big success story, but this is what I’m going to give you, I’m going to give you a memorable moment. You know, one of my most memorable moments. So I worked with an agency called Burrell Communications from time to time, and they do some things with McDonald’s. And through that, I’ve helped them with the all star, some all star PR management that they were doing during all star weekend when the NBA all star was here in Chicago. So during that time, we did some things with Magic Johnson while he was in town, and I remember he just made jokes about how short I was, which I’m which is, you know, really funny because he’s really, really tall and I’m really, really short. So to see was next to each other, it’s like very obvious. But like, I just like there’s pictures of him, like pointing at me, you know, it was like, it wasn’t good fun. But of him teasing me about how short I am. So that was that was super cool. And he was just like a really great guy. Like, I think the funny thing about it, what I will say is working in the industry that I work in, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of celebrities and some are super cool and some are not super cool.

Vanessa Abron: [00:20:16] And I and one of the things that I noticed about Magic Johnson was that he was super cool, mega successful. You know, has like this amazing career that he’s developed, both in NBA and beyond the NBA as an entrepreneur as well. And just very humble and down to earth, like talking to him. It’s like talking to your uncle at a Thanksgiving dinner, right? And so and it was just amazing to me because it made an impression on me because I’m like, if someone like Magic Johnson can be super cool and down to earth and very personable, there’s no reason why anyone else try to treat someone else like they’re less than right. And so I kind of carried that with me as far as like always knowing your value because people that are really remarkable value people, regardless of where they are in their life, right?

Max Kantor: [00:21:15] Well, Vanessa, you have been a wonderful guest today. And for any artists who are listening right now, how can they learn more about agency apron or contact you for maybe scheduling a consultation?

Vanessa Abron: [00:21:28] Well, I highly recommend going to my website agency apron. That’s a g e n c y a b r o n dot com and i really highly recommend it because I want to make sure that you look at the website and make sure that it resonates with you. I really worked really hard to make sure that the website spoke to the ideal client. So if you’re the ideal client and you go to their website and it speaks to you, please reach out. Some people go to the website and they don’t get it, and that’s what it’s supposed to do as well. So if it goes, if it speaks to you, please go to the contact form on the agency EBONY.com website and set up a consultation with me. Or you can email me directly at new clients at agency bronchi.

Max Kantor: [00:22:21] Awesome. Well, Vanessa, thank you again. So much for being our guest today on Chicago Business Radio. Thank you and thank to all of you for listening and we will see you next time.

Intro: [00:22:34] This episode is Chicago Business Radio has been brought to you by firm SpaceX, your private sanctuary for productivity and growth. To learn more, go to Firme Space.com.