A Quick Introduction to Faces in the Crowd

Mike McKenna  |  450 words  |  2 min read

I've never been great at talking about Propagate in the abstract. When someone asks me what we do, I almost always end up talking about the people instead. I'll start with some variation of the elevator pitch: we're a marketing communications agency— we build websites, design beautiful materials of all kinds, create branding, plan media, provide marketing strategy, and so on—and then I tend to move on to the team, who they are, and what they can do. The work is the work. But the people are the reason the work is as good as it is.

We've been at this for 25 years. In that time, we've gone through name changes, acquisitions, new offices, and more than a few reinventions. But the thing that hasn't changed is the most important thing: the people who continue to do the hard work for our clients. Some of them have been here for decades. Others are newer, bringing perspectives and skills we didn't have five years ago. All of them are the reason clients stay with us.

That's what Faces in the Crowd is about.

This series will introduce you to the people behind Propagate—not through corporate bios and headshots, but through real conversations. Where they came from. How they think about their craft. What they're proud of. What they'd tell you if the filter was off. We want you to know who's actually doing the work when you hire us, because we think that matters more than any capabilities presentation we could put together.

There's also a more practical reason for doing this. In an industry that's increasingly commoditized—where AI tools can generate a passable first draft of almost anything and where every agency claims to offer the same suite of services—the differentiator isn't the what. It's the who. It's the person who knows your industry well enough to keep you out of trouble. It's the designer who understands that your brand isn't just a style guide, but a promise. It's the project manager who remembers that your CEO hates bullet points.

You can't automate that. You can't template it. And you definitely can't outsource it to a machine.

We're a team of roughly a dozen people. That's small enough that every person matters and large enough that we bring real range to the table. Faces in the Crowd is our way of showing you that range—and showing you that when you work with Propagate, you're not getting a faceless agency. You're getting real people. People with names, histories, opinions, and a stake in the outcome of your project.

We hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as we enjoy working alongside them.

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