Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Borman.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My business partner, Sara Zimmerman, and I worked together for many years in the Marketing Department of Express. In January 2020, we were let go as part of a reorganization. The next day we rented an office at The Idea Foundry and started a creative marketing agency called Merciful Thieves. We hit the ground running and even jumped a few hurdles with COVID, but we never looked back.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The obvious struggle was starting a business right before the whole world shut down. But it turned out to be something that helped us out. We were contacted by a former colleague who was a creative director at a West Coast-based company. They had stricter lockdown protocols that we had here in Ohio so we were able to pick up work from him and produce an entire fall marketing campaign for him that included over 500 separate video assets to be published across many different channels. That got the momentum going for us.
We weren’t able to get any of the government help that they were handing out like candy, so we just had to do it ourselves. It definitely made us a stronger team and we’ve benefitted from that struggle. We have a sign hanging on our wall that says “No one is coming. It’s up to us.”
As you know, we’re big fans of Merciful Thieves. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a creative marketing agency that specializes in helping brands become or remain relevant by sharpening their brand strategy and building a creative architecture that allows them to express that brand strategy to customers in an engaging a consistent way. We also do a LOT of content creation.
What sets us apart from other is our approach to projects. We are very transparent and honest with our clients and we have a unique POV on the world. If that POV matches up with the goals of a potential client, then we can usually forge a very strong partnership quickly.
Readers should know that in 2020 a crack creative team was let go from a giant business entity. They escaped the stagnant corporate environment to the underground creative scene of Franklinton. Today they survive as “soldiers of fortune” in the current market. If you have a brand problem, if nobody else can help, and if you can find them…maybe you can hire The Merciful Thieves.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
No one is coming. It’s up to you.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/merciful_thieves/
Image Credits
Nick Gill
Chris Borman
